The water rushed over my bare feet as I contemplated the decision set before me.
     
"Fine." It wouldn't be the stupidest thing I'd ever agreed to and I doubted it would backfire.

"Wonderful. I'll set the date for next Monday, Okay?"

"Okay."

He walked away and I sighed. I'd never really cared about anyone before so why should I now? Life is easy when you don't have any competing feelings. Decisions come easy. The fact that I'd just agreed to marry a guy I'd never met before didn't faze me at all. Just another decision and at least I'd get out of here. This town had gotten boring fast and I needed an escape. This Francis Breadrou would provide it.

I turned in the direction my father had left in and left the shallows of the river behind.

"Emily! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you." A boy of nine or so bounced toward me. "I just passed your dad and he told me you've agreed to marry Francis!"

"Yes. That's true." Children. They can be so pesky sometimes.

"But you've never even met him! Aren't you worried?"

"No."

"No?"

I continued toward the village, the boy trailing behind me.

"Go away Ben. I agreed to marry him and that's the end of it."

"Are you going to have kids? Can I name them?"

"I expect I'll have children Ben, but no you cannot name them. I will not live here any more."

"Oh."

Monday was five days away. In those five days I had many conversations like the one with Ben. People wanting to know how much I knew about him, people questioning my sanity as they've done for years, the one boy I'd ever courted following me constantly asking how I could do this to him. My father worried if he had made the right decision and my mother fussed over the wedding details. It was, all in all, a rather stressing five days for many people. Not for me, however, I had made my decision and never even considered going back on it. I would marry Francis Breadrou halfway through my sixteenth year on Monday April 21st.

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