Divided Field

     The evening is warm  and the large hall that we have all gathered in is warmer still. Left of me an elderly lady works diligently at her sewing machine. She looks up with a friendly smile to each new person that walks through the door. Next to her is a redhead lady. She focuses on her weaving loom with most of her attention and occasionally makes a comment to the elderly lady. They seem to be sisters.

     Across the table is a young man wearing an outfit based on early German history and a hood. Hood is leaning close to a young lady, close to his age. She is carefully drawing on a banner. The Artist and Hood are constantly stopping their activities to whisper or touch the others arm. My guess is that they are becoming something more than friends.
    
     Down the table from myself another group is forming. They are loud and boisterous but address each other politely. If a lady approaches then they all stand and offer her a seat. This is fairly common in a historic recreation group. A gentleman with long, curly, black hair must have said something very funny as a man with a thick beard pounds the table with his fist and laughs with great bellows. Everyone looks up at him with mixed faces.

     Through the door a thin man walks in. For the first time Elderly lady doesn't greet someone. The loud group at the end cheer and call out to him as he begins to make his way around the table. He stops next to Elderly lady and the Redhead. Redhead smiles politely and returns his greeting. Elderly lady says a cold hello but never looks up at him. Tension is brewing. He stops by Hood and the Artist. They both smile in a friendly way but are nowhere as joyful at his presence as the loud group at the end of the table. As he gets to what are obviously his friends, Elderly lady just glares at them from under her eyebrows and whispers with Redhead, Hood, and the Artist.

     This byplay continues until it is time to go. The loud group start professing their desire to go to a bar while the quieter group is looking at home. There is a definite separation brewing in the group. It is time for me to leave also. The evening is over.