The Drownings
@thedrownings.bsky.social
Fiction project by M.C. Weiner (https://tinyurl.com/mcweinersbsky). Rough sketches posted out of order every so often. "No symbols where none intended"--S. Beckett.
Two by two the filthy ones line up. One sow, one hog, one doe, buck, one bitch, one cur. One couple only, for the treyf. There is something ominous about the number one.
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Two of every insect too. House fly, horse fly, woodworm, termite--yes, even they will be preserved. Tiny, only one breeding couple per species, the line still stretches out till the misty downpour obscures it. For God is uncommonly fond of beetles.
October 2, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Two by two the filthy ones line up. One sow, one hog, one doe, buck, one bitch, one cur. One couple only, for the treyf. There is something ominous about the number one.
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The spring flooded further. Now the fields were ponds. The huts crumbled, the people down there were exposed to the storm. It whipped them in their eyes.
August 4, 2025 at 3:49 AM
The spring flooded further. Now the fields were ponds. The huts crumbled, the people down there were exposed to the storm. It whipped them in their eyes.
The field people now slept in the hills, in the hill people's tents. "Filthy," they grumbled. "They lived like swine." Indeed the hill people kept swine, in their old country.
August 4, 2025 at 3:49 AM
The field people now slept in the hills, in the hill people's tents. "Filthy," they grumbled. "They lived like swine." Indeed the hill people kept swine, in their old country.
They seized their tents. They drove them down to the muddy slurry where the fields used to be.
July 31, 2025 at 1:50 AM
They seized their tents. They drove them down to the muddy slurry where the fields used to be.
When the spring overflowed, the elders wondered why the hill people were on the dry ground.
July 31, 2025 at 1:47 AM
When the spring overflowed, the elders wondered why the hill people were on the dry ground.
Some dogs went missing. Not for the first time. The dogs were often hungry.
"Cooked on their fires," they muttered.
"Cooked on their fires," they muttered.
July 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Some dogs went missing. Not for the first time. The dogs were often hungry.
"Cooked on their fires," they muttered.
"Cooked on their fires," they muttered.
"They worship idols. They know not our Lord."
(They didn't utter "our Lord," much less the four holy letters. Some things must not be spoken.)
(They didn't utter "our Lord," much less the four holy letters. Some things must not be spoken.)
July 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
"They worship idols. They know not our Lord."
(They didn't utter "our Lord," much less the four holy letters. Some things must not be spoken.)
(They didn't utter "our Lord," much less the four holy letters. Some things must not be spoken.)
Which the people who'd lived there first begrudged. "They live off our crops." "Our children could use the food." (The children who'd gone to the city.)
July 28, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Which the people who'd lived there first begrudged. "They live off our crops." "Our children could use the food." (The children who'd gone to the city.)
Their hire just enough to live on.
(They were not yet entitled to the corners of the fields. This precept would be delivered to other people, other times.)
(They were not yet entitled to the corners of the fields. This precept would be delivered to other people, other times.)
July 28, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Their hire just enough to live on.
(They were not yet entitled to the corners of the fields. This precept would be delivered to other people, other times.)
(They were not yet entitled to the corners of the fields. This precept would be delivered to other people, other times.)
So now they lived in these new hills. In the morning they descended to work the fields. In the evening they climbed to where they slept.
July 28, 2025 at 3:17 AM
So now they lived in these new hills. In the morning they descended to work the fields. In the evening they climbed to where they slept.
"These fields belong to us," the elders told them. "Pitch your tents up in the hills." The stony steep hills--if little could grow in the fields, nothing could grow there.
"Come to tend the fields in the morning. We will give you enough to live on."
"Come to tend the fields in the morning. We will give you enough to live on."
April 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
"These fields belong to us," the elders told them. "Pitch your tents up in the hills." The stony steep hills--if little could grow in the fields, nothing could grow there.
"Come to tend the fields in the morning. We will give you enough to live on."
"Come to tend the fields in the morning. We will give you enough to live on."
People from over the hills were fleeing--no one here knew. Drought? Cruel king? Conquest by wild men who would use them most roughly?
No one knew, no one bothered.
No one knew, no one bothered.
April 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
People from over the hills were fleeing--no one here knew. Drought? Cruel king? Conquest by wild men who would use them most roughly?
No one knew, no one bothered.
No one knew, no one bothered.
It seemed like the elders could no longer bide there. They would need to grind themselves down in the fields, or disperse.
Then some tents sprung up in the fields.
Then some tents sprung up in the fields.
April 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
It seemed like the elders could no longer bide there. They would need to grind themselves down in the fields, or disperse.
Then some tents sprung up in the fields.
Then some tents sprung up in the fields.
The more young people left, the more difficult the older people found it to work their crops. The young people who were still there needed to work more. Fields full of limp millet, worked over bit by bit, the workers begging them to live. Until they left too.
April 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The more young people left, the more difficult the older people found it to work their crops. The young people who were still there needed to work more. Fields full of limp millet, worked over bit by bit, the workers begging them to live. Until they left too.
On the riverside, Shem sees his friend who'd lightly mocked his work on this cypress behemoth. Never did they--not he nor Shem--think the river would run high enough for it.
His friend's brow furrows. "Think this'll flood the fields?"
Shem shrugs. His friend will drown soon.
His friend's brow furrows. "Think this'll flood the fields?"
Shem shrugs. His friend will drown soon.
April 5, 2025 at 3:03 PM
On the riverside, Shem sees his friend who'd lightly mocked his work on this cypress behemoth. Never did they--not he nor Shem--think the river would run high enough for it.
His friend's brow furrows. "Think this'll flood the fields?"
Shem shrugs. His friend will drown soon.
His friend's brow furrows. "Think this'll flood the fields?"
Shem shrugs. His friend will drown soon.
When God tells you to build the ship, you build it.
March 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
When God tells you to build the ship, you build it.
Fourteen for the edible ones. Fourteen sheep, fourteen kine, fourteen chickens. Fourteen of every bird.
It shouldn't be enough. How will they live, Shem thinks. Fish won't feed everything. But to question God is ridiculous. God will preserve everything, somehow.
It shouldn't be enough. How will they live, Shem thinks. Fish won't feed everything. But to question God is ridiculous. God will preserve everything, somehow.
March 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Fourteen for the edible ones. Fourteen sheep, fourteen kine, fourteen chickens. Fourteen of every bird.
It shouldn't be enough. How will they live, Shem thinks. Fish won't feed everything. But to question God is ridiculous. God will preserve everything, somehow.
It shouldn't be enough. How will they live, Shem thinks. Fish won't feed everything. But to question God is ridiculous. God will preserve everything, somehow.
(Surely two bees is not enough. Surely the whole hive is gently moved to its spot under the corner of the ship's roof. This is not recorded.)
March 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
(Surely two bees is not enough. Surely the whole hive is gently moved to its spot under the corner of the ship's roof. This is not recorded.)
Two of every insect too. House fly, horse fly, woodworm, termite--yes, even they will be preserved. Tiny, only one breeding couple per species, the line still stretches out till the misty downpour obscures it. For God is uncommonly fond of beetles.
March 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Two of every insect too. House fly, horse fly, woodworm, termite--yes, even they will be preserved. Tiny, only one breeding couple per species, the line still stretches out till the misty downpour obscures it. For God is uncommonly fond of beetles.