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Juniper Smith looked wistfully through the car window, wishing with all her heart that her parents would change their minds and return back. It was a warm sunny day, the sun shone brightly in the sky and she like most children had started her summer vacation. Unfortunately, her parents had decided that this year they would spend the first three weeks on her grandparent’s farm. Dad had been so cheerful when he’d explained what good the fresh, rural air would do for them, and mom was all too happy to spend some quality time with her parents. But Juni (that was what she liked to be called) could only think of all the fun things her friends would be doing in the city, like skateboarding in the park, trips to the amusement park and cinemas that she would miss out on. Instead she would spend the first precious weeks of summer at a place far from anything exiting, that would surely smell of cow dung and chicken litter.
“You are as unhappy about this as I am, aren’t you”? Juni whispered to Rollo who sat beside her. He stared back at her with his dark, teary eyes and seemed filled with understanding. Rollo was the family’s terrier and her best friend, after Ashlynn in class 7B. Talking to him always brought some comfort.
As the hours went by the landscape around the road shifted from apartment buildings and villas to vast fields with horses and cows, wheat and farmhouses. Juni made a game out of counting every cow she saw, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7...47, then she fell asleep.
Well into the afternoon they arrived at the house of grandpa Ben and Grandma Lin. It was a big brick-house partially covered in climbing plants, with a chimney cowl in the form of a rooster and a garden in front brimming with white roses. As she woke up, even Juni couldn’t help but admit that it looked beautiful, though it wasn’t enough to erase her dissatisfaction.
Ben and Lin stepped out of the house and gave mom a deep hug, telling her that their daughter’s family were always welcome here in their humble abode and cheerfully invited them inside.
Ben was a tall old man with a bald head and a bushy mustache that covered his mouth, though his eyes were smiling. Lin was a portly older woman with bluish hair and wearing a pair of dusty overalls. They looked quite like how Juni remembered them from her last visit, but since she had only been four so her memories were quite faded.
Maybe this won’t be so bad she thought as she stepped into the door and took in the surroundings. It looked just like what you would have expected an old peoples’ house to be, the walls in the living room were clad in pink wallpaper and covered in paintings of cattle, a brass chandelier hung from the roof and the sofa was wrapped in a layer of bubblewrap.
“don’t you have a tv?” Juni asked grandma Lin. “Or a computer?”
“Oh dear,” she replied, “we have one in the bedroom. We don’t have a computer, but there are plenty of other games you can play, and you can read some comics we bought for you if you’d like”.
Juni felt very disappointed. She threw herself into the sofa and took out her phone to check if she could use the internet. She could not, which made her feel dreadful.
“If you want something to do, why don’t you help around the farm? It could be fun learning new things,” suggested her father.
The house had one guest bedroom for her parents and an extra bed in the attic where Juni would sleep. She carried her baggage up the stair and set it on the floor, happy to finally get some rest.
The next day, Juni went exploring. Behind the front of the house was a garden with apple trees, and tomatoes growing on neat lines of bamboo racks. Beside it was a barn and an electric fence, though no cows were to be seen. Nearby was a small forest glen with blackberry bushes and sweet, black berries.
There was also a peat bog. During breakfast her grandfather had told her about the bog. He explained that peat bogs were like grassy fields flooded with water and that they were very dangerous, one wrong step and you could sink very deep into the ground. So Juni decided to explore for it, to find out where it was so she knew where it way, to keep away from it properly.
It didn’t take long to find it. A faint golden line could be seen some distance away from the smelly lake and Juni headed for it. Eventually she came across a flat, wide field covered in golden grasses. A thin, wooden path ran across the bog.
Satisfied, she began heading home.
During the first week Juni kept exploring the garden and the grounds, sometimes taking Rollo with her. The little dog seemed to love this strange new place, especially whenever sighting an animal like toads, squirrels and hedgehogs he tried to chase.
One peculiar discovery was an ornate china bowl that laid hidden under a bush by one of the apple trees. It was half-filled with milk.
“What is it for?” She asked her grandparents.
“Just leave it alone dear, or you’ll end up in trouble.” Said grandma Lin.
She smiled, though her voice was tinged with worry.
One rainy day, at the start of the second week her grandparents told her that they had something special in plan for tomorrow. They would have a tiny party with cake, apple pies and soda. Today her parents and grandfather would be away at the store to buy supplies while she and grandma were to stay at home preparing the party.
“Why don’t you help me fetch the eggs and the apples?” Grandma asked. “You can take your dog for a walk once you’re done.” Juni reluctantly agreed.
Outside, the ground was wet and muddy and the air smelled of rain, so she put on her yellow raincoat and a pair of green rubber boots.
Rollo ran with excitement to the front door, his tail wagging rapidly as he looked up at her.
“Sorry, you’ll have to wait.” she said, but it was impossible to resist the pleading look in his big wet eyes. With a sigh she fastened his collar to its leash and stepped out the door.
She walked to one apple tree. Its branches were heavy with fruit and sank towards the ground, making it easy for her to reach and place them into the basket. When it was full Juni felt that she would rather take a break and spend some time alone by herself. She tied Rollo to an outdoor table and walked off to do some exploring on her own.
She went inside the glen and ate some blackberries, made a flower-crown out of fluffy white flowers and skipped as she walked while listening to music on her phone. After four pop-songs and one rock and roll Juni felt it was time to return to the house.
Her mind was filled with sunny thoughts right until she arrived to the garden.
Rollo was nowhere to be seen. His leash laid limp on the ground, the collar had been opened. On the table was the bowl. It was empty of milk, instead it had a note inside with the word “BOG” written in large black letters.