Summer Days

It was the first day of summer and I woke up with the sun making my eyes squint tightly shut. The nice thing about the world that I lived in was that when the day of summer came, it was summer. Just like when the first day of winter, or spring, or fall would come, it would be that season. There was none of this snowing in October or boiling temperatures in April. This little fact made planning very easy. Before I sat up in my makeshift bed, I knew what the day had in store for me.

Today would be all about shopping. This day always filled me with excitement. Now, don't assume I'm one of those girls who loves buying lots of expensive, ugly dresses and frilly things that really have no use. I'm not speaking of that kind of shopping. I'm talking tomatoes, peas, eggplant and my personal favorite, sunflowers! Those really big sunflowers too, that grow taller than my old man! I was famous for my sunflower seeds. At the end of every summer, I'd take the seeds, dry 'em, bake 'em, salt 'em, then sell 'em. That's what brought in most of my families tiny fortune. It kept us afloat through all those harsh winters. Yes, this day was my day to shop for our summer crop. We had enough money left over from the fall crop to get us a pack of tomato seeds, a pack of eggplant, two packs of peas, and a pack of sunflowers.

I stretched and put on my plain brown dress. I wrapped my brown hair in a bun and splashed my face with some water. I walked out of my little shack that was located in the backyard of the main house. It was right next to the barn. I had a very neat system down. I'd get up, feed and milk Bessy, our cow, then head to the chicken coop and sprinkle some feed on the ground for them. Now that is was summer, I had a bunch more to do. Most of it I'd have to hold off doing until the next day, but there would be lots of weeding, sowing and planting.

"Cinderella!" A voice called.

It was my stepmother. She was calling me in for breakfast. I ran towards the house and walked through the back door into the kitchen. Dri and Ana were already sitting at the table. Their faces were clean and they wore simple, but nice clothing. I would have been clean too, if I didn't have so many things to do.

"Oh dear. I wish you would stop sleeping out in that old shack." My stepmother said.

"You know that it's too cramped in this little house for me stepmother." I told her. "Besides, I'm getting too old to sleep in the same bed with my two sisters."

After my response she didn't press the issue. We'd had this argument many a time and I always won. For breakfast we had eggs. We didn't have much flour for bread left, and we were saving it for Ana's upcoming birthday. Stepmother made the best bread.

After I finished eating I jumped up and went to the money jar that sat on top of the icebox. I poured the few gold coins into my hand. I looked at my stepmother who had a look of confusion on her face. I raised my eyebrows, challenging her to remember the day. Eventually she blinked and nodded.

"Ah yes, tis the first day of summer, I forgot." A cheery smile spread across her face as she looked to her two daughters. "Would you two like to accompany your stepsister?"

I knew what the answer would be, but waited for a reply anyway. They both looked hesitant and then shook there heads.

"Maybe next time." Dri said.

Ana nodded in agreement. I shrugged and turned to go.

"Won't you at least clean up before you go?" Stepmother asked. "Your face is covered in dirt."

"No time!" I jumped. "I have to be to the market early. Last person there, gets the last of the stock. And stuff that's last in stock is last for a reason."

I pondered idly as I walked down the dirt road to the market. I thought of the looks on my stepsisters' faces when they had been asked to join me. It made me smile a little. They were so uncomfortable with the thought of going to the market. I couldn't blame them I guess. It was a crazy place. Full of bartering buyers and desperate sellers. It wasn't a very clean place either, another reason it was pointless to wash up before going.

I very seldom felt animosity towards Dri and Ana. Occasionally, when the chores became rather difficult, I wished for someone to help me. But in the end, I remembered that I chose my position in the house. After my father died, someone had to be the man of the house. I had been raised by my father alone. My mother died giving birth to me. A unsure father, raising a me by himself, turned me into somewhat of a tomboy. I was pretty mind you. I just wasn't vain. I didn't mind helping my father with chores and such. We could never afford a maid or a servant. So, we made due with what we had.

