A Man Named Summer

It's Summer, and my window is trying the best it can to shield me from the rain. I struggle to find comfort as my feet are freezing, and a draft is coming in from a loose door in the back of our cottage. My brother Jamie hurries to feed the starving flames as I sit and watch him, thankful that we finally have a home to rest in, thanks to momma. Summer is what I will call my future daughter, as I believe this chapter in my life to be the most important, and like a bookmark, I want never to lose this page.

Mother struggled with keeping us housed. Father lost all we owned, and then when we needed him most, he went and got himself killed. Mother never failed to bring this story up when we struggled to find a place to stay dry. We were just children, but I knew she meant it when she said she could never trust again. I tried to raise myself to understand that things change all the time and that just like every season, we can't predict when the storm will come; we just need to be ready for it. Jamie is younger, but he understands his role as man of the house and seems fulfilled when filling it. Nighttime came around, and in a blink of an eye, took the rain with it and left behind a beautiful warm morning. I throw on some fresh clothes, laced up my boots, start the kettle, grab my basket, and headed outside. Jamie is still asleep; he was up all night feeding the flames and writing in his journal, I suppose. I run down the field to look for anything useful like wood, herbs, flowers, and berries, basically anything that can keep us alive for the next couple of days. Scanning the ground, I found a bed of marigolds in the distance and jolted towards them; remembering all my mother had taught me about them, it's as if I could hear her saying, "the petals are great for tea and contain lots of health benefits, great in salads and good for deterring pests." I gathered as much as my 2 jars could fit of the precious flower and continue scanning the ground. I found a few potatoes near the flowers and a few berries growing in some bushes. It didn't take long for me to realize how lucky I had gotten finding all these things until it hit me; I ran a bit further from my home and wandered into someone else yard. Maybe they wouldn't notice, but I knew I couldn't come back, not for a while at least, so I decided to go back and gather as much as I could carry and make it look like an animal had struck gold. When I finally got back, Jaime spotted me and ran to help me carry everything I had found, I tried to pick up everything I could and brought it back into our home.

I told Jaime everything, how I found the food, how I realized where I was, and how It was a little too late to put it all back, so just to be safe, I had to go back and get even more to last us until we found a way to feed ourselves again. He looked at me jokingly and said, "we should go back just in case." I was so happy to be stocked with food that I couldn't help but start boiling a few potatoes for breakfast and make some Marigold tea for Jamie and me. A few days passed, and Jamie found a few things to fix the cottage up with, and I couldn't help but think about the owner of the potatoes, flowers, and berries and if he had discovered my crime scene. I wanted a reason to go back there by the marigolds and check it out. I decided to slowly walk out to the yard, walking past the trees, speeding up, and minding my every step until I noticed vegetables on the ground. I must have dropped the potatoes a couple of days ago when I was running back home. I picked up what I found and stuffed it into the pockets of my dress. I continued to head to the spot I had once found, and when I finally got there, an older man tending to his crops seemed frustrated at what he had discovered. "These damn animals ruined my flowers and dug up my potatoes!" I thought to myself, what were the chances that I would show up when he was around? I hesitated to say anything or even walk near him for fear that I might get caught. I realized that I had done nothing wrong that he knew of. After all, he believed the animals made this mess, and I just happened to be going out for a stroll around my home.

I decided to walk up and face the man. "Hello, is everything alright, sir? I couldn't help but overhear you just now." "Where did you come from young lady? I apologize if I startled you." replied the farmer, "No worries, My name is Evelyn. I live next door with my brother Jamie." He smiled at me and was very excited to see new people, he offered to have my brother and me over for dinner tonight, and I accepted without hesitation. Later that evening, Jamie and I arrived at Mr. Hastings's home and were greeted by his wife and dogs. Other guests were also arriving for dinner; I assumed it would only be us dining together, but I didn't mind. It was nice to be surrounded by other people for a change.

At dinner, Mr. Hastings introduced Jamie to the local store owner in town Mr. Banes and he offered Jamie a job stocking his store and keeping it clean and Miss Hastings introduced me to Miss. Adams, she managed a department store and needed help running things in her shop, I wasn't as interested, but I knew we needed the money. I was so grateful that Mr. and Miss Hastings were kind enough to invite their friends and us and even more grateful that their friends could get us some work in town. After dinner we were gifted a huge basket with Bread, carrots, tomatoes, Eggs, Honey, some spices, and loads of other vegetables and fruits. Mr Hastings said it was a belated welcome to the neighborhood gift. Jamie and I were so excited to get back home and couldn't wait to start our new jobs the following day.

A few weeks had passed since our first couple of day's at work so we decided to pull what little money we had together to fix up the cottage up a bit. Everyone was being so kind to us and I couldn't help but wonder what our mother what have thought of the mess I made. I'd hope she would see how I was able to cover up my actions with lies, now that I think about it i feel pretty awful. I wish I could tell the Hastings but I cant risk putting me and Jamie in more trouble than we were. Jamie came home tired and eagar to tell me about a what had happened at work today. I Layed out a bowl of vegetable soup, a slice of bread and butter and a cup of Magnolia tea with honey, took a seat next to him and listened. "Today Mr. Banes had me stock the store as usual, dust the shelves, and sweep but the best part of the day was some time in the middle when he decided to let me try out the register. I have been watching him now for the past couple of days, as he chats with all the people that stop by the shop, and I said to myself I want to do that instead." Jamie takes a bite of his bread and takes a spoon full of soup. With his mouth full of vegetables he continues to speaks "I am so glad he gave me a chance today. I helped 3 people today Evelyn, a mother who was picking stuff up for a dinner, she comes in alot say's Mr. Banes." He takes a drink of his tea and shoves a spoon full of vegetables in his mouth and begins to chew as a bit of broth escapes his lips, boys are so gross. "So, what were the other two like Jamie?" I ask him as I blow on the soup before taking a bite. "Well Mr. Hastings stopped by to grab some candles, he mentioned we should stock up on them because sometimes the shop runs low so I picked up a couple just in case." I pour myself a bit more tea "Then a man named Mr. Summer came in, he looked like he was around our age maybe a bit older and he picked up so many things that I had to help him load his vehicle. He stops by every so often and is a very generous man acording to Mr. Banes. He even Invited us to have dinner with him in his home!" I Look at him as if he was joking, another dinner with a stranger, sounds fun but something seems just a bit strange to me . "Well, did you tell him you were going?" Jamie looked at me before finishing the remander of his soup "We're both going Evelyn."

Evening: The dinner with Mr.Summer

I was eagar to meet Mr. Summer and when we arrived at his home Jamie informed me that Mr. Banes was not going to be able to make it to dinner tonight. We knocked on his door and there was no answer, I looked at Jamie and back at the door in hopes that it would swing open. The house was a pretty decent size, alot bigger than ours. Jamie Knocks again and suddenly the door opens and the smell of baked goods escapes the home. "Jaime, so glad you were able to make it were is Mr. Banes?" Mr. Summer Looks past us expecting to find him walking up to his home. "He asked me to apologize on his behalf, he had some very emportant things come up and wont be able to make it tonight." "very well then, come on in." He motions for us to enter and shows us around the home, its so beautiful, I wish I lived here. "Im Steven by the way, I dont think I got your name." "Its Evelyn." I replied. After dinner we hung out with Steven for a while before heading back home for the night, the dinner was fantastic and Steven Is such great company to be around. I layed in my bed daydreaming about living in the home that Mr. Summer lived in, it was oldly very easy to see myself living in that home. It was almost as if I had lived in it once before.