I had spent the remainder of the night writing by candlelight, just about my dream. I should have been working on a dress for a customer, but I did not feel mentally well enough to venture out into my dark house for supplies after such a nightmare. Before I knew it, the sun was rising and painting the sky various shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, and violet. I gazed out the window, captivated by its scintillating appearance. I was suddenly aware of a minuscule shape scurrying towards our home. I knew who it was immediately by her small form and a bundle in her arms. I snatched my white lace shawl off the back of my desk chair and swept it over my shoulders, hurrying out of my room and into the periwinkle hued hallway. I crept past my mother's room to eschew awaking her, and swiftly traveled down the stairs, through the rose-colored parlor set up with golden pigmented furniture, to the champagne colored entryway. A knock arose from the oak door, and I opened it.

Sure enough, there stood Violet Irving, still yawning and dressed in her little white nightgown and matching slippers. She clutched a mass of stargazer lilies in her tiny hands. She beamed up at me and thrust out the flowers, her golden curls flouncing at the movement

"Good morning, Miss Weatherbury!" She chirped, her strange violet eyes sparkling in the light of dawn.

"Good morning, young Miss Irving," I replied, affectionately ruffling her golden blonde curls, "are these for me?"

"Yes. My brother wanted you to have them. He knows you enjoy lilies. I believe he fancies you, miss."

I blushed despite myself, and Violet giggled.

"Well, thank him for when you get back to him, alright?" I suggested.

"Yes, Miss Weatherbury! Good day!" Violet smiled, dashing back across the road to her home.

I watched her go, her curls flouncing as she ran. Closing the door, I wandered into the kitchen and gathered coffee bags and a pot full of water. I carried them to the living room, where a metal tray hung over the fireplace. I lit a fire and placed the coffee bags into the pot and placed the pot on the tray. While I waited for the water to boil, I picked up the dress I was meant to finish by this week's end and worked on that. Mother always said I had her talent in sewing, knitting, and other cloth-related projects. I was working on a new dress for Violet. She was growing, despite her older brother's wishes, and required new ones. This dress was a purple frilly thing; Violet would ADORE it. And it would bring out the eyes that gave her her name.

Above my head, the stairs creaked. My mother had awoken from her slumber. I deposited the lilies from Sawyer into a vase filled with water and placed it on the table as my mother entered the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looked like me, for the most part. Small lips, oval-shaped face, long, wavy, dark brown hair, slender, willowy frame. The only difference was that I was taller, had a small waist (she had once had a slim waist; birthing four children had taken it from her) and that my eyes were not storm cloud grey but rather an emerald green. I had gotten my personality and eyes from my father; everything else came from my mother. My sisters had been the opposite. They had gotten my father's curly unruly red hair and my mother's grey eyes, and the personality of my mother: gentle, logical, loving, caring, patient, shy. With the exception of Evellynn, the spitfire.

"Good morning, mother," I greeted, embracing her, "how did you sleep?"

"Good morning, Gracelynn. I slept rather well. As for you?" She smiled sleepily.

I grimaced.

"I did not sleep as well as I wished," I admitted.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"Nightmares."

"Oh, my poor daughter...perhaps a visit to Sawyer's shop will cheer you up?"

"Perhaps. Do we need something from him?" I inquired, biting my lip thoughtfully.

"Yes, milk and bread. Do well to remember to bring the basket with you," she gently instructed.

"Yes, mother. Of course. I must first change into something more...suitable for going into town."

I strode upstairs to my bedroom and retrieved my favorite emerald green dress from my wardrobe. I lifted my nightgown over my head and then pulled on my emerald green dress over my undergarments. I also exchanged my slippers for my stockings and brown leather boots. I left my bedroom and returned to the kitchen where my mother waited. I allowed her to leave a kiss on my cheek, and then I scooped up the large wicker basket and swept out the door.