Shadow of Yesterday by Horseman

The sun rained fire and there was no sign of clouds in the sky. The corn field danced with the wind and added to the beauty of the farm. The day was hot enough to make the birds flee for shelter yet it couldn't stop little Sofia and Eleanora from playing in the open. The heat didn't seem to bother them at all. They ran around in circles with their ragdolls. The corn was ripe for the harvest but old Bruno knew that the yield, like the next several harvests, would go into repayment of the debts he owed. He sat on his porch with his sickle and tried to gather enough strength to get up.

Old Bruno was sure that one of these days his back would betray him. He saw his girls run around recklessly and feared for their safety. He called out to them but they didn't care to respond.

"Camila! Come out!" he called out to his older daughter to come out of the house. A beautiful teenage girl came running out on her father's voice.

"Get them inside. They're gonna hurt themselves!" Bruno said and stood up to step into the fields.

Camila obeyed her father and set out after her sisters. She could see the movement in the field near the scarecrow. Ironically, most of the straws of the scarecrow had found new homes in crow nests around the field. Bruno pledged to repair it every time he saw it but always ended up leaving it for later. The miserable scarecrow, like its owner, longed for a break that never came. Camila and the sisters on the other hand, didn't mind the company of the strawy abomination. Camila jogged toward the girls. She suddenly heard a faint rattling sound near her. Before she could respond, a rattlesnake pounced at her and dug its fangs deep into her shin.

Jessica jolted out of her sleep and abruptly sat up on her bed. She was drenched in sweat and out of breath. She felt like she had just run a mile. She instinctively checked on her leg and found it unscathed. The pain felt too real. It took her a while getting back to reality. The drinks she had the night before and the wild west movie afterwards were probably the reason behind such a bizarre dream. The clock said five in the morning but Adam was not in bed. He couldn't be out. The entire Bassett city was buried in snow and most of Adam's work took him out of Nebraska. Jessica got out of bed and peeked through the blinds. Sure enough, there were mounds of snow in the neighborhood. She walked downstairs and heard another western cowboy movie playing in the living room. She stepped in and found her husband staring at his drawing board as the TV played in the background. The room was dark and the lamp on Adam's drawing board was the only source of light other than the faint flickers of the TV. The cowboy in the movie barked insults and fired bullets while Adam stood there in a world of his own. It wasn't new for Jessica. Adam was known to stare at his designs for lengths of time before he spotted any flaw in them. The wooden beads on Jessica's shrug scraped the door and startled him out of his daydream. He looked at her and immediately understood what she had been through.

"That kind of night huh?" he asked as he paced to the kitchen to fix her something.

Jessica nodded and dropped herself on the couch. She scrolled through the channels. All the channels were showing the repeated shows from the previous day. She finally arrived at a news channel which was airing the weather updates. It was the only news she cared about at the moment. Adam returned with two mugs of hot chocolate. He handed the bigger mug to Jessica and she pecked him on the cheek in return. Adam joined her on the couch. A middle aged meteorologist arrived in front of the green screen weather map wearing overly formal attire. The guy did a good job dumbing down the forecasts. The weather in Nebraska was about to see better days. The temperature was about to rise and life would be back to normal. Jessica wasn't that passionate about her job to make her love the news but the days spent cooped up in the house were making her lose her mind.

"Finally! I can make that trip to Albuquerque. Wasn't sure it'd be possible when I promised it" Adam exclaimed and took a sip.

"What's in Albuquerque?" Jessica softly asked, her eyes still glued to the TV screen. Adam didn't mind her curiosity.

"Some billionaire's son wants to build a warehouse with offices on top of it. He wants the design to be tailor made for his business which I'm trying to talk him out of," Adam responded.