Assignment to Sin Read Free

enjoyment
out of life. I decided that night that it was definitely the boredom factor of
the community that was pushing the younger generation to leave and I pledged to
find a way to bring some excitement back into the community.

Chapter
3
    When
I drove onto the farm on my next assigned day I saw Leah working in the garden
again. Shaking my head, I pulled up in front of the porch to have a word with
Prudence before joining Leah.
    “Leah
is in the garden,” Prudence reported as soon as she opened the door.
    “Yes,
I know. I saw her as I drove in, but I wanted to have a word with you before
joining her,” I replied. “Do you mind if I come in for a minute?”
    I
could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t very happy with the request.
“This is the kind of interruption that I was referring to in our initial
conversation. We have a strict schedule in our family and little interruptions
can prevent us from getting our work done.”
    This
lady was really starting to piss me off. “Look, I’m here to help you. I’m not
here to fight with you, and I have some questions that an elder or you need to
answer.”
    Shaken,
Prudence stepped aside and motioned for me to enter. “No, don’t go bothering
anyone else,” she stammered. For some reason her voice seemed to have taken on
a nervous quality. “I will do my best to answer any questions that you have as
long as you don’t try to pry too much.”
    “Well,
it’s like this. The main purpose of this project has been to find a resolution
to the problem of this community’s dwindling numbers. I must admit I’m a little
confused as to why it has taken all of this time to figure out the answer to
your problem. After spending only one day here with one person it’s clear to
see what the answer is.” I didn’t want to mess anything up with the
university’s status with this community and I certainly didn’t want to do
anything to cause Professor Bryant to be mad at me, but this lady and the
adults of this community really could not be this dense.
    The
blank look on her face indicated to me that I would have to spell it out.
“Young people like to have time to do enjoyable activities. They like to have
opportunities to come together and have fun. That’s not possible when their
days our filled from daylight until dark with chores and Scripture studies.”
Prudence’s neck was beginning to glow and I could tell that I had struck a
nerve.
    “You
obviously were not trained up properly. Therefore, you wouldn’t have any
interest in the chores required for the upkeep of a farm or the study of
Scripture. As a matter of fact, our Scripture study guides us in our daily activities.
Idle hands are the devil’s work,” she added with the emphasis on the word
devil.
    That
devil’s work bit must have been one of their favorite quotes. “Yes, I know that
you scare your children into thinking that they’re going to go to the devil if
they have a little fun. I heard the idle hands quote from Leah yesterday,” I
reported.
    “As
you should have if you were trying to pull her away from her chores,” Prudence
stated matter-of-factly. “You were warned on your first day here that if your
interaction with our youth interfered with chores you would not be allowed to
come back. I’m warning you again, for the last time, that if you try to
convince Leah that she and the other youth are unhappy here because of chores
you will not be allowed back. Consider yourself warned and I’m watching you.”
    Oh
no, I had to think fast. The last thing I needed was for her to report back to
the University that I was doing something wrong here. If Professor Bryant found
out that would be the end of any hope I ever had of us hooking up.
    I
put the biggest smile on my face that I could muster. “I’m so sorry ma’am. I
think you may have misunderstood me. I wasn’t trying to convince Leah not to do
her chores. I merely suggested that we go for a walk and she advised me that
that