defeat

“3:00 – Haying,” read the Activities Board.

I glanced at my watch: 2:03. I had almost an hour to get some gardening done. I biked to Avalon to meet the Monster Librarian and asked her if she was interested. Then we heard thunder roll in the distance.

“Shoot. They’re probably down there right now trying to get the hay in before the storm hits. I should go now to see if they need help. Wanna come?”

I biked to the farm, hoping to beat the storm, yet praying it wouldn’t hit at all so I could play volleyball at 4 o’clock. German #2 had the same idea; we met at the barn, both on bikes.

Nobody was expecting the storm to come so early. Farmer Brown was already in the field making bales, so German #2 and I biked out to the field along with two other farmers, ready to gather 80 to 100 bales.

The sky was greying and the wind was coming faster as the baler spewed out one unbound bale after another. All we could do as we waited for the wagon was follow behind and throw the loose hay back onto the raked rows. The rain hit just as we started piling what bales there were into the back of the truck.

After gathering 20 bales, wet and plastered with bits of chaff, we looked over the field of damp hay. The rain stopped as the last bale was loaded onto the wagon, mocking our efforts: “There, you’ve finished. So have I.”