Nowhere in Particular Chapter 1 - Late Mornings
Chapter 1 - Late Mornings
The light coming in through the wooden shutters of my window is a radiant one, and it cascades down on my chestnut fur like a heat lamp. It wakes me from a particularly rolling slumber, with all the dry mouth and morning grogginess that usually comes with it. It takes me a moment to catalog my thoughts, and as all the splotchy colors of my bedroom turn into shapes, I let loose a bellowey yawn and start to pull myself out of the whirlwind of sheets i'm buried in. It's like trying to break from a bunch of hugs all at once, and the lure of continued dreams nearly keeps me affixed on the mattress, but I tug free regardless. My bed frame creaks beneath me as I perch up on my elbows, insulting my stature and natural sloth, but I just keep thinking about the window.
It sure is bright outside, and I have a sinking feeling in my gut that tells me I may have slept in a bit too late. I try to feel around for my phone in the sheets, weaving my forehoof around until it finally bumps into a plastic box, attached loosely to its charger. I yank out the device and unlock the screen, nearly scorching my eyes out with the white artificial screenlight. Eventually, I adjust my phone's light-bar settings and I catch the little line of white text that reads the date. Saturday, April 20th, 10:45 AM. "Really? Damn." I mutter, giving out my elbows from underneath me and dropping my weight back onto the mess of pillows bellow. The springs on my mattress twang with the sudden display of weight, and I stare back up at the dark ceiling.
It's almost antagonizing to me, the way that my phone alarm just up-and decides to not work as planned. But in reality I know that it was probably my fault, considering how tired i'd been this entire week. I had practically been begging for sleep since the time friday rolled around, and in a sense, I guess I got my wish. I rub my eyes roughly and massage my temples, trying to psych myself up into getting out of bed.
There is nothin' that staring at a ceiling will fix, c'mon.
With that, I heave back upwards and scooch closer to the edge of my bed, flinging my legs over the side of the frame. My large hind-hooves clomp into the carpeted floor with dull and muffled thuds, and I sit on the edge of my bowing mattress. I look about the room, gawking at the mess that masquerades itself within the darkness of chamber. It was by no means a 'pig-sty', but simply messy; something that would indeed need to be a chore for a later day. Clothes of mine were strewn across the floor, and nicknacks lined the shelves, teetering on the edge. I'd gotten to the point where my room was nothing more than a bed this week, and whatever time I spent in it was just stumbling and passing out.
Remembering that I'm in a hurry, I snort and rock myself into standing, my body falling upwards like a tree in reverse. The world around me spins as I trudge lazily to the closet and pick my outfit, opting for nothing more than typical casual designs. I fold up a flannel shirt with a white tee underlay and jeans, walking towards the bathroom in my boxers. I nearly knock my horn on the doorway when I fumble my way through and I flick on the light to reveal my visiage through a shimmering mirror of silhouettes.
I'm taller than the dinky little prairie furniture, of course, so it gives me a view of my gut and boxers, little of anything else. I lean down and check the damage on my hair, and without surprise it lays in complete disarray, chocolate-brown dreads drooping over my bovine snout and practically everywhere else I don't want it to be. My eyes are tired and droopy, with the pools of amber in my iris looking faint and exhausted. My barrel-chested body is swaying back and forth like a tone in a grandfather clock, every moment becoming pure torture without the shower. I begin to conjure thoughts about how blissful that steamy water will feel on my sore muscles.
I can't bare it. I promptly rotate my body around and turn on the squealing shower-head, swiftly kicking off my boxers and freeing my tail. Too quick to care about the now-hissing water's temperature, I let the liquid soak into my fur and marinate my body. I groan and feel the water heat up to a scold, and my god, it feels better than nirvana. Usually I dedicated much more time and effort to this process, but I'm walking a fine line already. I begrudgingly rush the shower, massaging and rinsing up my previously matted pelt, making it feel and smell pristine again. I rinse my mane and hop out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my rotund thighs, quickly drying my hair and letting it lay over my eyes in long, thick strands.
I'm about halfway through throwing on my shirts when I hear a thudding on the bathroom door, making me stiffen in the back. A voice follows the thuds, light and bridle, yet impatient and hurried. "Barely? Jeez! We were supposed to be in town an hour ago! All the good supplies are gonna be gone now!"
"Right... Sorry! I'm just getting out of the tub, Daisy. Don't mind me, I'll be down in less than a minute!" I bellow beyond the door, pacing as I frantically try to tug the white tee past my horns, almost ripping and tearing it in my hustle.
"I can tell... Just... Hurry up! Pop's gonna go nuclear if we don't get the right stuff!" She says, and I hear light hooves thudding away from the door. I roll my eyes, shoving my legs through the gritty and worn denim jeans. I may've been more late than expected, and Daisy didn't do a bit to calm me down, but I still feel confident with my time I keep.
