May woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. The sun shone through the curtains of her bedroom and she could already hear the animals waking up. She got up and knocked on the bathroom door. “You’re good!” A muffled voice answered. May opened the door to find her brother spitting toothpaste into the sink. “Morning,” She greeted. Her brother started walking out, but answered “Good morning.” May ran the shower and got in. She lived in a rural town in Ireland on her father's farm with her brother Brady. Her town kept old-fashioned values, but still had modern technology, to a degree. She was forced to wear skirts and act “proper”. They had phones and computers, but they rode on horses and boats. She didn’t mind some of it, but people would often tell her that she is “disgraceful” and “uncultured”. People used to talk about her mother like that as well, but she told May “Don’t mind what they say, they’re just trying to control you. I love you just the way you are, and true people will too.” May missed her mother. She died when May was 10, almost 11. May saw it all happen, but never really talked about it. Her father adopted Brady after that. May thinks that he and her mother were talking about it before she died because he went to get him almost immediately after her death. May was shy during those early years, but slowly warmed up to him. May went back into her room and changed into her older blue dress that was patterned around the skirt by light blue flowers and her gray socks. She put on her brown work boots and tied her fire-like hair into a ponytail. She went down the stairs into the kitchen and saw her father and brother sitting at the table. Her father was wearing a blue vest with a gray shirt underneath. He wore his jeans with work boots and had his light brown hair combed back. His caramel eyes were hidden by that day's paper. Her brother sat at the table eating his eggs. He wore a green flannel with brown paints and black work boots. His hair was brown with a hint of red in it and his eyes were a little darker than her father’s. May greeted them and grabbed her own plate from the cupboard. She looked towards her father, “What’s on the agenda today?” Her father looked up and folded his newspaper, “Well if you two don’t mind being alone this morning, I have to handle something in town and won’t have time to go to the market. Do you think you could handle the shopping for me?” They both nodded. May’s father nodded back saying, “Good. I apologize as well for the chores. I really don’t have any time this morning.” He shook his head, “I’ll make it up to you two. I know! I’ll wash the dishes after dinner tonight, that ok with you two?” Brady spoke for them both, “Of course. We understand.” “Thank you very much.” They all finished up their breakfast and Brady began washing the dishes, a promise from the previous night. May’s father wrote a list and stuck it on the door on his way out. May began walking over to the cow stable to get some milk. She liked doing heavier work, it kept her busy. As she walked over, she could feel the sun on her skin. ‘It’s a bit warm today.’ A hot spring would be terrible for the animals. She walked into the barn and grabbed one of the buckets. She went over to the first cow and began to work. She would hum songs to herself as she did her chores. She put the milk in the industrial freezer in the storage shed and swept out the cowpens. A couple of hours later she walked over to the chicken coop where Brady was working. She crouched by the entrance and called in, “Are you almost done?” Brady turned to her, “Yeah, I’ll be a few minutes, I can meet you inside.” “Ok. How are you not dying in there?” she asked. “I don’t know, I just don’t get warm?” May shrugged and walked over to the house. She walked over to the sink and washed her hands. While waiting, she put away the previously washed dishes. Brady walked in and washed his hands. May went over to the door to get the list when she noticed mail by the door. ‘It's a bit early to get mail’ she thought. She walked over and read the names on the envelopes, “May Dollen” and “Brady Dollen”. ‘Who would be sending us mail?’ May wondered. “What’s that?” Brady walked over to the door with bags. “Letters for us.” Brady tilted his head, “from who?” May looked for a return address, “I don’t know. It doesn’t say.” May shrugged. Brady walked over and looked at the envelopes. “Hm.” “Maybe we should just leave it until Father gets home.” May suggested. “Maybe” Brady shrugged. May could tell that he didn’t seem comfortable with waiting, they were both very impatient sometimes, but May placed the letters on the coffee table and grabbed the list taped to the door. They walked out and saddled up the horse that they were taking down. They rode as far as they could, but horses weren’t allowed on the stone that paved the marketplace. They walked down to the market stands that lined either side of the road. May read the list out to Brady, “We need bread, some more fruit and vegetables, and its not on the list, but I think we are out of tea bags, so we need those too.” “Alright, I’ll go get the produce and you get the bread and tea, ok?” “Ok.” May replied. They agreed to meet near the flower stand which was towards the middle of the market. May walked down to the baker’s stand passing the dock on her way. She asked the baker for a few loaves and wished him a good afternoon. She then walked down to Miss Harper, who owned