I love the feeling of the wind running through my hair. All my troubles get left behind once I saddle up Lily and take her running through the mountains. The cool air and the morning sun hit my face and I let out a deep breath. I scanned my surroundings. It was the beginning of summer and the trees were a deep green and the grasses waved in the wind. The smell of sweet wild flowers filled the air and danced around me. I give Lily an affectionate pat on her shoulder.
"Let's go home girl, mamma will be wondering where we've been."
Lily gave a snort. I know it sounds rediculous but I feel a very strong connection with Lily, something a lot deeper than an owner/pet relationship. I grabbed the reins and steered her toward the ranch.
My family, the Salvatores', have been ranching on this ranch for over one-hundred years. We live in the mountains of Wyoming, a place called Cuore Selvaggio, which literally translates to Wild at Heart in Italian. Let me tell you something, they sure got the name right. All the Salvatores' are wild at heart that's for sure. I guess you already figured out that our ancestors are Italian. I'm pretty fluent in Italian but there are still a few kinks I have to work on. I ponder within my thoughts as I ride up to the barn. The main house itself was located a few minutes walk from the house. It's brown in color and very large with at least twenty-five stalls and it has two levels. We use the second level as our attic. The main house itself is a Tudor style house with three levels. It has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, it's more like a mansion. I guess you can say my family is pretty rich. My favorite part of our house is the secret balcony located in the souh wing of the house. I accidentily discovered it when I was messing around with some books in the library. I'm pretty sure no one else knows about it, so if I want to get away from life I come up here and write. I'm big on writing. I write anything, short stories, novels, lyrics, or poems. I sing and play guitar too, not to toot my own horn or anything but I think I'm pretty good. I think I should tell you now that I'm a full blown country girl! I love country music, there is something so soulful about it.
I walk through the main doors and make my way to the kitchen. I smile when I hear my mom singing.
"I t's beginning to look a lot like bacon! In all it's greasy ways!" She sings as she's dancing around the kitchen making breakfast. I'm going to tell you this now so you don't get suprised later. My mom is a bit...eccentric.
"Hey Mamma." I greeted her warmly.
"Good morning darling!" She did a little twirl. "Breakfast is almost ready, call the boys."
"Sure thing Mamma."
I went outside and called the guys. You see, me and Mamma are the only girls here. I have a brother who is eighteen and his name is Dimitri. My dad is head of the ranch being the oldest son of his five siblings. His other siblings don't live with us, but they are close by in the next town. Then there are the ranchers: Diego, Steven, Alix, Kline, and Rodridiez.
My eyes widened as I see five twenty something year old guys running full speed at the door where I was currntly standing. The next thing I know I'm on the ground with Alix smiling sheepishly at me.
"Sorry Roza. All I heard was food and well...I'm hungry." I blushed at the nickname. I guess I never introduced myself. I'm Elizzabeth Rose Salvatore and I'm seventeen years old. I met Alix when I was fifteen, when he first came to work at the ranch, he was eighteen. Alix started calling me Roza when I turned sixteen. Alix is Russian, so it makes sense the nickname is Russian and well my middle name is Rose so that's why I think he calls me that. I grinned up at him.
"It's okay Alix, when your hungry there is nothing stopping you." I laughed and he got off of me and helped me up. We headed towards the dining room where everyone was diggin into the food already. Pigs. Alix and I took our seats at the table and started to eat. Halfway through breakfast Mamma and Dad made an announcment.
"Alright listen up boys...and Liz." started Dad. "Kat and I decided to take someone new into our home." Confused looks filled everyones faces.
"What do you mean Greg?" Kline asked. Kline was the oldest out of the boys, he was twenty-nine.
"Well a friend of our in New York is heading to Japan for the summer to spread his buisness around. His son, Jason, needs a place to stay. We offered that he could stay here and they accepted."
"Great just what I need, another boy!" I exclaimed. They all just laughed at me.
"So, when is this Jason kid coming?" asked Rodridiez
"In two days, so Liz, you and I haveto set up a room for him." Mamma told me. I smiled at her and nodded, what fun.
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Hey guys. New story, it was just something that poppe dinto my head. Sooooo.....yeah.
Love,
Cenniel
