subchapter I.

UPCOMING...

     I crawl into the door space and start feeling around to find the eggs to put in my basket. It's like Easter every day.
I got the last one and crawled out the space. I look down to count the number of eggs I got.
1...2...3...4...5......12...13...14.

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— CASUAL

     My eyes flutter open as the warm, orange sunlight filters through my curtains. The nearby crowing of roosters, engraved in my head. Regardless of the time, I always hear them in the back of my mind. I turn to my side to check my alarm clock.
     6:00am.
'Perfect timing,' I think to myself. That means I should be done by 6:30 and done with breakfast by 6:50. I quickly lift the sheets off of me, and the instant cold breeze engulfs my body. I shiver momentarily, but the feeling passed. I continue to brush my teeth and brush through my hair. It's a daily routine, one that I've grown used to. There's no point in breaking it.
     I finish with my bathroom routine and head to my drawers to find some clothes to wear. Is it hot outside?
I walk over to my window, push my curtains aside, and the blinds open. As I lift the glass window open, a hot breeze is there. Yeah... definitely hot.
     I go back to my open drawer and take out my overalls that were like jorts. It's an obvious choice. No doubt that I fit in the stereotype of a girl who lives on the farm. But besides that, our cozy house is more modern in a way... more like cape-cod, but who cares. It was a two story cape-cod house. I still love it though.
Anyways, I grab a random shirt to wear under my overalls.

I start making my way downstairs and am greeted by the faces of my family—my mom, dad, and younger sister.
     "Someone is down here earlier than usual," my mom jokes as she sets my plate of food on the island table.
"Yeah, I guess I didn't have much to do this morning," I shrug as I take my seat. She had made eggs and bacon. Every Tuesday, she makes this meal. I'm starting to think that we're all very well-oriented with routines.
"Not quite done actually. We have to discuss what you need to do out there. I heard there's going to be rain later today," my dad speaks up after taking a sip of his coffee.
"And that is..." I question, dragging my words.
"Feed the chickens and collect the eggs. Feed the horses in the barn," he begins to list out some chores.
"That's not so bad. Just a collecting and cleaning day?" I ask him.
"I suppose so. Oh wait, don't forget the pig feeder," he adds. I nod as I continue to eat.
     "I can help!" My sister, Harper, chimes in. She's seven years old, so she really could, but they won't let her.
     "Harper, no you cannot. As much as I'd love that, the last time you fed the pigs, all of them got loose," I shake my head.
She huffs as she goes back to coloring in her coloring book that was gifted to her by our mother.
     "Maybe next year... or two," I add as I finish my last piece of scrambled eggs. I get off my seat and put my plate in the sink to wash. I quickly wash it clean and put it in the dish rack to dry.
"Anything else before I go out and start working?" I ask anyone in general. Knowing my father, he's always adding in new stuff to everything.

They all shook their heads, so I proceeded to the front of the house where the chicken coop was.
I can hear them clucking their little mouths off already. I always liked the sound of it, but I think it's cause I hear it 24/7.
I open the little hatch where all of them came out for their outside time. There's a metal fence circled around the coop, so they won't run away. Their little play time gives me time to collect their eggs.
I crawl into the door space and start feeling around to find the eggs to put in my basket. It's like Easter every day.
I got the last one and crawled out the space. I look down to count the number of eggs I got.
1...2...3...4...5......12...13...14.

Fourteen eggs is not bad. Not bad. I place the egg basket down as I try to gather the chickens back in their coop.
'Come on, I thought we were friends. Please listen...' I was talking to myself.
     These chickens were not listening today. So, I will let them be... for now.
I restocked their feeding area then grabbed my basket to carry on to the next task.

"Hey, Snow," I pet one of the horses. It was a white horse. That's why we named it Snow. He was beautiful and so sweet.
I grab a carrot from my back pocket and hold it out for him to eat, which he obviously accepted. I opened his gate door and pulled a haystack for his meal time from the piles of hay and grass in the corner. We stock them up to give them daily.
I moved onto the next horse.
"Gray! Buddy, how you been," I softly stroke the horse. He's also a good horse.
I did the same thing for him as I did for Snow.
After that I moved onto the next two horses. Each one of us has our own horse. Mine's a beige horse and I named her Rory. Don't blame me... I was young.

"Priscilla!"
I hear my name being called and I turn around to see Harper.
     "Harper? What are you doing out here," I ask her.
"I just wanted to see what you're doing. I got bored inside," she told me as she was holding two ponies in her hand.
     "Well, I'm doing the usual. Feeding the horses and animals. I need to go to the pigs after this," I tell her as I pick up my baskets.
"Oh fun! Can I help," she smiles at me.
     I can't actually let her help. My parents decided to go easy on the second child. Not me though. They said she can't do any of the hard work until she's able to cook. So, all she has been doing is playing with the animals and pretending to drive a tractor when she's not.

"You can take back the egg basket to ma," I smile at her sweetly.
She squeals before taking the basket. She starts running back to the house.
"Slow down!" I call out after her.
I sigh as I take myself to the other side of the house. That's where the pig pen is. Our land is like fifteen acres or something.

"Yay, my favorite muddy animals," I greet them as I come closer to them.
     I walk over to the side to refill their bottles to put on the feeder holder.
As I was making their concoction of a bottle, I heard some rustling behind the trees. There was a side of the land that had a bunch of tree loads that Harper isn't allowed to be near. It's not an off-limit area, it just hasn't been looked over by our parents to see if it was safe or not. However, they don't know that I already had the area looked over and it's like my own quiet place. It's a pretty scenery with a lake that's in the middle of all the wilderness.
     I ignore the rustling and go back to making the bottles. Probably some deer to be honest.
I climb over the small fence to place the bottles in each holder accordingly.
     The pigs oinked their way to the feeder and I had to untangle each of them, so they were comfortable. Once they were, I climbed back out and was ready to go until I heard laughter.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

     Before I knew it, I see two boys drenched in water, fully clothed.

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ｂｅｌｌａ ｓｐｅａｋｓ

➥ yummy first chapter!! hope you guys liked it a bit!

[07.30.24]