her own tea farm, and bid her good afternoon. “And a good noon to you as well May. How are you?” “I’m alright. It's a busy day today. Could I buy a couple boxes of tea?” Yes, $10 please.” May gave her the money and took the bag filled with the tea from her. May walked back to the flower shop. She said hello to Mr. Tellen, and saw Brady walking down to her. “Are we ready to go?” May nodded and they both walked back to their horse. Brady turned to her. “Guess who I ran into.” Brady said smiling. “Who?” “Francis.” Brady smirked. Francis was an old friend. He used to make fun of May a bit, but they were always good friends. “He said his dad’s birthday is coming up and he would love to see us there.” They walked back to the horse. “I would love to go, but we have to see about Father.” They rode back home and saw their father in the living room pacing in front of the table. “We’re home.” Brady said, “Is everything ok?” Their Father looked up, “Yeah we just have a guest coming very soon and I was waiting for you two to get back.” He looked at the clock on the wall, “Oh my! I didn’t realize what time it was. He walked over to them and took the bags, “I will deal with the food. Please go upstairs and change into your nice clothes.” They both nodded and went upstairs. May remembered the first time they had a guest over after Brady was adopted. He thought it was an insult. She had to explain to him that it was just good manners to change out of your work clothes when you have guests. She went into her room and began to change into her nicer clothes, of course, a dress. It was green with lace going around the bottom hem and halfway down the sleeves, bringing them to her wrists. She put on a lace head piece that resembled a bonnet and re-did her hair into two braids that rested on either of her shoulders. It was her mother’s old dress that was passed down to her. She took off her boots and put on her pair of black flat shoes and went downstairs. Brady was already downstairs, wearing his red collared shirt with maroon stripes and a pair of jeans. He had also put on black boots. He was wiping the dust off the walls with a damp cloth. May went into the kitchen to get a cloth and clean the table. A few moments later however, someone knocked on the door. May and Brady put the rags by the sink while their father opened the door. May watched as her father greeted an older woman with short black hair. She was wearing a muted pink floor-length dress with a white shawl and black laced-up boots that ran to her shin. May couldn’t stop herself from staring into her cold, grey eyes. She recognized the woman, but she couldn’t believe that she was standing in her own house. May’s blood ran cold through her body, yet her heart was still burning with anger against this woman. Her father turned to them, “Brady, May”, he said in such a calm manner that May could almost feel the smoke coming out of her ears, “This is Mrs. Mores. She is the headmaster of Toriel Boarding School. It's towards the end of town.” Brady walked over to her and stuck out his hand, “Nice to meet you ma’am.” She took his hand saying, “Hello sir. You must be Brady. You look very nice.” May could recognize a tone in her voice, “Michael here has told me much about you.” May held out her own hand, trying her best not to let her fear show through or her anger spill out. “H-Hello, miss.” she stuttered out. “Oh, and you must be Nancy’s daughter. “Yes I am miss.” “Yes, such an...Interesting young lady” Mrs. Mores spit out. Her father spoke up, “How about we sit and talk.” May’s father gestured to the couch and sat down followed by Mrs. Mores. May walked into the kitchen, trying to get far away from this woman, but she couldn’t get much farther than a few feet. Brady walked in with her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Is everything ok?” May turned to look at Brady, “Yeah, I’m just nervous.” May said, half lying. May gestured into the den, towards Mrs. Mores, “That woman runs Toriel Boarding School for Women. It’s full of people who think a lady is only a decoration and a house warmer. My mother forced Father to promise not to send me to that school. She never wanted me to be “proper”. Good-mannered, yes, but being proper means being nothing to society. I don’t want to be sent there.” Brady pulled her closer to his chest, “If Dad promised her, then I’m sure he wouldn’t send you there. You know how he feels about promises. There has to be a different reason why she is here.” “I can’t think of any reason to let her into our house.” May mumbled. They both began to make finger sandwiches for them all, with May wondering to herself, ‘why would she be here, other than to drag her away to that school. Maybe father was just being courteous. That has to be it. He’s never broken a promise to her.’ “Could you two come in for a moment?” Their father called. She went in and stood against the wall with Brady following. “I have some news.” May could feel her heartbeat speed up and started praying that she would be wrong. “I’ve been thinking, I know you have already started school, but I thought you deserve a more proper education. I would like you two to leave this farm one day and I know you are a bright young girl. So I thought, that you could go to Mrs. Mores’ school-” “No.” May said coldly “I remember a long time ago, you promised mother that you would never send me there. I refuse to go. “May,” Her father refuted, “I would like for you to get a proper education. I need Brady to help me here, but we would be allowed to visit you.” Mrs. Mores cut in, “Of course. We will be able to teach you many things.” May couldn’t keep her annoyance out of her voice, “What would you teach me? How to say please and thank you? To wash dishes? How I should sit, or stand, or walk so I don’t seem too independent to others? Are you going to teach me how to be 'proper’?” Her father stood up angrily, “May please be nicer to our guest. I wanted this. I want you to learn better skills for your life.” May’s face turned red, partly from anger and partly from embarrassment. May could feel her anger start to rise “You don’t think I’m lady-like?” “Now, I didn’t say-” “You think I’m improper! I embarrass you, don’t I?” May was starting to scream at her father now, letting her own anger rise to her words. “You think that I’m a heathen, a barbarian, as worthless as a rat! You can’t send me-” “I am your father!” His voice boomed over all noise, silencing the world. May froze. “I am only trying to do what is best for you.” He said quieter. “I want you to learn how to make a life for yourself. I thought you were well behaved. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe you do need to learn some manners.” May could feel her throat close up, trying to choke her with her own sadness. She tried to fight back tears trying to blur her vision. She looked her father dead in his eyes and spoke solemnly to him, “I think you need to learn how to keep your promises.” May ran out the back door and back into one of the storage barns. She sat down, taking shallow gasps of air, watching her tears fall onto the ground. She was sobbing. “How could he say that? I need manners? He needs some manners.” She heard arguing coming from the house. She couldn’t care anymore, she felt like nothing and couldn’t feel anything other than sorrow. She heard a door slam and finally dared to peek past the door. She saw Brady, face bright red, walking over to her. He came inside the barn and started pacing. May went to reach out to him, but could feel heat seething off his body. “Brady?” “How could he yell at you like that!” Brady screamed out. May stood up and wiped off her own tears. She has never seen any of her family this angry. Not her father, not Brady, and she was sure that if her mother were around, she would be furious. She tried to console him, “You know how people around here are. They think of me as a spawn of satan.” she joked a bit, “Mother wasn’t seen as the most ‘outstanding’ citizen.” “That doesn’t give him the right to yell at you! You’ve done nothing wrong!” “He’s just being pressured by others. He’s just stressed, like you said, he wouldn’t send me there.” “He made you cry!” Brady yelled, seeming to plead to May. “I’m okay, I was just a bit upset.” “He has no right!” May could hear his tone shift, “He just can’t….He jus-...He-” Brady stumbled forward, falling ungracefully into May’s arms. May gasped and accidentally dropped him onto the floor. May took a step back. It felt like fire fell onto her. She leaned over to feel his head, but even inches away, she could feel the warmth radiating off of him. It was like the stove, without touching it, you could tell how hot it was. May took a piece of loose cloth on his shirt and tore it off. She then ran outside to the waterspout not far from the barn and pumped the cool water onto the cloth. She ran back and put the cloth on his head. She ran out of the barn and to the back door of the house. She yelled “Brady's unconscious! Get a doctor!” She then ran back to the barn and took the cloth off his head. She reached to feel his forehead again, but it was still hot, like a backyard fire. She saw her father come over with a bucket of water. He hovered his hand over Brady's head. She dunked the cloth into the water and went to put it on his head when her father said, “Put it on his neck, it will cool him down faster.” she nodded and placed it over his neck. She opened up some of the buttons on his shirt, careful to not touch his body. She could feel her heart racing. ‘What’s wrong with him? What happened?’ She felt something strange run through her body, like a gush of air. She heard Mrs. Mores call from the house, “They’re not picking up! I’ll try to reach Joseph.” May heard a groan and looked down at Brady. His eyes opened up and May felt his head. He was cool. She helped him sit up. He looked confused and still a bit dizzy. “What happened?” “You fainted,” May answered. “It must have been due to the sun combined with your anger.” Their father spoke coldly, and May could tell he was thinking of something. May couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she could tell it was serious. “You should go into the house and rest.” He suggested and May helped Brady stand up. Mrs. Mores came to the barn just then, “Oh, he’s awake. I just got through to Joseph, I’ll call him back and tell him to forget it.” Her Father looked over to Mrs. Mores, “Kelly, I’ve decided that May will not be attending your school. I no longer think she needs it.” His voice was cold. Mrs. Mores’ expression turned to stone. May could only assume what she was thinking, but “ladies don’t argue.” It's thought of as distasteful. “Oh, okay Mr. Dollen.” She turned and walked away. May turned her attention towards Brady. “Let me feel your head.” She cautiously placed her hand on his forehead. It was a bit warm, but not anywhere close to what it was like before.

