Hilda from the Farm (eBook)

A life in Agriculture

Sonja Bohlen (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
254 Seiten
novum publishing (Verlag)
978-1-64268-622-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Hilda Ihben grows up on a farm in East Frisia. The lives of the adults on the farm are characterized by constant hard work, which is not very profitable, and a feeling of hopelessness and despair. Hilda, who is ten years old, already helps out on the farm and is always concerned about the recognition of her parents, who, however, hardly notice her except as a free helper. A fateful accident involving a stud bull drastically changes the lives of everyone on the farm. Hilda's father leaves the farm to learn how to cope with his new circumstances at a rehabilitation clinic. Hilda enters a drawing contest sponsored by a shopping center, hoping to win the grand prize and bring a little joy into her family's life.

Textauszug

 

1.

Hilda looked at the little kitten as it hungrily munched on the bowl of freshly milked cow's milk. She had carefully poured the milk into the small porcelain bowl, which was now the object of this little creature's desire. "Hilda, why are you crouching lazily on the floor? Make sure the calves are fed!" The mother's shrill voice made both child and kitten jump for cover. Hilda jumped up without a word and ran over to the milk chamber, the shock of this loud attack causing her to flee. "Lazy thing!" she heard her mother shout. As Hilda heaved the two heavy milk churns, which her father had previously filled with fresh cow's milk, onto the old handcart to take them over to the calf barn, she thought sadly of the argument her parents had had again that morning. It was the daily, never-ending work on the farm, caring for the animals, the work in the fields that was now added in the summer. It robbed her parents of their quality of life, as Sina's mother had explained to Hilda. Sina was Hilda's best friend and the two of them went to the fourth grade of elementary school together in the small town where they both lived. Sina's family, including her parents and her brother Sven, who was three years older, also lived on a farm. But there was also Andi, who helped Sina's family with the farm work, and Sina's grandparents also lived and worked on the farm. Perhaps that was also the reason why Sina's mother was able to work in her profession. Hilda's mother kept saying in a derogatory tone that Sina's mother was too lazy to work in the barn, but Hilda was convinced that this was not the case. Sina's mother was not lazy at all, on the contrary, Hilda always admired the family's wonderfully tidy and clean house, and best of all, there were no flies in the house; it was a mystery to Hilda how Sina's mother managed to keep those pesky little insects out of the house. In her own family home, these little troublemakers were part of everyday life in summer and Hilda was almost glad every time summer slowly turned to fall and the colder season put an end to these pests.

Now Hilda watched the little calf as it sucked its teat with relish and hungrily enjoyed the still warm milk. The calves were separated from the mother cow immediately after birth so that they could not get used to drinking from the udder. After that, it would be very difficult to get them used to the teat of the teat bucket. This morning there were eight calves to look after. Hilda loved looking after the sweet calves. She naturally wanted to do her utmost to lift the parents' spirits, and any job that was done to their satisfaction was of course an advantage. Besides, today promised to be a wonderful day. It was Sunday and Sundays were generally not good days in their home. The parents' mood was always a little worse on Sundays: they always said, Sunday or not, every day is the same for us anyway. But today they, Hilda and Sina, were invited to the birthday party of the twins Lisa and Lena from the neighboring village. The four girls had known each other since kindergarten.

The morning dragged on for an agonizingly long time. As her parents were busy in the field turning the mown grass so that it could dry into hay, Hilda made herself a sandwich to stave off hunger. She looked at the two finely wrapped parcels that she had carefully prepared for the twins and thought to herself that they would certainly be very happy.

The call of her friend from afar snapped Hilda out of her thoughts. She looked down to the road, where Sina was driving towards her happily king. It was a warm summer's day and the children's anticipation was great.

After hastily opening presents, tearing up paper and eating delicious birthday cake, the old barn, which had been colorfully decorated and transformed into a party room, became a noisy mess. The children agreed on a game of hide and seek, which was played throughout the farmyard. The twins' family lived on a remaining farm, which their parents had bought up before they were born in order to fulfill their dream of owning a horse farm. The father was a manager in a large company and earned a good income, so they were able to invest generously and create a sizeable property.

