My family was never satisfied. They hunted for perfection, so much so that we ran out of land but never wants. We were a family of farmers you see, my dad calls us agriculture specialists, a fancy word but farmer is what we were. We spent the entire day staring at an empty patch of land, waiting. Waiting for rain, waiting for sunlight, waiting for the first sign of growth, and then waiting for the perfect harvest.
You’d think all this waiting would have made us patient, but no, my father was the most impatient you’d ever see. He hated to wait, he’d plant one day and want an entire field of crops the next day. He’d do anything to get this, even spray the land with poison and then justify it by saying how we are “helping others to eat”.
I didn’t know we paid to eat poison.
Our old lands soon dried up, we drained it for all we could, my dad’s methods of intensive farming left the soil degraded and he hated to wait, so every few years we kept moving. My protests were silenced, I was just a silly girl who liked to show off her bookish knowledge as my mother tutted at me. My dad and twin brothers helped put the bread on the table and we were just supposed to listen to them.
And so, we moved like a swarm, to drain another land.
…
The land seemed almost too good to be true. Fresh running water, lush greenery, teeming with wildlife and rich, fertile soil, lots of it. A farmer’s wet dream really. I felt sorry that we were going to ruin it.
“Olivia! Hurry up! What are you doing standing there?!” my mother yelled.
“Coming!” I yelled back.
“Bet she’s becoming one with the nature again.” My twin brothers snorted as they walked by carrying all the boxes.
“Shut up.” I mumbled and carried in my own boxes.
“Quit arguing and help your mother set up, there is work to be done,” my father grunted and stomped past us.
My room was upstairs and furthest from the stairs next to a pair of large windows that overlooked the woods off to the side, which suited me just fine because that meant Rory and Jordan would actually have to walk a bit to annoy me.
The movers had already placed the larger furniture and stuff, so we didn’t have much to do other than to arrange our clothes and things. It only took me a little while to do that, my bookshelf was the only thing I arranged with care, everything else I placed in quickly.
“Dinner time!” I heard my mother yell from downstairs, sighing I dusted my hands on my jeans and went below. My father and brothers were already seated at the table and my mother was serving them. I slid into my seat and poured myself some water.
“So, Rory, Jordan, all set up?” She asked.
“Yes mum.” They replied in unison.
“And you Olivia?”
“Yes mum.” I muttered.
“Good,” my father grunted as he dug into his food. We ate in silence for a while, and I waited with trepidation for my father to begin talking because I knew once he began, we would end up arguing. There were no two people more ill suited to be around each other than us. For my father my brothers were all he needed to run the farm, I was a mere afterthought.
“Olivia, you have barely eaten.” My mother sighed tiredly, her blue eyes looking bloodshot with exhaustion. She was always so pale, almost translucent as though she had faded under my fathers presence. You look so much like your mother, everyone told me but other than our blue eyes and dark hair we hardly resembled. She was quiet whereas I was loud. She hardly questioned my father whereas I hardly stopped questioning him.
“I am not that hungry mum.” I said and got up to leave.
“Sit down and finish what’s on your plate. Then you can leave,” my father growled; his dark eyes glinted with anger. Rolling my eyes, I sat back down as my brothers snickered. With their curly hair and square features, they were a spitting image of my father.
“So, dad we will start tomorrow, right?” Rory asked as he inhaled his food.
“Yes, the collector will stop by tomorrow and by that time I want us to go over this place with a fine-toothed comb, he’ll want to hear all about it. We need to know what all we need to clear. This year’s harvest will be a big one. You both know what to do.” He finished, wiped his face, and got up.
“Yes dad.” My brothers echoed.
“Wait! Clear? But why? There’s loads of space we can use at the back!” I protested. My father just stared at me blankly.
“You don’t have to slash and burn everything every time!” I continued as my brothers rolled their eyes at me and got up.
“Olivia, sit down.” My mother pleaded.
“No! We do this every time, and we just keep moving!” I argued.
“That’ll do.” My father said quietly, “Either you help us or keep out of the way.” He said and they walked away. I looked at my mother hopelessly and she just sighed.
“Why can’t you just leave it be Olivia?”
“I can’t.” I replied quietly and left.
That night I spent tossing and turning under the blankets, thinking of all the homes we were going to burn tomorrow. I sighed as I heard a wolf howl, run wolf run I thought, soon enough you’ll have nowhere to run to.
…
Morning arrived far too soon, and the sunlight burned into my eyelids, groaning I squinted at the clock, it was past 8 and if I’d slept any longer-
“Olivia! Get up! The Collector is here!” My father yelled and knocked on the door.
“I’m up I’m up.” I grumbled and threw off my blankets as I got up to get dressed.
The Collector, my family’s greatest fear, he was more of a God to them than God himself. He was the reason we had a roof over our heads you see. Every year at the time of the sowing and the harvest he’d come. He’d judge the land and our yield and pay us accordingly.
If the harvest was good, we’d get paid like kings but if it was bad, well I don’t want to think about that.
The sound of laughter rang out loud as I went down the stairs, looked like he was happy with the soil.
“Ah Mason you have chosen a good land you have! I can see you getting a kings ransom from this!” His voice boomed.
“I am glad. I am glad.” My father chuckled.
I rounded the corner and leaned against the wall as I watched them speak.
“How did you find this beauty? Must have cost you a penny?” He enquired as he scratched his pot belly.
“Funny thing that, it cost me next to nothing. It was just sitting there; the fools didn’t know what they had.” My father laughed and my brothers joined him.
“Well well, little Olivia! How are you?! Still doing those protests I hear?” The Collector asked as he smiled at me in that genial way. My family glowered at me to answer.
“Uh… yea! Someone has to watch out for the trees.”
The Collector guffawed at me and turned to leave.
“Uh please do eat some breakfast before you go.” My mother simpered.
“Oh no no Beth, next time surely. Mason start cutting tomorrow. Every day matters.” He said and left.
“Did you hear boys? We begin tomorrow!” My father barked out and walked towards the shed as my brothers followed him. My mother left for the kitchen, and I was left standing alone looking at the stunning forest that was to soon disappear.
The wind slowly picked up and clouds began to gather. Looks like a storm was about to come.
…
Thank you for reading! Also, I sure do love support and coffees! 💜
