Only a Matter of Time

Only a Matter of Time


“Good morning, Scarlett.” A voice greeted me. I saw her within a moment of her speaking. Ally, the little girl who created me with her father, smiled up at me as I hung from my wooden pole. I would have greeted her back, but, as you may know, I’m a scarecrow. I may be alive, but I cannot move or speak around her, for she is a human.

“Oh!” Ally cried as she stepped closer to examine my body. “Did those nasty crows hurt you again?” She gently tucked in my straw that was sticking out and straightened my sweater. The truth is that I’m not a very scary scarecrow, in fact, I tend to draw the crows in because they like to peck at me and try to tear me up.

I got startled when a crow landed on my shoulder and started pecking at my head. That’s when Ally jumped up and tried to scare the bird for me. “Shoo! Go on, get! You should be ashamed of yourself! Picking on a sweet little scarecrow like Scarlett!” I secretly watched as she chased the crow off.

If I could, I would smile so wide right now, that my seams would probably break. Ally was always looking after me. Everyday after she completed her chores, she would grab a basket of stuff and come check on me in the little field I was placed in. She’d stay there all day, unless she was needed somewhere else, and she’d just talk and talk, as if I were actually talking back. She’d bring along her sewing stuff too, since, as you’ve witnessed, the crows tend to tear me up a bit. I never mind though, if I’m damaged that means Ally gets to stay with me longer then usual, like today for example.

“There!” Ally huffed as she marched back over to me. “Now, let’s fix you up, shall we?” She quickly walked around me, to see what all needed fixing, then bent down to grab her needle and thread. “Well, at least they didn’t get you so bad today. Usually you’re much worse when I don’t check on you everyday.” She absentmindedly went on as she started to sew up my holes.

That’s another thing, Ally is always hard at work. If she isn’t doing her chores, she sometimes helps her father and brothers with their chores, and if it’s not that, she’s helping her mother tend to the household work. I understand though, Ally is just that type of person. For a girl, she’s very tomboy-ish. She only wears dresses when required, and she has plenty of clothes that she claims are for chores, but really she just feels much more comfortable in trousers and shirts, I probably would too, if I were a human, and wore other clothes besides my current outfit.

“Good, now that didn’t hurt a bit, did it?” She giggled as she spoke. Of course it didn’t hurt, I’m a scarecrow! The only thing that could hurt me is if I’m lit on fire. “Now, to fix up your pretty hair, that darn crow is such a nasty one, now I have to go through all the trouble of unwinding your hair and fixing it.” Ally grumbled as she pulled herself up onto the cross that held me up. Her father went and built a little stepping stool for her, because she always loved playing with my yarn hair. Now, Ally carefully untied the ribbon that held the yarn in it’s current style, which was a pretty up style that she invented herself. She combed through and straightened out the mess of yarn that was sewed to my head, then proceeded to fix it into a simple ponytail, the only difference is that instead of a simple knot, she tied it off with a beautiful bow, the crimson ribbon shined brightly in sun, complimenting the brown of the yarn.

You know, there’s a reason she named me Scarlett, well two reasons actually. One, is that she loves the color red, and dressed me up in as much red as she could beg off of her brothers, which is where she got my clothes, including the red sweater, burgundy trousers, and the crimson ribbon that was tied up in my hair.

The second reason, well, that’s a more sad tale. At one point  she had a sister, but after a terrible accident  she was injured and unfortunately didn’t make it. Her little sister’s name was Scarlett, and that’s why I’m named that. I’m her replacement for her sister, down to the brown, yarn hair and blue button eyes I was created with. That’s why, after the accident, I became her new best friend, her little straw stuffed doll that she could pretend was her sister. I was the one she ran to when she was sad, or lonely, she told me her fears and dreams, and as much as I know she does the same with her family, I can’t help but feel special that I’m the one she tells first. It’s because she loves me as much as she loved her sister, and I love her all the same.

“Perfect!” She cheered with a giggle as she jumped down from the stool and walked back in front of me. “You look gorgeous! Too bad the boys refused to make a scarecrow too, you’d have him clinging to you like stink on a pig!” Her laughter rang out around us, I almost moved, wanting to laugh with her, but I didn’t, I couldn’t.

“Ally!” A voice called to her, I think it was one of her brothers. “Time to come in for supper!”

“Coming!” She yelled back. Before she left though, she jumped up on the stool again and gave me a hug. “Don’t you let anyone push you around, okay Scarlett? You’re much stronger then you think you are, I know it.” Ally whispered to me before she jumped back down and headed off to the house, with only a final call of, “See you tomorrow!”

As she left my sight, I sighed, moving my stiff limbs and once again, trying to lift myself off that stupid pole that I was stuck to, but it was no use so I hung there. I did, however, lift my arm up to my head to get a guess at what my hair must look like now. When I say arm, I mean arm, Ally never created hands for me, all the men in the house wouldn’t give up a pair of their gloves, and she wasn’t allowed to use any of hers, so I was created without hands, just straw stuffed into a sweater, that’s why I always need my arms up, so my straw won’t fall out my sleeves. Ally usually ties off the sleeves, but if she doesn’t, I hold them together myself, I mean I can still grab things and such, I just don’t have hands that you can see.

So as I hang there, I wonder to myself. Pondering things and questioning how long this wonderful life of mine will last, just as I normally do when Ally goes home, because I may be a scarecrow, but I do know that this is all too good to last forever. As much as I would like it, one day Ally will move on with life, get over her sister’s death, and I’ll just be a ratty, old scarecrow hanging in a tiny little dead field. Which is why I try to find a way down off this pole, because when the day comes that Ally doesn’t need me anymore, I need to be ready to leave and go find someplace else that I’m needed, or even wanted for that matter. It’s only a matter of time, until this wonderful existence I have is gone, and Ally goes with it.