I drift awake. Ahh. Mornings. I love mornings. They are so quiet. The air almost smells cleaner before everyone else is awake.

I sit up slowly and swing my legs over the side of the bed. Morning, here I come. I jump up, already thinking about the eggs I am going to eat for breakfast. Before I can fully enjoy the thought of food, I stub my toe on the bedpost. Ouch doesn’t cut it. The thing I hate most in the world it stubbing my toe.

I hop in circles, attempting to keep my balance while cradling my abused limb. I nearly bash my head on the door for my efforts. Dropping my foot to fend for itself, I catch my balance and walk towards the bath room. My face is very annoyed (I imagine).

In the bathroom, I brush my teeth and scrub a little drool off my cheek. Man, I slept good last night. I skip to my room to find some clothes. What to wear, what to wear? If I am going to be looking for a job today, I may as well look decent.

Ten minutes later, I look myself over in the full-length mirror. Brown hair that shows a hint of red when sunbeams hit it. Brown eyes. A bright blue shirt. Jeans, of course. I would never leave the house without my favorite pair of jeans. Of course, a pair of boots completes the picture. These are my favorite good pair. They are knee high and made of soft, silky leather. And they lace all the way up on the outside with a ribbon. Today, I am using a blue one. I grin at myself, and wink.

I snatch pair of plain stud earrings off of my desk and notice the rock that I got from Nightshade. I need to wrap that and add it to my collection. I promise myself I will do that tonight as I dash down the stairs, only stepping on every other step.

I arrive in the kitchen seconds later and make the fastest batch of eggs you will ever see anyone make. I look at the clock that hangs on our kitchen wall. Eight o’clock. I spin to the foot of the stairs and yell for my mom. She has never been a morning person.

I dance back into the kitchen trailing my finger over the granite countertops. Plopping eggs in a pile, I make myself a huge plate of eggs and drown them in hot sauce. The first bite slides down my throat as my mom comes into the kitchen.

Her hair is a mess and she is in a pink fluffy robe. She stands at one of the counters and blinks slowly. Then, she stretches and yawns.

I jump up and make her a plate of eggs as well, but with no hot sauce. As I grab her fork, she sits down at the bar and rubs her eyes. I chuckle and slide her plate in front of her.

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“Eat this,” I say. “It will wake you up. Actually, it would wake you up faster if you put some hot sauce on it…”

She fumbles for her fork and mock glares at me. “The day I put hot sauce on my eggs will be my last.”

I laugh and shovel the last of my eggs down the hatch. While I wash the dishes, my mother slowly warms up to being awake. She even smiles by the time she is finished with her eggs. I grab her plate and give it a whirl in the dish water.

“You know, Mum, you are lucky to have me. I make you breakfast. Do the dishes.”

She interrupts me listing my amazingness. “Cut short my beauty sleep.”

I sigh dramatically. “Ahh, Mum. You are gorgeous as is. You don’t need any extra sleep.”

I pretend to scrutinize her for a moment. “I am not actually sure if the extra sleep is a help or a hindrance.”

She tries to hide her smile. “I’ll show you a hindrance young lady.” We both laugh and I sit down at the bar once more.

“I am going to go try to find a job today. Maybe at the coffee shop? I figured I would ask around.”

Mum nods. “You might want to hurry. Summer break just started, so I imagine most jobs will be taken soon.”

I jump up. “I’ll hurry then. Oh, and do you know where my wallet is? It has my license in it.”

She shrugs. “I have no idea. I haven’t seen it recently.”

I sigh dramatically. My mother shows her poor daughter no sympathy. “You had better go find it if you want to leave any time soon.”

I power run to my room as Mom walks to the coffee pot and starts a fresh brew, whistling the whole time. At the stairs I skip every other one, of course. Hopefully I’ll find my wallet soon and get out of here. I feel one of my moms cleaning sprees coming on.

An hour later I drive my mom’s rusty clunker down the road. It is butt ugly and I hate it, but it is the only car she will let me drive. Obviously, I am planning my route of attack for checking every business in the area to see if they are hiring. I will start with the square. It has zillions of alleys that are jam packed with little shops and restaurants. Now, I realize, this could take all day. Or longer.

I decide to walk through the square so that I won’t have to be seen near the car. Ugh. That means I’ll have to find parking in the road. Which scares the living snot out me. Speaking of, what is living snot anyway? Oh, whatever. I turn left and drive into town.

The transition from mountains to city streets is shocking if you are not prepared. One minute, cliffs race you down the road. The next houses and shops all vie for your attention. It seems everyone in Saravant thinks the brighter they paint their house the better. I can only imagine what our small town must look like from the sky. Probably an obnoxious blot in the perfect view of mountains stretching in all directions.

I look at the houses more specifically than usual today. One is blue with yellow shutters and doors. One is white with black trim. One is striped. Striped! Good grief. I would never.

Then the most obnoxious building I have seen in my life comes into view. It is cherry red and deep purple. It looks like something my brother would have done as a joke. The worst of it is that my mom would love it. I will tell her about it when I get home so that we can have a good laugh. Suddenly, I can’t wait to get home.