I started this story last summer. However, I moved and I couldn't get internet access at my new home until now. I thought I would celelbrate by continuting on this with story. The first parts of this story can be cound under the name "Down on the farm" in the fictional tugs archive.
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The first rays of the sun beckoned through the window shinning down on top of where Zac rested tiredly in his bed. He was resting face down on top of his covers with his eyes closed trying to drown out the the incoming light from the rising sun. It was a Saturday morning and already the first few day of the month of June had come and gone for the year. School still had a few days the following week before he could claim freedom for the remainder of his favorite part of the year, the summer vacation. He had been half away for more than an hour now drifting constantly between the layers of sleep and consciousness.
It had been 3 weeks since the his last trip over to see Tammy and Sarah. His time there had concluded that afternoon with him spending about 45 minutes with his hands and feet both bound with rope at Tammy's hand. Despite her promise to release him upon his request he had been tied up for an extended period. The whole of the situation had left him with the same mixture of fear and curiosity his original interest in the topic had derived. He had so much fear from it that he hadn't been back to Tammy's house for 2 weeks and 5 days that followed the episode. Tammy had simply bound Zac and let him sit there and struggle against the ropes. At first, it had been interesting, but he quickly learned that he couldn't escape on his own and his new friend went back on her promise.
He had remained tied voluntarily for about 30 minutes before requesting his release. After which, when Tammy denied him, Sarah was brought upstairs by his yells in arguing on the matter. She had untied him a few minutes later after he made his wishes known and drove him home not long after. The rest was history. Zac saw Tammy in passing a few times a day at recess. They said hi, but other than that the topic of that Tuesday afternoon didn't come up and they left it at that. Zac opened his eyes for the first time in a while all the way. The clock already read 20 minutes after 7:00 in the morning. It would be a time most school children were still lost to the world, but on the farm this was really considered sleeping in for him. He decided that it was time to get up and start his day whether or not he was well rested.
Zac rolled off of his stomach and brought himself up to a sitting position. He let his legs dangle over the edge of the bed as he yawned and wiped the sleepiness from his eyes. He was still dressed in one of the blanket sleepers that his mother had gotten for him a month or so earlier. He like the pajamas with the built in feet. They were comfortable and warm all around. However, even with his sleeping quarters being below ground level, Summer was quickly approaching and the temperature in his room was rising above the level where the pajamas comfort outweighed their impracticability.
He had been under the covers the previous night and within an hour, he already knew he was too hot. Still, rather than change into something else, he simple slid out and slept on top of the covers. It had made the situation much more tolerable. However, even now, the air trapped between the garment and his body felt more like steam. He wasn't wet with sweat, but he was getting there. This combination had deprived him of a portion of his sleep at least in depth if not in amount. Zac rose and crossed the room without much of a sound. He collected some clothing from his dresser and made his was across the basement. Zac wanted a quick shower before he went upstairs for the day.
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Norma made her way about the kitchen. She had already collected several of the plates and was prepping the sink for dishes. Her husband, Robbie and the two hired hands had already had breakfast and were now out concentrating on the days work. Robbie had fallen into routine with working on Saturdays around the farm for the past two years. He normally helped with milking the herd during the week twice a day. Saturday he would spend working on other things around the farm. They included maintenance and work involving crops among other things. Norma's husband normally hired between 6 and 8 teenagers or other farm hands seasonally during the late spring into early fall to help with the production of the crops. They worked cheap and found out what a real days work was. Not standing around behind and counter and inquiring whether the customer wanted french fries or not.
Norma kept a few pancakes and several slices of bacon wrapped in tin foil in a frying pan on the back of the stove. The burner was on its lowest setting. Her two youngest children had yet to emerge for their morning meal and it was going on half past 7 already. There were many weekend where Emily would not show until half past 8. However it was unusual for Zac to be absent from the breakfast table. Her plans for the day were pretty tame. She was going to mow the lawn and do laundry along with the cooking. The house could use a good full cleaning. However, that would require her and the 3 children to complete and with summer vacation just a few days off she figured it could wait. Zac and Emily would complain if Robbie wasn't involved and her husband needed their eldest child's help more than she currently did.
She held some concern for Zac on the issue in question. He had given her a full account. However, he didn't seem upset by what had occurred, just drawn back from it. Her son had distanced himself from the incident. Sarah and Norma had hit it off fast despite the incident. Norma didn't overly approve of the tying up game that Tammy seemed to play every couple of days. Still, she didn't see anything particularly wrong with it either. She had played a similar game with her siblings growing up occasionally and no harm had come out of it.
While their children had a mixed friendship at best, Norma and Sarah were becoming fast friends. Norma's Schedule kept her pretty busy around the farm trying to keep up with everything. Still, Sarah had made it a point to come over and visit her here at least twice a week since Zac and Tammy had first met. The visits were usually moderate in length. They normally transpired in the morning on a week day after the children were all off to school. Sarah would drop by the farm house and she and Norma would share a cup of coffee and trade stories. Norma would divided her attention between the conversation and addressing the work that she had to get done. Sarah wasn't the kind of guest who needed your full attention. In fact often her visitor would join in bringing the chores to a quicker conclusion. For example, she would help dry dishes or hang laundry outside when Norma's work took her there.
