Posted by bgerritsma | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 7, 2015
Your next, says the instructor, keep you head protected, stay on your feet. My instructors words echo in my head. I step into the sandy ring surrounded by a log fence that threatened to collapse. My shirt sticks to my back with sweat, I look at my opponent, a tall, muscular boy with broad shoulders. “Fight!” My Opponent lunges at me, I sidestep and swing at his side. “Uff!” He stubbles and takes a wild swing at my head and connected with my ear, pain exploded in my head. Almost as bad as when a brick fell on my head and I asked for if I could skip running practice for the day because my head hurt so bad, I got whipped for complaining.
Now I hit his jaw and spring forward knocking him off his feet to the ground, and he stayed there.
Everybody was amazed, I couldn’t stand to sit still in reading and writing, I don’t want to be one of those people who just sit and write scrolls. I want to be a warrior, a conqueror and hero. I can’t wait to go out with my friends tonight and steal some food from old angus. Oh no, the teacher saw me looking out the window, here she comes with her switch. I grip my desk and tense don’t complain, don’t complain “swat, swat, swat” the switch stings my sore skaby back but I know better than to complain, that would only worsen my punishment. When the teacher is done she scowls at me and keeps teaching.
After the class we begin the long walk home, our father is waiting for us, he was a helot but bought his freedom. The council of elders killed our mother for trying keep some our food so we wouldn’t go hungry during winter. When he was a helot he had to work all day long in the fields, growing food for the people he hated, when his village was conquered he fought back valiantly but was taken as a helot.
They waned us to work in the fields all day long till we dropped dead just to give most of what we grew right back to them while we starved to death. They refuse to trade for what we need because they don’t want us to be exposed to other cultures. But we aren’t Helots anymore and I can train to become a warrior and fight for my city like a true spartan.
