GRIZZLY TASK

GRIZZLY TASK

Written by James Merrick

January 9, 2021

In a remote farmhouse and behind the closed door to a child’s bedroom, a metal bed awaits daybreak, mattress removed and iron-strap springs scrubbed free of rust and dirt--an altar ready for its sacrifice.

Nearby, on a rustic table, the elements rest: hand-cut cotton squares; metal basin filled with tepid water; salt crystals in a carnival-glass bowl; and two wooden-handled butcher knives, sharpened and ready to slice. Under the bed, a layer of outdated newspapers pad the scrubbed floor, ready to absorb.

Outside the house, at the entrance to the towering wood barn, the dense morning mist muffles the throttled squeal, subdues the dull, bone-splintering thud. Excited male voices issue instructions over the whining of block and tackle as heavy chains descend from the hayloft window and lower a silent pallid hulk into the vat of roiling water.

The caldron boils. Steam hisssssses. And the pullies reverse. Three men wearing rubber aprons over long-sleeved flannel shirts and bib overalls, encircle the tank and steady the mass with gloved hands as chains haul the hulk upward out of the boiling liquid. The whack and snap of men’s axes sound against bone, bludgeoning the air while knives slice lifeless skin and muscle and skilled hands toss chunks of flesh to thunder into stainless steel pails.

The bedroom door moans open. Heavy leather boots crunch the gravel pathway to the barn while somber women come and go. Their white caps and dark ankle-length dresses shield them from the autumn chill as they bend to their task without speaking. In and out they file, pails dripping crimson, until the last vestige of the slaughter rests. Drip…drip…drip.

With dampened cotton cloth, they salt each thinly-sliced piece of carnage and position it on the metal springs to cure. Finished, the women leave, swinging the pails beside them…grizzly task at end. The last hand closes the bedroom door, leaving claret pools to thicken on the paper-covered floor and salted pork to lie waiting…waiting…waiting--nourishment for weeks to come.