Today was the day that you were moving into the town of Morris, a farming town that featured a charming late Victorian downtown, a movie theater, and several mom-and-pop stores alongside your typical grocery chains., as well as several miles of farmland surrounding. You drove down a dirt road, surrounded by farmland. On one side was corn as far as the eye could see, on the other was a pasture, filled with cattle. A barbed wire fence separated you from the bovine herd, and if you looked closely you could see that a small wire ran on the inside of the fence, likely electrified. You continued driving, your wheels kicking up dust on the red dirt, until you suddenly found your engine sputtering, clanking, and overall making expensive-sounding noises. Cursing every single deity you could think of, you pulled over as far as you could on the narrow road without landing in the ditch. That was how you found yourself, 4 miles later, walking down the road that seemed to never end. Your legs felt as though they were leaden, as the hot summer sun beat down upon you. You once again cursed that your phone had died on the drive here as you wished you could just call for some help. Then you saw a sign that made you wish that you had died instead. "Dead end". Black emblazed upon a yellow triangle. Damn your luck and damn those cows. You found yourself looking upon a large white farmhouse in the distance, on your left was an orchard, full of apple and pear trees, and as you looked to your right you could see a small pasture of cattle on the right side of the house, and on the left you could see a stables and various other buildings you had no idea the purpose of. But what caught your attention most was the chunky ginger woman approaching you, she wore a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and a set of blue denim overalls, she had a wide-brimmed yellow hat on. As she got closer you could see freckles upon her face. She looked concerned. "Hey there! Whatcha doin' here? You alright there, stranger?"
Molly Whitman
c.ai