We Had No Doors

Where I lived we had no doors. Our little community lived in a sheltered location and I had many brothers and sisters. In fact we had quite an extended family all living in close proximity.

Our family was quite industrious, there was plenty of work needed to keep our house in order. Every morning we went out very early in order to sustain ourselves even from a quite young age. We retreated to our home as the sun rays became intense, the days were quite hot and we sought sanctuary in our quite little home. Again in the late afternoon we ventured out to resume our activities of the morning until the cool of the evening caused us once again to seek refuge.

The lifestyle had remained to same for many generations, our home was extended to meet the needs of a growing family but still there was no need for doors.

We lived a very frugal lifestyle, there was rarely any excesses, our desires were easily fulfilled. Fashion was never a consideration but we were always careful with our appearance, you might say our grooming was quite neat and tidy to the point of little variation. Outsiders had trouble to tell us apart. They all look the same, just bigger or smaller versions of one another.

As the seasons changed so did our necessary activities to sustain our lifestyle. We would need to venture further from our home, our hours would become longer. Sometimes one of our family would not return. Had they become lost, found a member of another community to whom they were attracted or fallen victim to deadly fate. We would never find out, our communications were not well developed.

As I was growing up, at first I was very timid and looked to my mother for clues to my behaviour, as I grew older I gained confidence. Perhaps too much confidence is dangerous although it was clear that confidence was rewarded. "Greener pickings" were the reward of the confidence.

Our environment began to change. The "Greener pickings" were more often available, our ability to sustain ourselves was easier, our community was growing, our home had to have further extensions but we still had no doors.

Life was good, we had finished our morning activities and were resting as a family group in our home. First it was just a distant rumble which got slowly stronger. Then the ground began to shake, everything was collapsing around us, the roar was terrifying. Destruction was devastating and complete.

"Everything that I grow, they just eat half of it, those bloody rabbits. Rip their burrows up with the bulldozer The only way to get rid of them." The farmer justified his action.