Sophie shook her head. She had to get it together and start concentrating! The sheep would end up all over the farm if she wasn't careful. She shooed the last one of them inside the gate and carefully closed the latch behind it. She dusted her hands off on her jeans and started the trek back to the farmhouse, the sun setting behind her as she walked.
Sophie wasn't sure what was going on, but lately she'd been having all sorts of trouble keeping her mind focussed on her jobs. She had just turned 18 and it seemed that ever since her birthday, her concentration was getting worse and worse. She found herself daydreaming at all times of the day these past couple of weeks; whether it was when she was at her desk during school hours, or when she was doing her after-school chores around the property as she was this evening, or even when she was on one of her morning rides with her horse Captain. She couldn't pinpoint what her mind was fixating on when she lost concentration. It was nothing really, just this funny distracted feeling. Almost flighty, like her mind knew there was something she SHOULD be thinking about, but didn't know what that was yet.
Sophie was the only child to her parents, who owned Marsden, a large property in far western New South Wales. She had been home-schooled since she was old enough to 'go to school', but thanks to the many staff on the property she had never felt lonely. Some of the jackaroos and jillaroos had been working there from even before Sophie was born, so she practically grew up with them. In fact, as she headed towards the house now, she knew that any of these jillaroos and jackaroos within easy riding distance would also be converging on the house for dinner. The fifteen or so staff of Marsden were treated like family and anyone who wished to join Sophie and her parents for meals was always welcome at the big table in the main house. Annabelle the cook did a great job catering for the staff. Those who chose to also had the option of dining in the private staff quarters if they wanted their own space for the night.
Sophie sighed as she walked the final length of the path towards the house. It was great being surrounded by an 'extended family' all the time, but sometimes she just wished she had a best friend to talk to. Someone her own age. The girls on the airwaves at school were nice, but it wasn't the same as seeing someone face to face. She didn't really have anyone to gossip with and share the secrets and turmoils of growing up. Her parents as well as the staff of the property had always talked to her as if she was already an adult. If she had a girl her own age to talk to, she could ask whether this distracted, flighty feeling was normal. Sophie was mature for her age, and appreciated being treated like an adult, but people tended to forget she had only just turned 18. The next youngest person in the whole place was Tom, and he was 31!
Despite the difference in age, Sophie felt closest to Tom out of everyone on the property. He had been working here with the horses for as long as she could remember, probably since she was about eight years old. Ever since she was a kid she had known she could go to Tom with a problem and he would make the time to listen to her. He was a good listener, and just as good teasing her and paying her out! Despite all that, things had been feeling strange lately even with her relationship with Tom. Sophie sighed again and pushed open the door of the house.
Tom was inside the house, watching Sophie walk up the path. He hadn't seen her in a few days as he'd been away mending fences. Watching her walk towards the front door, it occurred to Tom, Sophie really wasn't a kid anymore. She had always been quite short for her age, and slight, but in the past few months had developed full, round, pert C-cup breasts. Her hips were swinging and her breasts were bouncing pleasantly as she came towards him. Tom had to shake himself. "Get a grip, she's like a sister," he muttered under his breath. It was just strange to think of Sophie, little Sophie, as growing up. She had always been a tomboy with no fear, who loved to kick a soccer ball around with him, could ride horses with the best of them, and had a dislike for dresses that was almost comical. Tom was sad to think that one day these things about her which he'd come to think of as facts might not hold true anymore. At least he knew her skill for riding horses would never change. Tom cleared his throat. It was time to go clean up for dinner.
Sophie emerged from her room to the familiar clattering, chattering noises that symbolised meal times at Marsden. She had had just enough time to wash her hands and clean her face before dinner. She wondered who would be at the table tonight; hopefully Tom would be back from his fencing job. She always missed his company when he was away. Sophie hoped her mother wouldn't have too much to drink at dinner tonight, she could really do without that screeching tone of voice that came with more than two wines.
When she got to the dining room Sophie did a quick scan of faces, skipping over those of her parents, and six or seven staff, to settle on one in particular. Tom was home! She didn't know why, but tonight she was especially glad to have him back at the table. She took in his familiar form; red-gold hair, tanned freckled face, green eyes, strong chin, wide shoulders, big arms. She suddenly felt a sense of calm overtake her previous distractibility. Tom moved slowly, spoke slowly; he knew the world would go on around him without a care for the pace of his actions. He was like the big steady boulder in the middle of a spring stream. Sophie moved to the vacant spot across from him at the table and sat down.
Tom grinned at Sophie as she sat; "Nice to see you, stranger. You're looking skinny as ever, how are you going to beat me at soccer at this rate?" he said.
"Stranger? You're the one who's been away for ages!" she retorted. Their usual banter continued but underneath it, Sophie's flighty feeling returned. In fact, she suddenly felt more scattered and distracted than she had all week. What was going on?
Tom, for his part, kept up the conversation but couldn't help noticing Sophie's bright blue eyes grow distant. He wondered what she was thinking about. He really thought she might have been a bit more interested in chatting to him tonight after being away this long, but no matter. She was probably thinking about some guy from school. She was well past the age for crushes after all. Tom let his own mind wander, to his soft warm bed in the staff quarters. He liked sleeping out in his swag under the stars, but it grew old after a few days, and he was looking forward to the comforts of a real bed tonight.
A couple of days later Sophie ran into Ella, one of the jillaroos at Marsden who had been around forever. "Sophie what's going on?!" Ella exclaimed, "you seem a little on edge lately!"
"What do you mean?" asked Sophie, surprised someone had noticed a change in her.
"Well, you just seem tense, or restless, or something," said Ella. "That's the best way I can explain it. Is everything alright?"
"Sure, of course," said Sophie. "It's coming up to exam time, I guess I'm just feeling a bit nervous about that."
The two of them worked side by side for the next hour cleaning the chicken runs, but Sophie's mind was working overtime. If Ella had noticed something different, that meant she wasn't imagining it. She didn't know what to do but she resolved to speak to Tom about it next time she saw him. He always knew what to say to make things right.
Two days went by without Sophie seeing Tom. She continued to feel more and more restless, her mind was all over the place and she couldn't concentrate for more than ten minutes at a time. School was awful, her teacher was getting increasingly annoyed at her limited attention span. On Wednesday afternoon, Sophie resolved to seek Tom out and ask his advice. She made her way to the stables where he could usually be found, doing some odd job or another. On approaching the stables Sophie breathed in the comforting smell of hay and horses and reminded herself everything was going to be ok. She walked through the door and spotted Tom right away; he was tall and it was easy to see his bright red-gold hair above the stable partitions.
"Tom!" she cried out, and he jumped and turned towards her. She walked towards him, relieved she'd finally get to talk to someone about what was going on, but on getting closer to him she stopped short. Why was she noticing how broad his shoulders looked in that shirt, now of all times? For goodness sake this was a perfect example of how distract-able her mind had been lately. Sophie pulled her gaze away from staring at Tom's chest hair peeking out over the neck of his white shirt, and brought her eyes up to meet his. She experienced a jolt which was almost physically painful when their eyes met, and breathed in sharply.
"What's up, Soph?" he asked, in that easy way of his.
"Do you...did you feel that?" she asked.
Tom looked confused.
