Growing up on Adelinda's Farm -on hold

Chapter 1

“Why can’t I go with you, mommy?” Annalisa asked with tears in her eyes as her parents packed for yet another business trip. They were always going on business trips, for as long as she could remember her parents had babysitters coming and taking care of her while they went away for weeks at a time. No matter how much she cried or threw a fit, it never changed. Annalisa hated constantly being cared for by babysitters.

            “I told you Anna, this is a work trip, not a vacation. We can’t have you getting in the way during our meetings. Now go get your things together, you’re going to stay with my sister Adelinda while we’re gone,” Annalisa’s mother, Tasha, told her six year old daughter.

            A few hours later Tasha, her husband Derek, and Annalisa all pile in the car to Adelinda’s house.  Before Annalisa could even start to complain or cry, Derek quickly turned around and looked her dead in the eye before telling her, “Look, if it wasn’t for you being such a baby and chasing off all the babysitters then we wouldn’t have to hassle your mother’s sister. So you had better be on your best behavior, do you understand me? That means no crying, no yelling, no back talking, no attitude, nothing! You do what you are told and that is it. If we find out you were so much as slightly misbehaving, you can say goodbye to the doll you just got. Do you understand me?”

            “Yes daddy, I understand,” Annalisa said meekly. She knew better than to disagree, the last time she argued with her parents, the puppy she had just gotten not even two months before had just happened to go “missing” while she was at school at the beginning of preschool. It took until the end of the summer before kindergarten to get over the loss of her puppy.

“Good, now sit there and be silent,” Derek turned back around and started the car. They drive out of town and after about four hours of driving, turns, and heads up the long driveway of a farm.  Annalisa stares wide eyed out the front windshield as she sees fields full of horses on either side of the drive. She watches a palomino horse run the length of the fence on her side of the car as they drive up the driveway and has to bite her tongue to keep from pointing the horse out to her mother. After two minutes of driving, the car finally reaches the end of the drive, which becomes a circle around a fountain before the house.  Tasha and Derek climb out and Annalisa quickly clambers out after them. Anna looks up at the three-story house in front of her as a lady that looked a lot like her mother comes bustling out of the front door.

            “Tasha! Glad you could make it, hello again Derek,” the woman cheerfully greeted as soon as she approached, “and you must be Annalisa! I’m your aunt Adelinda, I’m glad to finally meet you.”

            “Yes yes nice to see you Addie, but we really must be going. We’re running late enough as it is because of having to drop Anna off here,” Tasha said while Derek dropped Anna’s bags on the ground.         “We’ll see you in a week when we get back,” Derek added as they climbed back into the car. Without so much as a backward glance, Annalisa’s parents sped off down the drive and out of site. Annalisa stared after the car and kept telling herself not to cry, remembering her father’s warning. After about five minutes of just awkwardly standing there in the driveway, Adelinda walked up to her niece and gently laid a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. Annalisa jumped at the sudden contact and looked up at her aunt.

            “Well sweetheart, what do you say we take your bags inside and I give you a tour of the place? I know the place is kinda big, and I wanted to make it a little easier on you since you’ll be here awhile,” Adelinda told her.

            “Yes ma’am, that sounds nice. I hope it won’t be any trouble for you,” Annalisa responded quietly. She didn’t know what to expect from this woman that she has never met and she wanted to make a good impression. She definitely did not want to make her aunt mad and risk her parent’s retaliation.