Heartlands of Veursau. A region right in the middle of the big country, stretching for kilometres far and wide.
Every morning, those who own the lands and farms, the hard workers, they'd make their way to get back to work from where they stopped only hours ago.
The switch from Spring to Summer made its full transition. And even if the Summer has just begun, the heat was already showing its teeth. With the time slowly ticking past 7 and the sun marking its presence over the peaceful landscape, the temperature was already a staggering 26 degrees Centigrade. And it was only forecast to rise even higher throughout the day, its plateau being in around 38 degrees. The highest it's been that year so far.
However, regardless of the heat, or the early time, the roads were filled with cars, vans, tractors, trucks, driving in all directions. And one of those cars was of a small family, who—just like the surrounding populace, owned a farm and some land not too far from home.
For this morning, it was a father-son duo, with the son being behind the wheel of the car, all the while his father sat in the passenger seat right next to him.
The car itself was aged, its registration dating all the way back to the late 1990s, but not that it bothered its owners—or at least one of them. As long as it managed to roll on the road, it was deemed fit for work.
The Air Conditioning was broken on the vehicle, but the men found alternative ways to cool the cabin of the car. Merely opening the window on both sides of the car, they let the morning air circulate through the cabin.
The sky was blue, with a few white puffs of clouds—signalling no rain—slowly moving through the atmosphere.
"Do we have much in plan for today?" asked the son. His name was Wyatt. Being the youngest of all his siblings, he was to also, as ruled out by his parents, be the man of the house in due time. His older sisters were all away from home, studies taking this hundreds of kilometres from their small town of Orovac.
"Gotta feed the stock, take care of the crops, see what can be harvested. Although, it's still quite early for the like of cherries and grapes. Especially grapes," his father replied.
The terrain before them was hilly, serving for a beautiful view from afar, however, not the same could be said for the comfortable journeys on the hilly roads.
Just as Wyatt's father laid his head against the headrest, he felt his phone vibrate before the familiar ring of an incoming call started ringing. Digging his hand into his pocket, with Wyatt merely glancing his father's way, the caller ID was Wyatt's mother, Annalise.
Answering the call, her voice came almost instantly. "Frederick, you forgot the scythe in the shed...".
"I didn't forget it, I left it at home because I don't think we'll need it for today. Don't you worry, Annalise. I may be aging, but I haven't lost my mind. Not just yet.".
She let through a sigh. "Don't speak of stuff like that.". Pausing for a moment, she spoke back up. "When can we expect your return home?".
"Not any time soon, I can tell you that much," Frederick started. "We've got quite a bit of work set out for today, but should be manageable. Also, how's Owen doing?". Owen was Frederick's father.
"He's well, just woke up. I'm making some coffee for both myself and him. It was probably the heat from yesterday that got to him.". Complaining of a light head yesterday, Owen brought a great fright upon Frederick. 'At least I'll be joining my Amelia soon enough, if anything happens'. Ever since, Annalise tried to shuffle the topic any time Owen mentioned anything about him 'going and never coming back', whilst offering him tea after tea.
"Good we had him stay at home today then. Said that today is meant to be worse.".
Annalise hummed, agreeing with her husband. "Yeah, I heard that too.".
"Good luck with the interview later today, don't know if Wyatt and I will make it back in time to at least drive you to town," Frederick voiced.
"Sure, I have a bus anyway. The stop is right in front of the administration building.".
Wyatt indicated to turn right, and in that, Frederick spoke up once again. "We've arrived at the field now, I'll have to hang up the call now. But we'll keep in touch like always. I love you, Annalise.".
"I love you too, Frederick... And don't overwork my son today.".
"Should be the least of your worries, he's a capable, young man," Frederick responded.
To that, Wyatt said. "If anything, he should be the one worried.".
Annalise let through a laugh. "Alright, I'll talk to you both later.".
"Alright, take care.". There, Frederick hung up the call, putting his phone back into the pocket of his old tracksuit bottoms.
With the two men sitting in the car, they let the silence descend between them both until Wyatt decided it was time to break it, "Won't have you stay in the sun for too long... Don't want to have a repeat of what happened last year.".
Frederick wanted to crack a joke, however, he knew his son was right in what he said. Last year, he wasn't careful, which resulted in him getting a pretty bad heatstroke. And this year, if he didn't want to get another one, he knew he had to do better.
Parking into their usual spot, Wyatt powered off the car, extracting the key from the ignition and stepping outside. Sweat already began accumulating on his forehead, giving Wyatt a grim outlook into how the day will progress.
"This damned heat...". Frederick took Wyatt's words right out of his mouth.
Letting through a mere sigh, Wyatt uttered, "The faster we get going, the faster we'll be done...".
Frederick smiled at his son, patting his shoulder.
--- --- --- --- ---
West of Orovac, in the small city of Veursir, only a mere hundred kilometres from the Agutian border with Veursau, their day started differently. Unlike in Orovac, the Veursirian morning was more lethargic.
With far less work folk awake by 7, majority of the city folks were awake by a little before 8, and out on their way to work a few minutes after 8.
