History of the Trap: November Harvest Part 5

5

It was the best stew I had ever had in my entire life.  Yes, there was fresh meat in it, but only enough for taste.  But what a taste it was.  And it was goat meat, something I had never had before.  To me it had a mild beef flavor, but some of my other friends were saying it was similar to veal or venison.  I don't know.  After six months of canned meats, beans and peanut butter, it tasted like heaven.

The administration was determined to make the Thanksgiving meal special, and it certainly was.  The full bounty of our harvest was before us, and we all dug in with gusto.  We all sat around the table, and enjoyed the stew, and a cornucopia of other fruits and vegetables.  Nothing of this meal came from our store of processed foods.  Everything was fresh and homegrown.  We even had a small glass of fresh milk.  I was less than thrilled with that part of it, with the milk not being cold, and kind of thicker and sourer than I was used to.  But for many, it beat the heck of Tang and Kool-Aid,

The stew had plenty of vegetables, and a broth flavored from the goat meat.  There were carrots and potatoes and celery and tomatoes and navy beans, both in the soup and served as side dishes.  There were fruits like strawberries and raspberries and pears and apples.  Some of these were found on our additional land, but most had been grown miraculously quickly.

Some of our farm kids had moved out to the barn area, setting up portions of it for living quarters, and other parts for milking and slaughtering.  There were about a dozen guys that moved out there, including the Hodges brothers and the Deneau twins.  David Deneau's move meant that he would no longer be available for my soap opera, The Sands of Loren.  He wanted to concentrate on making a larger contribution to our community, and who could blame him.  Helping make sure the farm was well managed, and our food supply assured, was certainly more important than being the heartthrob in TV show,

Of course, that meant I had to explain his absence in my soap opera, as his detective character was the chief love interest of my lead, Dr. Brenda Marr (played with dramatic flair by Franny Cranfield, my very talented next door neighbor).  Having him fall into a raging Huron River, that was cresting due to a surging flood, and be swept away, left most viewers very angry.  Some blamed it on my depression due to Lisa's murder, but I was just trying to give David an out.  Perhaps I should've had him visit an aunt in Poughkeepsie.

"Man, why did you have to take out Detective Tommy Haskins like that?" asked Robert Bond, sitting across from me.  "Couldn't he have just gone somewhere for awhile?"

"Why, Robert, I had no idea you were such a fan," I said teasingly.

"C'mon, Robert," cajoled Artie.  "Don't you know anything about soap operas?  Did you see a body?"  Robert was his best friend since the time they could toddle to each other's house, having grown up right next to each other.  The connection between the two ran very deep.  Robert wasn't the most talkative amongst us, and he wasn't the brightest, but he was the most loyal and trustworthy. "Besides, you know where David is now.  Aren't you working out there yourself?"

Robert had been part of the agricultural team that had set up and grown the fruits and vegetables we were joyously consuming.  "Yeah, but I'm not gonna live out there.  I mean, there's only so much room out there and..."

"And you would miss us!" piped in Ginny.  She was seated next to Artie.  Artie was on my side of the table, and Ginny was in-between Artie and me.  That should have left me flustered, but whatever feelings I used to have for Ginny had dissipated.  She was with Artie now, and there was a girl in my heart now that was gone but not forgotten.

Robert turned a little red.  "I could manage out there.  It's just that....."

"You've grown accustomed to our faces!" chimed in Arletta Mierkey, one of the newest members of Artie's gang.

Robert turned redder.  "I know where I belong," he softly said, looking at Artie.

"And we're glad you're here," assured Artie.  "Like you said, their space is limited."  Artie raised his glass of milk.  "To Robert, and his incredible contributions to the feast we have before us!"

We all clinked glasses, even those whose glasses had already been emptied.  And yes, my milk was barely touched.  I hated to waste it, but a couple of sips were enough to convince me that I wasn't starved enough to drink it. 

As we set our glasses back down, Ginny said, "I think, this being Thanksgiving and all, we should all say what we're thankful for."

Artie looked at her, shaking his head a bit.  "I'm not sure that's a great idea, Ginny."  I think Arties was concerned about people like me, who had suffered such recent losses. Ginny looked over at me, a sad look in her eyes.

I decided I would have none of it.  It was time to break the eggshells.  "I think it's a good idea, Ginny.  I'll start."

Everyone hushed and looked at me, not sure where I was going to take this.  "I'm thankful that, unlike many here, my father is in here with me, and my sister.  I miss my mother, but those two help me remember her.  I'm thankful that I have such wonderful friends, who have been there through everything.  And I'm thankful no one is going to force me to drink the rest of this milk."

That broke the ice.  Laughter helped us endure many things.

Ginny was next.  "I'm thankful that my sister, Mary, is here with me."  She extended her hand to Mary, who was sitting across from her, and she squeezed it gently.  "I'm thankful for the warm sun, and the rains that come every Wednesday afternoon.  I'm thankful for all the things that Artie does..."

"Okay, we don't need to go into all that," interrupted Artie.  Ginny blushed, a deeper red than even Robert achieved.

Ginny's sister, Mary, picked it up.  "I'm also thankful for my sister, Ginny, even when she picks on me.  I'm thankful for all those who have tried to help us get out. Even if it didn't work, they tried, and gave us hope."  We knew she was thinking of big Jim Kurrash, whom she had grown sweet on, and had lost his life trying to create a tunnel to get us out.

"I'm thankful we still have music," piped in Arletta.  "And books, too.  And I love your soap opera, Lance.  Even if I can't leave here, my imagination can."

Larry Wiseman spoke up, another new friend, the super intelligent freshman, and one of the very few Jews in the Trap.  "I'm thankful that we can still use the laws of science and reason to make our lives better.  I'm thankful that the Trap recently changed shape, because that means it may be degrading over time, and if we can find out why it weakened in one place, maybe we can apply it to other parts of it, and weaken those as well."

"And then we'll be out at Burger Chef before you know it!" joked Artie. "I'll tell you, though, I don't think even Burger Chef can top this meal!" There were murmurs of agreement.  Yes, Burger Chef would have been incredibly tasty, but we were on a high of food that we had grown and prepared right here in the Trap. "I'm thankful that we have raspberries, ones that we can eat, and ones that we can give."  That led to a round of verbal raspberries.  "Seriously, I am thankful that, through all this madness, we have each other.  I am thankful to be surrounded by the best friends in the universe."

Robert cleared his throat, and then said, slowly, with much emotion.  "I am thankful for you, Artie.  I have been since the day I met you.  I am honored to have lived my life with you letting me by your side."

Artie went around the table, and gave Robert a big hug.  Then we all got up and joined in. Including Jerry Mack, who had not yet spoken.  While we were in our hug, I heard him quietly say, "This is what I'm thankful for."