Heartland Hurt, Part Three

A slouched figure appeared upon the horizon, a sunset of a thousand hues at his back. Upon his shoulders rested a ragged swag; worn through with age and use. Bringing a hand up to cover his eyes, he surveyed the land before him with a critical eye.

‘Yes,” he thought with a nod, the corks on his hat swinging, ‘this land would do.’   

He trekked for hours across the flat, dirt covered land, avoiding the occasional stumps of trees that had long ago been felled. Above him, the clear blue sky stretched into the distance, the scorching eye of the sun glaring down at the already sunburnt land.  

Dust rose with each of his footfalls as he reached up to scratch at his full beard. Coming to rest beside the slightly charred remains of a solitary Blue Gum that stood alone upon a slight raise, he laid his swag down upon the dirt and wiped a sun browned hand along his sweat-dampened brow.

Reaching out a curious hand, he laid it down upon the dry trunk, watching ants march across its surface in determination. He knew that he would love this land, work and live upon it and someday . . . raise a family. It was here that he would build a home of wood and metal with his bare hands.  

That night he lay beneath the velvet sky and the glimmering stars, breathing in the hot summer air deep into his lungs. It was here that he would remain for years to come, living beneath the hot sun and amongst the bleating sheep. He would waken every morning to the restless breeze and the cackle of the resident kookaburras as they watched the dawning sun.  

His first lady and love would be the land.  

Reviews

[Mirra]

Was waiting for the names of the characters since part 1. Your descriptions about them and how you build the character made me think who they are. I love the flow of part 3, the love of the man for the land was seen from part 1 and you made it stronger by mentioning it here again. More chapters please!

[Tash Hill]

There most probably will not be any names for the entire collection. It is more to do with how the Australian land has survived through all that we have done to it. It is basically a very brief collection of events from Australian History, Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it.

There are more coming =)

[NoelHC]

If it is your intention to turn these chapters of Heartland Hurt into something longer, and cohesive, I like how you are introducing the characters, and bringing in different viewpoints, in this man we see a love of the land, different from that of the ebony woman witnessing the clearing of the land in the previous chapter, and certainly very different from those that cleared it.
This may answer my question in the previous chapter review, is the land being cleared for agriculture, the gum trees just burned?
Once again, I would love to see these chapters expanded in length, and I remain impressed with your writing.
Send me a request when part 4 is ready, and good on ya, mate! : )

[Tash Hill]

There is actually going to be no expansion on these. This is going to be a brief and mostly fill-in-the-blanks collection of short stories. It is following the story of the land more than the people. Although the people's stories are written. From the Swag man all the way through to the modern farmer and the traditional custodians of the land - this is all about how we have loved and used and destroyed the land during our time in Australia.

Tash

[NoelHC]

OK, I like that concept as well, the last Nobel prize winner for Literature, Alice Munro does that so well. A collection of short stories, sometimes with whole decades missing in the narrative, but enough hints to let you know what happened in the interim. It is quite effective. Looking forward to more from you.