Product of Love

“Hello! Can I interest you in some grapes? They are fresh from the vine today!” The wrinkled man brought a cluster of juicy grapes to Adrianna’s face. Her stomach growled at the thought of devouring the fruit. She had still had some money from that month’s allowance and her parents would give her more if she had an emergency. Would they consider her hunger a true emergency? As Adrianna considered the grapes and the old man selling them, there was a tug on her sleeve. “Come on, Adrianna, we can’t be late for class. It’s our last day and I want to impress the Board of Mages with my knowledge, not my tardiness!” Adrianna sighed, her amber eyes sliding slowly away from the offered grapes. “I suppose you’re right, Mi.” Turning back to the vendor, she slid him a couple coins. “Save me some grapes, I’ll be back by the end of the day.” The vendor smiled and nodded, silently pocketing the coins. Adrianna turned to her fellow mage, “Shall we?” Mi smiled and bounced off, her silver hair shining like a beacon in the early morning. She chuckled, following her friend’s excited footsteps towards the education centre solely for mages. The old man watched the mages leave the little produce market as the groan of the supply wagon sounded behind him. “You’re early, Dereck.” He turned to the man on the wagon and smiled. “But it looks like you have a good stock of grapes today.” “Hello, uncle,” the young man jumped down from the wagon seat and gave the old man a hug. “How is business?” The uncle shrugged as Dereck turned to begin unloading the produce, “Sold some fruit, some I traded for, all in all, a normal day. Will you be staying around to help out or does the farm need you back instantly?” Dereck’s green eyes glowed as he replied, “Actually, I’m taking the next few weeks off to help around here. John says that he can handle things for the time I’m away. I guess I made a good decision making him my foreman.” “From the sounds of it, he runs it better than you do.” The old man’s eyes twinkled in delight. “I’m glad you’re able to stay, and you couldn’t have picked a better day to do so. I have some errands to run this afternoon and I have a customer coming back to pick up their purchase.” “Oh?” Dereck’s blonde eyebrows raised in surprise. “That is a bit unusual. What do they look like?” “Well, she has long silver hair and sharp amber eyes.” “Uncle, you just described half the mage population.” The uncle smiled patiently. “I think her name is Mi or something like that.” Dereck finished unloading the produce into the little shaded area behind the market table. “Mi, huh? Ok, I’ll do that.”