07-02-2015, 10:18 PM
Eloise woke to the blinding glare of the sun creeping through the curtains. Another beautiful day! she thought to herself "Urgh!" she sighed. The familiar sound of her brother Max stomping around in his bedroom told her that it was definitely time to wake up. How could one man make so much noise? At 7am? "SHUT UP!" she shouted to him, doubting that he would even hear her over all his banging. "CAN'T, DANCING!" came the rugged reply. "WHAT THE HELL?" she shouted back, and that was the last exchange between the two walls. Hauling her aching body out of her soft, warm bed was almost impossible, but Eloise knew what today was... Market day.
The day before had been just as hot and sticky as this one was destined to be, and Eloise and Max had been out on the fields ploughing the corn and wheat. Every muscle and fibre in her body ached after days like that, but that was her life, and she was happy to live it. After a quick shower, Eloise pulled on a white lace summer dress and a pair of knee length navy blue socks. It was usually pretty muddy on the stall and she knew she would have to wear her wellies. After drying her hair and ruffling the curls a little, Eloise was ready. As she pulled open the door, she let out a little sound of shock. "How do you always fall for that?" Max laughed at her as he pulled off an old halloween mask. "Go away" she replied as she pushed past him. "Why are you always so grumpy on market day? It's the one day we get to be out there, selling what we make on the farm and actually socialising with other humans" Max said. He knew the reason she hated it so much; the crowds. The one thing Max could never understand was why his little sister disliked busy places so much.
Downstairs, their father had laid the table and was dishing out fresh eggs and toasted seedy bread. The siblings sat down at the table together and waited for their father to join them. "How are we this morning?" he asked as he took his place at the head of the table. "Fine" "Awesome!" came the replies. They ate and chatted about the harvest and about the animals. Betsy, the large brown cow, was due to give birth any day now, and the harvest was looking fuller each day. Both of those were good things, but Eloise could not seem to lighten her mood. Max, as always, finished his breakfast first and was up and finished washing the dishes before Eloise could even pull her boots on.
The market was as busy as always, and Max and Eloise got to work setting up the stall while their father hauled their cargo from the van. The sun was blazing down on them and Eloise knew that she would end up with red marks around her shoulders and that her freckles would be making an appearance. "Cheer up baby sis. Only ten more hours and we can go home again!" Max chuckled. Eloise just sighed and continued the mundane task of laying out parcels of wheat and freshly baked bread.
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