Green visitors

Chapter 1: Once a Beautiful Day Turned Dark

It was a sunny day in Harmonyville. The flowers were in full bloom, and a gentle breeze was blowing. What a beautiful day, Mrs. Mary thought as she stood in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for the family and admiring the pleasant weather outside. As she threw the bacon in the pan, a bit of grease splashed on her head, causing her to let out a small scream. Mrs. Mary remarked, "The food won't be worth eating if you don't get a little hurt in the process." Sally, the youngest at 6 years old, entered the kitchen and asked if she could help. Mrs. Mary replied, "Would you like to stir the eggs?" Sally's face lit up with a smile, as she rarely got the chance to help with the farm or anything else, for that matter.

Mrs. Mary said to Sally, "Of course!" She pulled up a chair for Sally to stand on and told her to be careful not to stir too vigorously. "Okay, I won't," Sally replied as she hopped onto the chair and started stirring.

Justin, the oldest at 17 years old, walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, Justin," Mary greeted him, her face filled with joy. Sally also greeting him with a good morning

"Good morning, Sally," Justin said. Then he turned to Mary and asked, "Did Colton tell you anything he wants me to do today?"

"Yes, he told me he wants you and Jacob to paint the fence red around the farm and feed the pigs, especially Robert, for the competition. You know your dad has been waiting to win that," Mary said, rolling her eyes. "I don't understand why he wants to win that damn trophy. He always wants to participate in every competition, as if he's winning a real gold trophy." "Anyways, he also wants you to clean the horse stable," Mary mentioned.

"Alright, I'll get on it," Justin replied. He didn't mind working on the farm; he had been doing it ever since he arrived. Sometimes it got tiring, but Justin didn't mind. In his mind, men were supposed to work hard, just as his dad had always told him.

"Now hold on," Mary interrupted. "Don't you want to eat before you go work, Justin?"

"Don't have time to eat, Mom. Got lots to do," Justin responded, his mind focused on his tasks.

He headed into his room, grabbing his work shoes and his beloved homemade cowboy hat, Justin called out for Jacob, urging him to get up and join him for work. However, Jacob didn't respond. Frustrated, Justin stormed into Jacob's room and shouted at him to wake up. But Jacob, wanting to avoid the day's work, pulled his blanket over his head.

"Justin wasn't going to put up with that. If Jacob didn't want to wake up voluntarily, Justin would make him." He stormed back into the kitchen, grabbing a bucket and placing it under the faucet. Mary, curious about his actions, asked, "What are you doing, Justin?" Justin responded, "Your boy is lazy, he doesn't want to work today like any other day." Mrs. Mary said to Justin, "Well, you can't make him do something he doesn't want to." "Yes, you can. Let me show you," Justin said. He stopped running the water, picked up the bucket, and started marching to Jacob's room. The worry on Sally's face as she was done stirring the eggs. "Now, just wait a minute, Justin," Mary said as she followed behind Justin. "Doing this is not going to make him want to work." "That's the problem, you and Colton don't know how to create structure around here. He needs to respect his elders and work like all men," Justin said as he entered Jacob's room. Justin entered Jacob's room and immediately threw a bucket of water on him, jolting him awake. Anger flashed across Jacob's face as he exclaimed, "What the hell, man? Are you crazy?"

"You're the crazy one," Justin retorted. "All you do is sit in this room, hang out with your sisters all day, and ride horses. You never want to do anything."

Jacob bristled. "Yes, I do. But you criticize everything I do when we work together."

"Well, maybe if you actually worked more, there wouldn't be so much to criticize. You would know what to do and how to do it," Justin shot back.