The light just starting to stream in through my bedroom window dancing like fairies when hitting the crystals on my bedside table lamp, it was an early spring morning. Hush sounds from the maids walking through the house was all to be heard. I turned on my side, today was the day as my mother called it, today was my 18th birthday. I don't get what was the big deal was, I was only one year older.
I opened my eyes just in time to see my mother burst into my room with a big smile on her perfect porcelain face, in fact too big. I shut my eyes hoping she would leave me alone. "Good morning!" She chimed.
"Eh," I groaned, "...go away." I managed to say half asleep, but my mother is not one to be ignored.
"Come now, Madeline, it's the day." And there she goes again with "the day". I don't care what freaking day it is, just let me sleep!
There was suddenly a burst of light. My mom had probably just opened the blinds. Why must she torcher me like this? I thought to myself as I pulled my covers over my face. Trying to resist her is not a good idea, but it's only 7:00 am and I am not a morning person. "Come now, Maddy, please get up and ready." I did not move or make a sound wishing she would just disappear. "Madeline Emma Sraw get up this instant!"
"Fine," I gave up. When she uses my full name, I know that I've pushed her last button.
I sat up, but not opening my eyes. I was still not used to the bright light. "That is better." She said in a satisfied voice. My mother was the only person I know that can go from ready to tear your head off to sunshine and cute puppies happy. I finally opened my eyes, but only to come face to face with a pink lemonade dress covered with ruffles. I shut my eyes and started hitting my head against the wall. Gotta wake up, gotta wake up, this was only a bad dream right? I pinched myself then slowly re-opened them. I was back in the present, three years later in a small two room farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. I could hear my dog Max barking, who needs an alarm clock?
It is six am. I chuckled to myself; this was the time that I started to work every morning. My feet touched the ground, it was cold. It's a cold damp morning and this was a normal day on the farm. I walked over to the kitchen which was in the same room as my bed. I pulled out a loaf of bread and fed half to Max and the other I had. Today was my day off; well not really, I just get to go into town when I'm done with my work. I opened the door to let Max out when I finished getting ready.
The cold air was refreshing at first, but it was cold. I pulled my coat tightly around my neck as I walk to the barn. Inside was a massive space. I have seven cows and five sheep which means a lot of work for me. Next is Tammy, she is my horse. I have had her ever since I first came to this small town. I walked into her stable, the smell of hay and dirt was my favorite smell on the farm. It was like freshly baked cookies to me. "Hey girl, how are you doing today?" I jumped on her back and then we road slowly down to the field at the edge of the farm. I have no crops this early in the year, but usually I have the field filled with all kinds of plants. In the fall when you look over at it, it is like a rainbow of different types of fruits and vegetables.
Next was the chickens. The chickens were my least favorite part of my farming life. I have ten of them, which means that I have ten eggs I have to find in the hay without stepping on the eggs. When I am done with that, which means I'm done for the day. It had started to rain. It always made the farm look so big and lonely; I wish that I could share it with someone else.
Tammy was waiting for me under the apple trees. I ran over there so I wouldn't get wet. "Let's go," I said to her when I am finally on her back. As we rode into town we passed the river. It looked so beautiful, turning and spinning with the raindrops hitting it. Finally into town, I still hade to take care of a few chores while I was here. I left Tammy out in a field just outside of town.
I quickly walked over to the poultry farm; I opened the door and walked in. The heat was a lovely change from the damp day. "Good morning," I said when I reached to counter.
"Hello, Emma," Lillia said without looking up. No one knew who I really am. The whole town just thinks that I am some run away girl. I didn't tell them my real name or where I came from because I had no intensions of ever going home. If they knew who I really was, they would sent me back home in a flash. My new name was Emma Wydelie. "May I help you?" Lillia asked when she finally looked up from behind the counter.
"Um, yeah, I'll have three bags of chicken feed."
"Alrighty that will be 30 dollars then." I handed Lillia the money. "Rick will deliver them for you." Rick was Lillia son. He was about two years older then me and is very dorky looking in his green apron tied around his thin waist and his glasses frame round as the eggs his family sold. If you look past all that, he does have a strong heart. Rick was always helping his mom with the farm and the family business, making deliveries and other odd jobs.
"Is Popuri here?" I asked Alex who had just came down the stairs to make his runs around the town.
"Yeah she is up stairs with Karen." Karen was Rick's wife. She is a high strung woman and is not afraid to voice her opinion on anything, the perfect mach to the calm, shy Rick.
I headed up the stairs to the rooms above. I walked into a big open room with three doors leading out of it. Popuri and Karen were sitting over on a mustard yellow couch that was located in the middle of the room.
"Hey," I called over to the two.
"Hello, Emma," Popuri answered giggling; they were looking at what looked like an old photo album. I walked over and glanced over Karen shoulder, I was right. It was an album with pictures of Popuri and Rick when they were young. Popuri turned the page; on the next page was a picture of Lillia wedding. Lillia looked the same; tall, thin, dark brown hair with a pearly white smile. The man beside her, I could only assume, was Popuri and Rick's father. He was quite handsome, with blond hair, brown eyes and a muscular form. He looked like Rick, with out the mussels.
