The Apple Orchard

There wasn't much of a road to travel on, so the ride along the dirt path seemed long and bumpy. We had piled into George's tractor as soon as we were all ready and set out to visit their friends.

It was much warmer now, almost uncomfortable as the sun beat down on us. I couldn't be sure how long the drive would be, so I had taken a book from Maia's living room to read on the way. It was about birds of all kinds that lived in our region. I recognized most of them, which made me surprisingly happy, and I couldn't help but miss how I used to read and study back at home.

The landscape changed ever so slightly; I could tell that we were going uphill, but it took me a while to realize that we were actually riding up the side of a mountain. It wasn't very steep, but I could tell. After about half an hour, the climate started to change too. The air was drier, crisper, and a bit cooler too.

"Their home is about two thirds up the mountain," Maia explained. "I think you'll like the place. It's quite pretty, really."

It took us about another half hour to get there. When I got down, I realized that a lot of the land was spotted with apple trees. While Maia and George had an orange grove at sea level, their friends up on this mountain had an apple orchard.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, I recalled. Most of the trees had apple blossoms or semi-ripe apples hanging from the branches. No doubt they'd be ready for picking within a few more weeks.

I dropped down lightly from the tractor, and we made our way towards the house through a pathway that parted the orchard. A few lone bees buzzed here and there, weaving between the trees and their blossoms.

George knocked on the door loudly once we got to the house. The door was a deep, red mahogany and produced a rich sound that filled the air. A young boy, no older than twelve, arrived at the door to open it for us.

"Mister George and Missus Maia are here!" The young boy called back to whom I presumed to be his parents. He looked at me with curiosity, and then asked curtly, "Who are you?"

"This is Brielle," Maia started. "She's staying with us for now and we thought it would be nice to introduce her to you and your parents. Brielle, this is Carmen," she said, gesturing to the scrawny little boy.

Carmen extended a hand towards me, "Nice to meet you, Brielle. You guys can come in." His parents arrived at the door just then as he scratched at his sand-gold hair.

"Maia, so lovely to see you again!" A tall woman said. She seemed slightly younger than Maia, perhaps in her early fifties. A tall, burly man was there too, with blonde hair not unlike Carmen's. "And who is this fine young lady?" The couple's attention turned towards me.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺, I thought in surprise. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺. No one had ever addressed me like that before, at least not after I was orphaned. "My name is Brielle. I'm staying with Miss Maia and Mister George for the time being."

"Aren't you a dignified one! My name is Alice, and my husband's name is Tyrus. Please, come in! It's about time for lunch."

We thanked her for her hospitality as she and her husband led us further into the home. As we went deeper, I realized it was quite similar to Maia's cottage, only it was bigger. It might've been twice the size.

Nevertheless, it retained the same cozy, homey atmosphere with its wooden walls and decorative rugs. Additionally, there was a fire going in the living room. Only when I encountered it did I realize how much colder it was up on the mountain compared to the orange grove. It was much drier up here too, and I suddenly found myself craving a glass of water. Luckily the table was already set by the time we got there.

"We weren't expecting a third guest, you know," Alice teased. "It's good that I made a bit extra, though! It should cover for all of us."

As she set out the meal before us, I caught Carmen glancing at me curiously from his peripheral vision. He averted his eyes just as quickly, making me wonder if I had imagined it. But no, again I noticed him scratching the side of his head. I made a mental note that he did that when he was nervous.

Carmen and I didn't say much throughout the meal, but the adults chattered loudly. It was evident that they had been friends for a long time and shared many memories with each other. There were a few families that were just as close with my parents, but they quickly disappeared from my life once my parents were out of the picture. I never found out why. You'd think that if one of your best friend's children was just orphaned, you'd at least try to take care of them, right?

It didn't make any sense to me, but since I had been just a kid at the time, getting answers wasn't really an option for me. I had no power and no say in anything. Besides, it didn't seem like I'd get any closer to those answers now, so there was no point in losing sleep over it.

"Carmen, why don't you give Brielle a tour of the house?" Alice asked sweetly.

He seemed to perk up at the mention of his name. "Yeah, sure." He gestured for me to follow him.

I tailed him as we spiraled upstairs; the staircase was quite narrow and steep but he was used to it. Without pausing to see if I had caught up, he bounded ahead of me once we reached the top.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺, I thought to myself, but then realized that this could only be a product of working in the orchard. If I wanted to work in the orange grove, I'd have to have the same kind of stamina. Maybe that's why Maia was so apprehensive about letting me do it—perhaps I didn't seem strong enough.

"This is my room," he said once I had finally reached him. We stood at the base of a long hallway that led deeper into the house. To the right was the door he had gestured towards. It was slightly agape, so he pushed it open and led me in.

Sunlight immediately hit my senses. The house faced south, including this room, so it was only natural that it was bright; however, it still surprised me.

It wasn't just bright because of the sun, though; yellow curtains hung from the windows and the wood in this room seemed a bit lighter. The floor was covered in a white rug, and in the right corner, a light birch desk stood. On the left was a plain white bed. The room was neat and perfect, which was surprising for a boy of his age. For some reason, I felt a strong sense of nostalgia, almost as if I had been in a room just like this. Maybe a relative or a friend from some years ago…

"It's nice," I said, trying not to show my awe.

He beamed. "Isn't it? I decorated it myself." There wasn't much decoration per se, so I could only smile in response.

"Oh, by the way, where's the restroom?"

"Two doors down the hall on your left."

"Alright, thanks!" I hurried out of the room. It was nice, but the nostalgia was too weird and it was bugging me.

I quickly went into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. Only too late did I realize that I was in the wrong room. This was the third door down the hall—

"Can I help you?"

A girl around my age sat at the table in her room, looking up at me with an unreadable expression.

"Um, no, sorry—I uh, just went into the wrong room—"

"It's no problem." Suddenly she smiled. She was incredibly pretty, with pale skin, wavy, jet black hair, and slight pink lips. Her features were delicate as if her face had been sculpted specially by the hand of heaven.

I took a brief moment to take in the room: light purple curtains swayed from the window; it wasn't nearly as bright since this room faced north, and had a cold yet comforting ambience to it. The layout of her room was the same, with her desk to the right side of the room and a periwinkle bed on the left.

"Oh, that's right! How rude of me, I didn't even think to introduce myself," the girl smiled sheepishly. "My name's Ruby. I'm Alice's and Tyrus's daughter and their eldest child." She spoke with a gentle, almost whispery tone of voice, calming like a siren.

"Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Brielle," I introduced myself too, trying my level best to put on a composed front. "W-well then, I won't bother you for long. I just needed to find the bathroom. Um, it was nice talking to you!"

"Nice meeting you too," Ruby murmured.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, I thought as I shut the door behind me.