Chapter 1 through 4
Chapter 1
As Poe walked down the trail trying very carefully not to trip though he knew there was absolutely no way he would get back to the tree house without tripping, not only was the path rough but Poe was known for being extremely clumsy. The roots cross crossed the walkway along with stones and branches they had yet to clear away. The bag of groceries in hand the tree house finally came into view as he turned a corner. “Hey Poe!” Shara yelled up from the top window. “Hey” he yelled back as he walked through the door. He could hear her coming down the “stairs” if you cold really call them that, it was a more of a slightly less inclined ladder, they had a small pull system for larger objects.
She was the same age as him and they were the closest in age of all the kids in the tree house. They may have been the closest in age but they were nothing alike, Shara had dark blue eyes with bright red hair and lots of freckles, she was social, playful and did what ever she wanted,she didn’t care what other people thought. Poe had dark hair and dark brown eyes, he was shy,quiet and social in no way possible. He normally let Shara do the talking.
“What’s for lunch” asked Benny as he waddled in. Benny was a pretty cute 4 year old with his wavy brown hair blocking his eyes. He looked absolutely adorable in the pjs Liv had found him.
“We’re going to have pb ‘n’ j” said Shara already pulling out the peanut butter and bread from the bag. “ Do you know when Lyle and Liv are supposed to get back?”.
We all worked except Benny of course but we always had 2 people not working to look after him and do other chores. “ I think Liv will be back in about 2 hours and Lyle said he will be back for dinner.”
“That’s good.... What do you wanna do until then?” Shara said spreading on the jelly.
“Hmmm, I don’t know... We could put away the groceries and then go hunting.”
“Sounds like a plan, Here’s your P.B and J Benny”
Chapter 2
30 minutes later and we were tip toeing through the woods bows in hand. “Shhh, rabbit” Poe whisper pulling out a arrow and notching it. He moved a little closer being as quiet as possible and took aim. He drew back the string. The arrow flew, slicing through the air. The rabbit fell to the ground blood spilling from where the arrow had caught it. Poe picked up the rabbit and tied it to his satchel with a piece of rope. When they were finished it had been 2 hours and a half and they ended up with 3 rabbits which was more then their usual haul.
When they got home Liv was back and playing with Benny on the carpet. “How was your day Liv” Shara said exited, she loved hearing all the stories Liv had, a lot of interesting stuff happened at bar Liv was a waiter for.
“Nothing special today actually”
“Oh” Shara said sounding disappointed “ Well me and Poe caught TREEE rabbits” she bragged
“ Really?That’s great!, let’s go ahead and skin them so their ready when Lyle gets home.”
“Ok I’ll watch Benny while you guys do that” Shara said, she wasn’t the biggest fan of skinning the catches. As Poe and Liv skinned and cooked the rabbits Shara took Benny up to the loft to play with him and they could hear thumps and joyful laughter as they worked.
Chapter 3
After they finished Lyle still wasn’t home and everyone was starting to get worried even little Benny was picking up on it. Lyle was NEVER late, actually he was usually telling everyone else not to be. “He should be home by now” Liv fretted.
“I’m sure he’s fine” Shara reassured her though she sounded nervous herself “We should go ahead and eat”
Dinner was painfully silent as they ate though there were a few attempts at conversation.
Finally as they were putting Benny to bed they heard a knock at the door and in walked Lyle. Shara and Liv started questioning him right away and Poe joined them after he finished putting Benny to bed. “ Where Were you!?” Liv practically yelled at him but relief showed on her face.
“I got caught up, I’m sorry but, there was a lot of work to do at the farm and I volunteered to stay.”
“You could have told us you would be late, walked down to tell us” Liv said quieter now.
“ I know and I’m sorry, it didn’t cross my mind at the time. I didn’t want to worry you promise.” He said.
“ It’s fine but tell us next time please”
“ I will” he said and he looked like he meant it.
“I’ll go get the left over rabbit” Shara said and walked over to the kitchen.
“I’m going to bed” Poe said “ I have to get up early tomorrow”.
“ Goodnight” said Lyle as Poe climbed the steps to the loft where he had his hammock.
Chapter 4
Poe woke up at dawn, the morning light shining through the window. He gently eased out of his hammock trying not to wake the others, Shara also had work today but her job started closer to lunch. He walked down the steps and into the kitchen area where he grabbed an apple and walked out the door into the brisk morning air.
Poe always loved the walk to the bakery. The morning air was cool and the forest was always beautiful with the leaves blocking out most of the sun and letting little ripples in through cracks in the covering. The leaves this time of year were beautiful with their reds and oranges, golds and purples. The whole forest of oaks and maples was lit up with color. The town of Oak wood was surrounded with forests and trees and most of the kids were homeschooled, that’s how Poe and the others got away with living in a tree house.( you could sorta do whatever you wanted in Oak wood)
He was almost to the bakery now and he could smell the freshly baked treats through an open window. His job at the bakery was to help ice the cakes and cookies, though sometimes he worked the checkout area to. The bakery belonged to grandfather type old man named Sam though everyone called him Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam had little round glasses and fluffy white hair. He was always nice and gave the baked goods that hadn’t been sold that day to his workers.
As Poe walked in the door way Uncle Sam called out to him”Tyler and Sam are already in the back, they’ll tell you what to do”.
Poe happily snagged his apron and jogged to the back.”Hey guys” he said “what’re we working on today”
“Your in charge of icing the cookies today” Sam told him as she worked on the y of a happy birthday cake.
“Ok” He responded as he walked to the rack where a batch of freshly baked cookies awaited frosting and grabbed a tray.”What am I putting on them”
“Flowers” Tyler said from his spot and the stove.
Poe loved icing the baked goods, it was his favorite part of the days he worked. The little petals flowed easily out of the piping bag as he did the alternating colors of different flowers. He did the bright yellow of a sunflower, the deep red of a rose, the pastel purple of a lilac and the blue of the morning bells.Time seemed to fly when he was at the bakery and it was noon before he knew it. “Alright finish up what your doing and then you can have your lunch break” Uncle Sam called from the front.
