#verdei belongs to thedovahcat

[sparrowwritings]

Writing Challenge Day Two: College

Day One -- Masterpost -- Day Three

Cottony clouds drifted high in the bright blue sky while two observers watched them go. One was a young girl, the other a man about twenty years her senior. She had light brown hair, grass green eyes and hundreds of freckles on her round face and skinny arms. He had dark, reddish brown hair, olive green eyes and a chin strap of a beard covering his strong jaw. Despite the difference in age, the two of them were absolutely covered in grass and dirt stains as well as leaves and straw. They both were letting loose the slow breaths of people who had done a lot of work and were now taking a moment to rest on the porch of the farmhouse. Half full glasses of lemonade sat between them, condensation gathering around where the cold liquid still remained. 

Lindsey had missed being able to spend time with Verdei. It seemed like he had less and less time to spend with her as she got older. It was the same with her other, blood related siblings but she was especially sad when it came to him. Verd didn’t have any other family. It wasn’t fair that life and work had to take him away so often. Why couldn’t adults be able to have more days like today? By herself, gardening would have just been a chore. With him the chore became a competition, and then a game, and then jokes about the game and a chase with hands full of mud and--

Her smile faded as she realized that days like today would be less and less common as she grew older. Already, it was hard to remember how long it had been since she’d last had so much fun with her family, much less the few friends she had at school. Her dad was getting older, and the farm wasn’t doing as well as it used to. One day it’d be just her and Arlen running the farm while Thomas worked at the general store and Verdei would still be the lone law enforcement in town and Olivia-- “Looks like some expensive thoughts churning in there, Linds. Care to share?” 

She startled and turned to look at her adopted brother. He was still smiling, but in that tight way that showed off the wrinkles that he’d been developing for years now. Lindsey’s staring had softened his expression, but she still knew he was worried. All of her siblings worried about her. It’d be annoying if it wasn’t so sweet. “Dunno about expensive thoughts.” She shrugged. “Just...a lot of them.”

“It’s too nice a day for a storm to go brewing in that lil head’ve yours.” Verd reached over and poked at her temple. “Let’s have at’m. I can take a hit or seven.”

With an eye roll, Lindsey took a moment to go back to what she was thinking about before she’d gotten side tracked. “I was thinking about what we’ll all be doing in the future.” She turned away from him in favor of looking back up at the clouds. 

“Same thing we’re doin’ now I reckon.” He picked up his glass and slowly brought it to his lips. “Farmin’. Gardenin’. Sittin’ on the porch enjoyin’ a summer day. Not much else to do round these parts. Just like I like it.” Verdei tipped the glass back to take a drink.

Lindsey made a hum as she processed this. Olivia always seemed like she was doing something different all the time at her place in the city. Every time her older sister came back, she had some story about an encounter or an activity she’d done while living in the city. Some of her most interesting ones were even from when she’d first gone away to school--around the time that Lindsey had been a baby. Next to the usual bedtime stories, the tales of Olivia dealing with the strange world of the city had been the girl’s favorites growing up. And when Verd started visiting the city himself, Lindsey had begged him for any and all information about it. She’d even wanted to run away to the city a few times when she was little. Dad hadn’t let her, saying that first she needed to--

“Did you ever think about going to college?” She blurted.

Instead of an answer there was a choking sound. Lindsey turned her head in time to watch Verd spit out what must have been most of what was left of his lemonade. He coughed several times and she quickly moved over to pat his back, almost spilling her own drink in the process. Once the mini crisis was over, he gave her the most confused expression. “What??” 

“Did you ever think about going to college?” She repeated. “You know, living in the city and stuff.”

Verdei scratched at his scalp, displacing his worn cowboy hat. “Not really.” He shrugged. “Had ta get my GED cuz I dropped outta high school. Even then I didn’t wanna leave. Still don’t.” He looked away, his eyes drawn to the clouds much like hers had been. “I love it out here. The people can suck, but I’ll never feel at home in the city.” 

Something about his distant expression reminded Lindsey of a horse. A wild one that desired nothing but land clear of fences and people. It was yet another reminder that one day he could go off into the wilderness and never come back. A shudder went through her body at the thought. Maybe she wasn’t ready to let Verd know about everything she was thinking about. Especially if it brought him any closer to leaving for good.

“Not sure you’d feel at home there either, kid, but if ya wanna try out that life when you’re a lil older I’m sure Liv’ll put you up.” He shrugged again, his full attention going back to his adoptive sister. “You should give life here a few more years before you try it, though. You’re only what, ten?” Verd gave a grin. It wasn’t nearly as wide as his happier ones, but at least he was trying.

Like usual, she went along with the joke even though he knew full well how old she was. There would be time to talk more about growing up and life later. When Lindsey was ready to handle it. She was sure of it. “Thirteen, you dummy.”

He put a hand over his heart in mock shock. “Aw shucks, you’re right. I keep forgettin’ you’re growin’ up fast. You’re definitely way smarter than I was at your age so maybe you can get into that college bullsh--uh I mean nonsense.”

Lindsey giggled at his self censoring. She’d heard that word and worse in her life, but he still tried so hard to keep his mouth clean around her. Picking up her lemonade, she put it in Verd’s hands. “Here, a reward for cheering me up.”

“Well gosh, this’s indeed a fine reward.” Verdei downed the sweet liquid in one gulp. Leaving the glass on the porch, he swung himself up into a standing position. “Alright, enough’ve all this talk. Garden’s done, so now we oughta check in on Arlen and see what he’s got for us.” 

She hopped after him. “Don’t you have police work you need to be doing?” 

“Eh, it’s Sunday. Nothin’ happens on Sunday. Now c’mon! Unless you *want* a rematch of that mud fight we had earlier?”

“No, but I’d win that one too!” She laughed as she followed him.

#writing challenge #day 2 #sparrow writing #original fiction #prompt: college #writing challenge 2020 #lindsey lutum #verdei rendall #modern day AU #just waaay out in the boonies #verdei belongs to thedovahcat #but i figure she'll be okay if i borrow him for this #besides i love exploring this man who never really seemed to grow up #and his kinship with lindsey as she grows older #through rp or writing #either way #two down twenty nine to go #next prompt: wartime