Winter Hearts

Siana Starts Her Day

Siana woke up in the same position she fell asleep in, at 5 in the morning. Because of the time difference, she became an early riser by default when she was in Greece, which made her feel productive and healthy, even though technically, she wasn't doing anything different throughout the day.

She turned over and stretched one way and then the other, like a cat, feeling ripples of tension rolling up and down her body until all her flesh relaxed on her bones.

She suspected that she wouldn't be needed before 8 in the morning, so she had a few hours to take a walk and see the town properly.

She dressed quickly, taking some money and her phone with her. She texted her dad, knowing he would be asleep still, saying she could pick up groceries if he let her know what he needed before her return.

Sneakers, joggers, hoodie and jacket. She grabbed the suitcase and wheeled it out of her studio. She noticed the outside light to the next door flat was on, which made her think that the guests had taken the extra rooms for more space. She rolled the case into the lift and took it down to the ground floor with her. Right next to her father's apartment was the small retail space with a tiny back room and bathroom, which faced directly onto the street. 

She went in and opened up a window. It was dusty, but she had time later to clean it all up. She took the case to the back room and opened it to stack all the items neatly on some shelves. Most of it was to be delivered to waiting customers, but some was for display and for her to sell to locals keen on crafting but who had no access to cheap supplies and weren't internet savvy. 

She wondered if she would be bringing haberdashery across the world every time she visited for Christmas. She was surprised that the customers were more willing to wait weeks for their delivery than to figure out how to order online. She guessed most of them would be older women who had few relatives patient enough to help them.

She sighed as she came across the two gowns. They were simple and elegant, which she liked - she would give her mum that. She just had no reason to have one. She would always prefer a casual night out with friends to some stately dinner where she had to stand up straight all the time.

She found some hangers and hung them on the coat hooks in the hallway. She would deal with the shop later, after she settled into a routine with the guests.

She locked up and headed out the front door. Outside, the sun was beginning to rise, casting a dim light over the streets. People were already up and she could see chimney smoke rising from some of the older houses. It was a friday morning, and she knew the weekly fresh markets would have sprung up by now, with vendors selling anything from preserved fruits and raw honey to fresh vegetables and fruit, to trinkets and blankets and cheap plastic items.

She got her bike and pedalled out away from the town, along the stretch of beach which lead to an alternative highway that ran along the coast for a while before meandering upwards into the mountains. This was the less populated route which meant faster travel time to the flatlands beyond the mountains, but as her dad knew, she always preferred the Delphi road. But before she got to that coastal road, she took a left and turned inward towards the mountains.

She was taking a small paved road through the groves that workers used when they were collecting olives. These groves were situated on rocky and muddy terrain, and could not accommodate the machinated collection systems that other olive suppliers in the world could. This meant they still had to collect the olive fruit by manually.

Every time she came to Greece, the nets had already been laid out on the ground to catch the fruit as it fell. She never really got to see them working anymore, although when she was younger she would often tag along with relatives and their workers. The groves were dense with trees, and the sound of their voices would die quickly before it could travel far, so she often felt as if they were talking inside a dark cotton cloud, where every sound was muffled away before it could echo.

That feeling could give the groves a very eerie atmosphere, especially during the quieter times of the day like the early morning or dusk. She didn't think she could ever go into the groves during the night, even with company, unless they stayed in a car or something. Much as she enjoyed the solitude of being alone in the groves, she only really liked it in the morning, when she knew people would start cropping up throughout the land to do their work, and the birds would soon wake and the sun would start its journey to heat up the land.

Right now, she pedalled gently through the groves, not able to speed on the heavy bike, but working out her leg muscles and working up a sweat. She would go almost halfway to the foot of the mountains, where there was an old well by a small shed which the landowner used to to store his empty olive barrels and other tools. Then she would turn back and be home before the sun came up.

She wanted to check out the basement studio which was situated next to her father's apartment, but was a walk down several steps into what used to be an old wine cellar and space for storage. Her father had installed a springy wooden floor and mirrors and affixed barres to the walls on one side of the room. She had brought bluetooth speakers from home a couple of years back and played music from her phone. 

It was where she had been holding small classes for the little kids in the neighbourhood. Although she had some ballet experience and was used to teaching kids, she was well aware that she was really providing an alternative to babysitting, rather than fostering new talent or dancers with passion for performance.

She didn't mind that, as she was more interested in having that whole space for herself to work out and plan new choreography.

The last time she was here, she had noticed that the mothers who brought their kids around often stayed to watch. After a little chat with them, she offered to teach aerobics and belly dancing, and ended up making extra money with a few more classes than she had planned.

After she left every year, her father made the space available for rent for parties and meetings. She wondered if it remained the lively place it was when she was around.

She reached the well and circled back. She could now see the sun's rays beginning to stretch over the ground.

As she neared the sea, she noticed a large sedan parked by the side of the tiny road she was on. 

She passed by, wondering whose it was, since most of the workers arrived in flatbeds or vans that had seen better days.