Country Love

Cora opened her eyes and squinted at the daylight. She had fallen asleep in the passenger seat of her mother's SUV. They had been driving for nearly three hours and were reaching their destination. Cora woke up just in time to drink in the beautiful countryside of Trimbridge, a small town in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania.

She had grown up running through its fields, exploring its woods, splashing in its creeks, and playing on her Pop's farm. She truly had the perfect childhood not including the fact she had no father and dealt with her mother's many boyfriends.

Cora had successfully scared away man after man after man. From 4 to 9 she rode the farms ponies, she hid in its hay mows, she climbed in its corn cribs, and she nursed the newborn kittens and calves religiously. Years of play had built her an outstanding imagination which generally worked in her favor when it came to getting what she wanted from adults, but children at the grade schools thought differently.

She was a short round farm girl. She didn't care what she wore, she didn't care about her hair, and she didn't sit around and watch the others kids like her get bullied by those who were "popular." So she was generally at the bottom of the social ladder.

One day when Cora was age 9 her mother met a man. This man was more determined than any she had seen before. She would ignore him and tell her mother that he was like all the others. Until one day the new boyfriend slept over at the farm house. Her mother left for work and it was just Cora and the new guy. He took her to breakfast at the diner and over scrambled eggs asked Cora if he could "marry her mommy." The fact that he had asked her gave him major points and before she knew it she had a new dad, a new family, and a new life.

Cora moved to the city with her new family. She spent years building a new life in the city. Her metabolism kicked in at about age 11, her baby fat was completely gone and she shot up about a foot by age 13, and before she knew it she was 18 and a beautiful young woman. She graduated high school and decided that a visit back to Trimbridge was in order.

When she arrived she was surprised to see that so little had changed. Other than a burger joint and a Fashion Bug time had stood still. She remembered every street and all her neighbors and even most of the store and restaurant owners were even still the same plus a few grey hairs.

She passed through downtown Trimbridge rather fast and came to her grandfathers farm. She wanted to cry. When she was younger she took its beauty and coziness for granted. She smelled the hay and listened to the rustle of the tall grass. Her mom pulled up to the front of the milking parlor and said, " Well now here you are baby. Call me everyday to tell me how you do down here." She said the last five words with a less cheerful and more resentful tone. She had grown up on these farms and definitely liked her dreamy big city life more than the one she had lived here for so many years.

Cora hopped out of the car. The house that Cora would be staying in was about a mile up the road and her mother was kind enough to let Cora look around while she unloaded her bags at the house. Cora knew the first person she wanted to find on this big farm. Pop! She waited until her mom pulled away and flew down to the farm house, and sure enough who was in the kitchen prepping for afternoon chores, but Pop himself. He did not look a day over 45 even though he was now pushing 60. The hair on his head though fine was thick and covered his entire head. It was still black and matched his dark moustache. His big grayish white grin was as shiny and laughing as his green eyes and he welcomed her with a big hug.

As soon as the greeting was taken care of Cora followed her grandfather out to gather the eggs. As they walked she asked him all sorts f questions. "Where are all the cows?" "Who is helping you out here?" "Why is it so quiet?"

She soon found out that two years after she had left her grandfather auctioned off every last dairy cow and now raised beef cattle, his crops, and the chickens. She also found that her grandfather's brother had died leaving him with the full responsibility of the farm and shortly after he died many of the farmhands dispersed. Once the farmhands and the majority of the livestock where auctioned things naturally just quieted down.

She felt tears come to her eyes only the surface had stayed the same. Everything had changed on the inside. She quietly helped her grandfather finish the chores and decided she would go home and rest. As she walked down the driveway to the road that would take her to the house she was almost mowed down by a massive red Chevy with tinted windows that was blaring Toby Keith from the cab. Once the driver saw her he hit the breaks and honked his car horn loud and long. A look of shock washed over her face and she stepped out of the trucks path. Wondering what had happened to her town she walked home.