Stargazer Lily soon adjusts to this farm, though it's not quite like her storybook. Their new home has no lights, she has to wait for momma to light the candles when it gets dark. There are no faucets, her mother brings water in a bucket from the well. And there isn't a real potty. eek Before they go to bed, momma takes her out to the outhouse, a little wooden building with a door. Inside along the back wall is a bench with a big hole cut in it and that's where she's supposed to sit to go. Right there in that hole where everybody else went and it smells so bad. gonk
There are animals: a few cows, a couple of goats and some sheep, five or six pigs, two large draft horses and a yard full of chickens. There is a large garden too, but not the never-ending crops of corn she expected.
There are several huts like the one she shares with Momma. They house the other couples, men and women who all seem to have very long hair and most of their clothes have flowers on them. Or these grownups forget to get dressed in the morning and just wear long nightgowns all day. This was certainly not in her story. These people all live together on the farm but they call it The Compound. And they call her Star, not her full name, just Star.
Her mother works in the large greenhouses. Most mornings, she takes Star with her for "lessons." The small elf woman is amazing with the plants and the little girl is supposed to learn how to make things grow like momma does.
When the sun gets high, someone calls "lunch" and everyone gathers around the large fire pit, ready to get a plate. They sit on the ground in small groups and eat together. Once lunch is over, Star is sent to "lessons" with Harvest Moonchild, though most of the adults just call him Moon. The two of them learn how to make things from rope. They learn to make soap and candles and how to wash clothes in the big lake. When the sun gets lower in the sky, someone calls "Dinner" and everyone gathers around the fire pit again to get something to eat. After dinner, Moon and Star are taken to the lake to get their baths. Together. redface Then they go back up to the larger hut where Moon lives with his Momma and Daddy and are taught letters and counting.
After evening lessons, it's back to the outhouse xp before bed. Star does not like this outhouse business. There isn't any toilet paper, just leftover bits from the rope material the grown ups call hemp. Sometimes the big people smoke this stuff that comes from those hemp plants but Star doesn't mind it so much, it smells kind of sweet.
Every few months people leave the compound and new people arrive and occasionally Star and Moon get new classmates. But none of the families stays long and then it's just the two of them again. Though her mother doesn't say so, Star knows they are never leaving, never going back to the big house. Daddy doesn't want them anymore.
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Lily's Pad
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Stargazer Lily
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