Grysmot

I watched my mom in disgust while she sewed a silky blue dress for me. I was supposed to wear it to a party we were going to in a few weeks. Dresses were not me and there was nobody to impress.

“Come on Riley, your sixteen! Try to be a lady for once,” Mom said with her gentle voice. I guessed that she saw my sour look when I walked into the sitting room. She looked into my eyes and sighed as she kept to her sewing.

“Please, cooperate once in your life,” she got up and walked towards me with the dress in hand.

Mom always wanted me to be a little lady, but I had a lot of Dad in me. I hung out with the boys too much and not in the flirtatious way. I sighed and marched towards my room. She skipped along behind me with the dress dragging along the floor. Dad passed us in the hallway laughing at me.

“Got ya’ again, Riley?” He seemed tickled at the idea of me being in a dress.

“Yea”, I sighed.

“Oh, quit your griping, you’ll be beautiful!” mom said as she dragged me into the room. When she closed the door, I heard dad booming with laughter as he went outside.

I looked out the window blankly as she put the dress on me and fixed a few buttons by the waist. When she finished, she looked at me and smiled. She put her hand on my cheek.

“See, it doesn’t look so bad! It brings out those icy blue eyes of yours!”

I guess she was right. It really didn’t look so bad. The dress matched my pale skin and my wavy brown hair, but I would never admit it to her. Mom was happy, so I could not complain.

“Ehh”, I said. It was just too funny to watch my gentle mother aggravated. I do it just to spite her sometimes. She stomped her little foot down and her expression changed to frustration and aggravation. It was adorable! Her little nose wrinkled up and her big brown eyes narrowed into slits. I honestly couldn’t take her seriously and it was really hard to imagine her being an authoritative mother. I smiled holding back laughs.

“Ugh! You are impossible! Gerald, Robin, come see Riley in her new dress,” she said as a smirk sneaked up her face.

My smile soon faded after that. I hated it when she lured my little brother Robin into things. He never lets things go and it gets on my nerves. It must be amusing to a ten-year-old to annoy his big sister. When dad and Robin came in the room, dad took his hat off. He had a bald spot in the middle of his head. He looked tremendously tender when he saw me. Seeing his almost seventeen-year-old daughter being a lady must have gotten to him. Robin just looked surprised and was trying to hold back laughter.

“Gosh, is this my baby girl? You look absolutely stunning honey! I think we better keep her away from the boys Sarah,” he said, and I groaned. Dad got closer to me to grab my arm.

“Looks the same to me!” Robin was leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing his overalls that were covered in dirt now. He and dad must have been doing some yard work while I was being tortured inside. He knew how much I hated dresses and obviously my face gave it away when dad got closer. Even though he got on my nerves, we knew how to make each other laugh. I held back giggles while mom shooed him away. He smirked and walked off.

I let them look at me in awe for a while and gave my mom the pleasure of going out in town with her. I couldn’t help but see all the second glances I got. Mom seemed amused by it because she kept pointing out boys that looked at me. One accidently hit his nose on a post his going into a store. I knew him. His name was Adam. I laughed to myself. He was a kid in my class, but he was a jerk to me. I couldn’t stand the boy, but I couldn’t deny how nice it felt to be noticed. I always was the tomboy, so I was used to being treated like one of the boys. We walked into Mr. George’s grocery store and he smiled at mom and me.

“Well, doesn’t someone look nice!” he smiled at me and mom nudged me to say thank you. I sighed, but I said thank you nicely and smiled back. Mr. George was a family friend and was always nice to Robin and me. He even got us presents for our birthdays.

“Another success Sarah! You really should think about opening a business with those dresses of those,” he opened the cash register and put some money in from the customer that just paid for his groceries, “I could help you get started if you like.”

Mom smiled brightly. Everyone loved her dresses and always asked her if they could buy one from her. She said that they were only for me and they were special. She was trying so hard for me to actually enjoy the dresses, but I never did. I only wore them to make her happy.

“Oh, George you know I won’t do that no matter how many people ask! Thank you for the offer though.” She picked up a basket and got all our groceries. I followed along, avoiding the people staring at me. It was nice to be noticed, but it got a little uncomfortable when everyone stared at you at once.

“Look Riley! Isn’t this a beautiful ring? I just might get this for your birthday.” She was pointing at a silver ring with a pink rose as a gem. I wanted to groan, but I didn’t. I told her it would be nice and grabbed the bread for her. She smiled and kept on getting the groceries. Since I said that, it meant that I would have to wear it. If it wasn’t a new dress, I was good.

“Is that all? Okay, you have a discount so that will be ten dollars.” He opened the cash register and handed mom a receipt and put the money that mom gave him in the register.

“Thank you, George. We really appreciate it. Money is so tight these days.”

