THE OLD FARMHOUSE

The tall yellow grass was spread out across the land, and wavered gently in the light wind. The valley was beautiful to behold, a field of yellow grass on the canvas of the land. The veldt was wide and open. The grass swayed gently in the breeze.

And among the rich, tall grass cut a solitary dirt road through the valley. The road was not well kept, and full of rocks and potholes. It was a red and dusty road, and the tracks of vehicles that had passed here days before, were barely visible on its surface. At places the veldt was dissected by old fences that marked the boundaries of the various farms. The fences stood worn and dilapidated out in the veldt.

Overhead the sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun shone brightly. Only a few scattered fleece clouds dotted the sky, and the day was extremely hot. The insects buzzed in the veldt, and among the bushes that dotted the outstretched grassland. Thorn bushes and trees, and other indigenous plants and trees, were scattered throughout the veldt. The land was rocky, and the rocks were strewn out amongst the trees and grass. They varied from large boulders, to smaller rocks, and right down to the size of small pebbles.

Out amongst the rich yellow grassland stood a solitary old farmhouse. A few head of cattle and two dozen sheep grazed on the grass growing close to the house. The house was old, and plaster broke off from some places on the wall. It had a light blue zinc roof that stretched out over a wide porch. The porch looked out over the wide valley. The house was more than a hundred years old, and was built out of rock, which was then plastered with a mixture of mud and cow dung. It was painted white, which colored to light cream in the dust.

Each room had one small window, and the floor was made from the same plaster-mixture as the walls. The interior of the house had several large rooms, one of which was a kitchen. It was cool inside the house, compared to the heat outside. A cool breeze blew over the porch and three people were sitting on it. Two of them sat on an old wooden bench, and the third occupied a chair. They were patiently waiting for the arrival of someone. The old white house with the light blue roof stood steadfast out in the veldt under the hot yellow sun. The grass bent in the breeze.

Several large trees grew in the farmyard, and the area surrounding it. A few chickens scratched and pecked in the dirt outside in the yard. Close to a clump of tall green trees there stood a wind pump. It was old and it creaked as the rusted blades turned slowly in the wind. As the blades turned the pump pulled up water from below, and pumped it into a small zinc dam nearby. The zinc dam was round, and stood above ground level. It had a concrete floor. Water ran through pipes from the dam to the house. The wind pump stood creaking, and pumping water, in the wind.

From a distance the old house, the wind pump and the little dam, was a beautiful sight to behold. The cattle and sheep were grazing contentedly close by. The area was sheltered by large green trees. The veldt stretched out in all directions endlessly, rich and yellow. Above the sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun shone fiercely. The tall grass swayed gently in the light breeze.