“Quick, it’s about to rain”

Dashing off at the instructions of her mother, she got to work rounding the fowls that they were training for the harvest season into their coop and promptly locked it. With the speed of a cheetah, she moved on to check on the lone cow that remained from what her parents told her used to be a prosperous herd until they were wiped out unceremoniously, falling one after the other.

“Hang in there, Betsy. It might be a storm this time”

The cow mooed in response and that was enough for her as she moved along to the next item on her mental checklist which was to situate empty bowls and buckets under the parts of their roof that was leaking. If she didn’t get to them in time, the house was going to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes come morning and it wasn’t an experience she hoped to relive.

“Hey Papa, you should get down. We can continue in the morning after the storm”

Shouting so her father could hear her where he was on the roof trying for the umpteenth time to mend the holes that were as usual, going to give way in less than a day because of how weak the base was, she shook her head and tossed a smile at him. What was needed was not repairs but a brand new roof. However, that was way beyond what they could afford to do as a family.

“Come in already for supper”

From her point where she was gathering the bowls to arrange them where they were needed, she spied her mother standing with her hands akimbo as she looked up at her father who was smiling sheepishly at her. Without even listening, she could bet that her mother was scolding him for getting on the roof when the last trip to the clinic had the doctor there warning them of the weakness in his joints and how he needed to stop overworking himself.

“Come on Papa, let’s go in”

She knew how much her father loved being outdoors and working with his hands so she didn’t give him any grief or badger him about the doctors orders.

“Mama, you worry too much”

Her mother turned her concerned and worried eyes to her and gave her a once over. She heaved mentally because she knew what was going to come out of her mothers lips next.

“My goodness”

Her hands flying to her mouth, she turned around looking at her daughter.

“Are they even feeding you at all? You look rail thin, love”

No matter how much Sofia tried to persuade her mother that she was fine and she was well taken care of in the lodging that the small hotel in town offered its staff, her mother never agreed. As long as Sofia wasn’t there to eat her food, she was always going to be seen as rail thin.

“Come in, come in. I made your favorites”

Her father forgotten, Sofia was ushered in like a celebrity and led to the table by her mother where three steaming plates of food lay. Pulling her chair out and forcing her into a seat, her mother took the other and sat beside her, already pushing a spoon into her hand.

“Let the girl be, she can eat on her own”

Peter spoke to his wife lovingly. Sofia shook her head as if to tell her father that whatever it was he was trying to get her mother to do was going to end up fruitless because she was going to end up doing whatever she wanted.

“My daughter is an inch away from collapsing and you tell me to leave her alone?”

Sofia had missed her mothers dramatic worrying. A laugh almost escaped her but she stifled it because she feared that her mother was going to force medicine down her throat while claiming that the laugh was a cover up for a fever that she was coming down with.

“How’s the food?”

“It’s amazing as always, Mama. You’re an excellent cook”

Sofias mother beamed at the praise while her father watched on, a small smile on his face as he also went through his food at the pace of a lion devouring its prey. It was true that Celestine was an excellent cook but it was too bad that she didn’t have the heart for business else she would have been a rich woman just from her meals.

“Papa, here”

Stretching a slim, white envelope towards her father, Sofia smiled. Her dad already aware of what was inside shook his head.

“No, keep it. You need it more than I do”

Sofia shook her head and stretched her hand further.

“Don’t think that i don’t know the doctor told you to get some medication for the pain in your back. I also know that you lied you weren’t feeling any more pain because you didn’t have the money to purchase them. Well, now you do”

Peter’s spoon clanged on the plate as tears misted his eyes following his daughters thoughtfulness.

“You’ll use the rest to get someone who will fix the roof. When I get some more money, we will replace the whole thing”

When her father still didn’t take the money from her, she opened his palm and pressed the envelope into it.

“But your exams…”

Her mother trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Sofia, intending to become a nurse had been saving every scrap of money that she came across in order to afford the material and registration fees for the exams that were going to allow her get into nursing school.

“There’s always the next semester”

Her mother, overcome with emotion threw her hands across Sofia, mumbling incoherent words of gratitude for the kind of heart that her only child possessed where she thought of others before herself.

“You are my one and only treasure, Sofia. I love you with every beat of my heart”

Following her fathers words, the small family got to their feet and hugged themselves tightly, grateful for at least, the gift of each other.