State Fair

Chapter One

"Arthur?" Ygraine shouted from the kitchen window, "Have you finished your packing?" Arthur looked down from his bedroom at his pale blonde mother.

"Not yet. I was just going to," he replied glumly, eyes downcast. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately. All you do is sit around and mope," she said with a slight stern expression, "Finish your packing now, dear." Ygraine closed the bay window and sighed, hating seeing her son so dejected.

 Arthur shut his window and drifted towards his four poster bed. "Always saying she doesn't know what's gotten into me. I'll be glad to get to the fair-- hear something different, see something different for a change." He placed his favorite informal suit into a bag, smiling sadly down at it. 

Arthur suddenly stopped packing and sat on the bed with a concerned look. "What has gotten into me anyways?" He leaned against a bed poster and looked down at his dresser. On the top of it was a framed picture of him and his girlfriend, Mithian. He sighed at the picture of her beautiful face. Arthur was not in love with her, as much as he wished he was. She was just like everything else in Camelot; sweet, classic, but dreadfully dull. All he really wanted was something, someone new and different.

"Arthur! Come help your brother with Blue Boy," his mother shouted from the kitchen, where she was still making mincemeat for the state fair. Blue Boy was their huge pig that they were entering into the competition held at the fair each year. They had been preparing it for months. Arthur quickly walked down the stairs and out the back to go help Lancelot, his brother.

"This year he'll win for sure! All the other pigs don't have anything on our Blue Boy," Lance exclaimed, patting the pig's large head. The brothers worked for a good portion of the afternoon, bathing and feeding Blue Boy.

At around five o'clock, Arthur's mother called for him. He walked up to the front porch and gasped when he saw Mith sitting on the porch swing. She was a headstrong young women with long brown hair, but a very proper attitude. They had met at a gala in a neighboring farm. They weren't really all that drawn to each other, but both of their fathers agreed that they should be together, most likely for Arthur's father to get more farmland. 

His father was a drunk at best and not a man to cross. Uther was his name, and not many liked him. He spent most of the family money on clothing and land to show his power and wasn't around much.

Mithian stood up from the swing and gracefully kissed him. Everything she did was confident and graceful, like she was constantly being judged. They sat down on the swing, the sunset outlining them in shades of purple and orange. 

"Arthur I'm so sorry I can't go to the fair with you. My father insists that we visit the family down in Arkansas this weekend," Mith said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's alright. You should keep up with all of your family," he answered the exact words he knew she would want him to say. Arthur could map out every single conversation with her. 

After about half an hour, Mithan left because it was getting dark and Arthur's family had to get to the state fair. The sky was dark blue and cloudy by the time the family drove away from the farm in their truck with an attached trailer. Arthur stared out into the night sky, dreaming of a better tomorrow.