Mrs.+Geib+Assyrian+Narrative

“Maria! Come here and pick up the water jug!” my mother exclaimed as I slowly shuffled from the town square. Argh, I thought. Another boring day with more chores to do while my brother gets to spend time with my father out in the fields. Although I was grateful that my father had a prosperous field of barley, we had food to eat every night, and plenty of goats, sometimes I longed for some adventure. Little did I know what was about to happen to our village within the next couple of minutes… Suddenly, I heard unearthly sounds, sounds I hadn’t ever heard before. The furious pounding of hundreds of horse hooves made the ground shake beneath me. Gilded chariots with their wheels sparkling like sun discs came hurtling toward our village. Next came the whizzing of arrows, skillfully released directly into my brethren, my neighbors. “Dear god of the sun, who are these devils?” I heard my neighbor shriek as stones followed the arrows. I hastily made my way towards our earthenware hut and shut the door. Oh my goodness, I thought. My father and brother! They were outside the city walls tilling the fields while Mother and I were (so we thought) safely ensconced within the town. But there was no time to think of them now. I had to fight for my own life and hope against all hopes that they would survive. I went into the larder and began to stockpile my satchel with bread, figs, dried goat jerky, and a flask of honey wine. I gingerly lifted my mother, who had passed out on the floor, and placed her in our larder. Although it seemed an odd thing to do, I felt that at least my mom would be well fed and frightened. What to do, what to do…I decided that there was no reason for me to remain terrified and simply wait to be killed. The lore of the Assyrians was infamous and I knew that these soldiers had no mercy. In the past, their soldiers only fought when the harvest was over, but ever since - became their fearless leader