The sweltering sun beats down on the heads of all the women on the beach, each with their hats on to make sure they don't get sunburn on their faces. Margaret's face -- even with the hat on and the sunscreen she applied this morning -- was still burning. Groaning, she gets off her towel and grabs the umbrella she also brought to keep the sun off her entire body.

"Margie!" Dana yells, running towards the very tan girl. Margaret looks at her obnoxious best friend and gives a smile. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. I've got work today and I need to have the house cleaned by the time Sherry gets home," Margaret explains as Dana's face falls and a frown sets on her pink lips.

"Oh. Well I'll come with you then." The two girls set off towards the light blue house that was only a few blocks away from the boulevard on the coast. When they got there the freezing cold temperatures produced by the air conditioning were much welcomed. Dana plopped her self on the dark brown couch that contrasted to her light brown skin tone. "So, what is it that needs done?"

Frowning, Margaret walks into the kitchen and grabs a notebook and pen to write down her list of chores. She scribbles down in her scrawly penmanship:

1; take out trash
2; vacuum
3; put away clean dishes and wash the dirty
4; fold laundry
5; dust shelves
6; clean windows
7; feed the cat and do-

She is interrupted by Dana who leans over her shoulder and says, "Is half this crap even necessary to even do? Shelly hardly does any of that stuff while you're gone!" Rolling her eyes she grabs the pen and crosses out some of the chores so Margaret's once neat and orderly list now looks like a two year old decided to draw a picture of some unknown monster.

"Dana!" Margaret gasps. "I need to do all these if Shelly won't! At least one of us does something around here..."

Chuckling, Dana gives in to Margaret's obsessively tidy ways. "Fine, let's get to work then.

•••

An hour and thirty minutes later, all the chores are done (including some others) and Dana and Margaret had sat down to eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream. They make small conversation until the door opens and Shelly steps into the cool home. "Hi, girls!" Shelly's overenthusiastic voice says. Even after eight hours of work she is still is a peppy mood.

"Shelly, no. It's three thirty. The time to be in a good mood during the day has came and gone," Margaret says with a slight frown. Shelly comes over and wraps her arms around her daughter (unknown to the brain of Margaret or anyone else) and chuckles. The government had forced all mothers to not tell their daughters -- who were infants at the time -- about parenthood as they got older. If the government officials found out that a mother had disclosed this information, a sentence of immediate death to both the mother and daughter was held in a room in the female government's building.

"Darling, the time to be happy during the day has just begun! The sun's out, the sky is blue, what more could you ask for?" Shelly spun Margaret around in a circle and then released her.

Margaret groans, "No work."

Dana shifts her feet around, puts her dirty ice cream bowl in the sink and says her farewells to the women in the kitchen. She gives one final wave and closes the door behind her. Margaret puts her bowl in the sink as well and runs some hot water into it. Adding the soap, she begins to wash the two bowls and the spoons.

Shelly had already went upstairs to change out of her work uniform so Margaret went to the basement to take a rest before her shift at the convenience store a couple miles away. In her short dream she dreamt of a face, a face with brown eyes and dark brown hair whom she had never seen before. It looked different from the faces she saw everyday in the South. This face was beautiful nonetheless and caused unknown emotions to churn in her stomach. When she woke up forty five minutes later she had wet cheeks and a feeling in her stomach that could only be noted as apprehension.