a cottage secret

the girl next door

The girl woke up with the sound of birds by the window. She could smell the fresh bread downstairs and it completely woke her up. It was very early, earlier than what she was used to waking up, but the beautiful blue sky promised great things. Besides, she could listen to her grandma shout out her name.

"Florence! Florence! Come on down!"

As soon as her feet touched the cold wooden ground, she felt a shiver go down her spine. She stood up as fast as she could and even got a little bit dizzy. She opened the big closets in her room and chose an old green dress her Nana had left there.

"Florence, I'm going up! If I don't see you fully dressed I'll throw some ice water on you!"

"I'm going, Nana!" She ran down the stairs. She loved the sound her shoes made against the steps. "Sorry it took me so long, I just haven't slept that well in a while".

"It's okay. Now let's go to the kitchen. We're making some jam and you'll help"

So the girl followed her grandma, who was wearing a white T-shirt under her favorite jumpsuit. She had it for over ten years and it wasn't the same color it was when she bought it – it had history (and some paint over it). They greeted the employees who were baking, cooking, chatting. The old lady stood beside them and showed her grandchild how to make the jam.

They were making strawberry and raspberry flavored jams to sell it at the fair. Besides, Nana had all kinds of business with some local stores and her products were everywhere in the nearest town. She sold jam and fresh fruits for bakeries and restaurants, milk for the markets, and even the flowers for perfume shops. She was the most successful farmer in the region for a reason.

So Florence stayed there, watching everyone do their work before she could actually do it. She liked to pay attention to everything first so she'd do her job perfectly. And she did it – for about thirty minutes. She admitted she was hungry and also a bit bored so the owner of the house let her go to eat breakfast in the garden.

The girl liked pretty things. She set up a perfect place for her to be alone with her own thoughts and a cup of milk and honey, a plate of biscuits and another plate of fruits close to the lavender field.

She was feeling perfectly happy, although she knew that wouldn't last long.

She could not get attached to that place because she'd leave the country soon. Besides, after that summer she'd probably never have time again to visit that nice pretty farm so what was the point? At least she could enjoy it while she had it.

There were barely any clouds in the sky that morning. All that she could hear was her grandma's employees freaking out about how they were late to make lunch and how someone still needed to milk the cows and pay the farm boys.

It was funny to her, how they managed to create stress in such a peaceful setting. It's a part of humanity, I guess. Maybe it makes things more interesting. But all she knew was that she was a pretty girl in a pretty dress with pretty cookies for breakfast and that was all she cared about.

Why would she trouble herself with everything that was far away? Her parents would figure something out in court so they wouldn't feel the desire to kill each other every time they met... She'd still have three months before she even needed to start thinking about the things she must take for the new adventure that awaited her...

The truth was, she was terrified. Everything was changing. Her whole life was upside down.

Did she even believe in 'Happily Ever After' now? She thought her parents were a true-love-deal and she couldn't help but feel like she had been lied to. Not that it was their fault... but isn't marriage about that? 'Until death do us part'?

What was the point of loving if people leave?

She was also leaving. And it didn't matter how much she loved her family, or her country, or her friends. She really was ready to pack everything and go.

She didn't think it would be this hard.

A part of her wished she could stay on that farm forever. Maybe learn how to ride horses and to milk cows and plant different plants and bake lovely cakes and sew pretty dresses.

Maybe if one thing had been different, everything would be.

Maybe in another universe, she would've stayed.

But alas, life doesn't give these kinds of opportunities. To be able to live all the different options and then decide. It's risk after risk after risk.

She still had the summer. And she didn't even know that summer would change her life yet...

While she was considering all the amazing things she would lose and gain, she heard a noise. It was little but powerful.

There was someone singing. With the most angelic voice! Where was it coming from?

She looked behind her to see if it was coming from the big house. But none of Nana's employees could sing – she would know, she listened to them in the afternoon.

So she kept looking for the angel until she realized it wasn't happening in that property; it was coming from that modest yellow house. The daughter of the couple who lived there was picking some vegetables from their garden to make supper and she was followed around by her cat.

Florence was surprised. She didn't imagine a girl her age. Neither a girl with such a pretty voice! And pretty face, for that matter!

She took her mug and plates inside and ran outside to shout out to the girl and hope she'd notice her. "Hey! Hey there! Who are you?"

But the young lady, as soon as she heard the girl calling to her, ran back to her house, terrified. She was terribly shy and did not want to meet anyone new that day. She was already overwhelmed with the mere presence of the new girl that was staying on Barb's farm! Imagine if she could just so easily talk to her!

So she hid in the kitchen of her home, helping her mom cut the vegetables to make a nice soup for later. Sometimes she'd look at the window to see if anything had changed, but no. The girl went away after she ran home. Maybe that was for the best.

The next day, however, there was a knock on the door. Betty looked through the peephole and there was no one there. Carefully and curiously, she opened the door.

On top of their 'Welcome Home' mat, there was a bouquet of flowers. Lavenders and wildflowers tied together. And a note:

"you sing beautifully.

xoxo,

the girl next door"