My Everything

Chapter 4 (E)

Avery laughed excitedly as she watches her two pet squirrels jumped around. Sally that was in the midst of her sewing, took a glance at her. She smiled slighlty at Avery's action. To her, Avery's happiness is all that matters.

“ Mom! Where's dad?” asked Avery after she finished playing with her pet. “ He went to the village. There's a meeting at the leader's house.”explained Sally. Avery nodded slighlty.

“ Where is the village?” Avery asked again, her curiousity got the best of her. “ The village is actually just nearby. Might as well call it ours too. The only difference is, we lived outside the village area “

“ Why is that? Isn't it nice if we lived with the other villagers? It won't be boring....”

“ Do you feel bored? “ Sally cut her off. Her fingers stopped and she stared at Avery's face. Avery nodded. “ You have the squirrels to accompany you, honey..” said Sally as if trying to comfort her.

Avery's face was loaded with sadness all of a sudden. She paused for quite a long time before continuing. “ It's not the same, mom.... “ Avery stood up. “ I can't talk or chat with these animals.” she sighed and sat down at the front door. She scanned the surrounding of their house. She could see various of flowers that her mother has planted. She looked up and saw some birds flying happily and freely.

Sally also sighed to that statement. She understood Avery's feeling very well. But, what could she do? She and her husband made a pact not to mix with the other villagers. They were not ready to reveal Avery's presence to anyone. Especially to those who has naughty eyes. Although Avery is just 13, the glow of prettiness is already showing and on top of that, there's also some sprinkles of kindness and sweetness in her. Surely she would caught the attention of many guys.

Most of all, Sally was afraid that Fred would see her. You see, Fred have many wives. Everytime he saw a pretty girl, he would send a proposal straight away. Recently, he had just been married with a 14 year old girl. Sarah was her name and she's also very pretty. However, if compared to Avery, she's nothing. But for now, she's the prettiest girl in the village in Fred's view. That is why Sally and Raymond never showed Avery to anyone nor even talk about her.

Sally's sudden change of mood attracted Avery's attention. “ Anyway..... I'm also happy to be around mom and dad. “ said Avery, trying to win her heart. This teared a smile across Sally's face. “ Is it?” Sally continued her sewing. Avery smiled. “ More than that, mom.... “ said Avery while stepping out from the house. She roamed around the house then sneaked in the bushes near the forest.

As always, she went to the place where there were some dirts to draw. She took a stick and started drawing faces. She sometimes wondered how her real face looked like.

Bored of drawing, she stood up and wandered off to her father's farm. She roamed around and just followed where her bare feet took her. Tired of walking, she sat down at a fallen plus rotten tree trunk. She saw a couple of birds playing around beside her. She just let them. She has no interest in taking away the birds' happiness. Her own happiness had faded away since she knew that they lived outside the village area. Just because of that, she don't have any friends until now.

She sighed in dissapointment and stood up. She felt upset knowing that her family was isolated from the others and it spiced it up even more when she knew that it was actually her parent's choice. To her, communication is part of the education in life. Without communicaton and connection, her life felt empty.

Maybe like her mother. Her mother is lack of education. Everyday, her mother would just reffered anything she needs to know through her father.

Her sigh echoed. This time a little bit rough. She gruntted and kicked the pebbles. She walked towards the direction of the forest that was wide open in front of her like it was ready to gobble her up anytime.She stopped when she reached the border between her father's farm and the forest.

She thought about her next plan. A plan that still wasn't written in her head. If before this she only looked and wondered what's inside it, now she wanted to explore it. She thought that maybe the village was just at the end of the forest. Thinking of the village, she became more and more anxious.

Carefully, she count her footsteps forward. Not long after she walked, she heard some noises. It was coming from some animals. Shocked, she took a step backwards. Her eyes still searching around for any signs of danger. A few seconds later, she heard someone whispering indistinctly. She quickly sprang into a nearby bushes.

She took a peek towards the direction of the voices. She saw two guys. Both of the guys had a spear on their hand. “ Looks like we don't have any luck today..” sighed the guy that was a bit tanner compared to his partner. “ It's not that big of a deal. We're just begginers anyway...” said his friend while slapping his back in attempt of calming him down. “ Sarah would laugh at us" the other guy took some steps forward.

“ So what? Isn't Sarah your grandfather's wife? There's no point of you trying to impress her. Just relax, Billy.. “

“ But, Jerry..... “ Billy looked at his hunting partner. “ You like her? “ Jerry chuckled. “ I know Sarah is pretty and all but..... “

Out of the blue, the sound of a snapping branch like it's being stepped on killed their little conversation. Their head shot into the direction of the sound which is at the bushes where Avery is hiding. Their eyes scanned around.

The look on their faces killed Avery's confidence. She started sweating in fear. Both of them took a step forward. As she was panicking, she quickly stood up and ran as fast as she could. Both of them managed to catch a glimpse of her.

They chased her. Her sudden dissapearance, however, gave them the idea of splitting up.

Avery tripped on something and fell. She forced herself to crawl to a nearby bushes as she touched her sprained ankle. Jerry peered through the bushes and saw a girl in pain. “ Are you okay?” he asked.

Her eyes nearly popped out when she saw him.

Jerry was petrified. He stared at her face. He didn't expect that other than Sarah, there's a girl that is way prettier. Avery stepped back. Her mother always remind her about bad guys in the real world outside.

After regaining his consiousness, he threw a smile at her. He doesn't intend to scare her. Avery was still surprised. Not the slightest smile could be trace on her face. Jerry knew that this is the normal thing someone would do on their first meet with another person.

**~**

“ Did you found her? “ he asked Jerry. Jerry shook his head. Before going home, he took a final look at the bushes. There, right at the very spot, was a start of a great memory. A memory that will never be experienced by Billy and will never be told to anyone..

-Edited-