What I Call Life

Chapter 25

I sprayed the off- white liquid on the tomatoes. It sunk into the dirt. The sun began to come out, making the world heat up.
"Hey! It's almost fall!" I heard Clara chirp from behind me.
"That means that the fall festival is coming up!" Melissa squealed.
"What?" I asked, turning around.
"One of the only times other than the farmers market, that Olivia let's us go somewhere outside our little house!" Squealed Clara.
"Yeah.... think of a hay ride with Emerson." Melissa sighed. "So dreamy."
"I still can't believe you have a crush on that jerk." Clara sighed.
"Shut up! He's so sweet!" Argued Melissa.
"Is not!"
"Is to!"
I shook my head.
"From what I saw of him, he seemed kind of sour." I said.
Melissa stopped.
"Think what you want." She snapped. She continued transplanting a cucumber plant.
I heard the back door swing open.
"Breakfast time!" Olivia yelled.
"Cobbler!" Melissa and Clara squealed together.
I followed the girls inside where the dining table was set with eight plates.
Crimson motioned for me to sit next to her.
I sat down.
"Sorry about earlier." She whispered.
"It's fine, you know, I didn't know I could do that." I explained.
"Fresh vanilla ice cream!" Exclaimed Clara as she took a bowl and a can out of the refrigerator. Olivia took both of them, opening the can and taking out a spoon.
She put cobbler into each plate before putting on two scoops of ice cream, then dripping whip cream on top.
"This is a special occasion." Olivia said. "Don't expect this everyday."
She waited until she'd finished serving everyone before she sat down at the edge of the table.
Crimson and I didn't talk the entire time we ate.
When we finished, we put our plates in the sink, getting ready to go back to work.
"Everyone, Lunch is in exactly five hours. At exactly noon. I'm not calling you this time. First come, first served. Got it?" Olivia asked.
Everyone nodded agreeably.
We walked back outside.
"Hey, we get to mow the lawn!" Clara exclaimed.
"Yes!" Melissa squealed, pumping her fist.
"Who is mowing the grass supposedly so fun?" I asked.
"Because! We have a ride mower!" Clara squealed.
They opened the shed back up, and took out the mower. It looked like one of those huge ones that people always rent.
I stood gawking at it, not realizing Clara and Melissa had already gotten into the mower.
"What are you waiting for?" Asked Clara. I absentmindedly climbed into the mower.
Melissa pulled a string and then let it go. Clara took hold of the wheel.
"Are you old enough to drive?" I asked her.
"Relax, I'm almost sixteen!" Clara said. We drove around a circle, leaving a long line on the grass. It started to look really nice, the different shades looking like a football field.
Suddenly, Clara made a wrong turn.
We screamed.
We were heading straight for a tree.
"Turn!" Screamed Melissa.
"Turn!" I yelled.
"The wheel's stuck!" Yelled Clara.
We came to the point where've we're only a few terms away from the tree.
Melissa and Clara both jumped.
"Jump!" They screamed at me.
But I didn't.
Instead I took hold of the wheel, and used all my weight to pull it to the right. The string was caught under the wheel.
I reached for it, and pulled it. It made a scratching sound against the metal. I pulled it out and pulled the string back.
I plummeted backwards, and into the grass. My head hit the ground, blurring my vision.
"Marcy!" Screamed the girls, running towards me.
I sat up in the grass.
"Are you ok?" They asked.
I rubbed my eyes, readjusting my sight.
I blinked twice.
"Yeah, are you?" I replied.
"Oh my god!" Clara said. She hugged me. The two girls helped me stand up.
Melissa tucked her blowing blonde hair behind her ears. Her black skirt fluttered in the wind.
"Why are you all the sudden being a beauty queen?" I asked.
"Shut up!" She whispered. Me and Clara stood up to look in the direction she was facing.
Emerson.
Melissa bounded over to him. He was struggling to carry a bag of garbage.
Melissa took it from him and picked it up. She launched it into the dumpster, barely using any effort.
I exchanged looks with Clara. We broke out laughing.
Melissa shot us a dirty look.
After we finally finished all of our work, we collected the eggs from the chickens and headed inside for bed.
"You missed lunch and dinner!" Olivia said. "Aren't you guys hungry?"
"I'm sorry. We were so busy working."
Clara said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"I don't want anyone to go hungry." Olivia said, shaking her head. "There are some left over hamburgers."
"I would love one." I beg.
Olivia takes out three plates and sets out some hamburgers. She hands them to us.
We eat extremely quickly.
We begin to run upstairs, but Olivia stops us.
"Guys, tomorrow is Sunday, we all get the day off." She says.
"Thank god." Mutters Clara.
"Literally." Responds Melissa. The girls brake out giggling.
I follow them upstairs and into their bedroom, where we each get out our journals from the spots we keep them.
Clara kept her's under her pillow, Melissa kept her's in between her mattress, and I hadn't gotten a secret spot yet.
"Today we're going to read each other's journals." Melissa announced. She put each notebook in a pile. We drawled from them upside down. I got Melissa. I opened to the first entry. It was from years ago.