In an apartment building, near the centre of the boisterous city, a small family enjoyed a rare lie-in. The Kovac household.
With both the man and the woman of the house having a day off, they both took it to their advantage. However, the child of the house—and not that he was a child anymore, was the only one awake. A youthful man—who just turned 21 only weeks ago, just in time for him to finish his second year in college.
He was out, getting breakfast for his family after the heat woke him up and didn't let him go back to sleep. Although it was the early in the morning and most of the places were closed, it was known that a few, small family-run bakeries were opened before everything else.
With a bag full of pastries, and a bottle of yoghurt beside the food, he made his way back to the building, climbing the steps to their apartment. Upon opening the door, his mother came into view. Her eyes poofy, which showed him that she had just woken up.
"Damian! You're up early.". The sides of his mother's lips merely rose into a small smile. "What did you get?".
"Some pastries for breakfast, nothing too exciting.".
"You could have woken me up. I'd have gone with you instead of you going all alone.".
"I was about to, but I felt bad," Damian replied.
His mother merely chuckled, getting up onto her feet before making her way, barefoot, to her son. Having the lit cigarette in her left hand, she hugged him with her right, kissing his forehead, uttering, "My son...". Then, after a moment of silence, she continued, "Are you excited for your trip to Orovac?".
"I can't wait actually... I can't wait to see aunt and uncle. Just a pity that it'll be only me going, and not us all as a family.".
The smile on his mother's lips merely subsided. "Yeah... I know. I made sure to let Maria know about it. I told her that next time, we'll all be going as a family. Including Daina and Daniella.".
Daina and Daniella were Damian's sisters. Just like Damian, they were both students, hundreds of kilometres separating them from home. Though, unlike Damian, who just embarked on his Bachelor's degree, Daina was doing Masters all the while, Daniella a PhD. The decision for the two sisters to move so far away from the rest of the family came with much reluctance. However, they both knew it won't last forever.
With Veursau being too expensive, and the second best choice, Solide, being too far away, both Daina and Daniella managed to find a great option in Arittoria, for courses of their choice, which came out at a great price in the end too.
Damian was unsure whether he wanted to pursue his sister's footsteps and do a masters, followed by a doctorate. But, considering he was only finished with his 2nd year, it was still too early for him to have a concrete choice.
The ringing of a phone made Damian's mother turn to where her phone was, on the work top right by the fridge. Taking the phone into her hand, she saw it was her sister. Maria. "It's like she knew I mentioned her name," she said to Damian before answering the call.
"Maria! How are you doing, dear?".
Taking the ashtray, she walked into the living room where she continued talking to her sister. "We're all good, Damian and I are awake. Daryll is still asleep, as per usual.".
Damian could just about hear his aunt's laugh through the phone, making him smile too. He didn't see his extended family in what seemed like forever. In reality, it's been a while since Damian's family could afford the time to go back to the small town.
Walking just past the corner of a wardrobe, which unveiled the living room, Damian let himself listen a minute more to what was being said.
"Tell me, Andrea..." Maria spoke up. "Is my nephew ready to come here, to Orovac?".
With her looking up at Damian, she smiled, uttering a "Yes", before continuing. "We've still to pack a few more things before I can send him off to you, Maria.".
"Don't overpack the poor child, there's lots of clothes here too. I am sure he's the same size as my Jacob, is he?".
Andrea made a mere humorous grimace, smiling into her phone. "I think my brother-in-law is a bit fuller than my Damian.".
"Ahh, that's something I'll have to change. I can't have him leave looking all dried up. You won't have to worry about anything when he's here, Andrea.".
"I know, I mean, I won't have to worry eitherway. The man knows how to make food for himself. He has helped me on numerous occasions.".
In the back, Andrea could hear Jacob add, "Ahh, I'll have to try out his cooking. I'll be the ultimate test!".
Andrea merely shook her head, chuckling before telling Damian what Jacob said. Prompting to his mother to give him the phone, she did just that. "I'll accept the challenge, uncle. I don't think there's anyone I know that said they don't like my cooking.".
His words made Maria laugh on the other side of the call. "That's my boy.". Pausing for a moment, Damian heard his aunt sigh, speaking back up. "I don't want to cut the conversation short, but my dinner is gonna burn, so I gotta go. Send my greetings to everyone there, I am sending you a big, big hug and lots of kisses. Both myself and your uncle can't wait to see you again.".
"Neither can I, auntie. It's been a long time since I was there.".
"Indeed so.".
With her saying a few more sweet things, she ended the call.
"What did she say?" Andrea asked.
"She had to go, her dinner is gonna burn.".
"I'll call her back later then.".
Both Andrea and Damian went back into the kitchen, where the found Daryll, at the table.
"Good morning, sleepy head," Andrea greeted her husband.
"Good morning. How did you two sleep?".
"I slept well, Damian said he woke up from the heat," Andrea replied.
"I woke up countless times throughout the night too. It'll only get worse from here on out," Daryll said, reluctance all too present in his voice. "Come, let's eat. Pastry is not as good when it goes cold.".