Aurora and Eve

“Do you smell it, Eve?” Aurora stopped churning the butter and stuck her nose into the air. 

“Smell what?” I asked and looked around for what she could possibly be smelling.

“The morning dew of course. What else would I be talking about?” Aurora exclaimed as if I was the crazy one.

“I don’t know maybe the piles of manure outside.”

“Oh stop being so grumpy. Dew means spring. Spring means flowers. Flowers mean happiness,” Aurora adopted a dreamy look in her eyes and clasped her hands against her chest.

“We’re a farmer’s daughters, there's no room for happiness and flowers in our lives,” I huffed and went over to the counter to start kneading the bread. 

“What happened to you to make you so cynical?” 

“The same thing that you’re trying to push down with all that happiness,” I turned my head and raised my eyebrows at her. 

All of a sudden Aurora became serious. The hopeful smile was wiped off of her face and she went silent for a few seconds. “Look, Eve, Ma dying was sad. Heartbreaking even but don’t you think it’s time to move on with your life? Don’t you think Ma would have wanted us to enjoy life and all the beautiful things Mother Nature gives to us?” Aurora got up from her chair, fully ignoring her chore now, and twirled next to me and leaned on the counter. 

I slammed my hands on the counter, frustrated. “Aurora, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk about her? Get back to your chores.”

“Oh, and I’m the one who is pushing down my emotions.” She rolled her eyes and went back to her chair to finish the butter.

Ma’s death last year was hard on all of us but especially on Pa. He fell into a hole of depression and ever since then it’s been difficult to pull him out. Some days I think that he’ll never get out of it. Aurora keeps telling me that it’s no way to think but I need to be reasonable. I’m the woman of the house now I have to keep my head on straight. I have no room to get my head full of fantasies. 

“Shoot, Aurora what time is it?”

“A little after seven,” she answered quietly, probably still upset over my little outburst. 

“I’m going to bring Pa some leftover bread and cheese for breakfast. Could you go out and collect the eggs so we could bring them to the market in a little?”

“What about the butter?”

“After I drop off the tray I will finish it quickly, it should be almost done.”

“Okay,” Aurora nodded and grabbed the basket.

I wrapped some cheese in a rag and put bread on a tray. I knocked on Pa’s door three times and waited for an answer. I got only a grunt in response and assumed that it was my cue to go in.

“Good morning, Pa. I brought you some breakfast. Aurora and I are going to go to the market today. Would you like anything?”

Grunt.

I leaned over and pushed the hair off of his forehead. There was a blank look in his eyes that seemed to look right through me. I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I love you, Pa,” I whispered.

Grunt. I took it as an “I love you too, Eve” and smiled.

“I know, Pa. We’ll see you when we get back.” I straightened his blankets and looked over my shoulder at him before I left the room. 

In the hallway I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked at the ceiling and willed the lump in my throat away and wiped away the tears that were about to fall. I sniffled and clapped my hands, snapping myself back into reality. No time for that. 

I walked downstairs and finished the churning the butter while Aurora was outside. She came in with a basket full of eggs and a smile plastered on her face. “Oh, Eve. I have a feeling today’s going to be a good day at the market. Our wonderful hens laid some amazing eggs this morning. I bet you they know that spring is coming,” Aurora beamed.

“Ha, is that it?” 

“Yes, now let’s go before all the good booths are taken up.”

I nodded and grabbed our coin satchel. I let Aurora walk a few paces ahead of me so I could get the chance to shake off the lasting effects of seeing Pa this morning. 

***

I sat behind the table with the eggs displayed on it and looked around the market in search of Aurora. She practically begged me about an hour after we got here to take a break so she could walk around the park nearby. I shielded my eyes from the sun as I craned my neck even more. Aurora where are you? We need to be home soon, I thought to myself. I prayed that something bad didn’t happen to her. Just as I was getting ready to actually leave the booth, I finally saw Aurora come through the crowd with her usual smile on her face. In her hands were about ten or twelve flowers bunched together. 

“Eve! Eve! Look what I found!” she ran over when I came into view. “Look at these violets. Oh, they’re so beautiful. Don’t you think?” 

“Uh huh. What are you going to do with those, we have to leave in an hour. Pa needs his meal.”

“I’m going to make a flower crown.”

“A flower crown?”

“Yea, it’s fun,” Aurora looked down and delicately lined the flowers onto the table and prepared to make the crown. She smiled to herself while she wound the flowers together. I looked away and towards the people that were passing by in the market. I hoped that someone would come by soon, we rely on this money to get through winter. 

As I was scanning the passersby I felt something being placed on my and I reached up to grab it and see what it was. 

“No,” Aurora exclaimed, “You have to be careful with it, it's delicate.”

“Why don’t you wear it?”

“You need it more than I do.”

“No, I don’t,” I argued back.

“Trust me, Eve, yes you do,” Aurora said with a sense of finality.

***

Later that night when Aurora and I were laying in bed, my mind would not stop reeling. I looked over to my sister to see if she was asleep and sure enough she was. I mean even the way her lashes touched the tops of her cheeks was delicate. 

“How do you do that?” I whispered even though I knew she was asleep.

Aurora opened one eye and looked at me, “Do what?”

“Sorry, I thought you were asleep. Uh, never mind.”

“No, no tell me… please,” Aurora sounded like she was desperate to learn what I was thinking. To get inside my head.

“Just- just how do you stay happy all of the time?” I finally asked.

“You know I’m not happy all the time. No one’s happy all the time,” she answered.

“Okay, yea, I guess. Still though, how are you so cheerful all of the time?”

“I guess after Ma died I realized that there’s no room to be sad. Life can end as easily as it starts. All it takes is one thing. I mean if we only have a limited time here why not make it a beautiful one?” Aurora explained. 

I let the words hang in the air for a few moments. After a couple of minutes of me contemplating what she just said, Aurora’s breathing started to steady, telling me she fell asleep.

“I wish you could teach me how to do that,” I whispered more to myself than her. 

“I can and I will,” she whispered back.

I leaned over and gave Aurora a kiss on her forehead and then turned over and fell asleep for the night, ready.