i have never known those who parented me , having been given to our master before i had any memories , and i have only ever really known my one in particular , not much older than me , but who shows me how to do our job well enough so that the beatings are infrequent , who shows me now how to start a cookfire , striking the flint shards together to make our only source of warmth- -my one in particular letting me stay silent when we take our master 's vegetables to market and meet other members of the burden whose voices reach forward in friendly greetings that push me into myself in embarrassment , my one in particular drawing their attention and letting me be shy as long as i need to- -my one in particular curled against my stomach , coughing with illness from an infection , filled with the fever that is the worst sign of sickness in the burden , one that will have us dragged off to clearing veterinarians and never seen again .