A Day in the Life of Zoe

Set in acient greek times. Story title just like it sounds A Day in the Life of Zoe.

 

Prologue

            Zoe is not your typical young woman; she enjoys hunting with her father (Nikon) instead of working with her mother, doing housework, or practicing her reading and her writing skills. She yearns to play sports with the boys, but she is forbidden because the boys play sports naked. He mother (Sophia) often has to watch her while she practices her reading skills (to be sure she gets all of her assigned work done). He mother tells her “You have the beauty of Aphrodite, but the spirit of Artemis.” In short, Zoe is not like other typical young women. ______________________________________________________________________________

 

I woke up to the binding sun; I quickly shielded my eyes. Once my eyes were adjusted I picked up my seashell necklace from the floor next to my bed and tied the string tightly around my neck. I walked down the hall to the kitchen my mother was already up and moving around.

My father must still be in bed, I thought.

“Good morning, Zoe,” my mother said as she handed me a plate with a piece of bread, a handful of grapes, and a few pieces of cheese.

‘Thank you mother,” I replied as I took the plate from her and sat down at the table. After I ate a few of the grapes and I began to speak” Is there anything in particular I have to do today?”

“You father wants to go hunting after lunch for dinner. I thought you would want to go with him,” my mother said.

“Can I go mother?” I asked my mother pleading her to let me go.

“You can go if you help me clean the kitchen after breakfast, help with the spinning, and work on your reading,” my mother answered.

“Thank you mother,” I said and taking a bite of my bread. I quickly finished my breakfast, washed off my plate; put it back in the cabinet. Then I asked “Would you like me to clean off the table or sweep the floor?”

“You can clean the table I will sweep the floor,” my mother responded and I got right to work. I quickly, but thoroughly cleaned the table and went off to my room to practice my reading.

Almost two hours later…

“Zoe have you been working on your reading?” My mother called from the kitchen.

“Yes,” I answered. And it is the whole truth, I thought as I knew mother would call me in and ask me to read a paragraph or two to her.

“Good. Then come in here and help me with the spinning,” my mother said. I walked down the hallway to the kitchen and saw that my mother was already sitting at the cloth spinning machine and had my machine out.

“Thank you for getting out my machine,” I thanked my mother and I thanked her genuinely because that thing was difficult to get out of the closet and carry it into the kitchen.

“You are very welcome,” she said as she continued to spin the cloth. I sat down at my machine and begun to spin the cloth that was going to be used to make clothing, a new table cloth, the possibilities are endless.

“How long have you been spinning?” I asked.

“Since you went to work on your reading,” my mother responded.

They sat there in silence and continued to spin three and a half hours...

            I saw father come out of his bedroom and I said “Good morning father.”

            “Good morning, Zoe, Sophia,” father responded.

            “Zoe can you go out to the tree and pick a basket of olives?” mother asked.

            I immediately stopped spinning and said “I’ll go right out.”           

            I went to pick up my machine, but my mother said “Don’t worry about putting it away. I’ll take care of it.”

            “Thank you,” I said as I picked up a basket to put the olives in and I went outside to pick olives.

            I was done picking olives in fifteen minutes and I came inside...

            “I’ve finished picking olives,” I said to my mother who took the basket from me and handed me a plate of two pieces of bread, a handful of grapes, and she places a handful of olives on the plate as well. “Thank you,” I said.

            “No problem. Just eat, so you can go out hunting with you father,” my mother responded.

            Within five minutes I was finished eating and my father appeared with two bows and about twenty or so arrows

            “Are you ready to leave?” my father asked me as he handed me a bow.

            “Yes,” I responded.

            “Let’s go then,” my father replied.

            “See you later mother,” I said as we walked out the door.

            “Bye, Zoe,” My mother replied.

            “So where are we going?” I asked my father.

            “To the fields to hunt deer,” my father responded and we walked in silence the rest of the way until we reached the fields. When we arrived at the fields we each picked a tree to stand behind and we hunted in silence for the next several hours until...

            I saw a deer come out from a tree and acted. I immediately shot at it with my bow and it collapsed to the ground. My father came out from behind his tree examined my kill and said “Nice job.”

            “Thank you,” I responded as I walked out from behind my tree and approached my kill.

            “Ready to go home?” my father responded as he picked up my kill and threw it over his shoulder.

            “Sure,” I said and we began to walk back to the house.

When we arrived home my mother already had a fire going, so if one of us had brought home a kill, she already had the fire going.

“So who killed it this time?” my mother asked as we walked through the door.

“I did,” I responded.

“Nice job,” my mother said as she handed my father a knife to cut up my meal. Within the hour we were eating dinner and after dinner I went to bed, but before I went to bed I kneeled by my bedside and prayed to the gods to be a normal girl. My mother heard me and came in my room and said “Don’t go praying for that again. Just remember you have the beauty of Aphrodite, but the spirit of Artemis, and that’s not a bad thing! Be content with who you are.”

 

THE END!

Author's Note

School Assignment 20/20!
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Reviews

[Cassandra D.]

I loved reading this!
The beginning reminds me of this movie I watched...I think it was called
"Tuck Everlasting" something like that, I suppose.
Well, this was truly a well written story!