Into the Desert Mothers

"Penny, I'm worried."

The voice was gravelly and hoarse. It rattled as it escaped the man's throat. Penny looked up from the chicken coop she was sweeping to see Claire, her husband, standing in the doorway.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

Claire walked over and leaned against the fence next to her wife. The chickens clucked around them as they pecked at the ground for bugs and shavings. "I can't shake this feeling that something's going to happen," he said. "That we're going to lose this place."

"We've been through this before," Penny said with a sigh. "Nobody wants our land. We pay our taxes on time, we take care of our livestock, we're good neighbors." She turned to look at her husband, who was looking off into the distance with a glazed expression on his face. His eyes rested on a group of cactus in the distance that were surrounded by a circular rock formation. A few white clouds hovered over them in the clear blue sky. "It's beautiful out here," Penny continued, reaching out and caressing Claire's arm as she pointed towards the sunset in the distance. "But it could be even more beautiful if we had a little girl running around."

Claire's eyes followed his wife's hand as she traced the outline of his forearm with her fingers. He bit his lip and nodded slowly before turning to face her. "I know," he said quietly, taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips to kiss it gently. He stood there for a moment as if lost in thought again before letting go of her hand and walking back towards their home with a determined stride. He called for Penny to follow him inside and slid open the pocket door to their bedroom where he walked over to their closet and pulled out a metal box from one of its shelves before returning to stand in front of Penny. He tried his best not to show any emotion but Penny could see the strain etched across his face as he handed her the box before opening it on top of their kitchen table to reveal an assortment of papers and documents neatly arranged within its confines.

Penny stepped forward tentatively and took out each document, examining them briefly before setting them back down on top of the others in neat order while Claire paced back and forth behind her with heavy footsteps that shook the floor beneath her feet. Timidly she looked up at him as she finished arranging all of the papers back into order and noticed that his gaze had shifted away from her face towards his hands which were resting on top of the counter next to her head while he gnawed nervously on his lower lip.

"What are these?" Penny asked, breaking their silence with a soft voice that drew Claire's attention back towards her own face where she now held a piece of paper between two fingers about six inches from Claire's chest that he quickly snatched away from her grasp with both hands as if she had burned him with it instead of simply showing him something. He glanced at it hurriedly before putting it back down on top of all the others where it promptly disappeared underneath them again.

"None of your business," Claire retorted sharply with a raised eyebrow, instinctually folding both arms defensively across his chest. Penny was taken aback by his response, but decided that perhaps this wasn't the right time to pry further. Instead, she focused on understanding the environment they lived in and the routines they had set in place.

Living in the countryside meant being enveloped in tranquil darkness early in the evening, only the stars above providing faint light. Everyone knew each other's habits well, ensuring that their schedule stayed consistent without any surprises. Work was completed during daylight hours, leaving plenty of time for chores around the house, family dinners, and relaxation. This precise routine provided a sense of security and calmness that was important to both Claire and Penny.

As Penny contemplated their life together, she couldn't help but hope for the future they seemed to be building. She still longed for a child to complete their family, and wondered if one day, they could truly make this place their own without any lingering worries or secrets hidden within the depths of metal boxes.