Looking up into the silky blackness of the jeweled night sky, Ann
shifted on the picket fence and sighed. Her reddish-blond braid swished
behind her back and she smoothened out her somewhat-wrinkled overalls. The
cool breeze tickled her cheeks and wafted the sweet scent of the grass to
flood her senses. Ann had never known a greater happiness, but something
dark seemed to swallow up her soul, and subconsciously she fingered the
necklace her mother had given her when she was born. She had never known
her departed mother but assumed that a mother was what she was missing in
her life, but truly it was not so.
Ann was turning sixteen soon and approaching the marriageable age for girls in the village she inhabited, and her father Hall secretly wanted to see her married. Her older brother Grayson (Gray for short), approaching twenty, and Hall had both known the mother, who had passed away shortly after childbirth, and were therefore very touchy about Ann's present position and her future.
Tonight was the evening of the first of summer, and not only the annual Fireworks Display, which Ann had forgotten, but a month and twenty- seven days from the next Local Horse Race. It had been a long time since any of the horses from Green Ranch had won a race and that was partially why she was depressed and apprehensive.
A moment's pause brought what seemed to be a pink star shooting up the sky. It trailed beautifully, then burst into a millions of roze-quartz gems. Ann thought that, being pink, it was like someone's heart filling to the brim and bursting with happiness, and for that moment she also felt happy about capturing that state of mind, whatever it meant. It was like something that could be undefined, a new emotion. When it faded out, amethyst and about as visible as the sun at this hour, the girl sighed and wished she could feel that way, despite how Hall and Gray always called her a firecracker.
"How beautiful..." she said as she watched gloomily. Her hands were probably splintered by now against the rough picket fence. Not only did she not care, but she could not feel it; having helped out on the ranch since as long as she could remember, her hands were worn and callused. She was already at the point in her young life when strenuous labor was a joy to her, so in these recent years a repast like this Fireworks Display seemed so strange. Then Ann remembered her state of contentment with the animals, her safety, and having a supportive family.
"Wait, what am I thinking?" she blurted, then blushed and screwed up her eyes and face, as was her habit when she was confused. "I should be happy right now. Green Ranch is doing great, even if we don't win the horse races! Besides, nothing's better than being in good spirits!" Ann grinned to herself, swung and dangled her legs childishly from the fence, then continued on watching every color imaginable soar into the sky and explode into candy-colored rain. Being such a boring countryside village, this place barely saw any pink or purple. Ann's milky face brightened as it reflected these hues.
Her face wilted again when the last speckle faded away into nothing, and she hopped off the fence. For the first time she thought more deeply about why her dad and brother never joined her during the first of summer. Hall, every year, was "conveniently" going over the inventory of the shop he was running, which was excusable, and Gray never came simply because he was a social disaster and usually very solemn; in Ann's eyes, an idiot. So for a very long time she had watched the Fireworks Display alone, but this time she suspected that maybe it was because of the pink fireworks that represented happiness.
Having wished her father and brother good night, she shuffled to her room and undressed for bed. Midway she noticed the gold cross necklace around her neck, kept it on, and then knelt to pray before bed. Reflecting on so many things put her in a state of confusion and although she was not religious and she went to church rarely, Ann found praying to God a savehaven from negative feelings. Besides, she would have nothing to lose by praying. There might be a God or there might not be. Praying would be the only way to find out.
Then, pulling the sheets up over her head, she gave a heaving sigh before falling asleep quickly.
Ann was turning sixteen soon and approaching the marriageable age for girls in the village she inhabited, and her father Hall secretly wanted to see her married. Her older brother Grayson (Gray for short), approaching twenty, and Hall had both known the mother, who had passed away shortly after childbirth, and were therefore very touchy about Ann's present position and her future.
Tonight was the evening of the first of summer, and not only the annual Fireworks Display, which Ann had forgotten, but a month and twenty- seven days from the next Local Horse Race. It had been a long time since any of the horses from Green Ranch had won a race and that was partially why she was depressed and apprehensive.
A moment's pause brought what seemed to be a pink star shooting up the sky. It trailed beautifully, then burst into a millions of roze-quartz gems. Ann thought that, being pink, it was like someone's heart filling to the brim and bursting with happiness, and for that moment she also felt happy about capturing that state of mind, whatever it meant. It was like something that could be undefined, a new emotion. When it faded out, amethyst and about as visible as the sun at this hour, the girl sighed and wished she could feel that way, despite how Hall and Gray always called her a firecracker.
"How beautiful..." she said as she watched gloomily. Her hands were probably splintered by now against the rough picket fence. Not only did she not care, but she could not feel it; having helped out on the ranch since as long as she could remember, her hands were worn and callused. She was already at the point in her young life when strenuous labor was a joy to her, so in these recent years a repast like this Fireworks Display seemed so strange. Then Ann remembered her state of contentment with the animals, her safety, and having a supportive family.
"Wait, what am I thinking?" she blurted, then blushed and screwed up her eyes and face, as was her habit when she was confused. "I should be happy right now. Green Ranch is doing great, even if we don't win the horse races! Besides, nothing's better than being in good spirits!" Ann grinned to herself, swung and dangled her legs childishly from the fence, then continued on watching every color imaginable soar into the sky and explode into candy-colored rain. Being such a boring countryside village, this place barely saw any pink or purple. Ann's milky face brightened as it reflected these hues.
Her face wilted again when the last speckle faded away into nothing, and she hopped off the fence. For the first time she thought more deeply about why her dad and brother never joined her during the first of summer. Hall, every year, was "conveniently" going over the inventory of the shop he was running, which was excusable, and Gray never came simply because he was a social disaster and usually very solemn; in Ann's eyes, an idiot. So for a very long time she had watched the Fireworks Display alone, but this time she suspected that maybe it was because of the pink fireworks that represented happiness.
Having wished her father and brother good night, she shuffled to her room and undressed for bed. Midway she noticed the gold cross necklace around her neck, kept it on, and then knelt to pray before bed. Reflecting on so many things put her in a state of confusion and although she was not religious and she went to church rarely, Ann found praying to God a savehaven from negative feelings. Besides, she would have nothing to lose by praying. There might be a God or there might not be. Praying would be the only way to find out.
Then, pulling the sheets up over her head, she gave a heaving sigh before falling asleep quickly.