Life on the Farm

Chapter one

I sit up and yawn, glancing over at the clock on my bedside table. 5:25.
Crap.
I slept in.
I race down the stairs, throwing my hair up in a ponytail, and throw on my old ankle high boots. I yank the door open, and run out to the barn.
Suzy moos when I open the door.
"Mornin' to you too, sunshine." I mutter, grabbing a bucket Thomas cleaned out last night. "Now scooch."
I give Suzy a slight shove, and sit down at the stool next to her. I place the bucket under her, and start milking her.
"Get enough sleep last night?" I ask. She doesn't reply. Because animals can't talk. But I always talk to them. I think it helps them, mentally. They know someone's there. Someone's acknowledging them. And I believe that helps them.
"What about food. Did you get enough to eat? And enough hay? Or do I need to whip Lesser's ass?" Suzy only grunts. I take that as a yes. She did get enough to eat.
When the bucket is full, I bring it back to the main house, and pour it into the jugs, then take the bucket back out into the barn and set it under the "dirty" sign.
I open the door and step out into the breezy spring morning. I stand there for a minute, taking it in, before pitching over to the north garden, where I start the sprinkler, and adjust it so the whole garden is getting watered.
Next I head back to the barn, and make my way down the isle, until I get to the horses. We have about seventeen horses here. And two of them are mine. And I love them to pieces. Wouldn't trade them for the world. I open the bucket of feed, and take out the scoop. I fill each feed pouch with food, and slip each horse a sugar cube and carrot, along with a rub on the head, before heading back to the kitchen for breakfast.
When I step through the door, the smell of coffee hits me, and I remember how hungry I am. My parents are sitting on the stools at the counter sharing the newspaper and drinking coffee, as usual. They look up when I come in.
"Good morning, Aubrey," my mom says, giving me a hug and a peck on the cheek.
"Hey mom."
My dad gives me a pat on the back and a kiss. "Morning, darling."
I walk to the other side of the counter and pull out a pan and set it on the stove. I turn around to the fridge and pull out fresh bacon slices. Poor Chops. I miss him.
"What's this?" My mom fake-gasps behind me. "Our daughter, making us breakfast?"
I roll my eyes. "Totally not just like every morning! Someone get a camera and record this! It's a once-in-a-lifetime-event!" I reply sarcastically.
"Woah now," my dad holds up a finger. "Not every morning. I make breakfast sometimes."
"Yeah yeah," I say, turning back to the meal. I lay out the bacon strips in the pan and turn on the heat, then turn back to the fridge and pull out pre-prepared batter and a container of blueberries. I preheat the oven, then mix the blueberries into the batter, and pour the batter into muffin tins.
I spin around with a fork and flip the bacon slices, right before they burn. Then I slip the muffins into the oven, and turn on the timer.
Twenty minutes later, I'm sitting down to breakfast with my parents. Now, most people are probably waking up right now. Some not even. But this is my life. Same thing every morning. Wake up at five, have breakfast with parents at 6:30. And sometimes I leave at 7:45 to go to school. But only sometimes.
"No school today, Aubrey," my mom says. "We hired a new farm hand and his son. Need you to train them."
"Ok. Are they here already?" I ask.
"They'll be here at ten." My mom replies. "You'll be starting with them around eleven, and you'll a have a late lunch at 1:45. You work with them until 4:30, then you're free to do whatever. Your father will take over your work today, with the help of Mark."
"Do your work until 11, that's when I'll take over," my dad pops in.
"Ok." I say. "Sounds like a plan. Catch up with you guys later." I put my dishes in the sink, then run upstairs to get ready.
I peel off my sweater and tank top, and trade out my bra for a clean sports bra. Then I take off my leggings and spandex, and put on a new pair of spandex. I pull on my favorite faded jeans and a tank top under a red plaid shirt, then take a brush through my hair and braid it back into its normal two Dutch braids on either side of my head. Pretty much the only thing I do with my hair. All day everyday.
I slip on a red bandanna and my brown leather boots. I brush my teeth and wash my face. No makeup. It would just get smeared with work.
I slide down the railing on the stairs, and out to the barn, where I grab a clean basket.
"Hey Aubrey," I hear. I spin around.
"Hey Oliver." I say. "Here about the new farmhands?"
"Yup. You're training the rookies?"
"Yep. What if they become better farmhands than you?"
"Please. You're the one training them. That couldn't possibly happen."
"Hey!" I punch Oliver lightly on the arm. "Love to stay and chat, but I gotta go."
"Bye!" He calls after me.
I whistle to myself as I walk the path to the south garden. I turn off the main path to take my shortcut through the apple trees. I wouldn't exactly call it a shortcut, but it's a way that I like to go. When I get to the garden, I crouch down in the tomatoes, and start picking the brightest, plumpest ones and adding them to my basket. when I finish with the tomatoes I move on to the snap peas, and then the green beans. Tonight mom and I will can some of the beans. I bring the basket back to the barn, where I grab another one and a small shovel, then make my way back to the garden. I walk over to the painted sign that says "Potatoes" and start digging. I dig up as many potatoes as possible,until I fill the basket. Then I head back to the barn, drop off the shovel, and pick up the other basket.
I walk up to the storage cellar, where I know I'll find Lesser. "Hey Less!" I call. Lesser's head pops out.
"Hey Aubrey!" he replies, coming out of the cellar completely. "What can I do for you?"
"First you can tell me the time."
"8:47."
"And second, you can help me with these," I say, holding up the baskets in my hands. Lesser quickly takes one.
I step inside, and dump out the potatoes in the sink. Lesser takes my basket outside and rinses it out with the hose as I being to scrub a potato clean. When he comes back in and sets the basket on the counter, I drop a clean potato in, and Lesser helps clean the rest.