Popuri just starred blankly at the photo of her father. He had left them a long time ago, no one really knew why. That was about six years ago now, so I never knew the man, but I had herd many stories from his family. Karen must have sensed Popuri's discomfort too so she shut the album and clearing her throat asked, "What brings you here Miss Wydelie?" Karen likes to use my last name, I made her feel important and powerful, and I never questioned her reason.
"Well Karen, Popuri asked me to bring her some honey," I reached inside my coat pocket and pulled out the small jar of honey. "My coast feels two times lighter," I handed the honey to Popuri.
"Thank you," Ann said as she examined the honey, when she was done she set it down on the coffee table. "What do I owe you?" She asked pulling out some change from her dress pocket.
"Nothing, it is a gift from friend to friend. Well I should be going again." I turned around and walked back to the stairs.
"Off to see Gray I bet." Karen mumbled to Popuri when she thought I was out of earshot.
I was almost to the stairs when I herd Popuri and Karen come running down the stairs. "Emma, hold one a sec, we have something for you!" I turned around and saw Karen holding some pictures.
"Who is it?" I asked seeing a baby holding a teadybear tightly in each one.
"You tell us," Karen said smiling, handing one from the bottom of the pile. I slowly lowered my gaze from the grinning faces of my two bestfriends to the photo they had just handed me. It was the same baby only a few years older now, probably around three. A white baseball cap on his head hiding his shaggy bleach blond hair, he had piercing bleu eyes; I could recognize those eyes and hat anywhere. It was my Gray.
"So do you recognize anyone?" Popuri asked jumping on my arm.
I nodded once, "Gray," I smiled to myself, he wasn't going to like that fact when he finds out that these two people of all had these cute baby pictures. "Were they in the album?"
"Yep," Karen said coming over to my side now too. "You can keep them, or you can pass them along to Gray."
"Alright, thanks for the pictures." I said when Karen handed me the rest.
"We wanted you to know hoe cute Gray was. Now all he does is worry if he is doing the right thing." Popuri added.
"He has his looks now, better then looking cute in my opinion." I said in his defense.
"Whatever Emma," Karen rolled her eyes. I placed the pictures in my now empty pocket and said goodbye to my friends once again then headed out into the damp day.
I did a few other small things in town; I talked to everyone in town, getting the gossip is always a good idea when you aren't in very often. After that I bought two chocolate bars for Gray. I was worried how he would take the news of the baby photos and chocolate was really the only thing that would calm him down, but before that I hade one more thing that I needed to do.
I opened to large doors of the church. Every Saturday I would come here to see Carter and pray. Carter was the only person that knew I my secret of Madeline Sraw and not Emma Wydelie. Carter had helped me leave home and find somewhere to stay and work.
I walked up to the first row of pusses and sat down to pray. "Dear god, please guide me in my ways so I can do the right thing and that everything is going well at home, please let my parents forgive me for leaving. And most of all, please take good care of Jack."
I opened my eyes and just sat there. Jack is the man that had owned the farm before me. I loved him dearly, he was like the dad I never had. He agreed to take me in when I first came to town with only the clothes on my back. He fed me, taught me everything I needed to know about taking care of myself and how to run a farm. Jack has been dead for about a year now and I miss him more then I miss my own father. I never left his side when he was sick, that had been the longest month of my life and I never wanted to experience the pain again of losing the one I loved. I held back tears just thinking about the day that Jack past away. I inherited everything when he died because he didn't have a family of his own, but I would triad it all just to see him again.
"Are you alright, Madeline?" I looked up to see Carter sitting beside me.
"Yeah, I'm ok."
"There is something we need to talk about Madeline." He said smiling warmly at me.
"What?" I whipped my eyes on my sleeve not wanting him to see my tears.
"Well I think it is time you told everyone your story of being Madeline, at lease to Gray. It isn't a good idea to keep a secret that big from someone you love." I nodded my head, "You don't have to do it right this instant but, please keep it in mind."
"Ok." Then he got up and walked into the back room. Then when Carter was out of sight I stood up myself and left.
My final stop of the day was the Blacksmith's. You could hear the faint sound of a hammer hitting the metal at a steady pace from outside, it almost had a rhythmic tune to it. I walked inside to a small room, upfront just big enough to have a small desk, a coat hanger and enough room to walk around. At the front desk was a tall boy with shaggy blonde hair that is constantly hiding his ocean blue eyes, oh and of course, on his head was his now off-white hat; Gray.
Gray looked up when he heard me come in, a smile spread across his face. "Hey Emm," he called over the clinking coming from the back room, I smiled back at him.
"Hi," I walked over giving his a kiss on the cheek. Even after a year and a half of being my boyfriend this still made him turn crimson red. Gray was from the city just like me, he moved here with his grandfather when his mother died in a car crash and his father thought that he couldn't do a good enough job raising a little baby boy.
Kay, for the people who read this good for you. There is going to be a second half, I just lost the page were I hade I written down and I am a little impatient about placing my work out. R&R