Alex Chapter 6: My shack

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This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Alex

The tour was officially finished so I was pretty left to my own demise.

I quickly returned to what would be my own shack, and saw that two men were already working hard on removing the second bed from the building.

They both saluted me but otherwise didn’t really strike up a conversation.

It didn’t take long for me to remain alone in my shack, crying on the bed.

A few days ago, I was living in a beautiful apartment with a wonderful boyfriend and able to basically paint all day without worrying about anything.

Sure, it looked like I would be able to still paint all day but without any freedom, any Internet, any boyfriend and any clothes.

I was basically now a prisoner of what I sensed was a doomsday cult!

After crying for what felt like hours, I realized I had pretty much cried every drop of tears I could and that my stomach was asking for food and water.

I peaked outside the door: there were no windows in the single room of the shack.

I could see two nude women sunbathing in the distance, three more in the pool slash pond and a few men, wearing dirty clothes, carrying various materials.

I could smell something delicious so I followed my nose toward the main hall.

Right in front of it was a fireplace where two man were roasting something. I couldn’t see well so I got closer and to my horror, it was a full pig on a pike being slowly turned over the fire.

One of the man addressed me “It’s almost ready lady. If you are hungry, the appetizers are already on the table, we’ll ring the bell soon to call the others”

Disgusted, I went inside and saw there were hand made ceramic plates piles next to a display of vegetables and fruits.

I grabbed one, filled it with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, well, almost anything that looked good and added an apple.

I left the hall and was intercepted by the two men.

“Eating on the go, hey? Wait a second, I’ll give you a slice, the exterior is just perfect”

I wanted to run away but instead, I remained firmly in place as he used a long fork and knife to cut off a piece from the pig roasting over the fire.

He placed it, to my horror, straight on my plate.

“I tell you, it’s perfect. Just nibble around the skin if you don’t have a knife, and don’t hesitate to come back for more! The rest will be served tonight. It’s not everyday we get a fresh pig!”

I thanked him almost silently and hurried back to my shack. I was relieved this wasn’t a daily occurrence and quickly placed my plate on my bed, next to me.

I looked at the piece of pork and honestly, had no idea what to do with it. It’s not that I was really a vegetarian, but seeing the animal it came from? No thank you…

I ate the vegetables around the meat, but some of the juice, grease, fat, whatever it was had dripped on some of them and I must admit the taste intrigued me.

That’s about when I heard the bell. A single gong resonated and I guess I now knew when the meals were served.

Carefully, I took a very small bite from the piece of pork and found it easy to chew and succulent. It was far from whatever I had eaten in the past.

I know that a lot of chef claim that the fresher the ingredients, the better the food and I suspected that they began grilling the poor animal minutes after he died, but it was definitely delicious and to much regret, I ended up eating all of the meat I could find.

I go back for more, but I did finish my plate, leaving only the skin in it and some fat or grease or whatever.

So, perhaps I could be able to eat if I closed my eyes on the source of the food. I knew the vegetables were farmed nearby by the men so why didn’t it occur to me that it was the same for the meat?

Because everything was foreign for me here. I was used to the comforts of city life, not farm life!

I remained on my bed, waiting for, well, whatever. A few hours must have passed when I heard a knock on my door.

It was the delivery man from earlier today, with several boxes of stuff.

With pleasure, I discovered tubes of various types of paint, including excellent acrylic tubes of over 40 colors, a mixing plate, brushes, drawing pads, pencils of different hardness, a sharpener, canvasses of multiple sizes, from small to huge, mixing spoons, containers to put the mixed paint, in short, everything I needed.

There were even 2 large easels so I could work on two paintings at once!

I was excited to discover the variety of supplies he had bought!

“Did you rob a painting store to get all of that?”

He blushed. “Well, I told them we had a new resident painter and that I wanted everything you could ever dream of needing. Three people helped me. The bill was a lot higher than I thought, but then, I remember how much we had paid for each of your paintings and realized that this was rather cheap of a price. If there is anything missing, tell me and I will get it to you later today or tomorrow if I arrive too late in town and the store is closed.

I thanked him. Finally, I had something to look forward to!

I did a survey and realized I had enough supplies to probably fill half of my canvasses. I told him to get more paint in a few days but that I had everything I needed to paint.

Except, of course, an apron but seeing their dress code, I didn’t think they would allow me to wear one, plus, a quick dip in a shower or a bath would solve everything.

He was about to leave when I thought of something.

“Could I get a few rags and a bucket of water?”

“Sure, give me a few minutes”.

I began sorting my supplies. Having no storage I used the boxes to make a sort of table for now.

The man came back soon with my rags and my bucket of water and saw what I had done.

“Oh, let me find you something to store and organize all of this”

While he was gone, I assembled the easels and placed a canvas on each of them. I already knew what my first painting would be so I took out a sketchpad and began planning my composition with pencils, sitting on the bed.

It didn’t take long for my delivery man to come back with the two men who had taken the second bed.

They brought several pieces of furniture: a small round table with 2 chairs, a small book case and a wooden crate.

“Sorry we didn’t find anything better. Tomorrow, I’ll try to find something more appropriate”, the delivery man apologized.

“Well, that’s almost perfect! Can I ask where to go to the bathroom however?”

“Oh, sure, I’ll show you”.

I followed him and discovered a small utilities building a few shacks away from mine with a common shower area, toilets and sinks. I marveled at the wonder of running water and was grateful this wasn’t banned by their rules!

I found both clean towels and a hamper with wet ones. I also found natural homemade soap by the showers as well as what looked like shampoo.

I decided to give myself a shower and was happy to discover that hot water wasn’t lacking!

It felt good to clean up and I soon enough had dried myself and returned to my sketching.

It’s only when I was done that I properly sorted all of my supplies in the book case and placed my canvas, those that could fit, in the crate.

I place all of my brushes and tools on the top shelf, all of my paint on the second, and my sketching supplies on the bottom one.

I heard the bell ring once and rushed to the common area to once again grab a plate and eat in my shack, this time at my own table.

The same food was available on the tables but instead of being deserted, a few people were already sitting at the table when I had picked my food. I looked in a hurry, made no eye contact and as such, everyone left me alone.

If I repeated that every day, perhaps I might find a way to survive this place!

Series Navigation«Alex Chapter 5: A tourAlex Chapter 7: Painting»
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