When we've finished cleaning all the vegetables, it's close to 9:20, and I take the baskets back to the barn, where I weigh out two pounds of peas, two pounds of beans, five pounds of potatoes, and five pounds of tomatoes. I pour this into one basket, and bring this back to the farm house, where I set it on the kitchen counter, right as Mark walks in.
"Hey kiddo," he says.
"Hey Mark," I reply. "Listen, these are the extras from the south garden. Can you get the word to my parents?"
"No prob." He smiles. "Now go one, do some work for once. Why do you think we keep you around?"
"That's funny," I counter. "Because last I checked, you were the hired hand. Not me."
"Alright, kid." He holds up his hand in surrender. "You got me. But go. Scram."
I smile and head out the door, back to the barn, where I put all the extra vegetables into a container to go to the market.
I have a little less than two hours before I start working with the new hands, and I finished with the garden, so I head over to the horses. I take a peek in Mano's stall. Ugh. Disgusting. I grab a lead line and push Mano into the field to graze, as well as Lana and Nemo. I take a shovel and the waste bucket and start to scoop out the stalls, disposing of everything. Once I'm done I drag a hose in here and rinse off the floors, then wipe them with a stall mop. I wait for the floors to dry before I sweep and walk up to the loft for some new hay. I don't get the horses because they should graze, so I continue down the line, taking Little Bit into the field so I can clean out his stall as well.
I repeat the process with all the horses, and when I'm done with Stan's stall I return Mano, Lana, Nemo and Little Bit back to their stalls, letting the others graze.
I walk to the outhouse right next to the barn and wash off my face, before heading back to the main house to check the time. 10:20. They must have arrived already. I run to the line of farm hand houses, and watch a man walk into one. That must be them. I knock on the door. The man opens it.
"Hello," he says cheerily to me.
"Hi," I smile. "You guys must be the new farm hands?"
"That's us," he says as a boy walks into the room behind him.
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Hello everyone<3
Aaaaahhhhhhhhh! New book! I'm super stoked! What do you guys think so far? Long chapter compared to my other book, eh?
I'm really excited to share this book with you. I really hope this is going to be better than the other one.
Anyways.
I really hope y'all like it. I'm really happy to be writing this. And I hope that everyone who reads this gets as much happiness from it as I do.
Thank you for reading!!!!!!
<3