"Ellie? Come on you go to get up, you gotta go to school" Joel said shaking her arm. Ellie's eyes slowly opened then quickly shut, rejecting the early morning light. "I don't wanna" she whimpered into her pillow "Well you have to go to school" Joel countered back. Ellie slowly sat up on her bed and looked at Joel who was now leaving the room. "Get ready, breakfast is ready" Joel stated, and left her room shutting her door behind him. Ellie sat there on her bed still trying to wake up, she got up, got dressed. This has become an everyday routine for them now that they have been living in Jackson for over two months. Since they settled down, life has been better than both Ellie and Joel could have expected. Ellie went to school, made new friends, and was able to live her teenage years. Joel worked at the power plant with his brother, Tommy. Life was good. Ellie opened her door and started to walk towards the kitchen; still struggling to keep her eyes open. She saw a plate on the counter with eggs, bacon, and a piece of toast. The aroma of it was more than enough to make her instantly feel awake. Joel was standing behind the counter with a mug in his hand. "Mornin' sleepy" he greeted. Ellie looked at him trying not to smile at his remark. She grabbed the plate off the counter and placed it on the dining table. She sat down and started to eat the scrumptious breakfast. "You seem quite today" Joel said sitting down next to her setting his mug on the table. "Just sleepy" she responded looking at him.
"Well, I got you a present... If you are awake enough to open it." Ellie head darted up from the table to look at Joel with a curious look on her face. "Yes of course!" she responded smiling. "Stay here, I'll be back" Joel said while getting up from the table. Ellie watched Joel walk into the hallway entry, she could not figure out what Joel had gotten her, or why. It was not a special day it was just like any other weekday morning. Joel walked back towards the table carrying a long slim box. Ellie looked at him as he set it on the table in front of her. "What is it?" "Open it and find out" Joel said smiling. She opened one end of the box trying to look at what was inside. She reached in and pulled out a set of arrows. Her eyes widened accompanied by an enormous smile. "No way" she started, looking them over. She set them down on the table and got up to hug Joel. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said hugging him as hard as he could. "No problem baby girl" he said hugging her back. She let go of him and sat back down still smiling. Joel laughed under his breath, he knew that Ellie had been waiting arrows for quite sometime after she broke the last of hers practice shooting. "You better start heading to school, Ellie." She looked up from the arrows to meet his gaze. "Oh, right" she said putting an arrow back on the table. "See you after school" She said getting up from the table. "Bye" Joel said as she reached for the front door. "Bye" she said back smiling. Today was a starting to be a great day.