Jay Sort Stories

The Field

Welcome young travelers to a tale of hunger and desolation. Our story begins in the year 1661 with a commoner named Dave. Dave, while ordinary, is quiet and straightforward. Each day starts with him waking up to the sound of crows. Although out of season, there always seem to be some crows around him and the town of White CrowHollow. One day, Dave wakes up and is done getting ready for the day; he heads down to feed the pigs in the pen and then tends to the fields of wheat. Wheat is one of the town's essential resources because CrowHollow is famous for its bread, not just bread but pastries, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and almost every kind of bread or doughy treat you can think of. So you could imagine one of the most beloved people in the town would be the baker. Though there is only one bakery. While almost everyone in CrowHollow knows how to bake, one is above them: Edgar, the baker. Being the baker, Edgar knows Dave well, because you can't make bread without wheat.

One day, Dave wakes to the sounds of the crow and gets ready to feed the pigs, but when he gets prepared to tend to the field, he notices the entire field is dead, barren, and rotten. Somehow, all the wheat went bad overnight. Thankfully, Dave has time to figure a way out of this due to the Silio they have for the winter seasons. Dave only had enough in the Silo to make his regular deliveries for the week after that. The town will be breadless. If that comes to pass, everyone will suffer significantly from the lack of their main commodity. Worse than that, all the hangry villagers will demand something to fill their bellies with and feed their livestock. It is up to Dave to find a way out of this predicament and get more wheat before the end of the week.

Before Dave could worry about getting more wheat, he needed to make regular deliveries so that no one suspected anything while figuring out how to fix this predicament. Edgar is preparing for the morning and opening his shop, realizing that Dave is late for his delivery. This is odd, but as he wonders where he is, Edgar hears a "Knock Knock." Dave seems unsettled on the backdoor with him breathing heavily, sweat on his forehead, and as red as a tomato. "Are you ok?" asks Edgar. "Yes, I am fine, just in a little bit of a hurry," Says Dave. "You're in a hurry; you've never been in a hurry for anything for as long as I've known you," replied Edgar. "Well, things happen, and you must find a way to fix them." "What things?"

Edgar says as he turns his back to put down the crate of wheat. Only to turn to face Dave and see him running off to his next delivery. Now that Dave has finished his deliveries, he can find a way to grow or buy enough wheat before the people realize there is no more. After hours of trying to find a way to grow enough wheat and learning not even the potent fertilizer could work fast enough, Dave heads to town Tavern to drown his sorrows. About their bottles Da, he overhears a conversation with a traveler passing through. He heard them discuss some fantastic things he had seen on his travels. Among such wonders was a never-ending canteen that refilled itself with whatever the owner wanted to drink." That's it," thought Dave; if he could steal the canteen and have it fill itself with a growth potion for the plants, Dave hoped.

Once The Traveler left the Town Tavern, Dave saw his opportunity to go to the canteen. On the Traveler's walk to the village inn, he was approached by Dave pleading for the canteen; Dave stuttered and cried, but all the Traveler could make out of his cries was, "My Village Depends on Me." "Slow Down, calm yourself," said the Traveler as he helped Dave up. After Dave had explained what had happened, the Traveler was more than happy to give Dave the canteen. So he did not have to worry about this and never had to worry about it again in case of another fallow field incident. Having expressed his thanks to the Traveler, Dave hurried home, hoping to bring the field back to life, after getting to the field and dumping the canteen liquid onto the ground. Dave could not believe his eyes as the field changed from a barren wasteland to a ready-to-harvest crop. Dave now never has to worry about drought or famine for the town again and lives a more luxurious life. Since he doesn't have to worry about the fields, he is making more Wheat than ever and more money than he knows what to do with. So our story ends with him falling asleep on his silk bed and hearing the crows before "Chaw chaw" at night.