Dri and Ana on the other hand, had an opposite upbringing. Stepmother's first husband had been a Baron. They lived in the country north of here and led quite a prosperous life. That was of course until the Baron was called into battle where he was killed, taking the family income with him. The poor family was almost bankrupt when my father showed up. Stepmother and father met at church, ironically enough. They bonded over their common sorrow of loosing a spouse. My father had been there on a short business trip, and was due to leave a few days later. They decided to get married on a whim.

You could imagine my surprise when my father came home with a new wife and two daughters! It took us a few weeks to get use to one another, but eventually we began to develop a mutual respect for each other. Only half a year after their marriage began, father came down with a case of the fever. It only took a few days for it to become fatal. I was of course heartbroken. My best friend and father was gone.

One night I was crying in the barn and I heard another woman sobbing. I found Stepmother in the back yard, crying harder than I'd ever seen. I'd gone to her and we'd cried together. That was the beginning of our true friendship.

"Wh….what shall we do now?" I remember her asking through sharp sobs.

That was the first moment that our family's financial predicament crossed my mind. I knew in that moment that our survival was completely dependent upon me. Once I had made my decision to take on the responsibilities of my father, I felt this sudden surge of pride. Not my own pride, but my father's, like he was concurring with my decision.

"Don't worry." I told my stepmother as I looked her squarely in the eyes. "I'll take care of everything."

"El?!" A familiar, soothing voice rang.

I shook my head, realizing my thoughts had completely taken me away. I looked around to get my bearings and found Nathaniel walking towards me with a worried expression. Before my mind registered that expression, a warm fuzzy feeling started at my toes and worked it's way up. That happened every time I would see Nathaniel. Possibly because I was in love with him. I quickly pulled myself out of the daze and saw his worried look.

"Yes?" I responded.

"What's the matter?" He was next to me now and put a hand on my shoulder.

I felt something warm and wet sliding down my cheek. Realization sank in that the flood of memories of my father had caused me to cry. I blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh, nothing….I…I was just thinking of my father I guess. I'm fine really." I insisted.

He nodded, but very hesitantly. I found it sweet that he seemed so worried. I paused. Something was missing.

"Where's Katherine?" I asked, looking for my best friend.

"My little sister is running late I'm afraid. She told me to come find you." Nathaniel answered. "She insisted that we wait for her to go to the market."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Pointing to the sun getting higher in the east, I said:

"Look at the time! All the sunflower seeds will be gone!"

"Oh please." Nathaniel chided. "You know old man Sorensen will save you at least three packs. You give him the best price of your end-of-year crop!"

I was about to try and further our argument, for I so loved arguing with Nathaniel, but a small yell came from a few houses behind. It was Katherine. She was running towards us as her pigtails bounced behind her. I smiled at my friend. She was irresistibly cute. We were the same age and had been best friends since childhood. It didn't hurt that she had such a dashing and handsome older brother. She had red curly hair and freckles polka dotted her nose and cheeks. Her green eyes were bright with the cheerful attitude that she never let falter.

"I was about to leave you." I stuck my nose up and placed my hand on my hips.

"Oh you weren't either." She said as she reached us.

I didn't tell her that she was right. Instead I just turned and walked away from both of them. Katherine caught up to me quickly and pretty soon we were both giggling.

The three of us chatted casually as we walked towards the market. We came to an intersection in the road. We would have crossed the way immediately, but we were cut off by a slew of horses. Looking up we saw that it was the royal court. We looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Impatiently, we waited for them to pass.

I heard Katherine give a little sigh. Looking in the direction of her eyes, I saw she was looking at Prince Charming. He was on his steed talking to a beautiful woman riding beside him. I didn't understand why Katy though he was so good looking. He was so thin, and had black hair. Good looking men consisted of big, strong muscles and blond, sandy hair……like Nathaniel. And also, who had a name like Charming? I doubted his name reflected his personality.

"Who's the lady?" Nathaniel whispered in my ear, making me shiver a little.

"Um, I believe that is Princess Una from the West Country."

I looked up at him as I responded and noticed he was pleased with the looks of Princess Una.

"They are courting." I added in a stern tone.

Finally the end of the stampede of royal nincompoops passed and we were able to cross the street.