Maybe If I skipped breakfast, I begin to ponder.
Next thing I know, my body is rushing and tumbling down our old home's steps, my hooves nearly splintering the hollow wood. The home breathes and groans through a symphony of creaks as my moving mass rushes through. It's how I know the place is empty; not a soul is reacting to my bounding steps. I adjust my shirt as I make it into the living room, walking to the front door. The main door is sitting open and ajar, but the screen door sits shut to keep the early spring insects, however few, outside.
Through the screen, I spot our beautiful green yard, expansively large with flowers trying to bud through the early spring climate. There isn't a cloud in the sky, and I'm midway out the door when I stop to appreciate the spring day, looking like it was ripped straight from a painting. With a jolt, I wake up from my daydream to hear a familiar voice. "Goodness Barley, a 30 minute long shower? What are you? A noble lady?"
Daisy's voice is shouting and faint, likely from across the lawn, and she is bounding towards me, her red mane flipping all over the place because of the wind. Her bovine features almost look feral from this distance, and the way she is stomping up to me looks like she will gore me with her small horns. She gets close and stops, slapping a forehoof on a protruding hip, enthusiastic vigor written all over her smug, young-adult snout. She isn't angry anymore though, and the facade melts away, replacing it back to her genuinely smiley persona.
I snort in reply, eying her down with the equally snarky big-brother poise that I usually flaunt while next to her. "I ain't a girl." I say, shoving my hands in my pockets, walking past her. "Plus, the shower certainly didn't take 30 minutes, missy."
She rolls her eyes and quickly follows my broom-like tail, trying to catch up with my larger strides as we walk across the yard to another adjacent building to our house. The grass sways underneath us as we walk, and the chilly wind hits our backs. I look over my shoulder at her, and she's starting to take her phone out of her pocket, seemingly texting. " So... Where's Sunny and Max?" I ask, half-intentionally interrupting her.
"They've been waiting for you in the garage Barley, just like me." She says, impatiently catching up to me. "Honestly, If dad were home now, he'd be damn pissed about you sleeping in."
"Yeah? Well it was an accident. Plus, he ain't here." I say, parrying the situation. "Anyways, sorry that I took so long. You kids must've been itching to head into town straight away."
"Well, not so much me, but Sunny was getting pretty finicky about waiting for an hour. He said that he'd drive himself if you didn't wake up soon." She says, giggling shortly after. "Not that that would go well. The brickhead would probably find us a cliff to drive off."
I follow with a rumbly chuckle as well. "He doesn't even have a license. You wanna talk about dad getting mad? Lets see how well he'd fair with a messed up truck and a speeding ticket."
"He would be pretty mad, huh?" She says, walking up to the garage building and perching her back on the wall next to the door, waiting for me to open it. There are a couple stubborn mounds of late-winter snow that I have to step over to get to the door, and when I push the thing open, I'm met with a low-lit room with a weak central light. It is a single bulb that shines slogglily on the interior of the garage, and highlights the silhouette of a dinky truck sitting in the cotton-web ridden hub.
"Took you long enough." Said a male voice, followed with the motion of a couple bovine figures moving around in the darkness of a corner. One of them is my youngest teenage brother, Sunny, smoking a cigarette with a twitch of impatience to his movement. Next to him, stands another slightly-older teenager, Max, quietly reading a book on an old rocking chair. Through Sunny's large snout, he snorts out the marauding cloud of smog; like a dragon trying to intimidate it's victims, but ultimately failing with his youthful complexion. He flicks the cigarette's glowing tip into the ground like a cheap spaghetti western actor, stamping on it with his hoof and grinding the cheap tobacco and paper into ruin under his weight. "I was getting the idea that you were gonna skip today." He added.
"Naw. Wouldn't skip a day in town. I was just tired last night and I must of slept past my alarm." I say, walking past them towards the closed garage door, kneeling down and hoisting the metal sheet up and over my head, preceded by a rustic slam. The daylight flooded in immediately, and I turn back to the trio of siblings. "Also, Sunny?" I say, getting more antagonistic and accusatory in my tone.
He crosses his arms and snorts, pawing a hoof through his bangs that run long past his eyes, much like my own mane. His grumbly mutter turned into a word. "Mmmnyes?"
"You know how Mom and Dad feel about you smoking in here, so you need to either quit that shit out on our property or do it somewhere else. Better yet, why not quit? Some day, I won't be the one finding you doing it." I say, not unlike our usual conversations.
"Whatever." Sunny says, perching his own body on the truck, not baring the patience towards me, much like his typical self. "When are we leaving? We're already fuckin' late." He mutters, slapping the side of the truck, the metal thumping under his hoof.
