Ring Around the Rosie

| Chapter 1 |

| Feb. 21, 2018 |

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| Chapter 1 |

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"Rosie, Rosie! Come play with us!" shouted a young girl with honey brown hair. Rosie looked up from kneading the dough and gave a dazzling smile.

"Now, now Hannah. I'm busy helping momma. I can't play right now," the twelve year old told the five year old. Said five year old puffed her cheeks out and furrowed her brows.

"But we wanna play!" she complained and another voice chimed in.

"Now Hannah. What did Rosie say?" the voice asked.

"That she's helping you," Hannah huffed softly and Esmeralda chuckled at her youngest.

"Precisely. Now let her finish helping me and then she'll come play with you young ones," Esmeralda replied and Hannah cracked a grin before nodding and rushing out of the small home, her voice carrying across the field.

"I am not sure what you have going on through your mind but whatever it is, keep it up. Those children can't get enough of you," Esmeralda told her eldest as she rolled out the freshly kneaded dough.

Rosie grinned at the praise as she sent a fist after fist on the dough. "I'm not sure either. I just dream of new ways to entertain the young ones," she replied honestly and her mother flashed her a smile.

"Well everyone appreciates your creativity and help with watching over them," she added and Rosie nodded with a smile ever present on her lips.

They continued to work in silence until Rosie hurrahed in success. "Done!" she exclaimed as she pushed the last of the dough towards her mother. She then took the back of her hand and swiped it across her forehead in success, smearing flour over her sun-kissed skin.

Esmeralda gave a breathy laugh and shook her head at her daughter. "Right then," she simply stated as she walked over and used the damp rag to wipe off the flour.

Rosie giggled sheepishly and thanked her mom before wiping her hands on the apron and removing it. She handed it to her mother before sprinting out of the house and towards the field with the other children who were plucking at the grass in boredom.

"Rosie!" someone squealed and the other children looked up to see her making her way towards them.

"Rosie! You're done!" Hannah proclaimed as she ran and threw her small arms around her sister's waist. Rosie laughed and hugged her back.

"I am. Now who's ready to play?" Rosie asked and all the children shouted in excitement.

The other villagers turned to look at what the commotion was. They had to pause what they were doing to see and smiles passed between them.

"I should've known," a woman chuckled from further away, a wet cloth hanging from her hand. Her other hand went up to shield her eyes from the sun's bright rays.

"Rosie surely knows how to give those children energy," another replied as she shook out a blanket, a grin on her face as she looked up every now and then.

"She makes the ultimate babysitter," another chimed in from helping the first lady with laundry.

"I wonder what game she has prepared for them this time," the first woman thought as she tapped her chin.

"Knowing Rosie, it's bound to go far," the third replied with a grin on her face. The three ladies snickered at that true statement.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about our young ones," they concluded before going back to their work. And that was how every person felt about their children with Rosie, unaware of the dangers that would soon follow her. 

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