The Lost Rose

Part 1- Chapter 1

I get up from the ground where I had been lying all night, brushing off the straw stuck to my left cheek.

It's dawn now.

I had been taking care of my horse, Maisy, all night.

The day I met her would have probably been her last one if I hadn't begged her owner to take her with me. She was old and useless, so he didn't need her anymore. I've had her for two years now but sometimes she gets sick and I have to stay with her all night.

Which was what happened last night.

Now, she is lying on the ground, her legs beneath her, breathing calmly.

I rub my eyes as I get up and get out of the stable. We have another horse here, that helps us to carry big weights. It's a female called Daisy.

Maisy and Daisy.

I push the door open and the rising sun dazzles me for a few seconds before I get used to it. It's going to be another warm day of June.

I walk in the still green grass that meets a path made of small rocks and stones, toward the house. The birds are chirping everywhere, singing for the new day that starts. I hear the sound of crickets, as I pass the bushes next to the pathway and I spot bees already fly around different colored flowers.

The air is slightly humid but the wind is warm and I enjoy this light breath as it caresses my skin.

I have been living in this small farm all my life.

At least, as far as I can remember.

Clarisse adopted me when I was a few months old. I don't know where I come from but she told me that she had discovered me at the door step of this house, sleeping in a basket, covered by a warm blanket with a name sewed on it: Roese.

It happened sometimes: a woman had a baby that she couldn't take care of or the parents were sick. I never really bother to think about my real parents and how my life would've gone if they had kept me.
Unless, they are already dead.

I step into the house and see Clarisse cooking something in our small kitchen. She is happily humming and watches me enter the house.

I've always considered her like my grandmother.

- How is Maisy? She asks me, stirring something that smells like cabbage and potatoes.

- I stayed next to her all night. I think she is doing good now.

I take off my boots full of mud and straw and I start goi upstairs.

- Call me if you need any help! I tell her as I grip the stairs' ramp.

Up the stairs, on the right, is my room. It's small and in the winter, it can be cold, but I like it. My small bed is up against the wall in the right corner and I have a small desk on the left, next to an old mirror and a drawer.

I take out a yellow used dress, that Clarisse sew me, out of it and change into clean clothes. She is a great dress-maker and enjoys sewing me dresses in her free time.

I wash my face with water that I left in a bowl on my desk and prop myself on my bed. She found me a new book recently. I read about adventures, if I could I would do that all day. I dream about one day, living something extraordinary too. I could live out there in the forest and travel around the world.

At least that is what I wish to do. We all know that we don't always get what we want.

Clarisse needs me here.

But it's not like I don't like this place. I have my occupations here. Apart from reading and taking care of my horses, I work at the farm every day with Clarisse. We milk the cows, feed them as well as the few sheep and goats we have. She also has a small vegetable garden where she plants all sorts of things. We use it for us or sell it with the milk we get from the cow and the goats and the eggs of our chicken.