Date Published: October 20th, 2019
Thanks for my step-dad for the words!
Words: Shirt, sunshine, glass, horn, bell
Name: Jacob

The sun beat down on his back as Jacob reached up to wipe the sweat that was dripping down his forehead. His hair was slick with it, making his scalp itchy and uncomfortable underneath his cap.

He looked up, taking deep breaths and savor the feeling of the oxygen filling his lungs. "Hey Jake!" a voice called. He turned and let his eyes travel up to the upper level of the greenhouse. Standing on the observation deck was a familiar boy with dirty blond hair falling around his ears. He was waving enthusiastically at him, a grin visible even from a distance.

Jake raised a hand to wave back. The boy turned and hurried back to the glass elevator behind him, clearly with the intent of coming down to talk to him. Pulling on his shirt, he tried to fan himself; while the glass roof of the greenhouse was fantastic for the plants and animals inside, the sunshine that poured through it made working incredibly unpleasant.

"Jake!" The voice of the boy was louder and closer than it was before. He turned around to see that Benjamin had reached him and was smiling at him. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Uh, working?" Jake replied, feeling awkward under the excited gaze of Benjamin.

The blond rolled his eyes with a laugh. "Well, obviously, but I meant, what are you doing for work? Like, are you farming? Cause it doesn't really look like it," he pointed out. He was gesturing to the bag the other boy was holding in his left hand. "What's in there?"

"It's food for the lambs. They're about to be let out because it's feeding time," he said. He nodded toward the gates that were behind him.

Sure enough, a bell rang above the gates and they opened automatically. A small herd of animals came running out, heading toward Jake with excitement. They were pink-eared argali sheep, bred for their beautiful wool. He held the bag containing the strawberries they adored above them to prevent them from tearing at it with their large, flat teeth.

Benjamin let out a terrified squeak as the youngest of the lambs came up to him and sniffed at him curiously. "It's alright, they're very docile," he reassured him, grabbing a handful of strawberries and tossing for the other lambs.

"Are you sure? This guy's horns are freaking me out!" the blond said, looking very nervous.

Jake smiled a little and tossed more strawberries for the lambs surrounding him, allowing him to make his way over to Benjamin. His eyes landed on the lamb that was sniffing at him. "Oh, this is little Milo," he said, smiling as he knelt down to scratch the sheep's pink ears. He pointed to its right horn. "See his horn? It's broken because this little guy was found in the wild with lots damage done to him. The doctor's guessed it was some kind of predator and that he barely managed to escape. They brought him here and I nursed him back to health. We call him 'Milo' because it's the first part of the Hawaiian word for miracle."

"Aww, that's cute!" Benjamin gushed, seeming much more comfortable as he knelt down to let Milo sniff his hand. "Can I give him a strawberry?"

"Sure, just hold it out to him," he said as he handed him one.

The blond did as he was told, giggling a little as the lamb licked it off of his hand. "Whoa his tongue is blue! That's so weird!" he exclaimed. Jake nodded with a laugh. "So do you like working here then?"

"Yeah, why?" the brunette said, adjusting his cap that his hair was tucked into.

"I was just thinking about applying for a position here," Benjamin replied, shrugging as he pet the lamb. "Mom seems really happy working here, but she's a executive for the company that owns the greenhouse, not really a regular employee. You're a regular worker, so I was wondering what you had to say about it."

Jake took a breath, considering his opinion. "It's a lot of work, I'll be honest, but I've always enjoyed being around life of all kinds. It's worth it to me."

"Hmm... okay! I think I'll try applying here! Hey! maybe they'll have you train me! Wouldn't that be like super cool? We can work together every day and you can teach me all about the animals and the plants that you work with! That would be so fun," he rambled.

The older boy smiled to himself with a slight chuckle under his breath. Sure, in some situations Benjamin's enthusiasm was overbearing; but on the rare occasion, it brought a smile to his face.