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A quote: “The secret to happiness is freedom… And the secret to freedom is courage.” ~~ Thucydides
I’ll start with a story …
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On my honor …
She waited outside the barn as the band of riders approached, dust not obscuring the tattered uniforms or hard eyes.
“Old woman, you will fetch us supplies. Now. Quickly.”
She stared into his eyes and did not move.
A volley of shots from within the barn quickly dispatched the invader’s patrol. Young men emerged from cover, one came to her.
“M’am, good thing your husband reached us in time.”
The cities were gone, but …
She lifted her chin, “Grateful you Scouts have remembered your oath.”
… do my duty to God and my country …
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license.
Navig8r says: Another year and another branding. She had spent the day wrestling calves with the boys, the dust still showing on her jeans. She reflected on the irony of the city girls she met online who considered themselves so empowered and oppressed at the same time, who couldn’t do any of the things she could. Well, in their terminology, what could be expected of the offspring of hamster birthing persons and elderberry scented non-birthing persons? The cows had dispersed, all headed in random directions. Whatever direction those twitwits were from the ranch, there was a cow farting in their general direction.
Dupin says: Hilarious. I like it!
Cameron says: I walked up behind her and followed her view of the cattle. The animals grazed contentedly, heedless of anything else. She turned to face me as I got close.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
“The bad news is the ransomware attack hit three processing plants in the span of an hour. This means meat deliveries are going to be delayed by several weeks.”
“Is there good news?”
“Yep. Our plant was the one that drove off the Microsoft guy with a shotgun and we’re still in business. Dad is in a bidding war with several companies for our cattle.”
Just as the landlubber underestimates the courage of the sailor, the dirtsider fails to grasp the courage a spacefarer must possess. Both the sea and space are inimical to human life and utterly unforgiving of even small errors. To survive, one must work closely together and trust that others will do their jobs properly, even when no one’s watching, even when it’s easier to cut corners.
Perhaps we should not be so astonished that Earth has increasingly turned its back on its children who chose the high road. Those who stay behind are the sort that are frightened by the risks we take on a daily basis, and no doubt they also find alarming the sort of person who can live with such risks on a daily basis.
Dupin says: People move along tree line. Freeze in place.
Rustlers.
Focused on cattle. Don’t see me. See two, assume three.
Drop when they’re hidden. Slope back for AR-10. Back up to prone.
Dad’s laid up. Won’t bother him. Lissa is off away. Gunshot will warn both.
They’ll pick a cow close to them. Far for me, but not too far. Not with the scope.
I see them again at the edge. There are three, grouped together.
I check distance.
Nice shot. Cow drops. They wait.
I check windage.
Two come out, one guards from the trees. I set crosshairs on him.
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