Chapter 1
Wind was swaying the white linen hanging from the tree. Violith sat on the old stone stairs in front of the house she and her grandma shared. In her hand was an apple.
“Wish it would rain”, her grandma sighed behind her. She squinted her eyes against the afternoon sun, her old face wrinkling.
“Doesn’t look like it”, Violith murmured, looking at the clear sky. “You never know”, said her grandma, heading towards the cloth and taking them off: “Fold them nicely, will you ?”
“Sure”, Violith threw the apple to the side, walking towards the old birch tree.
The afternoon went by fast. The sun was setting and the farmhouse smelled like Crillea - a mix of hydrangeas baked with small bread - also known as the national dish of Chambrid and Violiths favorite.
While eating her grandma continued staring out the window with a worried face. “It should rain soon ...“, she muttered under her breath.
“Definitely will”, Violith said with a soft smile. But she wasn’t so sure either. It hadn’t rained in a week, which is rare for this region. Their neighbor Tylid (He was living the closest, but that were still at least 500 meters) inherited his farm from his father after he passed away. He lives off his sellings, which is why he is heavily relying on the rain.
Violith adds a mental note to check on him tomorrow and maybe get water from the nearest well to water the crops.
The night was silent, except for the occasional swaying of the wind and the howling of an owl.
In the morning Violith got ready, trying not to wake up her grandma. The forest was full of sounds and her simple linen dress was dancing along with the wind. Careful not to step on any animals she finally reached Tylid’s farm. It was fenced with old wood and the door to the small house was open.
“Hello? Tylid? “, Violith asked while knocking.
“In the kitchen”, answered a deep voice.
She made her way into the rusty kitchen, the smell of freshly baked buns and strawberry jam surrounding her.
Tylid was a broad man with wide shoulders yet a friendly-looking face. In his hands he was holding an empty jam glass and over his shoulder was a kitchen towel.
“What can I do for you Violith?“, he turned around setting the glass on the counter.
“I was wondering if you maybe need help with your crops? Because of the rain. Or I guess the non-existent rain ?”
He laughed, a deep laugh. “I wouldn’t say no to that. Do you maybe want a baked roll first?”
Who could possibly say no?
The room was filled with laughter and jokes and not soon after the two began working.
The field looked horribly dried up. The sun was just too much, not even the two big trees could spend enough shadow. So they made their way to the well. It wasn’t a far walk. It was built in the middle of the forest, available for everyone living in and around it. Violith was skipping over stones that were laid over a small brook when she suddenly heard a rustling sound, that was too loud and intense to come from an animal. She looked around but saw nothing.
“Are you coming?“, Tyrid called from a few meters ahead.
“On my way”, shouted Violith back, shaking off the weird feeling of being watched.
The work at the well took longer than expected. But after some time - and a lot of figuring out - they finally made their way back, both carrying a bucket filled to the rim with fresh water. This time Violith stayed closer to Tyrid, the forest seeming more and more mysterious.
After yet two more hours their work was done. The crops had fresh water and enough shadow - thanks to an old cloth stretched from one tree to another.
Tyrid gave Violith two more buns - for her grandma - packed neatly in a kitchen towel and said goodbye. On her way home Violith tried to ignore the feeling, writing it off as just paranoia, but she was still walking faster. When she got closer to the house she saw her grandma sitting on the stairs. Violith waved with the packed buns and walked even faster.
“Got you something”, she smiled and handed her grandma the package.
" I was wondering where you are.”
“Helped out Tyrid with his farming”, Violith sat down next to her, eyeing the apple lying on the ground. A few worms were feasting on it.
“Oh, guess It isn’t going so well?“, her grandma said while opening up the package.
“No rain. Like you said”, Violith sighed, leaning against the stone stairs and stretching her legs out on the path.
“Truly horrible. If it won’t rain anytime soon ...”
They both looked up to the light blue sky, the few clouds looking like feathers.
Fully unaware someone was watching them.
