The morning light grew in intensity. Lily’s eyes blinked open. She climbed over her sister. Dug through her messy suitcase to find her pink slippers. Down the hallway, she could see Knox through his slightly cracked door. He was snoring. Loudly.
As she scuttled through the living room, she noticed knickknacks and paintings that she had missed the night before. “Wow. Grandma likes a lot of weird stuff.” The grandfather clock chimed seven times—7 AM.
Lily stepped outside. Their car wasn’t in the driveway. She spotted Grandma near the edge of the barnyard. She walked beside the gravel, climbed the old wooden fence, and called out, “Hi, Grandma!”
Grandma jumped. “Oh my! Don’t sneak up on me like that, child!”
“Sorry,” Lily said. “What are you doing?”
“I came out to grab some vegetables for breakfast, but look at this… the garden’s been stripped clean. Deer got the whole thing.”
Lily looked around. The garden was bare—just chewed-up stems and empty soil. “How do you know it was deer?”
Grandma pointed at the ground. “Takes something big to eat this much overnight. Look, hoofprints. All over the place.”
The dirt was covered in sharp, deep tracks. Lots of them.
“Well,” Grandma sighed, “it's spilt milk under the bridge. Come on, little one, let’s go gather some eggs.”
The barnyard, as you might expect, had a few barns. In one, Lily saw a broken tractor, and in the other, a faded blue Ford pickup. Grandma caught her gaze. “That was your grandpa’s truck. Nothing but Ford for him.” Lily looked around, taking it all in.
“Grandma,” she asked, “how are you gonna take care of all this without him?”
Sadness crossed Grandma’s face, just for a split second. Then she straightened up. “ I’m glad you all are here, even if it’s just for a little while.”
Lily looked up. “That’s the thing, I don’t know how long we’re staying. Do you?”
Grandma shook her head. “No, honey. But you’re welcome here as long as you like.”
Just then, Avery’s voice called out behind them. “What are you guys doing?”
Both Lily and Grandma jumped.
“Don’t sneak up on us like that!” they said at the same time—then laughed.
Avery blinked. “What’s so funny?”
—
Back inside, Knox was awake. He sat up, looked at the computer, and muttered, “Alright, let’s see what this is about.”
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