The Sunflower Field

 Marlee's mom had been keeping one eye on her daughters and a careful lookout for her husband. There had been a thief in the trunk of their car. "What have I done? I should never suggested going to that auction. I probably should never even suggested going to Texas. What a mess we are in. I bought part of a ranch by mistake and already we probably have been robbed in the first half hour of being in town. I can't wait to get home, but that's not an option for a few days. Hopefully we both have jobs when we get back. Oh good, there he is now. Girls, come here. Dad is outside. Let's go see what he has to say."

Marlee's dad said that the sheriff had chased the man to the edge of town and then lost him. "I guess there is a huge sunflower farm north of here. He told me that this time of year in the northern part of Texas that there are many sunflower farms. People love to go there and have their pictures taken. Some of them are tourist attractions for families. It's up to you. If you want to drive out there to see if we can find a man whose face we have never seen or just go out to the camper and relax. We have food in the car. He didn't take anything out of the back seat. It looks like he only rummaged through the box of junk that Marlee bought at the auction. Sorry, girl. I know you spent your money on it, but there are still some things left in the box. We can go through it when we get back to the campground. Okay?"

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Arie and her sister were so excited to go to the sunflower farm. They were going to have the best time. On the way Arie talked about the new girls that they had met at the cafe. "Marlee seemed nice, but she doesn't think that they will stay very long. I guess they live a long ways away. It would be nice if they decided to move here. We are about the same age. I think I'm a little older and I could show her around. Oh look, there are the sunflowers. Aren't they just beautiful?"

"They sure are girls. They have lots of things to do here. They even have a petting zoo.  Just remember don't go wondering away. I sure don't want you getting lost. Let's go see the animals okay?"

Arie and her sister decided that the sheep were the most fun and they loved feeding them the food that the farmer gave them. However, they both wanted to go into the sunflower fields. They were told that in the first field there was a treasure. Whoever found it would get their picture in the newspaper. They were so excited. Soon they found themselves deep into the field of the beautiful yellow sunflowers. Soon Arie wasn't able to see her little sister. "Mom! Where is Ally? I can't see her anywhere? Mom!"

"Don't worry. I can see her. See if you can find the treasure. Let me tell you again what the clue was. Okay now listen to this. "My job is to put an end to sleep. Which I do with music, a buzz, or a beep." What do you think that could be?" Arie giggled and said, "I think it's an alarm clock! Let's look for an alarm clock, Ally. Maybe we will get our pictures in the newspaper." Her little sister shook her head and said, "No. I want this. It's so pretty. It's a clock too. It's just my size and I'm going to keep it."

"See, look. Isn't it pretty? I can see myself in it. It's like a tiny mirror."

Ally's mom said, "I'd like to take a look at that, Alyviah. Where did you find this? Really? Out here in the field. Hmm, now I'm a little confused. I thought for sure that Arie was right, that the prize was an alarm clock. Well, for now you can keep it. It's so beautiful out here. We can stay for awhile longer. If there is an alarm clock out here surely someone will find it. Maybe it will be one of you girls."

A young woman was going to have her senior pictures taken as soon as the photographer got here. She walked through the field of flowers smiling. She knew a lady that said that sunflowers looked like they were always smiling and made her happy. She agreed. Just as she leaned over to take in their woodsy fragrance she found herself falling. "Ouch! How rude is that? Who were those people? They just ran right into me; didn't say sorry and didn't even stop!"