"Whew!"
Luke passed a hand over his sweaty brow as he straightened to survey his work. Neat, new vegetable plots extended outward in a row, sectioned off by wood logs that Luke had received from a kind neighbor who had ordered too many. In the winter Luke helped shovel his driveway on snowy days, and in return he got building materials and leftover nails and tools which Luke used to spruce up their old farmhouse.
He peeled off his muddy gloves, not realizing that there was a dark streak of dirt across his forehead. "Not bad," he said to himself as he looked around. When he got more logs, he could tidy up the other plots too but for now, these ones were ready to go for spring planting. They already had the vegetable seeds and tubers; in a couple of months they could start transplanting them outside.
His back hurt like hell though! All of that bending over, lugging logs to and fro, hammering them into place and then nailing them down—Luke was exhausted. He tossed the gloves down onto the rim of a half-empty pail full of nails and arched his back to relieve some of the strain. The sun was going down and he felt the chill in the air already. Was it time for supper? One of his brothers or sisters would probably come fetch him when the food was ready; he told everybody where he was going and what he was doing before he left the house.
All righty then, time to pack up and head inside! He needed to wash up too. Their mom would have a fit if he tramped in looking sweaty and tired. Luke groaned softly as he bent to grab his tools and as he did so, out of the corner of his eye he detected a swift motion. He straightened in the direction of the movement. An animal?
"Hello? Anybody there?"
Luke passed a hand over his sweaty brow as he straightened to survey his work. Neat, new vegetable plots extended outward in a row, sectioned off by wood logs that Luke had received from a kind neighbor who had ordered too many. In the winter Luke helped shovel his driveway on snowy days, and in return he got building materials and leftover nails and tools which Luke used to spruce up their old farmhouse.
He peeled off his muddy gloves, not realizing that there was a dark streak of dirt across his forehead. "Not bad," he said to himself as he looked around. When he got more logs, he could tidy up the other plots too but for now, these ones were ready to go for spring planting. They already had the vegetable seeds and tubers; in a couple of months they could start transplanting them outside.
His back hurt like hell though! All of that bending over, lugging logs to and fro, hammering them into place and then nailing them down—Luke was exhausted. He tossed the gloves down onto the rim of a half-empty pail full of nails and arched his back to relieve some of the strain. The sun was going down and he felt the chill in the air already. Was it time for supper? One of his brothers or sisters would probably come fetch him when the food was ready; he told everybody where he was going and what he was doing before he left the house.
All righty then, time to pack up and head inside! He needed to wash up too. Their mom would have a fit if he tramped in looking sweaty and tired. Luke groaned softly as he bent to grab his tools and as he did so, out of the corner of his eye he detected a swift motion. He straightened in the direction of the movement. An animal?
"Hello? Anybody there?"