Brady rested on the couch for about 10 minutes before he insisted to May that he was fine. May felt his head and confirmed that the strange fever had passed. “What about those letters?” “Oh yeah!” May turned to the table where she put the envelopes earlier that day, but there wasn’t anything on the table. She went over to the kitchen where her father was working on something. She couldn’t tell what he was writing. “Have you seen two letters? I put them on the coffee table this morning.” Her Father quickly moved to cover the paper he was writing on, “Um, what did they look like?” “Just normal envelopes that had Brady and my name on them. They didn’t have any return address so we waited for you before we opened them.” She was still looking around the counters for them when she heard a grunt from her father. She turned around to meet his frowning face. “What’s the matter? Did you throw them out?” she walked over to the trashcan to look. “No, no. I didn’t throw them out.” He walked into the living room and May followed, “I saw the letters when I came back. I opened them.” He reached into his pocket to reveal the letters, “They’re from your mother's old boarding school. They requested you to attend.” Brady bumped May’s side, “All the schools want you to attend.” “Brady they want you to go to.” May looked at her father, “ Well, that would be great. We could go and get a proper education there” she tried to joke. Her father only shook his head, “It’s in America. I don’t know if I’m ready to let you guys go that far away from me. I might need you here to help me.” He looked down at the letters, “But I don’t want to discourage you if you do want to go.” He handed their letters to them. The letter said, “Dear May, You have been invited to come to Elksview Boarding School in New York. You will live here while you attend. We have included a ticket to a ferry that will take you. We are about to start classes, so you must decide quickly. Your ferry will leave at 2:00 am on September 26th. This is your choice.” attached to the letter was a ferry ticket for that night. “I want you two to decide for yourselves. If only one of you wants to go, only one of you will.” May turned to Brady watching him as he scanned over the letter again. May turned back to her father, “What do you think?” “I can’t make that choice. I know that it would be better for you to go, but I’m afraid for you to leave for that long.” May took a breath and asked, “What would mom want?” Her father looked at his hands resting on the table, “I don’t know for certain. I think she would like for you to pursue your education.” Brady spoke up, “I want to go.” He sounded so sure. May was still swaying between the options. ‘How does he know for sure?’ May thought. She went up to her room as they spoke to each other. She sat on her bed and looked at the ticket. ‘2:00 am?’ It seemed strange to her. “Why did they book for 2:00 am?” she asked out loud. She got up from her bed and packed a few bags. “I don’t have to go. This is just in case.” She told herself, but she already made up her mind. She went back down to her father and started helping him set the table. Dinner was quite uneventful. They ate in silence, the occasional conversation about the cows or market, but the air was thick. May got up from the table and put her dishes in the sink. It was her fault for the tension. She needed to decide. She sat back down and looked at her father, “I would like to go.” Her father looked up at her, “Alright then.” She could hear the slight shake in his voice. “Will you be ok by yourself?” she asked. “Yes I will. I can ask Francis for help if needed. I am just going to miss you both.”

That night May got herself dressed in her deep purple top and black skirt. She wore her working boots and tied her hair up in a single braid. And grabbed her bags and gently knocked on Brady’s door. He opened it, wearing the same clothes from that night, except for a dark sweater. They went down the stairs to see their father on the couch. He stood up and they all began walking. It was dark out. Anyone who saw them might have thought they were animals going hunting. May was nervous to leave her father. They went across the market area and to the dock. May clutched her ticket close to her chest. They said goodbye to their father and boarded the boat. They waved as the boat pulled away from the pier. May watched her father fade.