Alenis woke to the sun streaming through her window and the rooster welcoming in the dawn. Another day on the slice of the earth her and her freinds call home. Even now she could hear the sizzling of bacon being fried and smell the joyous aromas that filled the house every morning. Slyvin's cooking always filled her with warmth, the feeling of shelter and comfort, the best way to start any day. But for now, she would just lie in bed and enjoy the morning sun warming the covers. Soon enough she did rise, the smells and sounds of breakfast were simply too tempting, she came down the roughly hewn wooden stairs Wodan had carved and built when they had built the new house two summers ago, she knew every knot and divot in those wooden stairs, they may only be a few summers old but she felt as though they were the stairs of her childhood home, she could almost see herself scampering up those same stairs as a child. Breakfast was always a communal affair, no one would ever dare miss Slyvin's cooking, it was simply too delicous.
Just as Alenis had thought there was freshly cooked bacon from last fall and eggs fresh from the coop. The popping and sizzling of the grease alone was enough to make her stomach bubble in anticipation. She could feel Slyvin's Erus flowing through the air like a warm river, suffising the room with a warm light Alenis could feel in her chest, it flowed into the food, making it smell even more delcious than it already did. The food was served on simple clay Franes had made that prevous spring, her Bores infused each and every plate, keeping them strong and slightly cool to the touch .
Breakfast was loud with joveal conversation, they swapped ideas to improve their little peice of the earth, dreams they had the previous night. Once they had all eaten their fill and the plates had been cleared away, one by they all headed out to the property to complete their work for the day.
She strolled out into the early morning sun, the dew making her shoes damp, and headed out into the fields where the group grew all the food that they ate. She always liked to walk amoung the plants first, feel them, smell them, let her Zephyr flow out of her and out into the fields, running free. She strolled among the crops, every now and then stopping to inspect some leaves or to dig her finger deep into the earth. Soon her intial rounds were completed, and she moved onto the next thing to be done, watering. For this task she needed a bit of help, the fields were large and she couldn't water them all by herself, so she went and found Howy, who was helping Slyvin with the chickens.
"Hey Howy!" She called, leaning over the fence of the chicken coop "Wanna come help me water?"
"Sure!" Howy piped, hanging a bucket of feed on the fence.
"You be sure to bring him back now!" Slyvin called, his southern drawl floating out the of the coop.
The pair set off towards the fields, chating and cracking jokes as they always did. When they got back to fields Alenis and Howy stopped, closed their eyes and took a deep breath, they called their Notos deep within themselves and a dark cloud appeared and grew in size until it prescilly matched the size and shape of the fields. Then it began to rain, the rain fell in hard, thick drops, washing the smell of mud and petcihor over the pair. Then, as quickly as it had come, the rain stopped and pair let their hands fall back to their sides.
"Thanks Howy" Alenis said
"Anytime" they responed as they headed back towards the chicken coop.
With the crops watered, it was time to begin harvesting. With the sun creeping higher towards the midday Alenis headed towards the small shed were the group kept all their farming tools. She opened the door, letting the cool earthy air flow out and over her. The smell reminded her of home, her first home, of helping her dad out with the yard work, to her, the smell of yard works and tools would always smell like her dad. She grabbed a wicker basket she wove herself over the last winter, it took her ages and was little misshappen, but it was her's and she was proud of it.
She headed out into the strawberry patch first, she had noticed alot of ripe strawberries earlier and wanted to get to those first before any critters could get to them. She strolled amoung the fields, picking the strawberries, her Zephyr helping her know which ones where just right. As she worked, she began to hum, she hummed a jaunty working tune, she wasn't sure where it had come from, but she felt it and she liked it, so she hummed. Soon she had filled almost her entire basket with large, ripe, strawberries.
She brought her basket back to the house, where Franes was working preserving some of the other harvests for the day, her Bores radiated out, sinking into the cans and jars infront of her, keeping them slightly chilled and making their contents last just a little longer.
Alenis plopped her basket of strawberries down on the counter next to Franes
"Got some more work for ya!" Alenis said, mirth rising in her voice.
"Oh no, whatever will I do" Franes cried out in mock despair. "Thanks, I'll get these canned up"
"Thanks! Oh, and could you make some of your jelly? Pleeeeease"
"Oh fine, but only because you asked sooo nicely" Frances said, chucking.
Alenis called out her thanks and headed back out the door, out into the now hot midday sun.
Soon enough, a rapid ringing came from the house, the lunch bell. Everyone finished what task they were working on and made their way back to the house.
Lunch was a much less extravgant affair than breakfast. Most people just had simple nut butter and jelly sandwhiches, while others had salads or what ever else they desired. The conversation however, was just as joval and loud as breakfast had been. Everyone swapped stories of how their day had gone so far. Slyvin told a particually entertaining story of how one of the chickens had tried to jump the fence that kept them inside their run, and when he tried to catch it, jumped off of his outstreched hands, and almost made it over the fence. Soon enough however, lunch was concluded and plates were cleared away, and everyone left to complete the rest of the days work.
Alenis headed back to the same shed, with its earthy, fatherly smells, and this time, grabbed a small cloth bag which she tied around her waist. She headed off into the woods that surronded their home on all sides.
The forest was cool, much cooler than the feilds had been, a welcome change from the sweltering heat. For a moment she stopped and sat on the forest floor and closing her eyes, began to take in the sounds and smells of the forest. She heard the birds, chirping away to each other in their trees, the buzzing of a few insects going about their bisnuess. She could smell the damp earth, the smell of rot that made the whole forest smell alive and breathing. She stayed like this for some time, before deciding she had better get back to work. Of she went through the woods, looking for mushrooms. She had always loved hunting for mushrooms, she found it calming, harvesting was calming as well but this, this was different, the cool of the forest wrapped her like a blanket and made her feel safe, like nothing could hurt her while she was here. The smells and sounds had always calmed her, she never quite knew why but they always had.
Soon enough she found what she was looking for, Chicken of the Woods. Its bright orange shelfs seemed in stark contrast to the dead and dying wood it always grew on, standing out, almost calling out to her to take it. She checked her bounty, making sure it was not one of the many poisous look alikes this particualr varity had. She confirmed that it was indeed the real deal, so she drew her digging knife she always kept with her, and began carefully removing some of the mushroom. After removing about half of the mushrooms, she deciced that was enough from this particuar spot and moved on, looking for more. As the hours wore on and the sun sank lower on the horizon, Alenis deciced she had enough and began to make her way back.
She hurried back to house, not wanting to miss dinner, she jogged along, trying not to drop any of her bounty. She arrived back at the main house just as the sun was reaching the horizon, and dinner was being served. Dinner was an aromatic mix of baked chicken with herbs, along with various fresh fruits and pan fried veggies from the garden. Slyvinn's food was excellent as always. The group, the family sat and enjoyed the fruits of their labors and let the exhastuion of the days labours wash away. Animoi ran free through the air, mixing into a joyous symphony of feeling and emotion. The family sat around that wooden table and talked late into the night, when the sun was well and truly set. They didn't talk about anything in particuar, they simply enjoyed each others company. Then, one by one, they all went to respective rooms for rest or simply to be alone. Soon enough, everyone was asleep, and in the moring they would all wake to another bright and sunny day.