Seeded: Day 4

Word Count: 24,009

Summary of Events:

Lark participated in another game before going with her good friend Ariel to see Ariel's sister's family, who'd come up from Medicine Hat for the weekend, as Ariel's sister had recently had a little baby whom Ariel, in particular, wanted to cuddle. Brandt was waiting for his cousins to decide who was riding on the inflatable device behind the boat next when he was pressed to join in a group selfie despite his dislike for selfies, prompting him to get annoyed enough to leave. Not wanting to hang around the campsite, he texted Brandon, whom he was surprised to learn was at the campground's beach, so he joined Brandon there and surveyed the people on the beach, with his gaze being drawn to one person in particular…

Excerpt of the Day:

She had dark golden blonde hair that was held back in two braids, and mostly covered by a western hat that looked like the types that were typically painted white, except that it wasn’t, it was natural straw-coloured.

A brightly-coloured plaid western shirt with its sleeves rolled up and its hem tied at the waist covered what was either a tank top or a t-shirt that was in a coordinating colour, with a pair of khaki shorts completing the ensemble, as she stood almost knee-deep in the water.

Close to her a little blonde-haired toddler in a pink swimsuit was splashing. She stepped up to the toddler, holding a small cup in her hand, and poured water that had been inside the cup over the little girl’s head, which seemed to elicit delight from the child.

She used the cup to toss some more water at the toddler before the little girl took the cup from her and looked like she was going to drink from it, but she stopped the little girl from doing so in what seemed to him something of a maternal reaction.

Considering the fact that they both possessed blonde hair, and she was definitely physically mature enough to bear a child — and shapely so, in Brandt’s opinion — it was possible that they were mother and daughter, but Brandt wasn’t convinced.

It wasn’t just the fact that she was wearing two braids — which was a hairstyle more commonly borne by little girls — but overall she didn’t seem like she was mature enough to have a toddler child, even though Brandt wasn’t really inclined to think she was immature overall.

“Who’s that blonde in the sunset-coloured shirt standing out in the water there?” Brandt asked.

“Lark Stanek,” Brandon replied.

“That little girl isn’t her daughter, is it?” Brandt asked.

“No,” Brandon replied. “I’m not sure who– that might be Ariel’s niece, actually.”

“And who’s Ariel?” Brandt asked.

“The blonde building the sandcastle with the little boy just down the beach,” Brandon said, pointing.

Brandt spied them. Ariel was another blonde, and she was even wearing a similar outfit to Lark, but she had denim shorts, and what looked from this distance to be an exclusively green and white plaid shirt, plus her hat was actually painted white.

“They’re pretty close friends,” Brandon said. “Oh, yeah, and over there is her sister and the new baby. They’re up from the Hat.”

Following Brandon’s pointing, Brandt saw a blonde woman who looked about Justine’s age holding a little bundle in her arms that he presumed was the baby in question. He turned his gaze back to Lark, who was scooping water toward the toddler, who still seemed to be having fun.

There wasn’t a lot for physical differences between Lark and Ariel, but Brandt felt more drawn to Lark than to Ariel, so he watched her for a long moment, admiring her slender figure.