However, the small birthday group was now primarily interested in the hay and straw barn, where there were plenty of places to hide. It seemed perfect for their plans. The afternoon developed into a merry race, romp and catch, and of course there was a wonderful romp in the hay and straw and quite a bit of straw from the upper straw store, which the children had climbed up the safe staircase, flew over the railing and down to the walkway. Hilda and Sina had been holed up in a safe hiding place for a while, giggling repeatedly at the search parties running past, when suddenly a loud male voice boomed through the straw hall. "Damn, what are you doing here? What does this place look like? Get in here now, everyone!"

The twins' father had entered the hall and the devastation he saw there caused such a sudden outburst of rage that all reason was extinguished and he almost forgot himself. The children paused so abruptly in their wild actions that they struggled to catch their breath to make sense of the situation they had found themselves in completely unnoticed. "We were playing hide and seek, Dad," came the thin voice of the braver of the two twins. It was only at this moment that Lisa realized how the barn had been ravaged and looked over anxiously at her sister, who had meanwhile entrenched herself in the background. There had already been a lot of damage, some of the bales of straw had fallen down. "This will be cleared up immediately, so the party is over. I'll lock you in here and inform your parents, they can come and see what you've done. If necessary, they can help!" The children were shocked that they were now to be locked in here and that their parents would also be informed. Quite a few of them started to cry. Hilda and Sina, who had now dared to come out of hiding, looked around anxiously and didn't quite know what to do. Hilda was sure that her parents would not come here; she knew that the work in the field had to be finished and that would take until the evening or longer. When the twins' father had left the hall at a quick pace, his face red with anger, and the children had actually heard the hall door being locked, a depressed, anxious mood spread.

The children set to work, intimidated and stiff-limbed, but at first didn't really know where to start or how to put the destroyed bales of straw back together again. During the meagre attempts, they increasingly blamed each other and heated arguments developed. While some frustratedly stacked bales of straw or collected empty drinks bags and juice bottles, the others worked with brooms and dustpans. The work was accompanied by loud accusations and insults. But before the whole situation threatened to escalate, they suddenly heard the lock on the hall door being opened again. The first snatches of conversation reached the children's ears. "Look at the mess your children have made here." The twins' father entered the hall first. Hilda now also recognized the voice of Sina's mother, who made it clear in no uncertain terms what she thought of the whole situation. "Sorry, Thomas, but in my eyes it's absolutely not right that you've locked the children in here, they're still children," she said angrily. The twins' father ran his hand through his hair and mumbled something about "fuses blown" and "put yourselves in my shoes". During the verbal arguments, Hilda saw her mother striding into the hall and was shocked to the core. "Hilda, where are you? Come here now!" Hilda's mother looked menacing and everyone present now turned their attention to the almost predator-like person rushing in. Hilda was close to fainting, her knees went weak and all color drained from her face. Slowly and with her head bowed to the ground, she broke away from the group of children and walked hesitantly towards her mother. "You ungrateful piece of work, you," she shouted at the child. "You know very well that we don't have time for such filth!" The mother took a strong swing and punched the girl in the face, knocking her to the ground. "You clean up this mess and then you help us with the hay, do you understand?" she shouted at the child, who slowly stood up and held her bleeding nose. The assembled group watched in horror at what had just happened and no one knew how to react at first. While the twins' father looked around nervously with his hands clasped at his sides, Sina's mother was the first to regain her composure and ran after Hilda's mother, who had now hastily stepped out of the hall. "I'm sorry, Anni, but I'm appalled by what you've just done here!" Hilda's mother turned around jerkily and looked Sina's mother in the face with a belligerent look. "You listen to me, Tina, how I treat my child is still my business, and if Hilda can't behave herself, then she doesn't deserve any better," she barked at her. Sina's mother had regained her composure and replied in a matter-of-fact voice: "In my eyes, the real problem here is once again with the adults. Thomas and Sabine should have made it clear to their daughters and the birthday group what is okay and where the boundaries are, so the parents of the birthday children are partly to blame! I don't think your Hilda or the other children would have done this if it had been clearly forbidden from the outset!" Hilda's mother shook with excitement and anger, but her posture also showed helplessness. "It's done now and it will be put right, God knows I don't have time for this kind of crap, my husband needs me in the field!" she replied emotionlessly and left the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 16.5.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Biografie • Geschichte • Sonja Bohlen
• ISBN-10: 1-64268-622-0 / 1642686220
• ISBN-13: 978-1-64268-622-7 / 9781642686227