"It's gotta be soon." A voice pipes up from the other side of the room. It's Max, who is standing up with his closed book at his side; a smaller and much quieter guy, he has to make an effort to get his voice heard past the other discussing people in the room. "I just got a text from Decon."
"General Store Decon?" Daisy asks.
"Yeah. He..." Max looks down at his phone, scrolling through some sort of message board. "He mentioned that a lot of the fertilizer, seeds, and tools are selling really fast. By the time we get there, we'd probably be scraping the bottom of the barrel." He mentions the last bit with a little bit of hesitance, pocketing his phone and walking over to the truck. His eyes looked towards me with a 'I'm sorry dude.' expression.
"Well then." I say, opening the door to the truck, looking back outside. "If we want to get the bottom of the barrel at the very least, we best hop in and get riding. Daisy's got shotgun, you boys hop into back, kay?"
With a nod from Max and a grunt from Sunny, the two start to clamber into the trunk of the pickup, clunking their hooves against the vehicle's hull until their bodies fold into it like sacks of hay. Next, I see Sunny peek his head back over to me and smirk. "Y'know, you better start speeding. Its that or face dads wrath." He sinks back into the trunk, arm resting on the edge of it for the ride, seatbelts be damned.
"Oh stuff it Sunny." Daisy chimes before skipping to the other side of the truck, slinking herself into the side-seat. I sit in the cabin as well, having to duck my head to fit inside the small space, my size nearly forcing me to scrape my own horns against the metallic ceiling. I turn the key and the engine, long dormant, begins to rumble and turn, puttering and patterning until the satisfying vroom of the exhaust bounces into the garage. I lay my body back into the torn and old drivers seat and set my hoof onto the brake, shift the gear, and let the truck move forward from the concrete to gravel.
Our farms property lies quite a distance from town, taking about 10 minutes by car to get into the heart of it. Yade Creek, our small little civilization of 6,000 people or so, is where our family has been conducting our business for generations. We do everything out of there, and we've been little place other than it, not that it upsets us greatly. We love our little dinkytown, and while it's a pain to get there, it feels like a field trip at the same time with all of its local pleasantries.
The car rattles down the rural dirt path for a while, with sounds of pinking, clanking chunks of gravel kicking up and bouncing on the metal of the already-beaten truck. There is a plume of brown dust in our wake, and I grip the steering wheel with a eagerness to be driving again. Throughout winter I'd been trapped in that house, but now I feel free on this tired and untraveled road. The closer we get into town, however, the road gets smoother and smoother with every mile stretch. The brothers in the back stare up at the clouds, babbling about nothings in the mundanity of life; and my sister is just scrolling her phone, not really much to talk about.
I decide to change it up. "So uh... Daisy?"
She locks and sets her phone into her lap, turning towards me with a beamy smile once again like usual. "Yes Barley?"
"I know I woke up late today, and I took my time with getting us out here, but I was wondering if you all wanted to go shopping after we visit the spots we need to." I say, awkwardly scratching in between my horns on an ethereal itch.
"Psh. Well, I thought we were gonna do that anyway!"
"Hm? Well that'd be news to me."
She snickers, snidely. "Well, the original plan is that we would sneak away after we loot up the truck. Then you'd spend your time lookin' around for us while we, that being the boys and I, would go shopping or something silly."
"Well jeez." I say, chuckling at her surprisingly interesting theoretical plan. "Glad to know your so inclusive towards your favorite brother."
"Oddly assumptive of you to think that."
"Think what?" "That you're my favorite brother."
"Well, it's true, ain't it?" I ask, looking over to her with a dorky grin on my snout. Its my version of a puppy-face, and while its not quite as charming, it does its job to manipulate her response. I watch her shift, unable to keep a straight face, but she tries to hide her reaction by looking out the window.
"Okay fine, you got me." She says, crossing her legs. "We weren't gonna exclude you per se, but we figured you wouldn't wanna stay long. Every other time you take us, you tell us that you'd rather not stay for long; so... This is new."
"Right, right. I just figure that we should let our winter break go out with a bang, y'know? I mean hey, it's gonna be a summer of harvest from here on out, so lets have some fun with our last free day!" I say, looking back to the rumbly road, squinting to see the skyline of the faint town in the distance, maybe a mile out now. "School and work back to back is grating. We all know that pop doesn't believe in lollygagging."
"True that." She says, laying back and looks over her own shoulder towards the truck's rear window. She opens it up, poking out her muzzle toward Max and Sunny, and I can faintly make out her discussion with them, talking about our new plan. They talk about it for a few moments more, when Sunny's voice chimes up again, louder so I can hear.
