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Smelling the flowers is always the best part of Sol’s day- well second best. The real best part of their day is getting to go to bed. Their little nest of blankets is one of the most comfortable places in the world to them. The room is always perfectly warm and never too cold.
The birds outside start chirping, it must be time to wake up then. Sol blinks open their eyes and stretches out their aching muscles. Finding the courage to get out of bed in the morning is always a struggle, but they manage it.
They spot their favorite hoodie on the ground, quickly pulling it on and heading out into the living room. Their mother is reading a book on the couch and their father is still sleeping. It must be their job to make breakfast today.
Sol heads over to the fridge, opening it and seeing what ingredients they have for breakfast. They have eggs and bacon so Sol will just make that. Pulling the items they had chosen out of the fridge, they put them on the counter and began pulling out some pans.
The stove heats up as soon as Sol turns it on, they put the pans on and spray some butter on both. Waiting a couple moments before cracking the eggs into the pan, then putting the bacon on the other one. Sol assumes it's going to take around 10 minutes before they are both done, they peek their head into the living room to inform their mother that breakfast will be ready soon.
“Breakfast will be ready in 10 minutes or so, Mother.”
She doesn't say anything back, only rolls her eyes and keeps reading. That's fine, Sol is used to their parents not saying a lot to them. They decide to head back to the kitchen to keep an eye on the food.
Once the food is done, Sol plates it and goes to give it to their mother. They place it on the table near the couch, Mother only giving a nod. That's fine as well, Sol did not expect thanks this has been their job for a couple years now. They wouldn't expect gratitude for doing something they are supposed to.
Father doesn't have a strict sleep schedule so Sol does not know what time he will be up by. He would be upset if his food was cold when he woke up. Sol has no idea what to do about that. They will just hope Father will wake up soon.
The kitchen is kinda dirty after cooking breakfast, Mother and Father would be angry if they didn't clean up after themself. They decide to get it out of their way before heading on to other chores. Cleaning is the worst though, getting all that dirt all over your hands.. The thought sends a shiver down Sol’s spine, maybe they should leave cleaning for last.
Oh! They should go tend to the animals, they love taking care of them. It's not really a chore if it's something you enjoy right? Sol should take their hoodie off, tending to the animals usually gets them quite dirty. Sol rushes pulling off the hoodie, they want to see the animals. Slipping their shoes on, they shout a goodbye to Mother. They hear no reply.
Fresh air always helps Sol focus on what they are doing. The big barn sits on a hill, a couple minutes walk from the house. They quite enjoy walking outside, it makes them feel calm and they get to see all of the wildlife.
The noises of the animals inside the barn startle Sol out of their daydreaming. They didn’t even realize they had already arrived at the barn. Sol decides to take care of the chickens first, all they need is their food refilled and the eggs they laid taken out. The bag of food is tucked away in a corner of the barn, it’s always a struggle getting back there. Sol squeezes past most of the animals but one cow is standing right in front of the food.
Sol grabs some grass and leads the cow back to the other ones, now they can finally grab the chicken seeds. Hurling the bag over their shoulder, they hurry back to the front and dump some of the food into the tray. It’s time to collect the eggs now, that's usually a pretty easy job. Fitting their tall body into the chicken coop is a bit of a struggle but they’ve gotten used to that by now. Checking the nests reveals 6 eggs, that’s an okay amount for how many chickens there are.
They grab a basket to put the eggs in for now, they’ll take the eggs into the house once they are done with all of the animals. Sol decides to feed the cows now, luckily their food is right next to their fences. Sol is used to the heavy weight of the bags and carries it easily into the cow pen. They rip open the top and pour the food into the tray, the cows all rushing towards it at the sound of food. Sol quickly runs out of the cow area before they get bowled over.
Their breathing is actually getting kind of heavy, maybe they’re getting sick? They should be used to this kind of work by now. Whatever, they can still work, it doesn't matter. That’s all the animals done, it’s time to bring the eggs back and get started on the work they need to do in there.
The sun feels like it’s burning Sol, they feel so hot. They took off their hoodie before coming outside. They shouldn’t be this hot. Their hands are getting sweaty and their vision feels fuzzy. Maybe they should sit down for a second?
They try to sit down but end up passing out and falling down, their leg hitting the ground at an awkward angle. A sharp burst of pain shoots through them before their mind goes blank.
The first thing they hear when they wake up is bugs and owls for some reason. Their leg feels awful, it hurts to even put pressure on it. It appears to be night time now, a few hours have passed. Their parents must be so mad at them, they were supposed to be back home hours ago.
