129 Part 1
Chapter 129 When it Rains, it Pours (3)
#2 Other stories: A daughter’s Story
I hate winter since I cannot farm. Of course, farming every day is hard work, but it is all right since dinnertime with Daddy is so much fun after a long day. The snacks Unnie gives me in intervals are joys that have to be noted.
There are good things in winter since it is time for rest, as first I can be together with my sister, who has been forbidden to farm. Roasting corn or potatoes we sneaked in the fireplace is fun that can only be had in winter. Also, rolling out blankets in front of the fireplace is heavenly bliss that can only be felt in the cold weather.
However, I do not like winter since snow negates all these joys. Since there is heavy snowfall in this village, everyone does not come out of their houses the moment it begins to snow.
If they do not come out, the market does not open. If the market is not opened, I cannot buy chickens, and if I cannot buy chickens, there is no fried chicken!
However, snow is a natural phenomenon, and no matter how hard I pray or plead to Daddy, I cannot stop snow from coming. Therefore, I planned to raise chicken in our house! I managed to get Daddy’s approval to buy an egg to begin the process, and the chicken has to be large since the egg is so big.
I named the unborn chick Coco and took special care not to break it since the chick was so valuable to me.
Therefore, I managed to notice the small noise of the eggsh.e.l.l breaking in our sleep.
“Da, daddy!”
The egg started to crack with noise, and it was a sign that the chick was about to be born.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
I announced that I would raise a chicken but did not know any specific way to do so. Therefore, I urgently called Daddy, who knew everything and would solve this problem!
“Daddy~”
“Uh…what’s up?”
Daddy stared at me with a disheveled face in the blanket next to mine with sleepy eyes. The sun had not risen yet, but I was wide awake since the chick was about to be born.
“Coco’s coming out!”
I stared at Daddy at this urgent and happy moment, and how would he help the chick be born?
“Oh, congratulations.”
However, unlike my expectations, Daddy congratulated me in an indifferent voice and went back to his pillow again!
“Daddy!”
“I’m sleepy…”
“Wake up! Coco is…!”
Daddy covered his head with the blanket at my voice, which means not to wake him up since he is sleepy!
“It’s the moment when Coco will be born! Alice does not know anything, so you have to teach me!”
More cracks were appearing on the egg, but Daddy is fast asleep! It is an emergency!
“Daddy~”
I shook Daddy’s arm that was hiding underneath the blankets.
“Dear daughter, your daddy is sleepy…”
His voice turned to sleep talking, and while I felt some embarra.s.sment, I had to do this for Coco.
“Daddy!”
I took off his blanket and pecked him on the cheek.
“Wake up as you promised!”
I graduated from such shows of affection after I turned ten. While I had not known it before, I heard that you only kiss your father on the cheek until you were ten from the village kids! I stopped afterward, no matter how Daddy had asked for a peck except for his birthday.
Daddy had told me he would do anything if I would give him a kiss. While I had not used this card…now was the time!
“Uh…it seems a loss on my part since I’m so sleepy…”
Daddy sat while rubbing his eyes after seeming to have noticed what I had done.
“I’ll do it once more!”
Daddy smiled at my words.
“So, what about Coco?”
“Look at this!”
I showed the cracked egg to Daddy, and the big egg that I barely managed to hold with two hands was full of cracks and vibrating enough that my hands shook.
“What should I do about the chick?”
While the egg will break easily, but the sh.e.l.l was thick enough that a newborn animal may find it hard to get out. The chick would need my help, and I asked Daddy for the way!
“There’s nothing you should do.”
“Yes?”
His answer was that I should not do anything.
“Chicks come out with their own strength.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. They come out by breaking the sh.e.l.l with their beaks.”
Does that mean I cannot do anything for Coco?
“So, you just have to observe the egg up close.”
“I only need to watch and not do anything?”
“Yes. The chick has to come out by itself to grow strong.”
Daddy stroked my hair as he spoke.
“Do I have to raise it strong?”
“If you help it too much, the chick will not be able to do anything once it is separated from its parents. Therefore, you have to do so.”
He was also speaking to me.
“I’m not going to be separated from you.”
I moved without standing in front of Daddy and leaned against his chest.
“I’m going to live with you.”
“You’re going to run out saying that you’re going to get married.”
“No, I…”
I stopped speaking and thought things over. Could I promise that I would not marry? If I said so now, my words would become a promise to Daddy. If I rushed out and said so and did not keep my promise, that means I would be lying to him.
“Um…”