Chop.
Chop.
This was tedious work. Put one log down, chop it in half, put another one down, and repeat. If the logs weren't perfectly split, you wouldn't make as much money. Trust me, they check every log. I couldn't afford to mess up often. I had three younger siblings and an injured father that I needed to help take care of. Only my mother and I worked, and we barely made it by.
Chop.
"You know if you hold your hands closer to the blade, it's easier to aim at the center of the log."
I looked up from what I was doing to see the bright smiling face of a girl about my age, looking right at me. I recognized her, as we've been working in the same group for a few years now, ever since we were old enough. Before that I'm sure I had her in a couple of my classes. But I never really associated myself with the people around me. I was too busy all the time. Only a few special people got my attention, but this girl actually seemed like she wanted to help me.
I moved my hands closer to the blade of the axe, "Like this?"
She nodded, and placed a log below me. I aimed towards the center.
Chop.
Right through the center.
"See! You got it!" She smiled, proudly. Her face seemed to glow, now that I got a better look. She was the kind of pretty girl that made others jealous, but not the type to flaunt it and use it to her advantage. Her brunette hair was tied back in a messy bun, dirty from the work that she'd done that day. Her hazel eyes looked right into mine with nothing but kindness.
"Thank you…"
"I'm Harper, by the way Harper Bradley!"
Wow, she was really peppy. But something about her made me smile anyway. "Johanna Mason." I responded, smiling back at her.
"It's nice to meet you Johanna Mason! If you need anything else, I'll be right over there!" And with that, she turned and walked over to her station and began perfectly chopping up her own logs. I couldn't help but stare for a moment in a mixture of awe and confusion.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I always looked forward to my break time when it came to work. My arms would get sore easily. Over the past two years I had built them up, but it was tedious work and my body could only take so much no matter how strong any of us were. I never had much to eat at lunch, since I always let my brothers take the majority of the food, but the rest was nice. I had a nice spot in the middle of the orchard that nobody dared cut down. It was beautiful, and very colorful in the midst of a drab, poor District. It was one of my favorite getaways, even if I was just having a bad day because it would always brighten my mood. I sat there on my break, enjoying the peace and serenity, and half of a small sandwich when all of the sudden –
"Well if it isn't Miss Johanna!"
Immediately snapped out of my serenity I looked up. There was Harper, smiling down at me. It was almost as if she never stopped smiling, did she not have a reason to stop or something? It was quite fascinating.
"Mind if join you?"
I almost choked on a bite of my sandwich, "Uh… no. No, go ahead." I watched as she sat down and unwrapped her meal. It was some sort of white meat and it looked fantastic.
"You act like you've never seen chicken before." Was I mistaken, or did her smile seem to get a little playful?
"It's not something I'm used to eating. Only on special occasions."
She ripped a piece off and handed it to me, "Well good thing today is a special day!"
I was hesitant to take it from her, "What's special about today?"
"It's the day we became friends!" She laughs. I could feel my cheeks start to get red after that. I had no choice but to take the piece of chicken. It was tender and juicy… one of the best things I've ever tasted. "Is it good?"
"It's amazing! Thank you, Harper. But I do have a question for you…"
"Hmm?"
"Do you always make a habit of forcing yourself into people's lives?" It was meant as a joke, but immediately I knew it sounded harsh. I wasn't very good at coming off as sarcastic.
"Feisty. I like it." She giggled to herself. There was a brief pause. "I guess when people are this beautiful I just have no choice." She shrugged as if it were a normal thing to say. She stood up.
"Wait. What?"
"So I guess I'll see you around at work!" She smiled once more and left me in the middle of the orchard to try and make sense of what just happened.
***Note: Sorry this chapter is going to be a lot shorter than the rest, as it's just an introductory chapter***
