Chapter 3: An Ordinary Morning
Golden sunlight poured into the window, illuminating the room as Ahrey and her father cheerfully made breakfast for their small family of three.
As Shwa put a ceramic pot of roah, a staple grain they grew just outside their door, to cook within the fireplace, Ahrey got to work washing and cutting the fruit they'd be having with it. Still a little clumsy, she very, very carefully positioned the first of two awrs on the cutting board and lines her knife up with the center of the fruit before pressing down, splitting the dark purple, grapefruit sized berry down the middle. Its deep blue juices spilled out onto the wooden board beneath it, and the sweet scent started to make her mouth water as she divides both fruits into bite sized chunks, one cut at a time. After setting the table, Shwa popped open the lid, allowing the fragrant steam to escape the pot before scooping out a spoonful of roah and tasting it, pulling it off the flame now that it's finished cooking.
"Mama, wake up… it's time for breakfast…."
Gently shaking her by the shoulder, Ahrey roused her mother from her deep slumber. As much as the years of farm work and the harsh sun have taken their toll, fraying her hair, tanning and blemishing her skin, and forming thick callouses on her hands, her beauty still shines through. Her long lashes flutter as she comes to, and she brushed her long copper hair out of her eyes and smiled at her cute daughter.
"Hey… what are you doing up so early?" she groggily asked, rubbing Ahrey's head and rustling her hair.
Ahrey looked away, feeling a bit bad about keeping things hidden from her parents, "I- I had a bad dream…."
With a devilish grin, Leshia suddenly pulls her daughter into a headlock and starts messing with her hair! "You were talking so big yesterday, what happened to 'being all grown up?' Ahahaha!"
"H-hey! Cut it out, that hurts!"
Just when she thinks she's gotten free, Leshia flips her onto the bed and starts tickling her! Her wriggling fingers work their way across Ahrey's belly and around her waist, her giggles turning into a fit of uncontrollable laughter until she can hardly breathe!
"Okay, that's enough horsing around you two, let's eat," Shwa says, shaking his head.
Leshia sprang up off the bed and stretched her arms up into the air with a satisfied smile on her face as her daughter catches her breathe behind her. "Mmmmnnn…. Alright! Today's my victory!"
Ahrey puffed up her cheeks, pouting and glaring at her mother, "No fair! You caught me off g-"
"Next time, don't drop your guard," interrupting her with a cheeky smile, Leshia turned back and motioned for her to get up from the bed, "now come on, let's see just how good of a job my little grown-up chef did."
Sitting down around the round wooden table, the three of them shared their meal, forgetting the confusion and worry from just moments ago and instead enjoying the familiar warmth of each other's company. A simple bowl of piping hot roah meal topped with crudely chopped awr and a dollop of yogurt, it may've been a simple meal they've had a thousand times before, but for Ahrey, it was the most delicious food she'd ever had.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
orenji
orenji I was a bit uncomfortable with the present tense writing style I was using, so I went back and switched everything to past tense, sorry for any confusion. Also, I kinda jumped headfirst into writing the first two chapters without much planning, so I had to take a bit of a long break there to sort a few ideas out.
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