Chapter Two – Day one in the village.
Your eyes peel themselves open, as wakefulness spreads within you. Propping yourself up on your elbows, you look around dazedly trying to remember where you are… Steve's house! Looking up through the square window above you see the pink-tinged clouds of dawn. You are surprised you managed to wake up so early; at home you usually sleep till noon on days off. Freeing your self from the tangle of sheets you get to your feet. The room is surprisingly chilly. For a moment you think of climbing back into bed and sleeping some more, but you decide to get dressed and have a look round, you're sure Steve wont mind. Your bedroom is completely empty aside from your bed, a square chest and some unlit torches on the walls. You walk over to the chest and lift the lid. Inside you see a very odd assortment of items. The putrid smell of rancid meat fills your nose as you see an old looking, uncooked pork chop, sitting on a small mound of dirt. How strange, you think. Next to that you see a bundle of sticks, a pebble and a broken pickaxe on top of-
'A diamond!', you exclaim. This had to be the weirdest collection of items you have ever seen. Why on earth would Steve keep an uncooked pork chop, a diamond and a mound of dirt in the same chest! You are about to explore the house further when you realise you should get dressed first. You gasp and sigh when you remember you left your bag of clothes on the bus. You suppose you'll just have to wear yesterday's clothes. You dress quickly and quietly, not wanting to wake Steve. You ease the door open, to your relief it doesn't creak. Creeping down the stairs, the hard stone feels cold on your bare feet. As you enter the living room you are surprised to see Steve already sitting at the table, eating for breakfast what looked like a salad. He pauses and looks up at you.
'Ah Reader, good morning. You had a good night, I trust?'
'Yeah, great thanks', you reply, still shocked he was up this early.
'Here I've made breakfast for you, I hope you like Water-melon-Pumpkin salad!'. Your stomach wretches at the though of water-melon and pumpkin together but you sit down, trying to hide your disgust. It takes you by surprise when you have your first mouthful and find that watermelon-pumpkin salad is a very pleasant thing to have for breakfast.
'I'm glad you like it', said Steve, 'It's one of the only things to eat around here'.
Not knowing what to say to this you continue with your salad and look around the room. It's easier to see everything in the pale light of morning. You see the square window behind Steve at one end of the room, as you had last night, and the narrow staircase at the other. You and Steve where seated in the angular armchairs at either end of the square table, which was adjacent to a small square fireplace on the right and the front door on the left. Finishing your salad you ask: 'So, what's to do today, Steve? Had anything in mind?'
'Well, I hope you'll accompany me to church, the whole village goes every morning. Then we'll jut see what we want to do next, okay?'
'Sounds good.'
Steve steps out of the door first, you follow and he closes the door behind you. Despite the calm skies the breeze blusters around you as you set off toward the village. The village looks so pleasant at day time. You are also surprised at how small it is, you look all around but you can only see eight houses, including Steve's. All the houses were made of wood on a grey-stone frame, with small, square glass windows, identical to the one in Steve's living room. You follow Steve along a cobble-stone path in-between two rows of houses. It's a short journey to the church since it was only at the other end of the path. On the way you pass a quaint looking wishing-well. You expect to see some villagers on the way but the village seems quite deserted. You assume they must all be at the church already. Steve pushes the wooden double-doors of the church open and you both step inside. You see a long rectangular room with rows of pews on either side. At the end there was a stage and, at one side, an altar. But as you see this you feel a rush of fear and awkwardness because all of the six villagers had turned around to stare at you with unblinking eyes. What shocks you more is that they all look completely identical and very freakish. Every one of them had a massive fore-head which looked twice the size it should be; and they all had drooping, long, thick, red noses. You stand, looking at each of them in turn, between the two rows of pews until Steve tugs on your sleeve so that you sit down on the back row. The villagers turn back to look at the altar where a villager in a purple robe was standing, arms folded. You expect him to speak, but instead he makes a wet sucking sound and saliva dribbles down his chin. You look left and right but no one seems phased by this expect you. The villager on the altar, who you assume is a priest, continues on in this way for some time, until everyone stands up and you see that all of the villagers had their arms constantly folded like the priest. Steve gets a folded piece of paper from out of his pocket and hands it too you.
'We're about to sing the village anthem, if you don't know the beat, just hum along.' he says. You unfold the note and read:
The people ofMineTownrise with the dawn and fall with the dusk,
A happy life of sunshine and sleep,
With mountains to mine andpigs to eat.
A humble existence of work, rest and play
Make the people ofMineTownfeel blessed and gay.
So long as you get home by the end of the day,
For if a stray child were to stay out to late,
He risks meeting a gruesome fate.
For AlthoughMineTownby day,
Might look a pleasant place to stay,
The light of the moon, reveals a different commune.
One of monsters and beasts,
That the night hath unleashed.
That last verse makes you uneasy. You try to hum along to the tune inconspicuously as you listen to Steve singing it. Steve was the only one actually singing it; the other villagers make gross, wet chocking and blowing noises that fired globs of saliva in every direction. You are very glad you sat on the back row. After the music had ended the priest made another wet grunting noise and every one filed out of the church. Since you sat on the back you get out first and wait against the outside wall of the church. As each of the villagers in turn passes you they all look you in the eye. You nervously look back at them. You've no idea what they could be thinking. When Steve exits the church you rejoin him and ask, in a whisper:
'Steve, what's up with those villagers?'
'Nothing really, they're perfectly pleasant people as long as you don't cross them and go to church everyday. Their strictly religious, you see.' Steve explained. This did not do much to cure your anxiety.
'Now, come one, what shall we do next? I want you to have a go at everything before tomorrow!'
'What happens tomorrow?'
'Uh nothing!'. Steve turns white. 'I know! I'll take you round all the houses! That'll give you a chance to get to know the villagers! Wont that be fun?', asks Steve with a false smile. He looks at you but breaks eye contact immediately, choosing instead to look at the floor.
'Come on, I'll take you to the butcher's.' He leads you to the first house and knocks on the door. The freakish and ugly face of a villager appears at the window and opens the door.
'Shyucccckckc gnehhhhh blegh', said the villager. A glob of spit lands on your face. Wiping it off you look at it's face. It (you couldn't tell weather it was male or female) had blank green eyes, and its protruding forehead was being held up by a long monobrow. You did not hide you look of confused disgust. There is no change in the expression of the villager.
'What's your name?', you ask and offer your hand. There is no reply but a stream of spit sliding down its chin. It did not seem to notice your offered hand either. You want to leave.
'Let's go to the next house, Steve.' you say without taking your eyes off the villager.
'What? But we've hardly seen- okay, never mind, whatever you want.'
As you walk across the cobblestone road to the opposite house Steve says:
'Don't be put off. Their nice people. They were very kind to me when I first came here… Here's the Farmers house'. He knocked on the door. Again, first the face appeared at the window, then the door opened.
'Hello Mister. Testificate' you say uneasily. Your eyes meet it's green-eyed gaze, just as blank and completely identical to the one before. A silence ensued until Steve says: 'This is Farmer Testificate… He's a farmer.' Steve gestured to a small plot of wheat growing next to the house. Farmer Testificate stared. You think you've been stood on the doorstep to long. You slowly shut the door between you and Steve and Farmer Testificate but he still stares at you from the door's window.
'Steve, I'm starting to get a bit freaked out. I don't want to meet any other villagers.' You turn and walk back to the cobblestonepath. The sun is directly above you; it's getting to be quite a warm day but there is a frontier of dark clouds in the distance.
