extra stories to share. (tgwdlm//bf)

mel & schaeff; jack daniel's.*

// og post date: september 11th, 2020. sfw. word count: 3,059. //

~

'she did it,' melissa thought as she slowly drove the trail leading up to the driveway. 'she actually did it.' she came to a stop and parked her car, taking out the keys moments later and simply stared out her car window.
she was staring at the ranch house in front of her, admiring how lovely and well-kept the exterior appeared as, then shifted her gaze to see one side of the yard was an open field with acres of what she assumed were crops. she couldn't see what kind, though turning her head to check out the other side she was greeted with a miniature flower garden that mainly consisted of bright, yellow sunflowers. as she briefly inspected and named the other breeds under her breath, she noticed a certain someone crouching down and doing... something with one of the plants.

melissa climbed out of her car and skipped in the direction of the small patch; "good morning, schaeffer! you look well." she greeted as she paused besides her, noticing schaeffer was placing a stone that had paint on it down.
"morning to you, too, melissa," nodded schaeffer, as she pulled away from what she was doing, then got off her knees and on her feet. she wore a funky looking cowboy hat that was a bit dirty, though luckily blocked the sun's rays from hitting her face. the rest of her outfit was the stereotypical farmer clothes: flannel-pattern button down tucked into pants with an obnoxious belt looped around her waist. a red bandana hung out of one of her pockets rather than tied around her neck, and she had her favorite pair of boots on.

"who gave you that?" asked melissa, as she pointed at the rock that was recently put in its proper place. "it looks familiar but i can't put my finger on it."
"you did. a couple years ago, while you went through your paint phase." she replied, pulling off the gardening gloves she was wearing, and shoved them in her back pocket.
"oh! bonk, that's right- ugh, a weird short period of time i want to forget." she said half-jokingly then let out a soft giggle, holding a hand close to her chest. if it isn't obvious already, she is very excited to be able to see what her friend has been up to for who knows how long - this new world she entered must've represented the inside of schaeffer's mind.

the first tour of the day was, of course, the flower bed in front of them. sunflowers, lilies, lavenders, daisies, poppies; the array of colors gave melissa a soft energy that she never thought she'd receive from her, out of all people. she felt rushed to get her admiring over with quick as schaeffer walked on to her right, a larger fenced-in area that had signs with fruits and vegetable symbols engraved on the wood. she probably commissioned someone to do that, looks too professional for her lack of whittling skill.
"i didn't know you had an interest in carrots, tomatoes, and whatever else is in here! it's so pretty." she gushed for a moment, as she followed her through the decently sized area with the still growing product. she knew that some foods needed to be grown in certain seasons or else they wouldn't be at their best quality, yet it seems these groups were doing quite fine under the other's care.

"some of these are gross to me personally, but if i get money from selling it to locals that want to support me rather the stores," replied schaeffer, who didn't finish her sentence as though she was aware melissa could figure out what she was trying to get at without verbally saying it. fortunately she was right, she understood the logic behind her motives with what she is and isn't growing at the moment. she read the small labels and what each plant was, wanting to get to know the pre-stages of the vegetables and fruit as she never wondered about it before.
she had to admit, she was already loving this - she is ready to see what kind of animals she owns, she can imagine a bunch of cows and horses and chickens. she'd be offended if there isn't any.

moving on to the backyard, there was a gravel path leading to the obvious barn and other structures she only could guess held all the machines and tools a farmer needed. her mind was going bonkers when her line of vision already was in view of a pig pen, the smell and noise of the hooved creatures surprisingly not too bad as she thought. she held onto schaeffer's arm as they made their way to the pen.
"stay back, don't want your shoes to get ruined from the mud," informed schaeffer, as she paused at a certain point she knew would be good enough for her. she glanced at melissa for a moment, watching her silly expression of glee glow while she focused on the lazy animals snort around. it made her feel good knowing she was interested in her ideal life, especially since she was patient enough with her to wait so long to get an answer on what she wanted to do after the retirement from peip.