SECRETS OF BRIGHTWOOD FARM

Prologue: Uncle Sid's Demise

The sun began its descent, casting a warm glow over Brightwood Farm. She hadn’t heard from her brother all day and since she had made his favorite huckleberry pie; it gave her the excuse to go over to the farm.

Maggie had always been close to her brother Sid. She is the younger of the two. Despite refusing help from neighbors, her 70-year-old brother now needs her care. As the evening sky painted hues of orange and purple, Maggie's heart sank with a foreboding sense of unease. The bakery's busyness delayed her visit to Brightwood Farm, where she could escape her melancholic mood.

The light was on in the house. She pulled up next to his Chevy truck and walked up onto the back porch. The kitchen table was all set for the dinner meal. Goosebumps ran along her neck. He was late for dinner.

“Sid,” she called out.

She walked into the living room. His pipe was still sitting in the ashtray. His favorite radio station was still playing country music. She peaked into the bedroom. The bed had their mother's old quilt neatly spread out on it. In the bathroom, his razor was still sitting on the sink and a clean towel folded on the hamper next to the lion claw bathtub. When she stepped inside his office and didn’t see him, she felt that unease return. She glanced at the barn through the window. ‘He must still be in the barn.’

Sid always kept lanterns in the barn for late-night tasks which guided Maggie there. A strange feeling came over her as she approached the entrance. The usual bustling sounds of the farm were eerily absent, replaced only by an unsettling silence. She pushed open the creaky barn door, its hinges protesting the intrusion. The familiar scent of hay and livestock washed over her, evoking memories of shared laughter and hard work with Sid. But as she crossed the threshold, the sight before her shattered the tranquility

Uncle Sid lay motionless on the barn floor, bathed in a pool of moonlight filtering through the barn's windows. Maggie let out a gasp, rushing to his side, her fingers trembling as she reached out to touch his still-warm cheek.
"Sid!" Maggie said, tears welling in her eyes. “Oh, no.”