Chapter 11 A Non-existent Nobody

• As Mara celebrated the retention of her job, Leo was there at the farm stumbling through his. It was no easy task for him. He had been saddled with the task of digging out stumps of trees from a small area of land. All the trees had been cut down and chopped into bits and all the grasses had been burned too, but the roots of the trees were still in the ground. These were the roots Leo had to take out.
• The area he had to cover was just less than half the size of a football field and the sun was blazing hot. So, shovel in hand, sweat streaming down his body, grunting and huffing with exertion, the former CEO was hard at work doing something he had never thought he would ever do, at least before he lost everything. Once in a while, he took a glance at the old man who was seated in front of the farm house and staring at him with the ghost of a smile on his face. He didn't need anyone to tell him that the old man was quietly mocking him, and it made him even more determined to prove himself and earn his day's wages. But he couldn't help but wonder though, if he hadn't come along, who would have done this work? Surely not that small oldie? There was nothing to show that anyone else lived or worked with him. So if an old man could live alone on a farm and do his work without feeling like he was about to break his back (like he was currently feeling), then shouldn't he, a much younger man in his so-called prime of life do much better?
• It was almost eleven a.m. when Leo got his day's pay and made the slow and tortuous journey back home. As he staggered painfully on his way out of the farm, he guessed the old man must be having a silent laugh at him, and his suspicion was confirmed when the man called after him, "you can come back tomorrow. There's always more farm work here."