A young girl wakes and changes from her night clothes into a play dress

She slips out of the farmhouse at dawn

Her first stop is the outhouse

Her first chore is to pump water into a bucket to bring into the house

She knows she should start other chores next, but it is summer, and the corn is high

As the sun rises over the stalks, she races past the old oak tree with the tire swing

The grass is wet with dew under her bare feet

Her arms reach for the sky where the birds sing

Feeling joyful, she rushes to the light.