Oh How the Roles Have Reversed

Sun Setting on Murton Farm

Sitting in the huge tree house with Aleister watching the sun go down was a ritual for me. We did this almost every day. My brother liked it because he was addicted to space and science. I sat there because I liked hanging out with him. Aleister was muscular and had brown hair like my Dad but had my Mom's pale skin and gold eyes. The treehouse was very spacious. It had three rooms and Pa had it built by professionals. Aleister's telescope and science equipment were in one room, the room with the large windows. My room in the treehouse was right next door to his; one wall was covered with a moral my mom had drawn and the other walls were covered in my drawings. I am quite artsy so the floor is cover with art materials like paint, pencils, and clay. The third room was kind of like a living room it had a couch, bins for holding different things, a coffee table, a red and blue rug, and lots of board games. It was four stories in the air and had support structures to make sure it didn't fall.  

         Ma came to the base of one of the wooden ladders and called me down for bed. I went to bed before Aleister on weeknights. I had a harder time getting to sleep at night. When I got to the house, I saw dad sitting in his rocking chair, as usual. It must have not been that much work on the farm today because I usually only see him in the mornings during planting season. My dad is about 40 but he looks a few years younger, he has a muscular body and he is really handsome. He has long brown hair and short scruffy beard. His hands are callused over and he has really tan skin. You look at him and tell he belonged to the country. He looks like the classic rough outdoor man you would see on TV or read about in books. Ma is 38 she is slender and petite and has long flowing hair. She is more artistic than dad. Dad calls me her mini me because we look and act a lot alike. My mom works as a fairly famous seamstress, but at heart she is a small town girl. Her and dad have lived in Henry County their whole life and have been a couple for most of it. She has been to different states to make dress for some fairly famous people but she always comes back home to Henry County.

          I went straight to the bathroom to clean up because I had been hanging out in the forest all day and was dirty. After my bath, I got in my PJ's and went to talk to my dad.

"How was your day Pa?"

He sighed and took a minute to answer, "Missin' six of the chickens but other than that it was good Jenny."

"You think a critter got them?" I asked.

Dad just shook his head yes and told me goodnight, I didn't ask farther questions because he looked quite tired. I collected my dog Leo and headed to bed. Leo was a gift from my parents after the fire had taken my face. They thought the dog would help me cope with my new life after the fire. For the most part, they were right. Leo was one of the best things that ever happened to me. He was a black pit bull with really pretty blue eyes. He was special and loyal, yet we found he tied to the church all beat up and broken and sad, his last owner left him that way. I couldn't even imagine being nice again if I had Leo's previous owners but as soon as he got home he became livened up and became a real sweet boy. He did his job of making me feel better. After collecting him from his usual spot on the screen porch, I headed to my room for sleep. We had school tomorrow, which was always dreaded. In my opinion, the only place for me was daddy's farm.