Good Clean Country Living

Bare feet skimming through the grass,
my sisters and I ran
helter skelter
to the burbling creek,
laughter streaming behind us
like the octopus-tailed kites
we'd flown in the paddock.
Pukeko sprinted for the bush,
startled by our noisy approach,
gangly red legs scampering for safety,
white tail feathers flashing.
Dipping our dirty toes in the cool water,
we bypassed the blanket of duckweed,
searching for our objective -
peppery wild watercress,
the perfect addition to Marmite sandwiches.
We picked a perfect bunch
of leafy greens,
rinsing them clean of bugs,
and set off for the farmhouse,
racing each other to the gate.
Later that evening, Dad informed us
of the bloated cow carcass further upstream,
sending a river of germs
straight to our watercress patch.
Mmm, gotta love fresh, organic food
straight from the source.


Author's note ▼

Written for "Invalid Item" .
Prompt: Any aspect of death (death, not mourning)
Word(s) to Include: blanket, river (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): agony, death, die, kill, love, murder, tear (or any derivatives, compound or hyphenations of these words)
Additional Parameters: At least 24 lines.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.