Noble Songbird (Old Version)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere." 

~Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Jane

And they lived happily ever after.

Sighing dreamily, I shut the book, held it close to my heart and closed my eyes- a goodbye to the wondrous story. When I finally opened my dark brown eyes, I found two, beady black ones staring back at me.

"Orso! You startled me!" I shoved his big nose away from my face and laughed as he nudged my arm to get me to play with him.

Snapping out of my daze, I realized I spent hours reading. Meaning, I forgot to do my chores... again.

I picked up my skirts and ran as fast as my legs could take me, with Orso tagging along. When I got to the farm, Peter, my older brother, was grooming our old, grumpy horse, Ms. Dusk. Walking by them, Ms. Dusk nipped at me and in response, I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Missing curfew again, Jane?" Peter asked, already knowing the answer.

I smiled at his fighting remark and started to walk backwards. "What Mother doesn't know won't kill her. I'll just do my chores faster..." I retorted as I walked straight into my mother.

I smiled sheepishly at her disapproving frown. "Hi Ma.... I'm just... you know... helping Peter with Ms. Dusk...."

She sighed in response. She already knew I was out in the forest, with Orso. "You do have your father's spirit."

Knowing how much talking about my father hurt her, I patted her arm. "I'll get to work." Then I scurried off to milk Petunia the Cow. My father, Lorenzo Moretti, named her that. I still remember the day he got her.

He told me with his shining eyes and ever-smiling face, "This calf, she is made for the royalty, no? She will make the richest milk in all of Candonia! We shall name her Petunia, the Cow!"

My 10 year old self giggled. "Why Petunia the Cow, Papa?"

"Because, well, because she deserves a title! From now on, she will be known as Petunia the Cow! Promise?"

"I promise," I responded solemnly.

Then he laughed his wonderfully loud laugh. "That's my Jane. I want you to promise me something else."

"Anything Papa."

"Don't let life live you, live your life," he told me.

Wrinkling my nose in confusion, I asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Smiling at me, he answered mischievously, "It means that whatever you do with your life, do it with a passion. Soar, like the eagles or the falcons do. It could mean staying on the farm, or going on an adventure, like your stories, or getting married..."

"Ewwww! I am never. Ever. Getting married. Ever."

He laughed again, making me wonder what I said wrong. "You never know, you just never know. Alright, come on, my Jane, let's get Petunia the Cow home before your mother has a cow."

The whole way to the farm, I thought of the adventures I'd have some day.

I smiled a little at the memory. I smiled a little at the memory. That was right before the Disappearance occurred. No one knew who was behind it or what it was for, but it came and went like a tornado. Random people suddenly, like the name, disappeared. There wasn't any commonality with any of the victims. anything to do about it because it was so unusual. My father and brand new baby sister, not even a week old, were two of the unfortunate that got taken.