Acceptance And Spreading The Good Word
1959 Words
The group of Priests and Priestesses had earned quite a good name for themselves when they first entered town today. Not only were they accepted into the community, feeling a bit sceptical at first sight, but later got the reputation by a few things noticeable by the citizens alike — ability to lighten one's load of work.
The citizens noticed that the latrine pits they were living next to before don't smell anything at all. The only thing they smell was something fresh like as if the latrine pit didn't exist beside them anymore.
Previously when the residents arrived at their houses after their work to change or rest, a very faint smell of faeces would be wafting around since the pit would likely be heated up and the aroma of more than 300 citizens' faeces would be permeating from the 'black hole'.
But not today, as the smell of the area was kind of fresh and welcoming. When someone poured the contents of their potty over earlier, what they could hear was some sizzling and the slight smell of something putrid burning and then it was all gone.
When someone peered over the edge, the found that there's a lot of whitish deposits left inside it and there seems to be a radiating heat surrounding the walls that cause the waste to break down almost instantly.
When those citizens living near the pits asked who were the ones who made such improvements, all fingers pointed to a single group — the Priests and Priestesses. "So those were the ones that improved the latrine pits for us, yeah?"
"I thought they were a kind of evil Witches that dances around at the moonlight, cuts up black chicken, black dogs and anything black and shower in their blood or something like that? That's what I used to hear but they are just normal people, just like you and me." an Irish Travellers shared her thoughts to her friends.
"Yeah, and normally cats and dogs when they first see these evil Witches would bark, grovel, hiss and spit at them, but with my own very eyes, I see the exact opposite. Sir Blackie was dancing around and was being petted by the two young girls. The cats too were simply slithering around and asking for attention."
"That's true... Very true. And normally evil Witches don't come out in the day and would be active in the night. But I see them to be friendly, jovial, talkative and also loves mingling with the community."
"Yes, Yes... Maybe Witches are like humans too. Some are good and most of them are bad. I saw one of the man walking about with the one tending the herb garden. They seem to clique really well."
"Hello, ladies... Frankly speaking on my personal experiences, they are not Witches or Sorcerers. They had been wrongly criticised and labelled by society."
"In fact, these Priests and Priestesses were normal people like us. Almost most of them use biblical verses before they start chanting or perform their blessings. These Priests and Priestesses help people like us and only some people who are easily influenced and instigated would go against them."
"Frankly speaking, those who instigate or spread rumours are those people who are jealous that they don't have a strong spiritual belief in God. That's all."
"So what could they do? They spread vile rumours and these affect the livelihood of those Priests and Priestesses. This giving them a bad name and a wrong perception of them."
"They were mainly treated worse than the Irish Travellers and lived as an outcast away from society, deep in forests or close by rivers et cetera." a guard butted in on the conversation and spread positive vibes about these Priests and Priestesses so that news would spread like wildfire, firstly among the ladies and soon within the whole community.
These guards were trained and they knew that these Priests and Priestesses meant no harm and what they did, with their special abilities was actually help the community... No — Gracehaven to reach a pinnacle of new developments and progress...!
As the citizens were bustling to prepare dinner consisting of game meat, green peas, diced carrots, corn kernels and lentils when some of the Priests were crying when they were preparing dinner — this was the first time they were cutting onions...! The ladies laughed along with them as they prepared other ingredients as well.
"We are making a simple curried game meat ladies... So these vegetables need to be parboiled for some time especially the green peas until it broke through its shell." Old Kayla instructed and when Farah heard about it, she approached her.
"Hmm... Ma'am, do these peas need a long time to boil and break through its shell?" Farah inquired and was rebutted by Old Kayla. "Haish... Don't call me a Ma'am, child. You can call me — Mama. Wouldn't that sound better?" Old Kayla smiled and patted Farah's head.
"B... But you are also a Minister, I can't be calling you Mama Minister right? Err... What shall we call you instead?" Imelda was scratching her head when she felt stumped at calling a Minister none other than 'Ma'am'.
"Oh...when I am not around with His and Her Majesty, you can call me Mama. Besides, I do not have any children and most of the kids here call me Granny. When I'm in meeting or conference, you can address me as Old Kayla and my husband as Old Jack."
"Ooo... Alright, Mama. Hehe. It is weird calling you Mama since it was not being used by me and my big sister here for so long. We have never called other people 'Mama' before except for our own." Imelda quipped and Farah somehow smiled at the thoughts.
"So both of you are sister? How come I didn't know that..." queried old Kayla as she was dicing those carrots in the cutting board.
