I LOVE MY LIFE

On days like today, I really wish my grandparents had bought a wheat harvester with air conditioning in it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am used to it. It's been three years since I was reincarnated. Three years I accustomed myself to helping my grandparents on their farm. So much so that a six year old was entrusted with driving a harvester on his own. But today was just so hot.

The wheat was finally all harvested. I drove back to its parking spot, a large open garage next to the large silos. Where Ricky was waiting with his…vacuum to suck the wheat into the silo.

"You finished a bit sooner huh, Sammy?"

"Yeah well, discomfort will do that to ya." I tossed the key to Ricky, and ran away."

"Oi, where are you going so fast?"

"The pool. I need to soak myself before dark."

"Oh, okay."

The pool was actually a mini water reservoir up the hill. My grandpa told me that he built it himself. The water ran through the river he made behind our house, all the way to the lake not far from our house. The water was clean, cool, and provided sustenance for the crops.

I like soaking in the water. It dawned on my how stupid I was, to not even knew about this before. Served me right for being a spoil, shut in, Mama's boy right?

"Ahhh, perfect." The minute my body was submerged in the water, all the fatigue, the heat, was gone in an instant. Plus, the view was not bad. You could see the entire farm from here. The wheat field, soy field and corn field. There's buildings for the cows, the sheeps and the chickens. And a large field for the animals to roam free in the daytime.

The orange sun blanketed the entire farm area, making it a majestic scene. I sat and sauntered between the submerged rock and the towering rock behind me. Felt like having a large natural bath tub, with the most beautiful view I could ask for.

Just as the orange gulf was partially engulfed by the horizon, I heard Ricky calling for me.

"Oi, Sammy. Your mom's looking for you."

"Alrite, thanks Ricky. I'll be right down."

"Okay man. See you tomorrow."

"Sure thing. Thanks for today Ricky."

Ricky waved at me, and I waved back. I got out of the water, wiped the water from my body using my hands, put my jeans and sleeveless shirt back on, and went home.

###

"Oi,oi. What do you think you're doing?"

I looked at my mom, perplexed at her question. "Eating dinner mom. Why?"

"You will not just walk in here from the farm and just sit here on the dinner table. Shower first, then dinner."

"But I did shower, mom."

"Where? At that dirty pit on that hill. That does not count as a shower."

"It's clean water mom. I'm totally clean."

"SHOWER! NOW!"

"Fine."

Thank God today's an especially hot day. I wouldn't mind another shower. As I let the cold shower trickle down my body, I pondered on the real issue at hand.

Mom does not like me doing the farm work. She never did. She always told me to study. I am always cooped up in my room, with a book. Guess what mom? All that studying, just led me to end up being homeless.

Fresh out of the shower, equipped with my one set Catdog pyjama, I joined mom and dad on the dinner table again.

Whatever the issue my mom had, she's indeed a decent cook. Dinner today was mac and cheese and spicy fried chicken. It was delicious. Three years after reincarnation, and I still can't believe I got to eat mom's cooking again.

"So Gary dear," my mom said to my dad, "have you thought about the mayor's offer?"

"What? To sell the house and the farm?"

"Yeah. What'd you think? Pretty good offer right?"

"Yeah, it is but…where are we gonna go Liz?"

"Oh you worrywart. There's lots of empty mansions near town. With the money we got, we could easily buy one of 'em. And have a lot left over to spend."

"But…this is my parents farm Liz. I…kinda like living here."

"Why would you wanna live on a rinky dink, smelly farmhouse. You're not a farmer. And I don't want my son to be a simple farmer either."

"I like working at the farm mom. I'm kinda good at it too." I said to mom. I was quite happy when dad smiled at what I said. My mission to back my father up was a success. Unfortunately, it incurred the wrath of my mother.

"You see Gary. You see what this farm did to our son?" Mom turned to me. "You'll be starting school soon. I don't want to hear about this farmer nonsense."

"But why mom? Grandpa and grandma were farmers. Why can't I be one too?"

"ENOUGH! Stop interrupting adult talk. Eat your dinner!"

Ah, I forgot the downside of being a kid. Your opinion does not matter. I hope dad would do better to defend this farm.

"Look Gary." Mom's tone softened. "I talked to the mayor. He agreed to let your company be one of the developers for the land. If you sell this land, you'll get a lot of projects from the City Hall coming your way. Isn't that great?"

Oh no, I remembered it. This is the start of our family's downfall. My dad accepted the offer. His architecture firm did get a lot of work. But he was being accused of embezzlement and fraud. Which cause him to go bankrupt, and led him to commit suicide.

"I…yeah…it does seems like a good offer."

My mom's eyes gleamed with delight. "So you're gonna do it? You're gonna accept the offer?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I'll think about it."

"What's there to think about? It's the best offer we're gonna get out of this podunk place."

"Please Liz. It's a big deal for me. Give me time to think about it."

I saw that my mom wanted to protest even further, but she cancelled her intention. She realised it's no use pressurising dad any further. Perhaps she'll try again tomorrow.

###

It's 11 PM. And I was wide awake. The first hurdle of my life presented itself. My dad is about to get cleaned out. And my mom willingly took the role of the deal broker.

So, to recap In the past life, when I was six, a year after my grandparents had died, my mom came to my dad with a proposal. Her boss, the mayor, wanted to buy the whole farm area, and turned it into a rich people housing area. A Southampton type thing to give you a clearer picture.

It is a strategic location. Our farm house was near to the sea. My grandparents build fish farms in one of the bay area, which could easily be turned into a marina for those rich people boats.

At first, the deal was very beneficial for my dad's firm. He was put in charge by the mayor to develop the area. The funding will be paid in annual installation. Mom quit being the mayor's secretary, and said that she wanted to be in charge of the books and the payments.

Everything was going smoothly. And then, six years later, it all went down horribly. As it turns out, mom had been siphoning off the annual payments. Even worse, the final payment, which dad was going to use to pay for the loan, never came. Well it did came, but it went into mom's account. By the time dad realized it, they were already divorced. Mom had already gotten married to the mayor. And you cannot fight City Hall.

My dad went bankrupt, got into alcohol, and killed himself. The morbidly typical human response.

I lost everything when I was just thirteen. I guess, all this time, I'd given up on life. I always thought that since I'd hit rock bottom anyway, why not just stay there for good. Not that I didn't try to make things better, just that I failed. When you get few failures after already hitting rock bottom, you will feel that your existence was worthless. So why bother?

But now, I've been given this second chance to correct the wrongs in my life. I shall never again waste this opportunity called life. I will do anything to protect this life. My life. I love my life.

____________________________________________

Hello, my name is C Bucket. I'm writing to fulfill my life long dream of buying a bucket of KFC fried chicken.

Please subscribe to my Patreon Kase Aufstrich, and help me buy a bucket of fried chicken.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

C Bucket

Kase Aufstrich