November 5th, 1972
2 days. There were 2 days left until her birthday. Jaroldine had looked everywhere for the book, in all the nooks and crannies of her bed and bookshelf in the living room, she even looked in Nancy's room and asked her mother, though she did not precisely tell her what book it was. She wanted that book to be a sort of secret, something for herself, something she found and could keep, just for her. It was nowhere to be found, it was like it dissapeared.
Her parents had said nothing about her birthday, though her mom had tried to talk to her about it twice the day after the dinner, she always ended up making some excuse for why she couldn't talk about it right then, and her mother stopped trying.
Her father was being extra nice this week and Jaroldine couldn't help but feel bad. Of Course she understood that her parents wanted the best for her but she also understood that she did not want this, and they could not force her.
Nancy had healed completely and wasn't feeling sick anymore, and when Jaroldine looked at her, she knew she would not let Nancy go through this. She would not let her sister grow up in a village where she had to be forced to get married when she hit a certain age. She didn't know yet what she was going to do but she knew she wasn't going to get married on her birthday this Friday.
She was going to make pasta puttanesca for dinner today, so she was going to go around the farmers market located within the farm itself to get the ingredients.
She was wearing a long muddy green skirt and a brown long ruffled shirt with flat shoes, which tapped loudly on the cobble stoned path along with the sound of the coins clanging in the greasy pouch she was holding in her left hand.
Lanes of vegetables, fruit, wheat, lavenders, honeysuckles, chromosomes and other bunches of flowers, cattles, cows, sheep, chickens and other animals that were in their own little habitat on one side of the farm surrounded this part of the villiage. From afar you could see the honey area, where the bees now worked with the flowers to create some more honey. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the farmers market, where mini stands lined your right and left, each selling fresh vegetables and fruits and herbs and even raw meat and chicken, there were all sorts of ingredients.
She looked around, returning greetings with a smile to those who greeted her, she found the olive stand easily. Wooden cartons were filled with all types of olives, green, filled, black, kalamata, gaeta, and amfissa. She went for the kalamatas, they were large, dark brown olives with a smooth, meaty texture, named after the city of Kalamata in Greece. A scale sat next to them, with a pile of small plastic bags.
After getting the olives, she headed to the tomato stand where she got the juiciest red tomatoes that she could find, next, she got anchovies and finally, she went to the herb stand and got an array of herbs including capers and red pepper flakes. She had the rest of the ingredients at home.
She headed back home and got to work. She started by making the dough for the spaghetti, after a while of careful massaging of the dough and adding more ingredients when necessary, she rolled it into one long piece and put the start of it in their spaghetti maker.
She grabbed the rusty handle that was on the side and spun it carefully, from the other end, thin spaghetti piled out onto the big plate she had set in on the other side of the spaghetti maker until she had a large pile of fresh soft uncooked pasta ready for when she was going to make dinner. For now, she joined her family in the living room with a book.
She picked out the book on flowers that she had been reading before she found Little Woman and sat on the sofa opposite her father who was reading a thick book on architecture, while Nancy braided her mothers hair.
Her father cleared his throat and Jaroldines breath hitched, she felt his eyes on her.
"So, Jaroldine. As we are all here, could I perhaps speak to you about something." His voice sounded nervous and Jaroldine bit her lip, feeling nervous too, she knew what this was going to be about
"I must get started with dinner, father, perhaps you could speak to me later." She said quickly, shutting the book and getting up to go to the kitchen hastily. She knew she had just sat down and didn't need to start dinner for another half hour, but she wanted to get away from the conversation.
She put the spaghetti in boiling water on low heat, so that it would be cooked perfectly by the time she was done with the sauce.
While she waited for the pasta to simmer she sautéed the garlic and washed and chopped the anchovies, she peeled the tomatoes and pitted the olives, and by the time she chopped the parsley and finished turning the tomatoes with all the other wonderful ingredients and herbs into a wonderful sauce, she felt much more cosy, comfy, warm and happy then she had about 30 minutes ago.
It was all still steaming and smelt wonderful by the time she had set all the plates around the table and called for her parents and Nancy.
At the table, her parents complimented her cooking tremendously, only the sound of slurping spaghetti and hums of delight filled the room. The spaghetti was extremely soft yet springy and tasted buttery and fresh, the sauce was well herbed and anchovies and olives added the perfect touch, it tasted deliciously perfect.
When they were done they patted their lips with a napkin to rid it from the excess sauce, they were all full and content and there was only a little portion left.
Her mother stood up and began with the dishes, Nancy had gone to her room to sleep, but Maurice stood up and looked at his eldest daughter and said "Please can I talk to you in your room?"
She was just about to make an excuse when he cut her off, looking her directly in the eyes, a sad look on his face "Please"
===
He sat her down and took a deep shaky sigh. He did this when he was nervous. "My dear, the schism 18 years ago... It came about because of this rule. It was broken by Benjamins daughter. She was pregnant before 18. And so we came here. We came here to continue life as it was, with this rule still in place."
Her breath paced at this.
"Why? Why would you want that?" I responded, voice shaking.
"We didn't." He responded quietly. "Your mother was pregnant with you. The stress of the protests and such a drastic change in the rules would have been too much for her to handle. We would have stayed if we could. Life was perfect"
Jaroldine felt tears brim her eyes. "But was it? Was it really perfect with such a rule that forced women into marriage?"
Silence.
"I'm sorry, father. But I'm not going to, whatever are you going to do about it?" And then she ran out, out the room and out the house, barefood, ignoring her mother still doing the dishes.
Larry lived right behind them, she ran to his house, tears streaming down her face, she ran there. It was her fault. Her fault her parents came here.
She stopped abruptly, her feet skidding on the grass below her feet. The lights were open and she could see them all still having dinner. They were all laughing. Happy. She wasn't going to disturb them, they were happy, she didn't have to make them miserable just because she was.
Jaroldine went straight to the lake. There were two lakes in the village, the main one in the town centre and the forbidden one located near the edge of the forbidden Lin Forest. She liked the latter more, it was calmer, lonelier, which she liked, even if it was, well, forbidden. It was like an escape from the world. The feeling of water around her body was like a fever dream.
No matter how many times you've done it, you still hesitate when jumping into cold water, she loved that it felt new and thrilling every time.
She took a few deep breaths, clearing her mind of the thoughts that flooded her mind from the conversation she had had with her father. She wanted to be alone, she knew no one would be there. She came to a halt as she saw the lake. It glistened in the sun, looking like a pool of glitter, a beauty in the middle of the dirt and gloom of the Lin forest. There were rocks surrounding it, like guards, and bunches of honeysuckles surrounding it. She always thought honeysuckles were peculiar flowers. They were odd, she didn't exactly know why. They always seemed so calm, like they knew what was happening. They were beautiful and grew in odd bunches. In her opinion, they were perfect, and another reason to always come to this lake.
She took her clothes off and lowered into the water, feet first. The ground was high enough for her to stand and it to reach her shoulders. She took a deep breath and dived into the water, feeling the calm surround her, she felt weightless, like she was floating. She felt safe here.
She swam around for a few minutes and came out of the water sighing in content, when suddenly, she paused.
Silence. She shook her head and flapped again, counting how long she could stay under water, splashing her arms, she smiled.
And then she heard it again. Crunch. The sound of autumn leaves crunching. It was too loud to be made by the wind, by nature.
Someone else is here.
(word count: 1695)