I woke up to the sound of the village bell; it rang at 6:00 every morning to wake up the citizens of the town. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, clearing all traces of tiredness or sleep. I stretched my arms, still lying down. I had rolled over during the night, I was facing Kahn now. He was restless, he groaned. He disliked school. All of a sudden he sat up abruptly as if he remembered something important. His smiled brightly and his eyes lit up.
"Time to feed the animals", said Kahn. Feeding the animals was necessary every morning, Kahn loved it. I enjoyed the task I was required to do too, as a girl I was required to gather water, milk the cow, collect the eggs, gather fruit from the orchard on the other side of town, Vegetables from our small vegetable patch. Kahn had to feed the animals, collect the grains, make the cow manure on the vegetable patch by riding the cow. In our village the kids did most of the work outside. My grandmother had less energy, she spent time cleaning up the inside of the house, cooking and making clothes to sell.
We both stood up then and went downstairs. Grandmother was still preparing porridge for breakfast, we had a little time to do our tasks outside, I put on a raincoat so I didn't dirty my nightgown, I put on some old gumboots and walked outside, Kahn following me in his raincoat and his gumboots. I picked up a bucket and a stool from the verandah and Kahn picked up his whip.
I sighed. We couldn't both use the cow at the same time, I put down my bucket and stool and picked up another bucket and a tray with many tiny little holes in it. We called this a dirt strainer. We used it to clean the water. I headed off towards the stream; I saw many other girls and ladies at the stream already at work. I saw my friend Kallina sitting down cleaning the water and putting the clean water in her bucket, I bent over next to her to start my work.
Kallina is a girl at school, she moved here 3 years ago, her family migrated from China and still had an echo of Chinese accent to her words. She spoke English but still Chinese. She was nice, smart and funny. She was a good friend of mine. I heard someone crouch next to me. I looked at the person, she had blonde hair that went to her waist, very long and very straight, and the slight wind whipped it against her. Her blue eyes were pale and innocent, yet they had a strong warning saying 'I can fight you with one hand'.
It was Bridget, one of my other friends. Her father is a doctor in the village, the only one who knew everything there is to know about anything in the doctor world. Bridget intended on being a doctor too when she grew old enough, Bridget was the kind of girl who can lure you then attack you. She loved to win, whatever the cost. Her father is very rich, they always got the best toys, clothes, food and basically the best lifestyle in the Village. Bridget's mother left her and her father, and then they decided to move to a small village. To get away from the lights and disasters, to live a quiet life in a small village was her fathers dream in life.
Once I had finished gathering water, 4 buckets full of clean water, taking an hour. I took off my gumboots at the door and walked upstairs, I could see Kahn was not done yet, so I took his absence to get changed. It was school photos today, a rare day once in a year that a professional photographer would take photos for you and the whole school, your class and give the Polaroid's to your family. I didn't like it very much, you had to pick the perfect smile for the camera, but I knew this opportunity was rare so I took advantage of it.
I put on my dark green sassafras roots pants, a white button up blouse and my dark leather shoes. I tied my hair up with a blood red colour ribbon, tying it in a bow at the top. My black hair was at my chest, it was silky smooth and easy to run your fingers through it. I heard the front door slam and I skipped down the stairs from my room. My grandmother was serving oats into bowls on the table; my brother was hanging his raincoat up. I walked to the table and sat down, Kahn followed my motion by sitting in the seat beside me.
