Sweet Lantern

Chapter 1

Alice

In the morning, before the sun has fully risen, while everyone is still lost in their dreams, is my favorite time of day. A time before the noise, before the chores, before the stress and chaos take over. Right now, sitting on this roof with the morning dew on my skin and the slow breeze in my hair, it's just me and the rooster awake and I'm alone with my thoughts.

There isn't anyone telling me where to go or what to do. I can just sit here and watch the sun come up, in the quiet, the only sound is the rooster crowing and the animals beginning to stir in the barn. Soon everyone in the house will be waking up, getting ready for school and a hard day's work on the farm. I dread getting ready for school, but I'm glad it's almost over. Ugh. I hear my parent's alarm going off. It's time to go inside and get dressed.

Might as well get it over with, I think to myself as I pull a flower print sundress on over my head and pick up my boots. I look in the mirror to brush my hair and realize that along with the touch of gold on my skin, there are new freckles across my nose and cheeks. I guess it makes sense seeing as I've spent so much time outside lately... Alone. Darry has been preoccupied a lot lately. He hasn't been around as much this year. My heart sinks a little at the thought. I miss him.

I grab my bookbag and start downstairs, the smell of bacon already beginning to waft upstairs. My stomach growls as I walk into the kitchen and see my mom standing over the stove, soft music coming from the small radio she keeps on the counter. I smile at the sight of her, as she rocks back and forth and sings along with the song. I plop down on a stool at the kitchen island and watch her sway as she cooks.

She's such a happy morning person. I definitely didn't inherit that, I think as I hear my dad's heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. He's whistling to the tune as he walks over and puts his arm around my mom, pulling her in for a gentle kiss on the forehead. He turns and smiles at me as he walks over to grab the milk from the refrigerator and takes a swig. "You sleep good?", he asks me. "Not really", I tell him and reach for a glass to hand him.

My little brother Robby walks in, still trying to rub the sleep from his eyes and drops down on a chair at the kitchen table behind me. "Were you on the roof again this morning?" He asks me. "I thought I heard footsteps up there." I nod and wink at him and he smiles back at me.

Robby is five years younger than me, he's my only sibling. We usually get along really well. He helps me with the chores on the farm after school and he's never complained about the hard work, not once.

Kids his age would normally whine and try to get out of cleaning out stalls and want to run off to play. Not Robby, he's always there right next to me, ready to do the hard, dirty work. I appreciate that about him. He has never been one of those little brothers that fights or tattle tells.

He doesn't go in my room without my permission, he doesn't get into my stuff, he doesn't try to pester me. When he's not helping with chores, he's usually in his room, reading.

We eat breakfast and I go outside to catch the bus. I'm so glad today will soon be a distant memory and I will be free to do whatever I want. I wait for Darry to come through the trees, but he doesn't show. I wonder where he is. He must've gotten a ride to school with one of his friends.

For most people, the last day of school is always exciting and full of promise. You can feel the tension in the air as you walk through the doors and see everyone running around like crazy saying goodbye to those leaving for the summer and making plans to hangout with those staying behind.

A lot of the kids goon vacation to the beach or the mountains. Some go visit distant family, and others leave just to get out of this one horse town. Nothing worth mentioning ever happens here, that's for sure. But my family has a farm to run, so we never leave. The last time I left Cedar Ridge, Montana I was six years old. That was twelve years ago, and we were going to buy a horse.