From Grain to Flour

She arched her back one more time, before bending back down to her task. She thrusted the large pestle round and round, thinning the grain few at a time. The granite mortar screeched as she mixed again, round and round, for what felt like hours. After a moment, she let go of her tight grip of the pestle, and gave an appreciative sigh of the beautifully thinned flour that lay before her eyes.

"Yara!"

While pushing her matted hair off her face with the back of a hand, she turned her head at the sight of the three men, coming in their cavernous home with large sacks balanced on their shoulders. "More wheat for us, mama," the boy said with a grin. Yara closed her eyes and groaned.