The Tending Wife

            Ada was sitting by the fire nursing her newborn son, Bertram. She had been waiting for hours for her eldest son and husband to come home from hunting deep within the Black Forest. She glanced back at the dinner table, upon which sat the dinner she’d made for her family, now stone cold. Her heart jumped once more and she hugged Bertram closer to her chest, moving to the window. She wished to see Lukas and Fynn trekking down the path to their cottage, but the path remained as barren as her hopes.

            “Oh my. What on earth could have happened to make them so late for dinner? Perhaps they’ve hunted something large and are having to haul it back?”

            She sat by the window for hours longer, until the moon was high in the sky. The glow from the moonlight lit the path, but still no one wandered down it.

            “Please, God, let nothing have happened to my boy and husband,” pleaded Ada as she kneeled in prayer.

            Just then, she was startled by loud banging on the back door of the cottage. Ada jumped up and ran to the door, throwing it open to see her husband, Lukas, carrying her son, Fynn. Fynn was limp in Lukas’ arms.

            “Fynn! What’s happened?” she cried out to her husband.

            “We were out hunting in the Black Forest and we came upon a bear. We were as quiet as can be, trying to get by unnoticed, but Fynn stepped on a branch and it made a loud snapping noise that caught the bear’s attention. He charged at us. We ran but Fynn tripped. I screamed out at the bear and I seemed to have startled it as it ran off. But, when Fynn tripped he hit his head hard on a stone. What can we do Ada? Will my boy be okay?”

            Ada cleared the table of their cold, uneaten dinner. “Put him down here and I will tend to him. Grab me some damp washcloths to wipe the blood and dirt away.”

            Lukas gently laid his son down on the table and went to get the washcloths Ada needed. He knew Ada was a great and loving mother and would do anything she could to nurse her son back to health.

            Ada was relieved to see the rise and fall of Fynn’s chest, knowing he was breathing and still alive. She took a closer look at the wound on his head. It was deep and bleeding heavily.

            Lukas returned with the wet washcloths and Ada wiped away the blood and dirt around the wound. She soon realized it was much too deep for her to deal with on her own. They needed a physician to help stop the bleeding and stitch the wound together.

            “I cannot heal him on my own, Lukas. We need a physician. Someone to stitch the wound together to stop the bleeding.”

            “Perhaps I could go down to Doktor Leon Fischer’s place and he could help? He often saw to the men who were injured in the war,” Lukas replied, already heading to the door.

            “Go, go now and quickly!” Ada yelled after Lukas.

            Ada sat next to her son, praying he‘d recover from this injury. She tended to him the best she could until the door flung open.

            “Herr Doktor Fischer! Thank God you have come! My son is hurt, please help him!”

            The physician surveyed Fynn’s wounds and began working to heal him. Ada quickly fetched anything he asked for, wanting to help her boy as much as she could.

            “I have done all I can, now,” Herr Doktor Fischer said as he completed stitching the wound together and applying a honey salve. “You must keep watch over him and replace his bandages. Call upon me again when he wakes.”

            “Thank you, Herr Doktor Fischer! God bless you!” Ada replied. She made him a basket of goods to thank him for his help.

            Ada watched over him as Herr Doktor Fischer said, replacing his bandages and tending to him. Until, days later, she went to his bedside and his eyes fluttered open.

            “Fynn! Son, you are awake!”

            “Yes, Mutter, I am. What’s happened to me?”

            Lukas explained to his son that as they were trying to escape a bear, he had tripped and hit his head on a rock.

            “That explains the pain in my temple.”

            “Yes, Liebling. Lukas, you must go find Herr Doktor Fischer now so he can make sure Fynn has healed well.”

            Lukas left and returned with Herr Doktor Fischer and Bishop Schneider. They entered the house and were greeted heartily by Ada.

            “Oh, Herr Doktor Fischer he is awake! See? Bishop Schneider, thank you for coming, please have a seat.”

            Herr Doktor Fischer and Lukas went to check on Fynn while Ada and Bishop Schneider talked at the kitchen table.

            “Frau Becker, you have done very well under these tough times. You have provided for your sons’ and husband’s needs.”

            “Yes, the Lord has blessed us through my perpetual prayers. My son is getting better. That is all I can ask for, the health and happiness of my family.”

            “Yes, that is all we can hope for, Frau Becker. You are a pious woman and wonderful mother and wife. You and your family deserve this blessing and good fortune.”

Author's Note

This is a short story I had to write for a European Women's History class. It isn't the best as it was written approximately an hour before it was due. I did enjoy putting in cultural aspects to this story though, which was the whole point of the assignment.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

I love stories of this kind--deep in the forest and a time long past. As you, yourself, said it was rushed and therefore deficient in some ways, I'll not point out things that could be improved. (Barleygirl is one of the best reviewers around, so I recommend what she said)

[barleygirl]

Good to read a story from you again. You are a natural writer, if you could throw this down in an hour. Most people would struggle mightily to meet that kind of writing deadline & yet this feels as smooth & straightforward as if you'd spent a day or two on it. You use a balanced mix of explanation & dialogue which reveal your characters & make the reader attached to them & attached to their story, so that we want to continue reading & find out what happens.

There's just one little bad habit I notice in a few places, where you repeat stuff almost word for word, not just restating in different words. An example here: They needed a physician to help stop the bleeding and stitch the wound together. “I cannot heal him on my own, Lukas. We need a physician . . ." If you'd spent more time re-reading this, you would catch these (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie