Idea for a book called The Wall

The most enjoyable times at Harper’s inn were those that were in silence. These moments were as rare as diamonds, and when the moments of silence did come, they were taken without a second thought. The only time one could ever find such moments was early morning or the late night. One could not imagine finding a moment such as that any other time of the day. Being that not many people who stayed at Harper’s wanted such a thing. There was only one person who lived at Harper’s inn that valued these rare moments was Irene, an odd girl, who found at a young age that her time was best spent with those who couldn’t afford staying a night Harper’s inn in the first place.
From a far glance one would call her a hermit. A hunter who would rather be completely alone in the world than anything else. The truth of the matter is that people will believe anything these days, but for once in their lives they believed in something that was factual. Irene couldn’t stand some people. She had a few friends. That didn’t stop her from being rational. She did dislike a few people. Those who had decided that their time was better spent on wasting other peoples didn’t hold patients with Irene. Which of course meant that no one at Harper’s inn was the time that she spent on them.
Now of course if she had a choice she would have lived in a very different place with very different people. Sadly Irene, however cruel the people at Harper’s inn could be, could not choose where she lived. Meaning that her entire life was spent with the people she dreaded most. Time wasters. Harper’s inn was full of them. At first she was angered by them, but in time Irene learned to care less about the fools who spent their time drinking tea and pointing fingers.
That and she managed to find a place in which diamonds still exist.
After years of searching she found her place. It was comfortable place to sleep, far from the craziness of the inn. It was the barn. It held all sorts of farm animals, in which were never butchered being that the owner could not stomach losing such animals that she had spent a pretty penny for. Making Irene a hunter for prey that was far out of the land lady’s sight.
Irene had come into the barn late the night before. She had found a comfortable spot in a pile of hay. Hailey and Mark, two dark hairy dogs, had found a comfortable spot right next to her. She hardly minded and she disappeared into a deep sleep.
She, however, was awoken that morning by a loud screech. It didn’t take long to realize who it was, being that Irene was use to the strange noises from being awoken many times before. Slowly Irene raised her head from the hay stack and glanced at a large creature who was stumbling her way towards her. Seeing that this would not end well, Irene silently began to back up deeper into the hay stack only to watch the woman with her eyes.
This was none other than Mrs. Harper. Mrs. Harper was a very large women. Her skin hung loosely on most of her face but her forehead which was pulled back with a tight bun. Her neck oozed and her beady blue eyes were hardly seen by her heavy eye lids. Her lips were painted with a dark red slim that creaked and smeared as she bellowed out for Irene.
The two dogs jumped at the sudden notice of the creature who had entered the room. Irene muttered something under her breath knowing too well that Mrs. Harper would instantly know where Irene was hiding.
“Irene, you lazy cow, wake up!” a screechy high pitched voice cut through the air causing all of the animals who managed to sleep through the whole ordeal awaken with a start.
Irene slowly began to remove herself from the comfort of her hay stack. She began to whip off the hay that had managed to get tangled in her long brown hair. She rolled her eyes at the woman in front of her who seemed to be so mad that she could boil the flesh off of a living man.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Mrs. Harper asked her voice reaching a pitch that made the dogs bark in annoyance.
Irene nodded and stretched her arms into the sky. Her eyes however never left the angry woman. Her bright green eyes narrowed at her and it was very clear that Irene was not at all pleased to be awakened at such an odd hour.
“I have bought you enough meat for three nights last night, Madam.” Irene said sternly picking up her hunting bow and flinging it across her shoulder.
Irene had not removed her clothing from the night before. After all there was no need to. She never wore anything else, being that it was more troublesome than helpful. Other clothing would be unsuitable for hunting. This caused many to believe that she was a boy, and not the girl that she was. Her boots were nearly knee high and made with leftover rabbit pellets. She wore trousers instead of a skirt. Her blouse was covered a warm ragged coat made out of hide. She grabbed her cloak which was held on by a peg in the wall.
“You call that meat!” Mrs. Harper hissed.
“Quail and rabbit was the only meat I could find in the field, Madam.” Irene said moving her sack so that it was over her shoulder.
Mrs. Harper glared at Irene. Her little eyes nearly disappearing into her flesh. Her large nostrils flared and there was a cold gleam in the amount of eye that Irene could see.
“10 quail and four rabbits!” She exclaimed, spit flying from her large mouth. “That is all that you could come up with?”
“Yes Madam,” Irene said moving towards the barn door.
Mark followed closely behind. His large head brushing against her leg. He took a few steps in front of her, but stopped at the door waiting for Mrs. Harper to snap at Irene every more.
“We need more meat,” Mrs. Harper ordered.
Irene turned to face Mrs. Harper again. Instead of fighting, which Irene clearly wished to do, she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
“Fine, I will get more quail.”
“No, I don’t need any more of that silly bird. I need something rare.” Mrs. Harper snarled.
Irene raised her eyebrow in question. Something was definitely happening that Mrs. Harper was not telling her.
“Deer are almost extinct. Even if I searched for days, I would never find one.” Irene stated darkly.
Mrs. Harper clamped her jaws shut. Leaving her skin under her jaw to wobble. Her flesh was beginning to turn into a pale pink causing her to look even more terrifying than she already was.
“Now listen to me, hunter! The city is having a meeting in a week at my inn. By then you must acquire some rare type of wild animal, have it skinned, and ready to cook. Or I will throw your ungrateful hide out into the street.”
“I would be better there than here.” Irene muttered bitterly to herself.
“Silly girl. You would be dead in the gutter.” Mrs. Harper snorted moving out of the door. “Mr. Harper, that old fool, might have taught you how to hunt before he died. However you were stubborn when it came to learning how to cook.”
Irene flinched at the mention of the late Mr. Harper. He was and still is a man who Irene had looked up to. His untimely death had affected her more than anyone else in the entire city. That was the only reason why she stayed at Harper’s inn because of the promise that she had made to Mr. Harper on his death bed. She wasn’t going to break that promise over the cruelness of his widowed wife.
“I’ll find something,” Irene said finally moving out the door.
“You’d better,” Mrs. Harper yelled at Irene as she made her way down the hill.
Mark followed close behind Irene. He gave her a sloppy grin and Irene couldn’t help but grin back at the dog.
“Well, boy. It would seem that we are in need to find a deer.” Irene said with an unhopeful sigh.
Mark cocked his head and let out a soft whine. This caused Irene to let out a snort. She glanced at the dog from the corner of her eye and smiled.
“I know. We have a lot of work to do.”