I honestly don't know why I post any more. No one reads it. I'm just writing stories no one will ever read. But alas, I won't stop! Hopefully someone will take the time to read... Someday... Well here's part 4! When lilly came to give us breakfast the next morning, I found it difficult to talk to her. I felt like she knew about the dream. When she came down, beautiful as always, she came straight to me and started feeding me oatmeal. I couldn't look at her penetrating eyes. When she would try to make conversation, I would cut it short. I felt like a jerk. She asked me how I slept and I instantly thought of the dream. I looked up to find her gawking at me, wide eyed, a blush creeping up her neck. She quickly looked away and didn't speak to me for the rest of her visit. Was it that obvious? Was it written all over my face? God this was embarrassing. When she left, my parents discussed the two options lilly gave us. It was decided that we would vote. My mother, Carmel, and I all voted to stay. My dad wanted to leave. It was decided. We would stay and help contribute to this village. And I would get to see lilly. When lilly came to feed us dinner, she avoided my gaze completely. My father told her of our decision. She beamed at him. “ you won't regret this! Oh I'm so happy! You made the right choice!” She said happily. “I'll go tell my dads so they can go over the rules with you!” She ran upstairs and soon came back down with two men. You could tell which was her father and which was her step father. Juan, the man that beat us the most, was a tall dark Hispanic man with a hard expression and the same brown eyes and dark hair as Lilly's. He was built and had a look of hatred on his face. Mark was a softer looking man. He was also tall, but not as built as Juan. He was a pale white and had a nice look about his face with kind green eyes. It was hard to believe that he beat us along with Juan. Juan looked over us, and with a deep sigh, he spoke. “Me and mark would like to apologize for beating you two up” “And?” Said lilly, arching one of her perfect eyebrows. Juan sighed and said. “ We would like to offer the two men in your family the chance to beat me and mark. An eye for an eye.” My dad cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “ Um that won't be necessary sir.” “Really?” Asked mark with a chuckle. “ if I were you two, I'd want to kick our asses!” “Well uh, that's not a Christian thing to do sir.” “ what are you a preacher?” Juan asked,chuckling. “Actually, I am sir.” My dad replied curtly. “Oh! We need a preacher! You could be the village preacher!” Lilly exclaimed happily. “That would be nice” my dad said, his voice lightening a bit. “I'll have lilly explain the rules. Me and mark were just here to apologize.” And with that, he turned around and left. Mark followed. “Okay! Let's get started!” Lilly said. “You guys will get your own house that mark assigns you. Here at the village, we have seven houses and seven families, including you guys. But only four houses are being used. The houses here are very big, old, and roomy, so mark puts two families together in one house. You'll get a chance to meet the other families later. For now, you guys will get your own house. We have 7 new pairs of clothes for you, including tooth paste, deodorant, and all that other junk. Everyone has a schedule. Everyone works on a chore on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays are workout days. Thursdays and Fridays are chore days. Saturdays and Sundays are free days. You guys will be assigned to chores later. It is expected to go to church on Sundays at 9:00 sharp. Church ends at 10:30. Everyone will get food. Yada yada yada. Any questions? No? Good! Now let's get you guys out of these wrist bindings!” She untied our sore wrists and led us upstairs. She took us to the kitchen, where four bowls of chicken noodle soup were waiting for us. We sat down and ate. A short, chubby women with long eyelashes, plump lips, and perfect eyebrows came in. This was undoubtedly Lilly's mom. “Oh my!” Lilly's mom said with a southern accent. “What a lovely bunch we got here! My name is Lola. I'm Lilly's mother. Would y'all care for some sweet tea?” Lola brought us the tea and chatted with my mother. Carmel and Lilly chatted and sipped on their tea. Outside the kitchen window I saw orange sunlight. I haven't seen sunlight in, what seems like, forever! By the color and shadows, I assumed it was evening. Lola stood up and looked at lilly. “Lilly honey. Would you be a dear and go get them their clothes and take them to their new home, please? Mamas got to cook tomorrow's breakfast!” Lilly jumped up“Sure thing mama! Follow me please!” We got up from the table and followed her out of a big brick house. We walked over to a shed that had a lot of different padlocks on the door. She leaned over and unlocked each lock with keys, and codes. She opened the door and walked in. She called my mother in first and closed the door. What are they doing? My mom came out, a smile on her face. In her arms she carried seven bundles of clothes. She called my dad next, then Carmel, and last, me. When I went in I felt awkward. She grabbed a tape measure and started measuring my waist, then my arms, then my legs. She did all this with out speaking. When she was done measuring she went back to a shelf, checked some tags, and brought me seven bundles of clothes. Are eyes met. We looked at each other for what seemed like ages. Then I wrangled up all my courage and dropped the bundles, grabbed her waist, and kissed her. She tensed up, but I felt her body easing into mine as she kissed me back. Her lips tasted like honey, just like they did in my dream. Are lips moved in synch,perfectly. I could stay like this forever, but of course, we couldn't. She broke the kiss, bent over, grabbed the clothes, put them in my arms, then walked to the door. When we got out she acted as if nothing happened, putting her cool and calm expression on. She gave us a tour of the village. We saw an occasional villager, looking at us with wonder. She took us to another shed and gave us toothpaste, tooth brushes, soap, towels, combs and brushes. She took us to our house. It was big and white with two story's. The window panes were dusty, the paint chipped. “This is your new home! As of right now, you guys are the only people living in it. It's furnished and we have plumbing here. Showers only last 10 minutes. On Sundays they last 15. There is a timer in the bathroom so you can time your showers. The water is clean and drinkable.” She opened the door and showed us where everything was. “I'll come get you guys for breakfast tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is Saturday, and that means free day, so there really isn't a schedule! ” Me and Carmel picked out our bedrooms. I started undoing my bundles of clothes. Five out of the seven were work clothes. The other two were nice church like clothes. I laid in my bed and listened to the muffled voices of lilly and Carmel. They were talking like they were old friends. All of a sudden, Carmel burst into my room followed by lilly. “Hey Chris!” Carmel practically shouted. “What Carmel?” “Well tomorrow and Sunday are free days, right?” “Yeah..” “Well lilly said that she would introduce us to the other kids our age tomorrow! Wanna join?” “Sure.. I guess” I flinched a little when I heard Lilly's voice “I should go. I'll see you guys tomorrow!” And she left. Carmel gave me an odd look. “What?” She didn't reply to me. She just kept looking at me. “What Carmel?” “Somebody's In love!!! “What are you talking about?” “It's obvious that you have a thing for lilly! Don't hide it bro!” “Don't be stupid Carmel. I hardly even know her.” Carmel snickered at me and left my room. Was it that obvious? Did my parents know? Did Lilly know? Well I guess she does, because I kissed her.. I kissed her.. It finally dawned on me that I kissed her. She tasted like honey, just like she did in my dream! And she kissed me back. I smiled. I probably look really stupid right now. But I couldn't help it. She kissed me back. So that must mean something, right!? I laid there on my bed thinking that she had to like me back. She had to, she kissed me back! I thought about that kiss all night, till I fell asleep. I would see Lilly tomorrow. No, that's to long. I need to see her soon. Now. Right now. I got up and walked to my window. Could I climb out? I opened my window and saw that it had ivy and vines growing from the sill to the bottom. How convenient.