Fields of Iris

Back To the Brooks

Iris

The sun was always on my side. The warmth it provided me gave me the constant reassurance that I was enveloped in a sense of safety. Safety that I have never known. I spend more time than less outside, a part of me seemed to only be fully alive when the sun was beating on my skin from a long day of work. But nothing... not even the sun made my body feel warm more than those two words.

Chase Dodson.

"Are you sure it was him!?" I questioned, dropping the barrel in my hand and looking up at Jerry, my heart fluttering to life.

"Yeah, I guess. I saw the shiny car when I was in town and he was in a fancy suit and all.. and his hair was shorter... but it was him," Jerry spoke back, stumbling a bit on his words. He was what the townsfolk called a simpleton. He never finished school, and was a bit slower for his age, but he had a genuine heart and an even more tender soul. Many of the kids in town feared him for being such a Giant, but he was truly a teddy bear. He found comfort on the Dodson farm, just like myself. Although that comfort had just been shaken up with this sudden announcement.

"Oh goodness! This is crazy! Why hasn't he come to the farm? I look like a mess!" I cried out before taking deep breaths. It had been seven years since he left this backwoods town for college in the big city and I thought he'd never come back. He hated the farm and no one was surprised when he left the moment he graduated.

"You look good, Iris!" Jerry spoke back, before spreading more food for the pigs.

"I wonder if Mary knows!I'm sure with Rusty's health, she's had a lot on her plate. Maybe I should go check on her? Or maybe I should go back to my place and put on something other than overalls! I don't even know if I have anything!" I rambled nervously. My life has been nothing less than boring recently and unmoving in any way.

Seeing the Dodson's only son again made my heart race a million miles a minute. Even if he only saw me when I was handling his chores or covering for him when he was sneaking home late, I couldn't help but see him as the most handsome and perfect person in the world. Being two years older than me, and the most popular kid during his time at Brooksedge High, I only felt lucky enough to be as close to him as I was... That was seven years ago though... Lord only knows how much the city changed him.

"Can you handle feeding the chickens?" I asked as I removed my gloves. He nodded his head as I took off up the hill and into the backdoor of the house. I saw Mary walking out of the bedroom, shutting the door just as I entered.

"How is he?" I asked, as she sighed, walking into the kitchen.

"He's just having a hard day. I told him to get some rest, but he insisted on helping you with giving the horses a bath. I told him you've been doing it just fine for 10 years now and you can handle LucyLue without him," she spoke as I smiled, nodding my head.

"He thinks he's the only one that she'll let wash behind her ears, but I just let him believe that. I mean, I've been washing those horses since I was 12 years old. You'd think he's caught on," I responded back, sitting on the stool as she poured me some fresh lemonade. Even though I lived at the Hayward's house as a kid, I always wished I could live with a family like the Dodson's. That is, if I wasn't madly in love with their son and in my 23 years of life, nothing has changed. In fact, distance had only made my lonely heart grow fonder.

"Oh, I know. That's why we love you around here," She responded, handing me my glass. "Although, we should be looking to hire some more help. Things have been getting a bit behind with some of the heavy lifting," Karen responded in her exhausted voice as usual.

"Well, I can ask Raymond to help out. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," I said, thinking of my best and only friend in the entire tiny town of Brooksedge. In a town where the population was under 1000, the only two orphans had to stick together. We dealt with the Hayward House together and we continued even after we had escaped.