Ireland, Bright Star of the West

Eileen

Much of my family has already left for America to become 'free'. As what part of working constantly free? I believe that they were acting foolish, and they clearly didn't think this through. Although they send me letters about how great America is and how they beg me to come, I can tell they are not as happy as they write. I do miss my mother and her home-made broth, but I musn't force her to come back. And my father's warm arms around me... Maybe I should go visit America... No. I am not going to that exhaustful wasteland. I musn't and I won't. Will I ever see my dear ones? Just the thought of not being able to even see them makes me so regretful that they even went to that country.
Eileen slammed her journal closed, leaving her hair flying off her shoulders and a cold nose. She picked up the half-way melted candle that was resting beside her rickety bed and gazed at its flickering fire. While doing so, she remembered about how close her family used to be to her, now, she was alone with no one nearby that she knew. She felt so out of place and outcasted. She nibbled on her lip before closing her eyes tightly and blowing out the candle, darkness consuming her home. She got into her cotton night gown, and within a moment, she had snuggled into her uncomfortable bed and drifted to sleep.

The Next Morning

Eileen yawned as her arms extended to her side in a stretch. She rubbed her eyes and pushed herself groggily from her resting place. She dressed in an everyday casual outfit and walked outside to take care of her horses and absorb the fresh air. She grinned and laughed to the sound of her horses galloping up to greet her after they were called by their names. People had assumed that Eileen was wealthy, but she was actually fairly poor, and was left with these horses by her rich father after her fled for America. She patted each ones' necks and smiled at them all lovingly. She flew open the pasture's gate and watched them run out to the field to graze. She left the gate open for the horses to wander back into the corral to take a sip of the nuke-warm water. It was foggy, like usual, with a very humid wind sweeping over the land. She walked along the streets to go buy her horses some cheap horse oats in order to keep them healthy. The grass at the moment wasn't very nutritious, and therefor the nutrients must be made up by oats and corn. She guided herself into the nearest store she could find, and there she bought 5 bags of oats for $20, a rather costly price. She was offered a free carrying by a strange man on the sidewalk, and she accepted. The man dropped her bags by her house and with a tip to the hat, he had walked around the corner of the building and disappeared. She gave the man a bewildering look and then look at one of her bags, seeing it was empty. "Are you kidding me? A hole?!" she muttered, but was audible to the ones around her. She grumbled and sighed as she dumped the bags, one-by-one into a silver trough. She threw the bags into a trash bin that was on the side of the street and tattered by the weather. She lightly smiled at everyone who passed and started to walk down the road, just observing all Ireland had to give. She found herself a moment later in the corner of a meadow, lush with tall, slender, dark green grass. She ran her fingers through each stem as her dress brushed the ground. She noticed another person in the meadow, but couldn't make out who it could be.