The Dead Zone

May 1, 2016 Part I

The morning of my twenty-first birthday was calm and clear. The rising sun turned the sky an amazing shade of blue and lit the few stray clouds. Lana was still asleep, so I pulled on some sweatpants and my jacket and took Zephyr outside for his walk. He happily ran ahead of me, then rolled in the damp grass. I walked down the curved driveway, humming as I went. The gravel crunched underneath my feet and I relished the feeling. It was so much nicer than snow.

Nearing the end of the main driveway, I turned left and onto the smaller driveway. On my farm, there were two places for houses. The second place was directly ahead of me, but it was an empty lot. There was a cabin nearby in the apple orchard. The cabin didn't have running water or electricity, so I mostly used it for storage or a guest house if I had visitors. Parallel to the road running by my property, there was a lane for my golf cart, which went past the cabin in the orchard. The lane was nicknamed 'Shady Lane' because there were tall trees lining both sides, making it forever shady.

I started down Shady Lane, with Zephyr running ahead of me. Soon after I passed the orchard, I came to the final cabin on the property. It didn't have running water or electricity, just like the other. It had a second floor and an old wood stove, complete with a tiny kitchen in the middle of the building. There weren't stairs inside, only a ladder connecting the two floors. It was an old, but it was still sturdy.

At the end of Shady Lane I turned left, walking alone the fence that lined the edge of the yard. I passed one of my three tree gardens, the only one with a tall wooden fence on three sides. Outside of the tree garden were tall, old pine trees. I was still following the golf cart path, but I would need to trim the branches of the pine trees back soon. They were beginning to hang into the path. Zephyr was still running around excitedly, just like he did every time I took him for a walk. He was only two years old, still a puppy really.

Soon I was back at the house. Once I was inside, I found Lana sitting at the kitchen table, eating pancakes.

"So you just dug through my cabinets and made pancakes? What if I was dying somewhere?"

"I'm sure Zephyr would have come back and dragged me to you," she answered with a laugh.

"You're probably right. Where's mine?" Lana responded by pointing towards the stove.

"By the way, happy birthday, Rose. You can go to Vegas now!"

"Haha, very funny." My mouth was full of pancakes.

"I certainly thought so." I rolled my eyes at Lana's attempt at humor.

Glancing at the clock, I widened my eyes. "Wow, it's already almost 9 o'clock. I guess we should get moving." Yawning, Lana stood up and dumped her plate in the sink. "Well, sure, I'll just clean that up later..."

"Hey, I made us breakfast!" She laughed and skipped up the hallway towards the bathroom. Shaking my head, I turned and plopped my own plate into the sink, then walked away towards my own bathroom. Stripping down, I got into the shower. I stood under the warm water, excited about having the afternoon off to go do something with my friends.

After my shower, I got dressed. I put on my favorite lacy blue shirt and bootcut jeans. Next I brushed my hair and put it up into a tight bun, leaving my blonde bangs down. Digging through the cabinet in my bathroom, I took out a light blue headband with a small white flower on it, then slipped it on behind my bangs. Lastly, I applied some makeup and decided I looked presentable enough. By the time I was in the living room with my purse and keys in hand, Lana was just letting Zephyr inside.

"I figured I'd let him out to pee since you were taking so long in there," she mocked me.

"Sorry, I just wanted to look nice for my birthday." I looked at the clock. "Holy crap, it's already ten after nine? Go, go, go!" I pet Zephyr goodbye and made a run for the door. Lana trailed along behind me, laughing. I pulled on my favorite cowboy boots, and left the house.