The Thing about Sage

Chapter 1

The boots pinch against my toes as I walk down cherry street. My little sister, Fern, is talking about the good trade she made for berries. My feet crunch along the dead leaves and I wince every time I bring my foot down.

I make a turn to another street and Fern says, "wait, where are we going?"

"To the town square." I mumble, walking ahead. "But I don't wanna go!" Fern exclaims. Fern has a way from being extremely happy to being the most miserable girl in all of Hawk Grove. "Well, we've got to." I say back.

Fern is still complaining when I lead her inside the butcher shop. I'm careful with what I pick, knowing that I could easily hunt down all of these foods. I have enough money to buy a small steak. I give Mrs Lilly all the money I had. "Still not doing well, Sage?" She asks me. I nod. "Yep. we're coming along, though." I say. Fern starts to whine even more. I look down at her. "H-how about we go to the toy store? You can't get anything, but you can look." Fern's face lights up and she happily skips out of the door. Mrs Lilly laughs and I wave to her.

Chapter 2

I came back inside with Fern, and she immediately went to Mom. Mom grinned, and then looked at the doll in her arms. "Fern, where did you get that?" She asked. "Hazel bought it for her." I say, putting the steak on the table. Hazel is the mayor's daughter. She seems nice, but i've never spoken to her. . .

Well, maybe once.

It was one of the worst days, A dark rainy one. I was out hunting, making snares. My bow and arrows were no help, because the rain was crashing down and I couldn't see a thing. My family and I hadn't eaten for two days. We were starving. And then Hazel came out of her house. I had my bow and arrows in my hand, I was standing in the woods, waiting to starve to death. For myself to die. She came up to me, dropped a box at my feet, kissed my cheek and ran back inside. I looked down at the box, picked it up, and ran home.

I felt weak, As if I wasn't able to shoot game. It had been a hard day, all the animals driven away. I opened the box, and saw three warm, steaming rolls. Soup, mashed potatoes. Three cookies. I called Fern over, and she cheered with joy. Mom laughed. "This doesn't look like the usual Sage-Haul!"

Altogether we ate two rolls, half the soup, one cookie, and a quarter of the mashed potatoes. I saved the rest.