I am in the mist of my first writing workshop. Here is a draft of my homework.
I am a shepherd of Alpacas, an animal that is stuck between creation and evolution not knowing if it was meant to be a large dog or a small llama. Misfits of the animal kingdom, abandoned by God and not worthy of being served for dinner.
As for me I have the easiest job in the world. I stand atop a Peru mountain at 16,404 ft. watching this slow mammal graze and grow hair.
In replace of a shepherd staff I carry a wooden spool with alpaca’s thread for making blankets. Alpaca are tribally one of the most boring fur covered beasts you will ever come a cross. No need for organizing them because they feel no need for chaos or even an outwardly sense of movement. Air, soil and water is all you need to keep an alpaca herd alive. It’s akin to being a shepherd of trees, hence, why the pay is so bad.
I get rewarded in fur, which magically becomes a fiber when your shave it off the alpacas’ backs. Fiber is what we call it when Alpaca hair converts into a sellable product. This magical fiber, not as valuable as wool, is a lot less scratchy when knit into blankets.
Spinning and knitting alpaca blankets, being the shepherd of trees at 16,4040 ft. atop this mountain I work. I am lonely…would you want one of these blankets? You, yes you reading these words; please take my photograph. Show the photograph to your people, and tell my story of the shepherd and alpaca blankets.