"Finally feeling like socializing on the town big-horn?" He beckons above the sound of rushing highway wind. The nickname alone makes me sigh under my breath.
"Yeah, maybe I just wanna see what's changed about the place. It's been a while since I walked around for more than a few minutes at a time!" I call back to him, actually thinking about the last time that I actually took time to appreciate our small town roughly 4 years ago... senior year? "I guess I'm not really the civilized type, come to think about it."
"I think a psychologist would just call that being antisocial, dude." Max pipes up, nearly hushed by the whirling gusts around us. He doesn't talk much, but sometimes he can be quite scolding when he does. I'm almost proud when he is like that, rather than his even-shyer younger self, who wouldn't have talked to me without a stutter. I roll my eyes and reach behind my head to close the back view window to shut them out, and Daisy giggles.
I huff and look over to Daisy with an eye roll. "Well then." I say, looking back to the ever-encroaching town that rolls closer to us over the hill's horizon. "I guess we've gotta get ready to do some lifting, but where do you wanna go afterwards?"
"Well I was just gonna gorge my paycheck on a summer wardrobe, but I'm sure the boys are gonna want some lunch. They've been wanting a break from mom's home cooking." She says, looking out the window with a sigh of content. "Not that her cookings bad, it's just, we just want something thats... I dunno..." "Unhealthy?" I suggest. "That's a way to put it." She concurs. "I mean, we're just gonna burn the calories anyway with how much work we'll all need to put in. I figure it'll be like our little sibling party before we all just become... well, coworkers." "Right" I nod, trying to think of some places we can trip on over to. "How about I cover lunch at Aunt Kelly's diner? They've got really good grub there, and it's cheap enough me to afford."
"I'm 20 dude, I can cover my own tab. So can the boys, for that matter." She says defensively, almost aggravated that I would ever suggest taking the lead for a simple task like paying. "Tsh, you make barely more than I do!" "Nah, I just mean it as a treat. I'm really appreciative that you guys still stick around to help me here when you can." I bashfully mutter. She smiles at me with a nod, looking out as the truck pulls up to the edge of the town and driving in past the population sign. It's a busy saturday, with people of all sorts of species and backgrounds walking on the neat and tidy sidewalk, wearing their finest casual clothes and enjoying the fresh weather. Teenages ride bicicles through the street towards shops on conersides, bobbing and weaving through half-melted snow mounds that dot the roads here. This town is thawing out, and It makes me happy to see that the bleak attitudes have been replaced with ones of content.
I have to shake my head out of the image though, remembering that we have a general store to get to in the center of town. Through intersections and junctions, none too busy, I drive our truck around, taking the scenic route to get near the store. All the while, the boys in the back trunk sit, either waving or on their phone respectively. Daisy takes a picture or two when we drive past the town's park, and she mentions that we should stop there some time, which peaks my fancy.
Eventually the rusty truck rumbles up to the parking lot of the general store, where other farmers seem to be intermediately driving in and out of the place with their own vehicles. Its quieter now, and while there is an occasional workhorse or ram throwing industrial sized fertilizer bags into their trucks, the parking lot is mostly cleared out. I pull into a spot in the front, shifting the tired mother into rest, and the loud rumbling ceases, leaving a ringing in my ears. I rub the top of my head and look toward Daisy, who is already taking off her seatbelt. She looks like she is annoyed about the job, but I know she'll be okay with it. "Well, we're here. Lets see how bad it really is."
"I think Maxy was just overestimating how much farmers need fertilizer." She says in reply, opening her car door and hopping out of the cabin. I do the same, grunting as my hooves clomp into a cold winter-water puddle that rests atop the asphalt. It soaks into my fur and jean bottoms.
Great.
With a quick jump toward dry land, I mutter and walk to the back of the truck, where the boys are slinking their bodies out of, landing with adept footing. We stand as a collective around the bumper, looking at each other's expressions of dirt-like disinterest of the task. I look up and smile at them all. "Think of this as a team-building exercise."
Sunny chuckles and cracks his neck, flicking his shorter tail with a hint of anxiousness to get the chore out of the way. "Yeah, well it's not like we all do the work anyways, eh?" He remarks, shifting a glance at Max. While its true that Max has the smallest frame out of all of us, I couldn't deny his helpfulness in the business.
"Calm down little-horn." I say towards Sunny, rumbly and almost growl-like. Max shifts uncomfortably, and I walk past him, patting him on the back. "C'mon folks, let's hurry. Our best bet is walking out of here with 50 bags of fertilizer and a few seed starter sets to get us through the first quarter. We've got some crop at home, but dad wants a surplus backup supply." I say, walking up to the building with them following my tail, which swishes in the gusts of wind that blow past us. It's time to get to work.