The Storm has passed. We must go on.
After a long night of cowering underneath our shelter, we escaped yet another storm with our lives in tact. My wife was a little shook up, so it was important for me to be brave for her. For the most part our shelter held up due to the extra protective beams put in place and we thank the gods for the successful power of the amulet, which seemingly did its part. One of our walls was destroyed, yet our roof stayed in tact. This will be easy to fix, because the extra beams were no longer needed for extra support, I took them down and used them to patch up the broken wall. I am no builder, but as an artist am crafty enough to figure out unconventional ways to fix things. Along with a little mud, our wall was as good as new. Unfortunately, however, and our storage container was outside of our house, where we keep our extra food, and has been completely been destroyed. The first thing we do is bring all our crops that we have stored there for the winter inside the house, so that wild animals cannot get at them. We will soon have an extra mouth to feed, so we must scavenge for as much has we can. Luckily, our good friends are farmers and they were lucky enough to have two thirds of their crops survive the storm; however, their home was completely destroyed. Thus, we saw an opportunity and allowed their family — a father, mother and two children — to stay under our roof as long as they could provide us with some crops, until we could find an adequate source of food or they could find adequate shelter. It was a mutually beneficial agreement, because this time of year was getting pretty cold, and predators lurked the mountain’s looking for the weak; thus, this way together with our resources, we could be strong.
The rest of the village is in dismay, full houses have been demolished, crop fields have been destroyed and some were even killed by giant balls of hail or by fallen debris. As I walk around the town, I do not recognize it, trees have fallen, covering up some of the pathway, fields that once flourished with tall grass and crops, were now flattened and dead; even the villagers don’t seem to be themselves. The idea of starting over haunts everyone, specifically at such a desperate time when winter is coming, and the crops that everyone has been growing over the warm months are meant to last us throughout winter. Furthermore, our precious bridge has collapsed, that connected us to our neighboring village. This bridge was essential to our economy and will need to be the first thing rebuilt if we are to receive aid and supplies from our allied villages. The bridge allowed for trade between our villages and thus an expansion of our culture, opening up a larger market in which I could more effectively sell my artwork. Furthermore, the bridge allowed us to travel out of the village and return safely, now we are stuck here; as well as, allowing important figures, such as lamas, to visit us, bringing good omens, now they cannot. Due to the crucial role the bridge serves in our community, I will donate fifteen gold pieces towards the effort to rebuild the bridge. Hopefully, every person will have the same idea, as it will take roughly two hundred gold pieces to fully rebuild the bridge.
Because I am an artist, my skills can not necessarily help contribute towards the efforts of rebuilding the village, so I will walk around and help where help is needed, begrudgingly leaving my wife behind to fend for herself. However I know in the company of the our friends she will be fine. I find work immediately at the site of the demolished bridge, because I am a man I can help out with any sort of monotonous laborious work that must be done. At the behest of the builders I begin to help clear the rubble. I also offered to paint the graves of anyone who lost loved ones for free in order to show my compassion for them. The only other thing I could do to lift the spirits of those that had lost more than I, was to put up prayer flags. The prayer flags consisted of five colorful, rectangular flags that hung on a string. Originally, the Buddha himself would write prayers in such a fashion that would protect his people from their enemies in desperate times. It is important to put the prayer flags up on windy mornings so that the protective powers and good fortune could be transported to the people of the village through the winds. With team work and dedication we can get through this as return our village to a prosperous state.
