Once upon a time, in a faraway place, was a country. It was a small farming country with little towns dotted across, and the country’s capital city the center of trade and the country. The country was known for its lush green hills, blue skies, fields of grain and livestock, mostly goats. In this country, there was a little village called Blern. Blern was a happy little village, until one summer, the sun was particularly hot that summer, and Blern didn’t get any rain. Many of the crops and livestock died, as the lush green hills turned a prickly yellow. The only crop that was edible was grain because even the food that was stored dried out beyond recognition.Many of the villagers stored food and had just enough to get through the winter. There was a lady in this village, she was the baker, her husband died a time ago, and she had four little children and a cow to feed. Her name was Maria. The cow was a wedding gift from a fairy who was in the village when she was married. The fairy told her that the cow would live very long and never dry out. So when the drought came, Maria had plenty of milk. However, even though she too had saved the grain she bought, halfway through that dreadful winter she ran out of grain because she was the baker. She asked many villagers to buy their grain, but they said they had barely enough for their own family. So she went to the farmers and they all said the same. So when she went home, she, her children, and the cow, all drank milk for dinner.
The next morning, Maria got up early, went to the kitchen and tried to figure out what to do, while she prayed for an answer. A few minutes later she was startled by a knock. She answered the door to see Farmer Alec. He was a young man just a year or two years older than she. He had two children, but his wife had died from an illness the same year as Maria’s husband did. “I heard you were needing grain” Farmer Alec started. “Yes, I was asking several families yesterday if they had any to spare.” Maria replied suspiciously, not knowing where he was going with this. “Well, you didn’t ask me.” He said accusingly. Maria thought it was a bit funny that he was accusing her of not asking him for something, when they very rarely spoke to each other. “ You live very far off the path” she told him. “Not if you go in a wagon, you can actually- Wait! That’s not my point. My point was I would like to make you a deal.” He said waiting to see her reaction. “Oh?” Maria said, her eyebrows raised. “Yes, you see I had a larger grain harvest last summer than many of the villagers so I can spare enough to last you the winter.But I don’t want money”, he rushed when she turned to go get her coins so she would turn around. “I need something else.” He continued when she turned around. “Well, what do you need?” Maria asked, slightly confused. “I would like to trade grain for milk. MY cows died in the summer and our well froze last night so we are in need. Would you like to commit to this trade?” Farmer Alec asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. Maria thought of her children in their rooms, his children, and the prayers she had been praying just minutes ago. She stuck her hand out, “All right, we have a deal.”Maria said with a smile, Farmer Alec smiled too, and shook her hand.
The deal between Maria and Farmer Alec was a great success. Maria and her family kept the business going and Farmer Alec and his children were never thirsty. Through out the deal, Maria and Farmer Alec saw a lot of each other and eventually fell in love with each other. They were married in the spring, and they joined their family together in Farmer Alec’s house, and every morning Maria and the six children loaded into the wagon and went to the bakery, and went home in the wagon. They lived happily ever after.
By:Brinkley Cottingham
Little Miss Opinion 