"Barasa! Come here!" I heard my sister shout, and I smelled a fire.

I wandered over there slowly, the dirt shuffling up between my bare feet. The grass was moving back and forth around me, and I could see the rooftops of my village in the distance. I slowly pushed through the tall grasses, smiling as they tickled my face and arms.

"Yes, Halah?" I asked as I reached my older sister, who stood by the fire, holding a bowl. "Is it already lunch?"

She laughed at me, rubbing my short hair. I didn't like it when she touched my hair, but it could be worse! She just was playing with me.

"Yes, little boy. You're awfully dull sometimes. Silly kid."

Halah was 15. She helped to take care of me and Muriel, who was only 3. I was 6, and Halah said that I would have to start helping her soon. My mother was not very helpful at taking care of me, but that was just because of the fact that she  was helping to take care of other things, like planting stuff and taking care of our cows. Well, not our cows, but the village's.

Halah handed me the bowl, which held posho and some of the harvest’s beans. Halah made some of the best meals, and everyone agreed. Mom said she's probably get married soon, and have kids, but she'd still be apart of the village, and that the kids would just be more of our family!

"Thanks, sis! I love you!" I shouted as I ran to join some of my friends. There was Aroul, who was 7 and liked to act like he was the boss, even though he wasn't, and also Fleria, who was 6, too, and was really the boss.

"So, guys, what have you been doing?" Fleria asked, taking a bite of her lunch. "Because my Mom was showing me how to make clothes! It's amazing."

Aroul chuckled. "I've been throwing rocks and stuff at whatever animals I see. They just run away, so afraid that I'm like a lion, or something." He bragged, puffing out his chest like an overconfident cat. "What about you, Barasa?"

"I was in the grass. I like it there, it's peaceful. Plus, I get to look at all the animals and stuff that go by." I looked out onto the Savannah, mesmerized by the dry grasses that seemed to move as one. "It's pretty."

I heard the older boys laugh from a few feet away, and I wasn't sure if they were laughing at me. I blushed, and my cheeks got all hot. I looked to Aroul and Fleria, silently begging for them to help me. Fleria had already stood up.

"What are you laughing at?" She screamed at them, glaring her biggest glare. "I'm sure all of you are just stupid idiots who don't even have the bravery to sit out in the grass, in fear of dying! Well, Barasa has the bravery. And it IS pretty!"

The boys just laughed at her, and I blushed even deeper. Then, Aroul stood up. His hands were crossed over his dark-skinned chest, and his eyebrows were tilting down. "Barasa is braver than all of you combined! Don't laugh at him. And CERTAINLY don't laugh at Fleria! She's ALSO braver than all of you."

Aroul turned back to us, his face all angry and scrunched. We ignored the boys for the rest of lunch, even as they jeered and teased us. I wanted nothing more than to throw the mushy posho in their faces, but I wouldn't disrespect Halah's food like that. They didn't deserve to have her food thrown in their stinky faces.

We all quietly ate, not even talking much. It was nice, to only hear the quiet chewing and breathing of my friends. They were nice.

Once we finished lunch, we brought our clay bowls to where the well was, where some of the adults were helping with the cleanup. Aroul's mom was with Fleria's dad, and her brother, as well as a few other bigger kids and adults from the village. They'd rinse them, then return them for dinner.

We ate two meals every day, and they were always delicious. We split the chores throughout the village, which most people just considered our extended family. I did, too. We made sure that no one had too many or too few chores, and everyone, from the day they were four or five, started doing chores, but they were mostly easy things, like cleaning and getting water. Sometimes we helped with the farming, though, since it was pretty hard, mostly the older boys did that.

Fleria and her sisters would soon learn how to make clothes, since her sisters were 2 and 4. They made clothes from cloth and animal hides, like cow leather, after it was time for harvesting the beef. They made such comfortable clothes, but most of the time I wore simple cloth garments, like pants and shorts. We didn't live very near a city, but sometimes some of the grown-ups would buy clothes for a treat for holidays.

There weren't any holidays near now, but that was fine. I was wearing my cloth pants that my auntie had bought from the city for a holiday last year. They got a little dirty sometimes, but that was what the well was for. It’d be the rainy season soon, and then we'd have lots of water.

“Hey, Barasa?” Fleria called my name, waving her hand in front of my eyes. “You lost?”

I laughed. “I'm back. Just thinking about the holidays.” I smiled to her, giving my pants. “Anyway! You guys want to play a game?”

I watched as Aroul and Fleria smiled, exchanging a glance. We always came up with the best games. We sometimes would run around and play hunt, but other times we would just sit and watch the animals go by on the serengeti plains. It was pretty, and calm, and nice.

“Okay, what if we played football? I know we don't do very many sports, but Halah said that last time she went to the city, she saw some boys playing football, and that it seemed fun.” I suggested, shrugging my shoulders a little bit. “We can play tag, too.”

“I think that football sounds fun! I know that my older brother has a football that he got for Christmas! I think that’d be fun!” Aroul shouted, practically jumping up and down with excitement. “Fleria would be really good, because she's really fast.”

Fleria blushed. She was really fast, too. She was faster than me and Aroul combined, especially with her lean figure and her long legs. We liked to joke that she looked like a baby giraffe, with long legs, but still very skinny, even though she wasn't spotted, and she didn't have a super long neck.

“Well, let's play!” Aroul shouted, running off to find the football. We loved to play together.