IN YOUR DREAMS...

ch 5:Miss me?

     In the morning,the pale blue sky is floating with white clouds,the breeze blowing the leaves beside the road,the birds leaping back and forth on the tree,as if telling people that a new day has begun.Dewdrops rolling along the dandelion and clover dreams,splashing a piece of transparent sunlight.In a golden squeak,hatch a dawn that is no longer wet.
   I didn't feel like going to school today.But I got ready,wore my bag and called out to my mom.
   "I'm going to school."
I walked for a mile to board a bus to Griville,a small town on the outskirts of Jorsan.
    "It's been a long time since I saw grandma,she must have felt very lonely without me".I felt a cheerful buzzing in my blood.
   "She'll be very happy to see me!",the thought brought a smile on my face.
  

    I breathed in deeply;the air was tinged with fresh-cut,sweet smelling hay.Butter Cups and broom clover grew along the edge of the lane. Bees buzzed amid wild honeysuckle. Beams of bright sunlight slanted down through the trees.The grove was alive with the cheeps and chirps  and rustling of the birds .A Mockingbird scolded me from the high branch of a towering oak tree.

The summer day was serene  and beautiful.
   A pompous rooster was picking and scratching in the lane ahead. The chickens were confined to the chicken house only in the winter.The rest of the year they were as free as  the wild birds to roam the farm wherever they wished. They never ventured far, however from the security of the farmyard,where from dawn to dusk they could be found picking up grain,undigested tidbits from animal manure,grass and all the insects they could catch.
   I couldn't help but smile when a rooster, upon finding a choice morsel, called his harem of hens with a "tut,tut,tut,tut".A couple of gullible fat hens came running,but there was nothing left for them. The rooster made a great show off being a good provider and strutted away,having the fluffy white hens at his beck and call seemed to do great things for his ego.
   I walked the Roseford road toward town and the river beyond. It was easy walking. Coming back up the road to the farm would require much more effort.I rounded a curve in the road and the town of Griville,a huddle of buildings scattered along the bank of the Dosewallips River,came into view.
      Only the tall-red painted grain elevator and two white church steepless rose above the the two-story brick shops and the wooden  residences.The town sloped down to the river where the old mill stood. It has stopped operation several years ago.
  I crossed the railroad tracks. The train station was one-room frame box like structure with the cattle pen on one side and the elevator on the other. The grass along-side the tracks was charred, deliberately burnt to keep the weeds from taking over.

A lumber wagon, its long box filled with large rolls of barbed- wire fencing and oak posts, rumbled pass me and continued on down Main street after the driver had tipped his hat politely.
     Behind the shops that lined the streets  sat neat cottages and some large comfortable houses surrounded by picket fences. Closer to the river, in the less prosperous part of the town, the houses were unkempt,unpainted frame shacks,most with a cow or a horse staked out behind them.
    When I passed the hotel,I looked at a man sitting on the porch, his chair tilted back against the wall.His shirt  sleeves were cuffless and he wore black arm garters,a linen collar  but no tie. Our eyes  met;his,friendly and appraising.He smiled and tipped  his broad-brimmed hat. I felt his eyes follow me as I walked down the street to the grocery store.
   I was greeted by the owner.
"Good day to you,young lady.Nice day for a walk into town,huh?"
  "I came here to visit my grandma.It's been a long time since I came here,the roads are smooth and straight and it seems like Griville is slowly developing into a city.So,how are the family?"
    "Fit as fiddles.Little ones are growing  like weeds. Wish they'd  hurry up so they can give me some help here in the store. " He laughed heartily .
    "Don't wish your life away Mr.Dogar. They will grow up fast enough"
    "You're right about that,so how's mamma,pappa?"
    "Dad's been busy lately, with a powerplant installment and he always stays at the laboratory to take notes of the animals being treated there".I smiled and continued.
     "If I have time,I shall visit dad too.But the sun's been playing hide and seek with a bright smile,so it's hard to decide",I laughed.
   "What about Ann?That pretty girl must be catching all attention there.Has she graduated?"
   "That-you're right.",I grinned.
"She's in her final year of school,waiting to enter Law college"
,I remarked proudly.
   "That's great to hear.Send my warm greetings to Mr and Mrs.Willows.Had a  good long chat after a long time. ",he laughed.
   "So,what can I get for you today?"
"Some peppermint candies and half a kg of apples and mangos each.I don't come here much often.So gotta buy something for granny when I'm here".I smiled.
    I waited while Mr.Dogar went to the back of the store.My eyes roamed the neatly stocked shelves,the barrels of crackers,beans and rice and the bright red,big-wheeled coffee grinder that sat proudly on the counter.I breathed in the mixture of scents:coffee,spices,leather goods and overripe bananas.
       I was born on this town.I had walked the mile to city and the additional quarter mile through city to school from the time I was five years old.I was considered a country girl and  was not been invited to the socials held by my classmates,even though I was a favourite of teachers and was one of the prettiest girls in school.
    Then we moved to Joscon and that's where I met Jake for the first time,in middle school.As I walked along the hard-packed road,my mind roamed.