Sol looks around, trying to find the eggs they were carrying, they find them on the floor. The eggs are all broken though. Damn! Mother and Father are going to be furious about this, first Sol doesn’t get home on time, now they broke the eggs! Their leg is still hurting a lot, did they sprain it? Whatever, they can still get home. Sol makes the trek back home, it used to take only 10 minutes, now with their foot it takes around 30 minutes.
The spare key for the house is nowhere to be seen so Sol must knock on the door and face their parents. The knocking on the door echoes through Sol’s head, this is the most nerve-wracking thing in their life. They hadn’t meant to pass out or sprain their foot, their parents must see that. Maybe even show a little care about their possible sprain?
A couple minutes pass with no one coming to the door, their parents must be doing something else. That’s okay, Sol can wait however long is needed. Sol sits down in front of the door and stares up at the sky, the stars look so beautiful tonight. They want to close their eyes and just rest for a moment. It is getting kind of cold outside though, Sol doesn’t really like the cold. Goosebumps pop up on their arms, maybe they should’ve brought their hoodie out beforehand.
Sol huddles themself together and tries to keep all the warmth they can. Their parents will be out soon, for sure. Even if they aren’t out soon, they wouldn’t just leave Sol out here would they? No, of course not.
Their mind races with all the possibilities, their parents could’ve just fallen asleep and not have heard them knock, they could be talking and that is way more important than letting their ‘son’ inside. Sol’s foot still aches, they feel like that should’ve gone away by now. Even just their shoe putting pressure on it is hurting.
This could just be a punishment for getting home late? Leave Sol outside for a couple of hours? That would be fine, that would be a good punishment for not getting home on time. They just wish their parents would talk to them and tell them what's happening. Sol decides to try knocking on the door one more time, maybe they just didn’t hear the first knock.
No one answers the second knock, but Sol can hear laughter from inside. Their hands are shaking, this can’t be what they think it is right? They just made one mistake, there’s no way they’re getting… kicked out over that? This could still be just a really harsh punishment, that would be okay, they would deserve it for disobeying their parents.
They sit by the door for the rest of the night, shaking and freezing.
The door finally opens when the sun hits the sky and the birds start singing. Their father stands before them, looking down upon them like they are a bug underneath his shoe.
‘Why are you still out here? Don’t you understand? You’re done here.” Father spits these words out of his mouth like he was God, casting Adam and Eve from the Garden. Sol’s breath stops at his words.
What? What does he mean?
“What?” Sol doesn’t understand. Why is this happening? They only made a mistake, are they really getting kicked out? This can’t be. This must be a cruel joke or something. They can’t be getting abandoned. This just can’t be happening.
“Can’t you hear me or are you deaf? Get off this property before I make you.” Their father doesn’t even want to look at them. This can’t be because of them getting home late, there's no way that would warrant such a harsh response. But Sol doesn’t know what else they did wrong.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, what did I do? How can I fix this?” Sol babbles apologetically, saying sorry for nothing, just wanting to be forgiven. They would do anything to be let back in, their eyes are already tearing up and they haven’t even left yet. Their mind is running wild with all of the things they could’ve possibly done wrong. Maybe breakfast was cooked wrong, maybe their mother didn’t like Sol talking to her, maybe Sol should’ve done something else before going to the barn.
“There’s nothing you can do to ‘fix’ this, this was always going to happen. I’ve been waiting for the chance to get you out of this house. I never wanted you here, now I finally got the excuse I needed to convince your mother to get you out.”
Their mind goes blank. What? One mistake was all that was needed to get their mother to agree to abandon Sol. Sol did everything for their parents, what are they supposed to do now that they no longer want them. Survive? They didn’t want to survive without their parents. Serving their parents was the only thing Sol did in life, now they have lost their purpose. They believed that the way to obtain love from Mother and Father was to do things for them. But even that wasn’t enough to get them to love Sol.
The door slams in front of them. The sound echoes throughout their head. Is that it? Their life is over, just like that?
Do they not get any of their stuff back? Their hoodie is still there and it is still cold outside. All of the stuff they’ve hoarded over the years is still in the house. They get none of it back. Maybe if Sol sits here long enough, their parents will eventually let them back inside. Maybe they just need some time to cool off.
Sol sits in front of the door and falls asleep. They do that for 2 days, switching between crying and feeling numb. They don’t eat anything. They don’t want to move away from the door in fear of their parents coming out and missing Sol.
On the morning of the third day, Sol decides they need to leave. They don’t want to sit here, wasting away in the hopes that their parents will change their mind. They won’t. Maybe if Sol leaves and gets better, their parents will welcome them back. They set out on their adventure with that goal in mind.