A Little Knowledge... - A book by H K Hillman
Author:H K Hillman
Alittle knowledge...a short story byH. K HillmanSmashwords Edition.CopyrightH. K. Hillman, 2011.Coverimage copyright H. K. Hillman 2011SmashwordsEdition, licence notes.This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebookmay not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would liketo share this book with another person, please purchase an additionalcopy for each recipient. If you are reading this ebook and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.Thisis a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents areeither the product of the author’s imagination or are used in afictitious context. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead,or to any events or locales is entirely coincidental. Readers cansleep easily knowing that none of this is real and that the eventsdescribed will probably not happen to them.
Alittle knowledge...a short story byH. K HillmanSmashwords Edition.CopyrightH. K. Hillman, 2011.Coverimage copyright H. K. Hillman 2011SmashwordsEdition, licence notes.This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebookmay not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would liketo share this book with another person, please purchase an additionalcopy for each recipient. If you are reading this ebook and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.Thisis a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents areeither the product of the author’s imagination or are used in afictitious context. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead,or to any events or locales is entirely coincidental. Readers cansleep easily knowing that none of this is real and that the eventsdescribed will probably not happen to them.
Probably.A little knowledge...Asix foot pole stood upright in the middle of the field. Tied to thetop of the pole, a white plastic bag flapped and fluttered in thewind, like a fish on a line.“Thatthe best you can do, Dimmy?” Javier laughed aloud and pointed atthe bag.“Don’tcall me that.” Jimmy’s face hung in a sulk. “It’s not nice tolaugh at me. I do the best I can.”“Thosecrows are gonna laugh, long and hard. Most people scare them away.You lay on entertainment.”“Ido the best I can.”“Youdo just fine.” Javier patted his brother’s broad shoulder. “Youjust have no imagination.”“You’reso clever, you make the scarecrow. You don’t do nothing.” Jimmywalked back towards the house, his head low between his shoulders.Javierstared at his brother’s retreating back. What Jimmy said was true.Since the death of their parents, Jimmy had done all the work aroundthe farm, while Javier had concentrated on his studies. Javier madeit to college. Jimmy, the older brother, had never really made itpast fourth grade.Theymade a fine pair, Javier thought as he leaned on the fence andwatched Jimmy’s makeshift scarecrow dance over the newly-plantedfield. Jimmy, all muscle and no brain, and himself, the other wayaround. Jimmy supported Javier through college. Jimmy grew theirfood, ran the farm, made their money. Jimmy ploughed. Jimmy planted.Jimmy harvested. Javier studied. Javier pushed himself from the fenceand ran after Jimmy.
Alittle knowledge...a short story byH. K HillmanSmashwords Edition.CopyrightH. K. Hillman, 2011.Coverimage copyright H. K. Hillman 2011SmashwordsEdition, licence notes.This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebookmay not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would liketo share this book with another person, please purchase an additionalcopy for each recipient. If you are reading this ebook and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.Thisis a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents areeither the product of the author’s imagination or are used in afictitious context. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead,or to any events or locales is entirely coincidental. Readers cansleep easily knowing that none of this is real and that the eventsdescribed will probably not happen to them.
