Honeysuckle | M.A

Chapter 1: Honey Day

"But what about the schism?"

September 15, 1972

Jaroldine Anne woke up early in a very good mood. It was honey day, so everyone in the village was going to go to the farm to harvest some fresh honey. This only happened once a season in Geromele, so it was special.

She changed out of her nightgown and into a cream colored lace dress and a dark brown corset that she put loosely over her dress.

Turnning to the mirror she titled her head to the side before giving a slight nod, as if she had come to a decision, and, after rummaging in her drawers for a bit, pulled out a floral silk babushka scarf and easily wrapped it around the top half of her hair; this was her everyday look thought she always looked at herself for a while, just in case she was to decide to do anything different with her hair that day.

Nancy, her little sister, walked into the room just as Jaroldine was done examining herself in the mirror, still in her nightgown, and a tuft of messy scarlet hair on her head. She yawned lightly before getting comfortable on the chair in front of Jaroldines mirror, both of which were handmade by their father when Jaroldine was born.

"And how would this tired princess like her hair to be styled today," Jaroldine said, smiling at her sister through the mirror and softly grabbing her hair in her hands.

"I want pigtails," Nancy replied, looking excited at the thought.

"As you wish."

She quickly brushed and braided her sister's hair, and intertwined some of the small white flowers she had left from the strawberry field. She had gone strawberry picking with her mother the previous day, and collected all the little flowers she found on the stems for decor for her desk, but she could spare a few for her sister.

"You look beautiful." Jaroldine said, smiling at her sister when she was done. "Now, hurry and get dressed if you want to come with me to the bakery, we could get there before Uncle Larry if we're quick enough" She added, patting her sister on the shoulders.

At this, Nancy immediately ran to her room, which was facing Jaroldines, to get dressed. Jaroldine smiled and closed the door.

When they were both ready, they walked into the kitchen and, as usual, they found a small greasy pouch with a few silver coins, just enough to get them 7 fresh buns from the Gardetto's Bakery, two for Jaroldine, her mother Andrea and her father Maurice and 1 for Nancy.

Jaroldine held Nancy's hand throughout their short walk to the bakery, and as the bakery stand came into sight, so did Larry, their fathers brother, and the two of them quickened their pace, almost running to get to the stand first. It had been an ongoing little game between their uncle and Jaroldine, to see who would get there first, sometimes, the loser would have to pay for whatever the winner was at the bakery to purchase, or have a silly consequence, like last week, Jaroldine had to bathe Larry's great brown horse, London, everyday for the entire week; which in hindsight, she didn't have quite a problem with at all. She loved horses, she loved all animals.

"Told you I'd get here before you today!" Jaroldine exclaimed, laughing when her uncle tried to respond but failed as he needed a moment more to catch his breath.

"Oh bugger," he said, smiling when he had finally caught his breath. Larry was a slightly chubby man with a grey moustache and a kind smile, much like their father. He was the jokester of the pair, while Maurice, their father, was a bit more serious.

"How are you girls! Or in your case," He beamed, looking at Jaroldine proudly before continuing, "Soon to be lady!" He smiled softly at her, but Jaroldine didn't give as much as a half hearted smile back. She didn't want to think much about turning 18, she felt strange that she was going to be an adult soon, and be expected to do adult things, because she still felt like a kid. She wondered if she should expect to suddenly have a mental sprout the moment she turned 18, or if she would feel young the rest of her life. Was this normal? Did every girl feel like this before becoming a woman?