Norma let the thoughts of her friend drift from her mind as she heard the familiar thud raising up the stairs from the basement. She gathered up a plate from the back of the stove. She filled it with a half stack of pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, and enough syrup to make anything taste good. She deposited the meal at Zac's seat at the table and poured a glass of fresh milk from the first milking at it's corner. Norma completed this task as her youngest son emerged from the basement.
Zac rounded the corner slowly checking his balance as he went. Some things never seemed to change and Norma hoped that they never would at least for a few more years. Zac was dressed in a short sleeved white T-shirt, and a navy blue knit pair of shorts. The shorts fell just above the tops of the knee pads that encircled her sons legs. Zac had on white socks along with the familiar yellow and blue fisher price skates along with the rest of his padding. The young man crossed the kitchen slowly and took a seat where his mother had laid out his meal for him.
"Good morning little Crab. Dig in before it get's cold I am going to go and drag your sister out of bed." Normal greeted before she rounded the corner out of the kitchen and began making her way to the second floor of the house.
Zac sat down and began consuming the breakfast that his mother had prepared for him lovingly. It was a nice day out and he was looking forward to spending a good portion of it outside. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower a few minutes ago. He had dried it with a towel, but forgone his normal use of a hair dryer due to his late awakening.
It was only a few minutes before Norma reappeared with a passenger. Emily clung to her mother's back still half asleep and dressed in a pink night shirt and slippers. The farming life had left Norma quite strong physically. She seemed unhindered in her speed even with the 11 year old on her back. She swung a chair out from the table and deposited Emily into almost like she was dropping a sack of potatoes on the floor. The soft thud drew his sister more awake. Emily stared across the table at her brother eating away while her mother went to retrieve her food from it's place on the back of the stove.
She prepared the remainder of the breakfast and served her last customer at the diner. She could finally get started on the dishes while her two children ate. Not much was said by either child at first. Zac was too busy shoving food down his throat and Emily hadn't quite reached the world of the living completely. She seemed still divided between trying to eat and wake up. Norma worked her way through the breakfast dishes with a good deal of haste. She could vary the task based on the demands of the rest of her day.
Still, Zac skated over and handed over his plate just as she was getting down to the last 9 or 10 remaining items from the meal. She took them from her son with a quiet smile and added them to the dirty pile. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder at Emily. It was quite clear that Norma would empty the sink before Emily did the same with her plate. Still, it really made little difference. She could just leave one plate, glass and fork to go with the lunch dishes. She passed a towel over to her son who took it without complaint or comment. Zac's skates added a good in and a half to his height which, allowed him to reach the drying rack on the counter without a step stool. He began taking the plates one at a time clearing space for his mother to put the ones that remained to be cleaned.
"So, Emily what are you going to do today? It's a nice day outside and it's the last weekend before school is over." Norma commented staring out the window.
"Cartoons then xbox." Emily shot out the three words between bites of food.
"If you are going to be inside all day then I want you to run the vacuum through the living and dining rooms as well." Norm continued.
"OK, this afternoon" Emily offered as before she took another long drink of her orange juice. Norma nodded with approval. Her daughter was a born procrastinator, but she would keep her word. That would be 20 minutes less work Norma would have to do herself.
Norma set the last dish in the drying rack and informed Zac that he could leave the rest to air dry. With that done, she collected her phone from the counter top along with her keys. She pocketed both of the items and then grabbed up the CB radio handle from on the counter. "Robby this is mom do you copy?" Norma spoke into the radio.
"Roger Mom what's up?" The voice of a familiar teenage boy responded over the radio from the portable he was carrying.
"I am heading out. Let your father know that will be back around 11 or a little after to fix lunch for all you folks. Zac and Emily should be on their own for the morning. Check in on them if you get a chance. I will leave the phone number on the counter should you need to reach me for something. Over." Norma replied into the radio.
"Got it, I'll let Dad know. Have a nice morning hope you have a better time there than I am having with this tractor here." Robby responded. He was over in the main barn trying to trouble shoot an older tractor the family had that wouldn't start. The boy wasn't much of a mechanic, but it needed to be done and he was capable.
Norma deposited the CB handle back on the main unit and then began to make her way towards the door. She was in such a hurry, that she nearly tripped over Zac who was between her and her destination. She stopped moving and looked down at her son intentionally. "Where are you going this morning?" Zac inquired already knowing his mother's plans from the dinner table discussion the evening before. She had made no mention of any departure from the homestead today.
"I am going to visit Sarah and Tammy this morning. She comes over here quite a bit and thought I should come over to her house for a change. I'll be back in a few hours. Make sure you don't wander too far. If you leave the house take your watch with you. That way you can keep an eye on the time for lunch." Norma concluded.
"Can I come too? It's nice outside and I could go skating in their drive way. That is if they don't mind that is?" Zac responded to his mother.
Norma gave the matter a quick amount of consideration. She really didn't waste too much thought on the matter. "Sure, you can come. I am sure Sarah would be happy to have you over again."
With that the two of them departed out the front door of the house leaving Emily to finish her breakfast.
I will break here. I need to get some sleep because I work tomorrow. I will post the next part of this in a few days.
Alex 95