Magnolia Blooms & Sakura Petals
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman

-1-
Carpe Diem

There is an often quoted Latin phase by the Roman poet Horace that was written around 23 BC. The quote goes like this. “Carpe diem, quam minium credula postero.” which means “Pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.” It's often shortened to just “Carpe Diem.” Those famous words by that old Roman poet bounced around my head as I eased my bottom down into one of the four wooden chairs that surrounded the simple wooden table that sat in a quiet corner of the kitchen.

I'd gone to bed around midnight and had awoken around six o' clock that morning. The old cracked radio sitting on the kitchen counter had the station tuned into a National Weather Service broadcast. The broadcast was the same as it had been yesterday. The heatwave that plagued the Yazoo Delta for the better part of a week was still holding the region in its iron grip. The high for today would be around eighty eight with a heat index of a hundred and fifteen. The broadcast ended with a warning about heat stroke and a reminder to drink plenty of water, avoid working in the hottest part of the day, and be mindful of heat stroke.

“Bloody Hell.” I muttered under my breath as I switched the radio off.

The moment I turned the radio off was the moment my older sister decided to stroll into the kitchen. The first thing I noticed was her outfit, a charcoal pencil skirt, a white blouse, black heels and her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun. The second thing I noticed was the look on her face. She looked like she could chew up a whole ingot of iron and spit out a bucket worth of nails.

“Morning.” She said without looking up as she wrapped her perfect manicured fingers around the handle of the coffee pot. “You're up early.” She added as she lifted the pot from the burner and reached into the drainboard and pulled out a coffee mug. Without saying another word she poured a good measure of black coffee into her selected mug.

“Morning.” I said, returning the greeting.

“So.” My sister said as she lifted the mug of coffee to her lips and took a sip. “Mom is going to  be working the night-shift tonight and for the next several nights in a row. Meaning she is going to fast asleep  for most of the day. Which means you need to find something to do.”

“I could stay in my room.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Grind off paying my house mortgage in Animal Crossing. I still owe Tom Nook around 40,000 Bells.” I said, taking a deep breath.

My sister arched an eyebrow.

“How about this, the front lawn needs a good mow. You go ahead and mow the front lawn and the back and weed the flower beds and I'll give you a hundred and fifty dollars this evening. You know instead of pulling weeds and planting flowers in your video games, you can.. I don't know how to do it in real life?” My sister said, taking another sip of the coffee.
I blinked.

“You know I've been mowing lawns all week right?” I said, taking a deep breath. Which was true, at fourteen I was still too young to get an official part time job. And beside the thirty something dollars mom gave me each Friday for doing a number of odd jobs around the house, you know washing the windows, washing the families car, sweeping, mopping and such my only other source of income was mowing the lawns of the neighbors who were either too busy to do it themselves or too old.

“Yes, so you've gotten plenty of practice. Listen, I'm tired of the front yard looking like a bloody jungle. One hundred and fifty dollars in cash, this evening if I do it, and if not I'll find somebody else.” My sister then fixed me with a look. “So do we have a deal? Because I could easily find somebody else.”

I took a deep breath.

“Fine.” I said, taking a deep breath.

My sister grinned and then offered me the palm of her hand.

“Good, now shake on it.”

I blinked and reached across the table and shook my sister's hand. Now if this seems a little too formal you need to understand something. My sister is something of a shooting star. She is currently the floor manager for a local Belks.. a regional chain of department stores that span most of the south. She started working at Belks when she was sixteen shortly after dad left us. She worked for Belks part time each school year and full time between each summer break.

She also worked with them part time while she was going for her Associate of Business Administration from Holmes Community College and was now working for them as a floor manager as she pushes toward her Bachelor's of Business Administration from Delta State University. She  was prone to treating everything like a business deal.

“Okay, one last thing I want to remember. It is going to be around a hundred and ten today for the high. Sunny, no cloud coverage, it's going to be brutal. Drink plenty of water, wear loose clothing, wear a sunhat. Put on sunscreen. Watch out for fire ant mounds.” She paused. “If you get too hot, stop, come inside and drink plenty of water, get a cold shower and lay down.”

I blinked.

“Okay..” I paused. “One hundred and fifty dollars right?”

“One hundred and fifty dollars, in cash.. you know what I'll throw in an extra ten dollars if you trim the bushes.” She added as she peered into my eyes.

Now, returning to the quote I shared with you at the start. Money was the sinew of any great adventure. Adventuring did not come cheap. I learned that from playing Pokemon. Key items such as PokeBall's, Potions, Full Heals and other required gear required a steady supply of money. Money that was earned by defeating rival trainers on the road. Money the player had to carefully manage.

Why do I bring this up? Because my sister was not giving me a chore to do, she was giving me a quest, a quest with a reward at the end. And that money could be used as sinew in the adventure I was about to start. And who knows, maybe a day of brutal yard-work would be the pill the doctor would prescribe to purge me of writer's block.

End Chapter One.