Farm life doesn’t wait, so I’ve been getting up at five in the morning since I was twelve. I was shoveling feed while my classmates Snapchatted lattes. They referred to me as “Bessie’s Bestie” or “Hay Girl.” I was once made fun of for the scent even after saving a cow. By graduation, all I had received were duties and grit instead of invitations.
I received the reunion email ten years later. I went even though I nearly erased it. I entered with my confidence, boots, and jeans. Rustin, the former golden boy, spotted me at that point. “I take it you’re CallieCountry? I have you on my TikTok list! I blinked. I doubted anyone in high school even took notice.
They had all seen me, it turned out. Everything from my butter-making films to my farm tutorials. The same children who used to make fun of me suddenly wanted to know about honey and goats. Rustin later acknowledged that “we were trying to be cool.” However, you? In fact, you took action.
That stayed with me.
I threw my first “Farm Day” for the neighborhood youngsters two weeks later. It spread like wildfire. I now own a thriving company that is based on all of the things they used to laugh at.
Therefore, don’t shrink if you feel different. It’s be that your strange little world is just what the world needs.
When I milked cows, they used to m…o..c.k me. They now hire me to show them how.
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A year after her son’s passing, a woman visits her daughter’s grave, but she is shocked by what she finds.
Brenda is shocked when she visits her son’s cemetery and notices her daughter-in-law’s tombstone close by, and she is perplexed when her late son’s wife denies ever knowing her. Brenda asks her son’s best friend for answers, but his dubious actions force her to solve the case on her own.
When Christopher passed away in a terrible accident at the age of 27, his mother Brenda was left to deal with an unending sea of sorrow. After his passing, her health deteriorated and her world was enveloped in darkness.
Brenda has now gone hundreds of miles to see her son’s burial following a year spent working in a clinic. She got down at the metro station in the city where Chris had lived, died, and been buried, carrying the weight of grief that words cannot describe.
Brenda recognized Harper, her widowed daughter-in-law, in the crowd as she made her way to the station exit. Brenda rushed after the young woman to surprise Harper, whom she had intended to see after the cemetery visit.
“Harper! Harper? Hold on a minute! From behind, she gave the woman a shoulder pat.
Harper is not me. You’re mistaken, lady! Brenda’s hand was brushed aside by the haughty young lady, who hurried off.
That’s odd! Brenda pondered. I couldn’t be seeing things. Her eyes, hair color, and voice are all same. Harper is her name!
However, the woman had disappeared into the throng. Brenda went to the cemetery after hailing a cab outside the station. Throughout her travel, the experience plagued her, and she couldn’t comprehend why Ha Ma’am. As he pulled over at the cemetery entrance, the cabbie exclaimed, “We’ve arrived,” startling Brenda out of her reverie.
As Brenda looked for Christopher’s final resting place among the row of tombs, the silence was eerie. When she found it, a flood of emotions swept over her. As she touched Christopher’s gravestone with shaking hands, she started crying.
Brenda’s eyes went to the nearby grave, and she felt a wave of disbelief.
She was appalled by the headstone’s engraved epitaph.
Harper, in loving memory. S.
December 3, 2020 – January 8, 1995
Always loved, always missed.
Peace be with you.
“Oh my God… Harper died last week, yet no one informed me? Unable to believe what she saw, Brenda gasped.
She was instantly plagued with the question, “If Harper is dead, then who was the girl at the subway?”
The sound of someone raking dry leaves startled Brenda out of her reverie. The groundskeeper for the cemetery was at work close by. He was asked if he may inform her about Harper’s funeral by Brenda.
With a sigh, the man exhaled a puff of smoke into the air and lighted a cigarette. It happened a week ago. It was odd. Only the funeral service staff were present; there were no mourners. After bringing the casket, they buried it, placed a basic headstone, and departed. Not even a formal funeral was held.
“Did anyone go to her grave afterwards?” Brenda scowled.Okay, thanks. Brenda said, then spun around. She couldn’t understand anything.
Brenda made the decision to meet Jake, the best friend and business partner of her late son, in an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding her daughter-in-law and her death.
Jake was taken aback when the mother of his best buddy appeared on his porch and grinned at him. Brenda sensed his unease, yet he allowed her in.
Brenda asked Jake about his travel plans as soon as she walked in and noticed bags in the living room.
“Mrs. Sutton, I’m leaving this state. With an odd look of regret and concern on his face, Jake remarked, “It’s been a difficult year since Chris passed away.” “I’m far away from all the mess I’ve been dealing with because the company is bankrupt.”
Jake, how can the business be bankrupt? Brenda’s eyebrows went up.
“What’s happening? Harper’s mausoleum was visible next to my son’s burial. No one even informed me that she had died! Tell me. How is my daughter-in-law doing? How did she pass away?
I did not want to bother you, Mrs. Sutton. You were devastated and troubled after Chris’s death. Jake’s words, which haunted Brenda even more, “When I heard you were going to be in the hospital for a year, I was worried that your condition might get worse if you found out about the company’s financial crisis and what Harper did.”
