Olivia isn’t much for city life, so she can’t share her little sister’s excitement about leaving the ranch in the fall. In fact, she’s kind of dreading it. Her dad’s been pushing her to go out into the world and make a life of her own, but she’s never felt the urge to leave home, unlike Emily who’s always dreamed of it and worked hard to get a college scholarship.
Her mom died when Olivia was nine giving birth to her two little brothers, so as the big sister, she’s always had to be the responsible one and help take care of her sister and brothers, while also helping her dad run the ranch.
Whenever she went to the city, she always felt so alien, like she didn’t belong. She’s never understood that life, so she stayed in the quiet comfort of her home where everything made sense. She’s never cared much for human interaction either, apart from with her family. She prefers the company of her horses over people any day. Horses are so much simpler, she thinks, so less capricious. You always know where you stand with a horse so long as you treat them right. People, on the other hand, require maps and compasses that she’s never really possessed or cared much for acquiring.
Nonetheless, she’s given into her father’s pleadings and is following her sister to the city. After all, it’s only three hours away, and at least she’ll have Emily there, although she isn’t sure whether that’s better or worse. She still feels responsible for her, though, so she’ll be glad to be there to keep an eye on her. Olivia knows her sister’s a bit too eager and naïve, so she expects to have her hands full.
Her dad has a friend in the city whose son owns a small bakery and he happened to need help running it, so he agreed to hire her. At least she’ll be doing something she loves. They’ve never met before, so Olivia hopes she’ll be able to get along with him, but she isn’t holding her breath. She thought the name of the bakery was an odd choice, though: ‘Kismet’.
Read the rest of the ‘Kismet’ series here.
Teodora thinks she’s bad at writing descriptions for her drawings, so we thought I might be able to help with that.
She really liked what I wrote about Olivia, and after I told her about some ideas I more or less inadvertently had about how her story in the city would unfold, we decided to see it through. Teo’s never drawn a character a second time and I almost never write about mine more than once. Not yet entirely sure how I’ll go about it, but we’re both excited to do this.
For more wonderful drawings, follow her on Instagram @teoctobart.
For more stories, Teodora’s got her own tag here.
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