Mr. George smiled and gestured his hand showing her it’s not a problem. “No, thank you! Gerald has saved my store dozens of times from going under. Give him my thanks for that once again. Have a nice evening, Sarah.” He gave mom the grocery bag and waved good-bye as we walked out of the store.

It was nearly dark when we finally finished shopping. We started walking home when the sun was setting.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t always dress this way. You saw all those boys staring!” My mom was way too amused by all the boys in town, but she was happy, so I didn’t complain.

“To be honest mom, if they will not notice me without wearing this blue dress, then they don’t really deserve me. I want someone who can notice me in every way. Not just beauty.”

She sighed at my poor judgment and dropped the subject. I thought I had a point there.

She talked about all the stuff we bought as the stars started to show in the almost dark sky. We got home just in time because the sky was completely black as we went up the steps to our log cabin.

Our little log cabin was comfortable for all four of us. Our land was big enough for Robin and me to run around on a nice day. My father is a farmer. We get our eggs and milk at home, but dad sells some of it to Mr. George in town. That’s how dad saved him from having problems before. Dad and Mr. George have been friends for as long as I can remember, so they help each other out every now and then. Our barn is full of cows, but no horses. We do have a donkey though. His name is Jake. Dad usually uses him for the garden, but other than that, he’s a pet to Robin and me.  We play with him for hours at a time taking turns riding him around the barn. Poor Jake was tired out before dad could even use him. Dad never got angry though. He usually did everything by hand anyway. He’s a strong man. Next to the barn we have a big pin where we raise the pigs. Dad won’t let us around there anymore. Last time we were at the pin, we got so dirty that our mom couldn’t even recognize us. We were covered in mud from head to toe. She was furious that day.

I could smell breakfast inside the house.  That’s what dad always cooked when mom was out all day. He thought it lifted a burden from her. The smell of the bacon and eggs got stronger when mom opened the door. I went straight upstairs to take off the blue silky dress so I could be me again. I put on my old red shirt that mom really didn’t like and my worn-out jeans. I stared at the dress and stuffed it into a black bag along with other things I didn’t need. The bag was full of things.

Sitting at the table with mom talking about the boys and the shopping was not so bad. I ignored it and watched Robin give me silly looks across the table. There was one face that he gave me that made me laugh so hard, that milk shot out my nose. Mom looked at Robin and me and told us to hush. We smiled and held back giggles.

The conversation ended with dad talking about some weird dream he had the other night.

“I don’t know why, but I saw this cloaked man outside watching the house burn in amusement, but in aggravation. It was like he was looking for something,” he shuddered and stood up to put his plate away. He grabbed the sink and kept shaking. Mom went over to him and comforted him. He often had dreams like that, so it really wasn’t new to me. I didn’t understand why dad was taking it so hard.

“It was just a dream dad, there’s nothing wrong with that right? Why does it bother you?” I stood up and walked next to mom to look at him. Robin was standing next to me.

“He said your name, Riley.” I looked at him, surprised to see tears in his eyes. I was shocked to hear this from his dream. Dad really found every way to protect us. I didn’t see why it would get to him now. Mom looked at me and then looked back at dad.

“It’s okay Gerald, it’s just fear that gives you nightmares. That’s all,” she put her hand on his shoulder. Dad smiled and agreed with her, but for a split second I could have sworn I saw my mom’s face pucker with worry and sadness.

It was bedtime, and as usual, mom tucked me in. That was our tradition. Dad hugged me hard and kissed me on the forehead as mom tucked me in tightly.

“Good night dear, see you in the morning.” I hugged them both and said good night. They left and closed the door. About fifteen minutes later, Robin came in and helped me uncover. Mom always tucked me in a little too tightly.

“So, how does it feel to be a ‘young lady’?” he said as he pulled the covers out. We both laughed at the word quietly.

“HAHA really funny!” I looked at him and a I came to a sudden realization. I sat up and looked out the window.

“What?” he said as he got under the covers with me and looked at me with curiosity.

I turned to him and looked up at the ceiling playing the thought through my head for a moment before I spoke. “I want to go out in the world and travel. This ‘lady like’ stuff is not for me and adventure is a lot more interesting than dresses.”

He laughed and said, “Take me with you.”

I’ve always thought about it. Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to travel the lands beyond Grysmont if mom and dad let me, but most likely Mom would never allow that. They have both been so protective of me my whole life. I doubt they would ever consider letting me get too far.

“Alright, go to bed before I tell Mom you’re up!” He chuckled at the thought of me actually telling on him and got up. Mom would absolutely go berserk if she knew.

“Good night Riley.”

“Good night Robin.” We hugged and then he left. I laid in the dark until my eyelids won the fight against staying up. I fell asleep with thoughts of adventure, sighing into unconscious.