Romanian Love Story/Chapter III/Normal Path

Lucia strolls briskly over to the barn by the old wall. She unlatches the heavy iron bar on the storage shed attached to the big livestock barn, struggling a bit to lift it up.

Finally the door swings open, and she makes a mental note to remember to close it up again before she heads back to the house before stepping inside and swinging it shut.

Lines of farming supplies on various shelves and tables meet her eyes. She goes over to a chest in the back and opens it, taking out a bunch of thick, woolly blankets. She carries them over to the inner doorway that leads into the barn proper, struggling to balance the large load of heavy blankets in her arms without dropping any.

"Okay, who's first..." Lucia set the blankets down on a nearby bench. This was a general barn that housed a lot of different animals - mainly goats, pigs, horses, and cows.

She opens the first stall, which housed a small herd of goats. They baaah at her as she wakes them up by entering their home.

Lucia pats the goats and drapes the first blanket over a pair of males. One of them nips her shirt as she leans over them, making her giggle.

"Stop that, silly!~" She moves on the the other goats in the stall, three females huddled together for warmth, giving them a blanket of their own before turning to leave.

Latching the gate, she moves on to the next pen, this one filled with potbelly pigs. They oink at her and snuffle her clothes as she drapes blankets over them.

The next pen has a large stallion in it. Lucia was always a little bit scared of him due to his temper. Steeling herself, the girl timidly approached him slowly.

The big horse paws the ground restlessly, but doesn't move as the girl gently drapes the blanket over his back. He even lips her shirt affectionately before she turns to leave.

She does the same for a few plow and cart horses, and the a single big ox the family keeps for managing their fields. The ox stares at the girl the whole time, making her nervous, but he doesn't object when she puts a blanket on his back. She backs out of his stall slowly, and shuts the gate behind her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Lucia heads out of the barn, making sure to put the latch on shed back in place before grabbing the lantern and heading back towards the house.

Chapter IV

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