“Jake, what did Harper do?” Brenda inquired. “I’m curious about everything.”
What? Oh my God…” Brenda exclaimed.
“The police recovered a woman’s completely burned body with Harper’s gold letter ‘H’ pendant. There were charred remains of hundred dollar bills. Everything else was incinerated…the case was closed as accidental death.”
“Jesus…Harper ruined everything,” Brenda said. “But wait…what about Christopher’s hard work? It doesn’t make sense that the company went bankrupt after he died.”
“I understand your frustration, Mrs. Sutton,” Jake said. “But circumstances spiraled out of control. Harper paid a heavy price for her actions, but her funeral was dignified. Many guests attended and everyone grieved her tragic death…despite the wicked thing she did to all of us.”
Harper’s funeral??” Brenda grew suspicious. The cemetery groundskeeper had told her nobody attended Harper’s funeral. Something seemed incredibly fishy to Brenda. Jake’s anxiety and restlessness, coupled with his sudden decision to leave the city, fueled her doubts further.
“Uh, when is your flight, Jake?” Brenda asked.
“Early tomorrow morning…6 a.m.,” he said.
“Do you mind if I stay here for the night?” Brenda asked, a plan brewing in her mind. “I’m wary about renting a hotel room all alone for tonight in a strange city.”
Jake thought for a while but eventually agreed and showed Brenda to the guest room. Brenda put out the lights but never slept. Instead, she anxiously waited for Jake’s bedroom lights to go off so she could search for a clue to help her connect the dots.
Once Jake was asleep, Brenda headed to the living room and rummaged through Jake’s luggage. Her hands trembled with a mix of anxiety and fear. What if Jake was pretending to be asleep? What if he caught her prying? The consequences haunted Brenda. But she was determined to unravel the truth.
Brenda’s search turned into her worst nightmare when she uncovered two fake passports hidden within a secret compartment. One featured a photograph of her supposedly ‘dead’ daughter-in-law, Harper, but under a different name.
“Sarah? Oh, who are you trying to fool, Harper?” Brenda muttered.
John?” Brenda’s face twisted with suspicion when she saw Jake’s photograph under a different name in the other passport. “What’s going on here? Are they involved in something deeper…something I can’t even imagine?”
She then found two plane tickets to London booked under the fake names. A weird sensation crawled up Brenda’s gut.
Jake and his accomplice, Sarah, who was actually Harper, were up to something foul. Something had to be done.
She quickly put the luggage back as it was and hurried to the pharmacy at the end of the lane. Minutes later, she returned to Jake’s house with sleeping tablets.
Brenda was already in the kitchen making breakfast when Jake hurried downstairs at 5 a.m.
Jake, good morning! Before you depart on your journey, eat breakfast! Brenda gave a kind grin. “Your orange juice is here.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Sutton; that’s very considerate of you.” Brenda handed Jake a glass, which he sipped. “It tastes nice, huh?”
As Brenda had requested, Jake fell asleep on the couch about twenty minutes later. Brenda now had to wait for Harper to phone or text Jake because she was unable to travel without a passport and plane ticket.
Why is she taking so long? “It’s 5:30,” Brenda muttered to herself.
The silence in the room was broken when Jake’s phone rang. “Sarah,” the caller’s name, displayed on the screen. However, Brenda didn’t pick up the phone. After a while, an SMS notification showed up.
“Stupid, how could you have overslept? Remember that we have a flight to London today? I’m heading to your place right now in a taxi.
“Come on… I am awaiting your arrival. “HARPER!”
Brenda hid behind the entrance door and smiled cruelly. After around half an hour, Brenda looked through the peephole and seen a cab arrive outside. She dialed the police in a hurry.
Harper entered as the door creaked open. When Brenda first saw her face, she was astounded. She has a living daughter-in-law!
Jake! Are you kidding me? Get up,” Harper barked at an unconscious Jake lying on the couch. That’s when a familiar voice spoke from behind, startling her.
“ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, HARPER?” Brenda said, striking a hard blow to Harper’s head with a vase.
A startled Harper collapsed on the floor and blacked out. Moments later, Brenda heard police sirens and hurried outside. She explained the situation to the cops and showed them the fake passports and flight tickets. Jake and Harper were hospitalized and later transferred to the police station for interrogation.
Jake refused to confess to his crimes, but Harper came clean when she learned her sentence could get cut off if she confessed the truth.
We snatched the body of a homeless woman and bought off a morgue employee. Wearing my gold chain, we placed the body in my car’s driver’s seat and lit it on fire. Then, to make it look like an accident, we struck the car from behind, sending it plummeting down the cliff.
“How about the cash you took?” Harper looked directly into the detective’s eyes.
Our new bank accounts have received the five million dollars. We believed everything was taken care of. The flight, the bank accounts, the new passports… I assumed that Jake and I would get away with it. However, Harper stopped, sobbed, and buried her head in her handcuffs.