Jimmypitched hay in the barn, lifting bales onto a cart to take to thecows. They had no horse. When the cart was full, Jimmy would pull ithimself. Jimmy glared at Javier.“Whatnow? You come to make fun of me again?”“No,Jimmy.” Javier shifted his feet. “I came to say sorry. I know youdon’t think as fast as me, but I also know you work hard to lookafter me.”“Hard,yes. It’s what I know. I do it the best I can, and all you do ismake fun. It’s not nice, Jave.”“Iknow. I don’t mean it. It’s just the way my mind works. You know,I take your name, change one letter, and Jimmy becomes Dimmy. I don’tmean any harm.”Jimmynarrowed his eyes. “Is that what imagination does?”“Yes.”Javier smiled. “Imagination lets you think of new things.”“Don’tlike it.” Jimmy hefted another bale onto the cart. “Sounds likeall it does is make people sad.”“No,it’s not like that. Sure, sometimes my jokes are cruel, but I don’tmean them to be.” Javier leaned against the cart. “Look, you musthave some imagination. You’re my brother.”“Yougot the brains. I got the muscle. That’s what Dad always said.”Jimmy moved to the front of the cart and lifted the heavy woodenyoke. “I farm. You learn. That’s how Mom said it should be.”“Notforever, Jimmy. Once I graduate, I’ll earn loads of money. Then Ican look after you.”“Don’tneed looking after. I can look after myself.” Jimmy heaved. Thecart rolled forward. “I look after you, don’t I?”“Right.You do a great job.” Javier walked alongside Jimmy. “But we’llget older. You could do with help around the farm. Hell, Jimmy, wecan’t even afford a horse to pull this cart.”
“Collegecosts money.” Jimmy grunted under the weight of the cart. Sweatbeaded on his forehead.“Ilearn a lot of stuff there.” Javier struggled for the simple words.College had increased his vocabulary well beyond Jimmy’s ability tofollow. “I could teach you some of it. I taught you to read, didn’tI?”“Youdid, Jave. Not much use for it round here though.” Jimmy stoppedand lowered the yoke to the ground. He wiped the sleeve of hisoveralls across his face. “This college learning. Anything aboutfarming in there?”“No.”Javier chuckled. “I’m learning to be a historian. Ancienttraditions, languages and cultures. Nothing about farming, at leastnothing you could use.”“Well,I know a language.” Jimmy lifted the yoke again. “Don’t needmore than one. I just need to know how to farm.”“Yeah,but Jimmy, just think how much better you’d be with someimagination. You’d work out a way to move this cart, I bet. Andyou’d make a real good scarecrow.”Jimmystared down at Javier. “Imagination does that? It can do goodthings?”“Sureit can. You just need to work out how to use it.”“Right.You can tell me.” Jimmy hefted the yoke and pulled. “First Igotta feed the cows.”Javierwatched until the cart obscured his view of his brother, then wentback to the house. It was time he repaid Jimmy for all his effort.***Javiergrinned at the look on Jimmy’s face. They stood in the main hall ofthe library, a building Javier knew Jimmy had only ever seen from theoutside.
“Someonewrote all these books?” Jimmy spoke in an awed whisper.“Notone person, Jimmy. Lots of people. Some wrote a dozen, some wrotejust one. It took a long, long time to make them all.” “I’llbet. How many have you read?”“Oh,I’ve read some. There’s lots here I’ve never even opened. Youcould spend your life in here and never finish.” Javier smiled athis brother’s astonishment. This was all part of their agreement.Javier would learn about the way Jimmy ran the farm. Jimmy, in turn,would see first-hand what Javier was doing with the money Jimmyearned.“Wow.”Jimmy’s gaze roamed along the shelves. “You say we can take somehome? For a little while, anyway?”“Yes,we can borrow a few at a time. We have to bring them back though, soother people can read them.” “That’sonly fair.” Jimmy nodded his agreement.Javiertook Jimmy’s arm. “Come and look at this.” He led Jimmy throughan archway, along a corridor and into his favorite part of thelibrary. Jimmy had no hope of understanding the books Javier wantedto show him. Later, Javier would take him to the westerns, thethrillers, the formulaic stories Jimmy would enjoy. First, he wantedto show his brother the old books.Javierpushed open a door and stood back to let Jimmy enter.“Lookat these, Jimmy. These books are centuries old.” Javier inhaled thedry, papery scent of the room.Jimmywrinkled his nose. “They smell like old people.”Javiergrinned. “Dead people, Jimmy. The folk who wrote these books areall long since turned to dust. Their words live forever though, onthese pages.” He stepped into the room and spread his arms wide.Jimmy ducked under the low doorframe and followed.