<div class="floatleft">(http://i2.listal.com/image/5246525/600full-sara-kuz.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Mara<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Chicken Coop/Kitchen<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Friday Evening, 1800<br/><strong>With:</strong>Micki, Mary, Miz<br/><hr/><br/>Smiling as Miz sat down, Mara helped Micki whenever she could and generally made sure the other girls were happy. The girls were all near the same age, but Mara was a bit older than both of them (by a year in Miz's case), and she was naturally maternal. She might not be able to take care of herself very well, but she could take care of animals, other people and the ranch.<br/><br/>She hoped that during the month they had off, Micki might let her help with the meals. After a semester of stress, it would be nice to simply relax for a while and maybe even improve her skills. Mara waited for the others to be served before she took hers. Part of that was her guilt at taking anything first, and part of it was because she was very sensitive to heat, and she knew she'd have to let the pie cool down anyway. It looked and smelled delicious, but as a pot pie kept all the heat inside, it stayed steaming for much longer than normal.<br/><br/>She cut into her slice some more to let some of the heat out, and then took a modest serving of each vegetable. Miz and Mary were both very slender and petite, whereas Mara and Micki were a bit curvier. Mara thought that the other three girls were very attractive, but (at least as of now) she didn't have any sexual feelings toward women. If she had known about Mary, though, it wouldn't have bothered her in the least.<br/><br/>Mara was rubbish at opening wine, so she left that to one of the others as she waited for everyone to be served. When they were, she bowed her head to give a small personal prayer before beginning to eat. At Micki's question, she nodded.<br/><br/>"I have a 10 page paper on a comparison between Olaf I and Olaf II of Norway and the Christianization of Norway."<br/><br/>She blushed.<br/><br/>"Although that probably sounds incredibly boring to you all."<br/><br/>She was nerdy. She admitted it, and she loved history and she loved learning. As she ate, she listened to the other girls and then spoke up when there was a lull.<br/><br/>"Oh. And I found another young hen dead this morning. I'm not sure what's going on, but this is the third one within a month."<br/><br/>She looked genuinely sad as she thought about the bird, but was determined to find the culprit. However, she didn't want to bring down the atmosphere.<br/><br/>"Anyway, I was thinking that perhaps tomorrow we could all go riding. It's been a while since we've just ridden for fun."<br/><br/>She smiled as she thought of it and continued to eat.