In the Country

 

Emily was a tall, pretty gray-eyed city girl. At 11 years old, she was already five feet and five inches tall. She excelled in every subject in school, but her favorite subject was Science. Since the age of four, she had been on a summer swim team and then moved over to year-round at the age of eight. Her height was a definite advantage and she continuously won all her events.

In March of 2020, right before long course season would begin, Emily found out her family would be leaving for a couple of weeks to stay at her aunt and uncle's place way out in the country. A virus had spread throughout the world, causing a quarantine that should keep people home for these two weeks and her mom and dad wanted to be somewhere safe with family.

At first Emily was thrilled. She would hate missing so much swim practice, but the idea of being with her aunt and uncle and cousins on their ranch land was exciting. They had ATVs and horses and every time they visited, it felt like a big party with campfires and dancing under a sky full of stars.

Emily was an only child. Her dad worked as an accountant for a large firm downtown and her mom was a high school teacher. It didn't bother Emily that she had no siblings because she was always surrounded by friends and her swim team buddies were like brothers and sisters to her. But when they went to the country, she always felt like she was part of a huge family and she loved that feeling. Her aunt and uncle had six kids. Joey was the oldest. He had just turned 18 and was about to graduate from high school. He was as smart as Emily and he taught her how to ride horses and go fishing when she was really little. Next was Kaylee who was 15, but in May she would turn 16 and all she ever did was talk about getting her license so she could go see her friends in town whenever she wanted. Emily noticed how the cousins always talked about going to town. They never said "I'm going to the grocery store" or "I'm going to church" or "I''m going to run errands." They always called wherever they went "going to town". And when they went to town, they did as much as they could because it took a whole 30 minutes to get to town.

Andy was Emily's age. He was only a couple of weeks younger than Emily and he was very shy, but also incredibly knowledgeable about all the country things Emily thought were very interesting. He knew all about animals and grass and water and trees and he even spent an hour one time telling Emily about all the different types of dirt and what can grow in them. She really loved Andy because he appealed to her Sciency side. Lacy and Liam were the twins and they were nine years old. They were the loudest of all the cousins and so funny. They told the best jokes and stories and they were very athletic too. And the baby of the family was Jack. He was the toughest, smartest, funniest five-year-old in the world. Next to Andy, Emily loved Jack the most. When he was first born, he was the very first baby she remembers holding and he reached up and grabbed her finger and held on to it for the longest time. It is something Emily will never forget.

It was a beautiful brisk morning when Emily and her parents drove up to the country. As they left the city behind, she immediately began to notice the change in sights and scents. And the big freeways turned into smaller highways and then that turned into a tiny country road that ultimately led to miles of fences and cattle and the beginnings of flowers spreading across rolling hills and pastures that were just beginning to turn green.

Finally, they turned onto the old dirt road that brought them to her cousins' home where Oliver the hound dog greeted them as they turned into the gate. Emily quickly grabbed her journal and scribbled across the top "In the Country" for she intended to write an entry about how great this visit would be and would never want to forget this time in the country.

"You're here," squealed Lacy as Emily and her parents jumped out of their SUV. Suddenly all of the cousins and their parents were hugging and laughing and discussing how they were going to enjoy a great night of playing games and sitting by the fire and eating some of the best burgers in the world. Emily smiled with great enthusiasm as her two weeks way out in the country began.

It was still a little cool out, but Emily changed into shorts and a hoodie so she could head down to the fishing tank with Andy and Joey. They threw their gear into the back of a big ATV and Joey drove them toward their big sparkling pond across the pasture. Just as they pulled up to the best fishing spot on their land, Emily screamed. What she saw sent a shock of horror through her.

Now, help finish the story and submit your ending here.