When the family was in residence at their country retreat, Gretta would go for long walks by herself around the boar-proof fence that bordered the enclave. She wasn’t allowed to go past the fence by herself.
Most of the other families who lived in the cluster of thirty houses had escaped to warmer lands as soon as the leaves began to change color. To qualify for lower taxes, residents had to occupy a dwelling in one of the underpopulated zones for at least seven months of the year. Papa and Stefania had already squandered all of their allotted out-of-zone time for the year. They’d be stuck here for the winter, while Gretta and Hans would be back at boarding school.
Gretta suspected that they were the only children left in the enclave now. There really wasn’t much to do in the area other than hiking and hunting. The enclave wasn’t big enough to support a recreation center.
When it rained, she’d spend hours drinking hot chocolate behind the steamed-up windows of the tiny cafe and general store that supplied the residents with any items they’d forgotten to order for delivery. Eventually, the woman who ran the store would shoo her out so she could close up, and she’d be forced to return to the loving arms of her family.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“There you are!” her stepmother said, as Gretta wandered listlessly back through the front door one afternoon. “Come along, now. I want to get you both scanned so we can order you some new clothes.”
Gretta raised an eyebrow at that. Normally they wore off-the-rack, her stepmother insisting it was a waste of money to outfit growing children in made-to-order clothing. Dutifully she held still, arms out, as her step-mother ran a portable 3D scanner over her.
“Can I have a look at the catalogue?” Gretta asked. Stefania referred to something on her tablet, then adjusted the scanner settings. Stefania looked at her blankly.
“What?”
“The clothing catalogue,” Gretta said, nodding to the tablet. “Can I have a look at it?”
“Hold still,” Stefania said, turning the scanner back on. “You can look at it when the new catalogue is released next week. You may choose two items for yourself.” The scanner beeped to indicate it was finished. Stefania stepped back.
“There, that didn’t hurt at all, did it?” she said, smiling. “Now run upstairs and tell your brother to come down, please.”
Gretta went up the stairs wondering what was going on. Stefania was actually being nice to her. That didn’t happen very often.
“It’ll be raining frogs, next,” she muttered as she knocked on Hans’s door.