"Oh... We have different fathers and different mothers, but yes, Farah here is my big sister..." Imelda replied but she hid her face with her arm because she was trying to stifle her giggling. It took a while before old Kayla realises what Imelda was trying to mean and she laughed out loud.
"You are quite quirky eh, young lass. Hahaha. So Farah, right? You were asking about the peas... Why? You didn't like them?" Old Kayla looked at Farah but the latter came up and whispered to her and the former's eyes sparkled.
"Is that so? Then do it then. As long as it could be hastened, I don't see why not." Old Kayla pointed to the cauldron filled with water and peas and Farah went close to it. She just touched the brim of the cauldron and soon the water inside it was gurgling like it was some sort of volcanic lava...!
The rest of the ladies looked because of the gurgling sound was a bit too loud and the ladies peered at what Farah was doing. After less than a minute, Farah releases her finger and thick, white searing hot steam was then suddenly released into the air.
The smell of green peas could be smelled permeating from the cauldron and when Farah scooped up the peas, it was all broken out from its shell, indicating that the peas were ready to be eaten...!
Oohs and Aahs reverberated within the courtyard as they knew that boiling peas could be a chore since they need to be 'pressured' during cooking and this may take an hour or so.
"Splendid my child, thank you so much. You really helped a lot in our preparation. So, could someone strain off these peas, place them in cool water and place them aside first to remove its outer skin before mixing them together with the pottage?"
Old Kayla instructed and the one who did that was Wendy, who strained the peas into another cauldron. After she had done so, she carried the cauldron gingerly by its brim as though it was like made of wicker, and drew water from the river. Next was Imelda who blew into the water, just a few Fahrenheit above freezing point so that the water was chilled.
The ladies watched wide-eyed and was wondering ifs its witchcraft, magic or sorcery that was unfolding before their eyes. Taking the cue, old Kayla simply announced, "All these could not be possible without God's assistance and approval. Amen."
"Amen..." the Priestesses responded, stating clearly that these are not what the citizens were thinking but also made them realise that these Priestesses were Christians too.
The ladies nodded their heads as they dipped their hands to run those peas to remove its hard outer skin. These outer skin would be used as an ingredient for the horse bread or fodder for the animals and were collected when the skin was floating above the surface of the water inside the cauldron.
"Wow... I really didn't realise that having Priestesses assistance would greatly enhance our cooking time, eh? The water feels like it's winter already. It feels so cool to the touch. Girl, when the boiling of the peas just now, the water seems like its gurgling out of control. Is it too hot for the cauldron to withstand?"
A lady inquired to Farah out of curiosity as she saw Wendy carried the cauldron to the river bank to dispose of the greenish water into the stream.
"Oh, the cauldron is cool to the touch but since it was on a stove so it's a bit warm. The water inside was boiling point but that doesn't affect the cauldron at all. See how my elder sister carries the cauldron easily? It's pretty heavy, you know but her special abilities allow her to carry them as light as feather."
Farah explained since nearly everyone saw Wendy carried the cauldron with so much ease. "If a horse-drawn wagon gets stuck in a river, all she do was ask for Lord's help and then it would become light. If our Lord doesn't allow it then it stays there as it is. But most of the time our Lord hears her prayers, just like ours too."
"Ooo...just like a person with divine powers then." a lady finally concluded but Wendy who heard it quickly corrected the phrase. "I'm sorry sister, we are not bestowed with divine powers. We are, after all, humans and made from flesh and blood. We are just gifted, that's all. Meant to do good for others and none of the bad and evil."
"That's right, special abilities or gifts, not divine like God Himself. These Priests and Priestesses are here to help us achieve a better living condition here in Gracehaven. Remember that, ladies. To make our lives simpler and more enjoyable." Old Kayla added as she gave a wink at Wendy, who responded with a slight bow.
Now that the good word had been spread around, everyone felt at ease when it comes to dinner time as they discussed in low tones about the arrival of the Priests and Priestess and how they made the latrine pits work more efficiently and then the quick sand pit into a very nice looking duck pond with clumps of grasses and some new tenderlings from a tree.
They were eating and discussing among themselves and everyone nodded approvingly at the arrival of the Priests and Priestesses to Gracehaven.
Soon after dinner, it was time for our nightly conference as the citizens cleared up the dining tables aside and arranged the benches in the courtyard.
Everyone was full of anticipation and can be seen from their faces as they sat and the newly inducted group was sitting at the forefront of the whole assembly.
- Writer
