{the story with not yet a title} part one

 The warm breeze swept across the grass blowing her hair in her face which she softly pushed back. She closed her eyes. Her cheeks were quickly turning pink from the intense Texas sun which was known could give you a sunburn in just minutes. She opened her eyes again when she heard a bee. It had landed on the grass beside her. She turned her head so that her nose was only inches from it. She jumped up and ran towards the house which she could see in the distance. She soon stopped and turned around to make sure the bee was gone. She brushed the grass off her shorts and walked the rest of the way to the big farmhouse. "Stella?" she heard as she neared the front steps. It was her Mom. "Yes?" Stella answered after taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Her Mom opened the screen door and stepped out onto the front porch where Stella had just plopped into a big chair. "Water all the flowerbeds and the potted flowers for me please. We're having company over for dinner tonight, and they look just awful." Mrs. Wicks said. Stella pulled herself out of the comfy chair which she badly did not want to leave, and leaned over the porch rail to look down at the plants in the flowerbed. "Why, they look awful." she said turning to look at her Mom. "Well, we haven't had rain in weeks. And it's so hot out, what do you expect?" her Mother turned and walked back into the house, the screen door slamming shut behind her. Stella made her way down the porch steps, and around to the side of the house where the water hose was. As she watered the poor wilted plants, she got her hand wet and wiped it across the back of her neck. It felt as if the sun was directly above their house, pouring all it's heat onto their poor thirsty ranch. She hurriedly finished watering the plants and went inside. It had occurred to her that she had forgotten to ask her Mom who it was that was coming for dinner. "Stella! Stella! Come here!" she heard her little sister's voice calling, the second she stepped in the door. A gush of cold hair hit her face as she stepped into the air conditioning. "What is it, Kate?" she responded, heading for the kitchen. "Come here!" the little voice answered. "Just a minute." she grabbed a glass of sweet tea, and went into the living room where her little six year old sister was on the couch watching a movie. "Stella, look. It's your favorite part." she said pointing at the TV. Stella couldn't stop the smile that came across her face. She curled up on the cold leather couch next to her sister and drank her sweet tea as she watched her favorite part of the movie. After she finished her tea, she went upstairs to her bedroom. She closed the curtains to keep out the heat from the sun, and turned on her fan. Even with the air conditioning it was hot. She looked in the mirror to see that her hair was a giant mess on top of her head. She just sighed and grabbed her computer from her nightstand, headed to her desk, and turned it on. Then she remembered again that she had to find Mom so she could ask her who it was that was coming over. She shut her computer, and went down stairs. She found her Mom in the kitchen talking to Mildra, her little sister who was ten. "Hey Mom." Stella said leaning over the counter top. "Stella, get back from the counter, I just cleaned it." she said. Stella stepped back, glanced down at the counter and noticed a small smudge of dirt. "I forgot to ask you earlier who it is that's coming for dinner." she said. "I was talking Stella, you interrupted me." Mildra said annoyed at her older sister. Stella ignored her, and instead, looked at her Mom in wait of an answer. "There's a family who just moved down the road a ways and he needs a temporary job until he finds something better. Your Dad is considering hiring him to help him with the cattle." Mrs. Wicks said.

   To be continued.

-Eliza