The Farmer's Daughter

Chapter Five

" Whaaa... " I mumbled as a noise from outside woke me up. The mooing from cows had interrupted my sleep, " Guess I ain't going back to sleep now. " I said to myself as I glanced at a sliver of the rising sun above the horizon, then threw the quilt to the side and hopped out of bed. After I changed from my pajamas to jeans, a green long sleeve shirt, and black boots, I made my way downstairs.

My daddy was just finishing his coffee when I walked into the kitchen, " Daddy, if you're in here then who's dealin' with the cows? " He glanced at me, " Remember, we got Rodney to do those kinda jobs now. " I nodded and the remembrance of the new ranch hand, " Right.. " Since I didn't know what else to say, I decided to start my chores. The air outside was chilly as I walked to barn to get the feed for all the animals.

One cup of grain went into a bucket in Aurora's stall, then I brought a bucket of feed to fill the other animal's feed buckets. As soon as I filled the chicken feeders and set them on the ground, I opened the coop door, allowing all the chickens to stampede out of the mini building, then I placed a handful of feed on the ground for the goose. With the remaining feed in the bucket, I went to put it in the pig pen, but when I got there I saw that they had already been fed, " I guess Rodney fed them before he took care of the cows. " I mumbled to myself.

Soon, all my morning chores were done, so I made my way back to the house. " Hey daddy, can I go to Carmen's house for a few hours? " I asked my daddy before he walked out the door, " Sure thing Lace, but get back before five or so. " I thanked him and quickly changed into an orange tank top and jean shorts, then jogged back to the barn. After the same procedure as the day before, I flicked back my wrist and flexed my ankle to set my dirt bike into second gear as I shot down the driveway towards the main road.

Once I hit the main road, I continued on the familiar route down the road until I turned onto the dirt road that led to my best friend's house. As I neared her house, I slowed down and stopped as I rode up to the steps that led up the porch. I put down the kickstand and quietly walked up the porch steps until I reached the door, then I opened the door as surreptitiously as I could and walked around the corner to reach the stairs.

Since I knew the stairs were just as creaky as mine, I had to be very furtive while going upstairs in order to not be heard. At the top of the stairs, I turned left and snuck over to Carmen's door. After I placed my hand over the door knob, I quickly twisted it and pushed the door forward as I jumped into the room and landed in a Peter Pan pose with one hand on my hip and one reaching in the air as I began singing at the top of my lungs, " I DON'T DANCE, BUT HERE I AAAM! "

Mid-sentence, Carmen had jumped at the sudden surprise and fell the ground while screeching. While she was still in shock, I grabbed her hand and drug her in circles on the floor while continuing the song, " SPINNIN' YOU 'ROUND AND 'ROUND IN CIRCLES! " I began to laugh at my best friend's reaction, since she is extremely easy to scare, which makes it fun for the rest of us. " LACEY! " She screamed at me, " HOW DARE YOU! "

I was laughing so hard that I eventually ended up on the floor alongside Carmen as we laughed at the previous actions. Between laughs, Carmen managed to say, " I can't..believe..you ac...tually..pulled...that off! " I agreed with her as we began to calm down and catch our breathes, then she stood up and I crawled across the floor and sat on her bed instead. " So, " I began, " what did I so amazingly interrupt? "

She gave me a fake grin and fluttered her eyelashes, " Well..before I was so rudely interrupted, I was just trying to find something to wear so I could ride Sierra around for a bit. Hey, maybe you could bring Aurora over and we could ride together. " I nodded, " We should definitely do that soon, but I don't think today will work out. So uh..my daddy hired a guy as a new ranch hand yesterday. " I informed Carmen as she got bug eyed and raised an eyebrow at me and whispered, " Is he our age? "

I shrugged my shoulders, " I didn't actually see him, but he sounded like he was about our age. " She began speaking in a flirty tone, " What's his naaame? " I laughed at her, " His name's Rodney. " She repeated in the same voice, " Rodney..my hero.. " I joined into her dramatization and placed my hand over my forehead and fell backwards onto the pillow as I spoke in a royal tone, " Oh, Rodney, the name of a true prince. "

She laughed, " I bet he'll ride up on a white horse and carry you into the sunset. " I sat up, " I said I think that he's our age, but I don't know that for sure. For all I know, we're talkin' 'bout a total creep. " She giggled, " Ok, when you put it that way... " I continued, " Anyways, I'll meet him at some point and tell ya what he's like. But until then...let us commence our usual weirdness! "

Carmen jumped around the room as I set the radio to our local country station and turned the volume up while we sung as loud as we could, " I GOT MY SHADES ON, TOP BACK, ROLLIN' WITH THE MUSIC JACKED! ONE ON THE WHEEL, ONE AROUND YOU, BABYYY! " We sung and danced around her room to every song that came across the radio, but soon I realized the day was transitioning to the evening. " Shoot..I gotta head home. " I said to Carmen.

She finished painting her toe nails then stood up and hugged me, " Alright..see ya soon. " I nodded, " Will do. " Then I headed out the door, down the stairs, and back outside to where I left my dirt bike next to the porch. As I started the bike, I heard Carmen's voice out the window, " Don't forget to meet that new guy at your place! "

I laughed as I glanced at where she was leaning out the window and gave her a thumbs up before I rode down the driveway and back go my house. Back on the familiar route of down the driveway, on the road, back up my driveway, into the barn. I shut off the bike and wheeled it to the corner of the barn, where I set it on its kickstand.