They sat eating their supper in silence, like every night. Pushing food around on their plates, looking at one another occasionally, without the other knowing, blowing on their hot food before devouring it. The noise from a TV coming from another room in the background. The soundtrack for the only time they spent together in their long days for what seemed like their whole life together.
Neither could remember a time when they had actually had a conversation at dinner, it had been so long. They were like you're typical old fashioned married couple. They had met young, liked one another, maybe without really being in love, and decided to marry because it was better than being alone for the rest of their lives.
It was the thing to do back then. Did anyone really know what being in love was and felt like? Nobody seemed to be able to truly explain it. Sure writers and poets had tried over the centuries, but they were almost certainly doped up on some sort of, what would now be classed as illegal, powder that was dubbed "snuff" back in those days. With a mixture of whatever wine or spirits were fashionable back then.
They were both happy enough in their lives together. He worked on their farm, raising sheep and cattle, selling meat to pay the bills, and she was the model farmers wife. Kept the house clean and tidy, cooked, baked, sewed, whatever was required of her.
She spent a lot of time wondering what their life may have been like had she been able to bear her husband a child. A son, who would eventually take over the farm and carry on as his father had from his father and so on. Or a girl, she could have married someone capable of carrying on the farm after they had both passed on. Or maybe she would be more hands on, and wouldn't mind getting her hands dirty. Her father would never fully approve of a woman running the farm, but maybe he would accept it, in time.
As they sat eating the lamb stew they had eaten many times before, and enjoyed just the same, the mindless commotion of the TV blaring in the background, no doubt some game show she liked to watch during the day between housework, they were both knocked into the moment by a loud bang that came from outside.
For the first time in what was probably years, they both looked up at each other across the kitchen table, almost with a concerned look. He furrowed his brow slightly before standing up to go to the kitchen window to see if he could see what may have caused such a loud noise.
"Can you see anything John?" she asked, not taking her eyes off him. He moved his head, like an owl looking inquisitively, trying to get a better look. "Nah, probably just comes kids messing about again, or the air force doing some sort of test" he replied before returning to his seat to finish his dinner. "Don't you think you should check on the stock? They might be spooked" she asked, "I'll check after dinner Emily" he responded, a little annoyed.
They lived in the countryside of southern Yorkshire, surrounded my fields. It was a good half hours drive to the nearest town, they enjoyed the solitude. This didn't mean they didn't have friends, they took part in local events, church raffles, county fairs and such, but generally they liked to keep to themselves.
They soon went back to their quiet dinner. When John had finished his stew, he grabbed his coat, stepped into his wellington boots, grabbing a torch off the kitchen counter and went out the back door, leaving Emily to clean up the dishes.
As he stepped off the back porch, he whistled for his two border collie's Rex and Molly to follow him, walking over to a small tractor and starting it up. The dogs followed behind, knowing never to get too close to the moving vehicle. He had to open a couple of gates to get into the fields where his live stock were grazing. Due to being a warm spring evening, he often let them stay out in the fields during the night.
As he approached the sheep, he shone his torch over the field, across the top of the bewildered sheep's heads. They weren't expecting him to come, they had already been fed, so were confused as to why he had come out in the pitch black.
He moved the light across the field from where he sat on his tractor, he noticed a mound, just out far enough that he couldn't make out what was going on. He moved his tractor closer towards it so he could better investigate what had happened.
Sitting back in the tractor seat, he switched the engine off, having pulled up beside what looked like a fallen bomb or meteorite. He examined the hole in his field and sighed "Bloody RAF!" he cursed. He saw what looked like a bomb, nuzzled into the earth, the rear end of his sticking out slightly, a pretty big one at that. It had happened before.
It wasn't the end of the world, but this was his land, and they had no right to drop test bombs on his land, his private property. He would be onto the M.O.D. first thing in the morning to complain.
He switched the tractor engine back on and made his way back to the farm house, whistling to Rex and Molly to follow.
