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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Craft (as in handcraft) (02/08/07)
The house was dark and cold, the sun had set hours ago but still he worked by the glow of the fire, he carved away at a small piece of wood, he had been working on the piece all day and promised himself he would not stop until he had completed it. The next day John packed up his work and headed into town, he knew he would get little reward for his craft but this had never bothered him, after John had finished setting up his market stall he regretted not bringing an umbrella to protect himself from the sun beating down on his back. Aware that no one would take notice of his little stall for some time yet John took his pen knife from his pocket and felt around for a fresh piece of would from his satchel.

Mary-Ann had just brought the stall opposite John’s and watched curiously as the old man started to cut away at the wood, it was obvious to her that the man was blind and she wondered why someone would go to all that bother for a few extra pounds a week… if he even earned that much! Carrying on with setting up her stall Mary-Ann continued to wonder what the man was carving and would find herself looking across to his stall to see if she would be able to guess before the task was complete.

John sat alone in his dark world, feeling the wood between his hands carving away, careful not to carve too much and careful not to cut himself, then he heard a voice, “Excuse me Sir, I have just brought the stall opposite yours, I have been watching you for hours, I have seen your struggle, why Sir, why do you spend so much time carving?” John opened his hand and revealed a small wooden cross, it was perfectly crafted with a small hole at the top for ribbon or lace, “Why Sir, why do you spend so long carving away to create a cross? No one will buy this, I have looked at your stall, why would anyone want to buy these things off you, why do you spend so much labour on a product no one will buy?” Mary asked. John placed the small cross on the table and smiled up at the young women “I do not do it for the money or for myself I do it for the Lord my God” There was a long pause between them, Mary picked the small cross off the table and felt it in her hand, it was smooth and still warm from where the old man had been holding it, she looked down at John and asked “How much for this one?”
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This article has been read 787 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Jacquelyn Horne
02/17/07
Good thought. How many of us do anything "just for God"?
Jan Ackerson
02/18/07
A precious slice-of-life, and I really loved the detail of the cross still being warm from his hands.

Be careful of run-on sentences, and work on making your dialog more realistic.

I enjoyed both of these characters, and would have enjoyed a longer version of this story, too. They are both interesting and well-realized.
Joanne Sher 
02/18/07
You have some very good description here - would love to see more on these characters. This would also read a bit easier if you broke your thoughts up into smaller sentences and your paragraphs were also a bit shorter. I enjoyed this very much!