Dreamworld (#JustWriteIt #FreshStart)

Chapter 4

Ellie stumbled down to breakfast the next morning, still yawning, at 7:30 precisely. Aunt Carol was already there, putting a plate of pancakes down on the table, which had been set. Each place already had some bacon in its plate and milk in its cup. There was also a pitcher of orange juice.

Hope was there already too, sitting at the table and munching on bacon. Uncle Chris was sitting in his place at the end of the table, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as Ellie sat down she heard a couple knocks on the front door and then the sound of it opening as whoever it was let themself in. She wasn't surprised when it turned out to be Connor who walked in and sat down with them at the table. He must be awfully comfortable with Aunt Carol and Uncle Chris to be at the point of letting himself in and eating with them, she thought.

Aunt Carol came back over with a jar of syrup and sat down at the table. "The last touch," she said, winking at the girls. "Homemade syrup. Now we can dig in!"

As they all started eating Aunt Carol's delicious breakfast, she and Uncle Chris started talking about a story in the paper. "It's the strangest thing Carol. These people are out cold. Like in a coma. But the doctors say they have normal brain activity, so it's as if they are just asleep. But they can't be woken up."

"Well, that's just creepy. And quite weird," Aunt Carol said with a shudder.

"Yes, and it seems like they are finding more and more of these people every day." Uncle Chris was quiet a moment as he chewed his food. Finally, still staring off into space while he thought, he said slowly, "I wonder if it's some sort of experiment? Like this "chemical warfare" we hear about?"

"Well, if that were the case, we're either under a slow attack or our own government is testing it out on the population. Either option is bad and not likely," Aunt Carol concluded.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," he said, still thoughtful.

While they had been talking, Ellie, Hope, and Connor had been getting acquainted. They had introduced themselves, since they hadn't really talked yesterday, and shared where they lived, that sort of thing.

Uncle Chris finally stood up, wiping his mouth. "That was amazing as usual, Carol. Alright kids, it's time to get going." Of course, this was the moment that Aaron chose to come down from his bedroom. "Morning, Aaron. Sorry, but you missed breakfast. It's time to get started on our jobs."

Aaron sputtered, "But, I just got down here! I need to eat!"

"I warned you that breakfast was at 7:30, right? And that we were going to start working right after? Well, we've all eaten and now we're headed outside. You will come with us, since it's time to get started, which means you have no time for breakfast. Sorry kid. Ok, let's go."

And so they all trooped off, going their own ways for their assigned tasks, Aaron grumbling darkly the whole way. Ellie could only shake her head. They had been warned, in all fairness. Aaron was just being childish, which was ironic since he was the oldest.

Ellie and Connor went to the barn, where Connor showed her where the horse feed was and how much each horse got, and then where the hose was so she could refill the horses' water buckets. After that, they got out some halters and lead ropes and brought the horses outside to their field. When they came back in, Connor showed her the best way to clean out a stall and how much sawdust to spread back in.

"So what do you do on your off time, Connor?" Ellie asked as she got started on the next stall and Connor watched to make sure she did it right.

"Well, there are always little things like surfing the internet or watching TV, but during the summer, I like taking the small hike to go out passed your aunt and uncle's fields. There's a creek back there I like to swim in," he said with a smile.

"I can see why you'd like to do that after this," she said, stopping a moment to fan herself dramatically, then laughed.

Connor chuckled. "Yeah, it gets pretty hot in here. I keep a pair of swimming trunks here since it's sort of my favorite thing to do after work. There's an old rope swing down there that makes jumping in a lot of fun. Maybe I can show you and your brother and sister later?"

"Sure. I know I'd enjoy it. I'm sure they'd like to go too." Ellie had finished on her stall and they were each starting on one of the remaining stalls. "So what else do you do around here?"

"Well, there's always hiking or biking. Oh and sometimes, Chris let's me take a horse out on a ride. I'm sure they'd let us go out for a ride if we asked," Connor asked, coming out of his stall to lean on the doorway of the one she was working on.

Ellie flashed him a smile. "Yeah, that sounds amazing! I haven't ridden in ages though, so you'll have to go easy on me," she teased.

"Oh, I'm sure I can manage to get you back in one piece. Maybe," he teased back, playing at being serious before breaking into a laugh.

The morning passed easily while they chatted and laughed. After they had cleaned out the stalls, Connor showed her where the hay was. They filled the hay nets in each stall for when the horse came back in later. They swept the aisle of sawdust, dirt, and hay and then they were done until later in the afternoon.

"Want to go for that swim now?" Connor asked eagerly. Ellie could see that he was hoping that she would say yes.

She decided to give him a hard time by pausing as if she were really thinking about it and might say no. When it had stretched long enough that she could see that he really thought she didn't want to, Ellie burst out laughing and pushed his shoulder. "Of course I want to go! We need to go get changed first and then I'll see if Hope is done helping Aunt Carol by now. I know she'll want to come."

"Ok. Meet me back here when you're ready," he told her.