No More Second Chances
The transition to farmer and farmer's wife was not as easy as you might imagine.
Jonathan Kent sat on the fence staring at the cows that wandered slowly across the field. The field and the cows in it were now his. The cows meandered along oblivious to the change, but for Jonathan the past week had changed almost everything.
He didn't think he'd ever heard the farm so quiet. And it wasn't because I was empty, the usual trio of farm hands could be seen out in the field, talking loudly as they finished up for the evening. No it was quiet because the quietest man he'd ever known was missing. Jonathan noted the irony but chose not to dwell on it further. It was his father's absence that was creating the void, even though Hiram Kent had barely said two words to his son in recent years. Jonathan had a number of theories as to why this had happened, maybe the man was still angry with him or maybe the man who never had much to say for himself anyway, had run out of things to say. Whatever the reason, they'd kept on working side by side, his presence always there.
The funeral had been a week ago now, but it had only been today, as he finished unpacking the last few possessions he and Martha owned back into the house he'd grown up in, that the loss finally sunk in. He hadn't felt right moving back in so soon, even though everything was now his, but the farm had to be maintained and as a good number of people had pointed out, it seemed silly to continue to live in that tiny apartment above the cinema and drive in to the farm every day. Still, rather than move their things into the master bedroom he'd chosen to squeeze their double bed into his old small room, not wanting to intrude on everything that was once his parents.
So this was it then, he realised as he slipped off the fence and wandered into the barn, his feet taking himself subconsciously up the stairs to the loft. All hopes for second chances were lost, for squaring things with his father and for that life of his own, the suggestion of which had caused all the upset in the first place. He'd kept putting it off, telling himself that he'd leave as soon as his father could afford to pay someone to take his place, but the farms finances never got any better and now it was too late. The farm was his now whether he wanted it or not, and there was no way he could bring himself to sell it.
He stood at the window and ran a hand across the telescope that his father had given him when he was a teenager. It seemed like a world away now. He peered through the lens, realising that he hadn't touched the thing since highschool and that it was still pointed at Nell's house. They'd used it so he'd know when her parents were out, so he could sneak over. He smiled, and moved it back up so that it pointed back at the sky. At least that part of his life had turned out right, he smiled thinking of Martha in the house below.
He leaned against the window and watched as the sun set over the fields, remembering the first sunset he'd brought Martha up here to see, on that first weekend she came to meet his parents and wondering in hindsight what he would have said if she'd peered through the telescope. When it had disappeared over the horizon he wandered back down and across the yard to the back door of the house, lost in his thoughts.
He looked up, the lights were on in the kitchen, looking inviting in the fading light. Banishing his thoughts, he put on a smile and strode into the kitchen. The smile fell from his face when he found Martha standing over the sink wiping tears from her eyes.
"Sweetheart what's wrong?" He rushed to her side.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"What for?"
"It's silly." She admitted, "But now that we've got an actual kitchen, I thought… I wanted… I was going to make you a proper home cooked meal. I really wanted to make a home cooked meal."
"That's great of you sweetheart but what's wrong?"
She pulled open the oven door and thick black smoke billowed out. When the smoke cleared what was left was a charcoaled lump of meat surrounded by charcoaled lumps of potato.
"I'm sorry." Martha said again. "I just wanted you to feel at home again."
"Hey, come here." Jonathan pulled her close.
"I guess this farmer's wife thing will take some getting used to that's all." She said looking up at him with half a smile on her face.
He grinned back, "I guess I'll just order pizza."