Tractor Parade

The day was hot. It was only ten in the morning, but the sun beat upon you like the waves on the shore. Jessica was loading up her car, anxious to get on the road to college. She was sick of the little town she had lived in all her life. Nothing interesting ever happened, and if it did it was never to her. Her friends were gone, off to big colleges in other states, they had left the year before. Now, finally it was her turn. She had decided to take the year off to help her grandparents. Both were very old and very frail, so they needed a lot of looking after. Somehow her aunt had talked her into staying, to the detriment of her relationship with her parents. Her father was a farmer, he had taken over his grandfather's farm about ten years ago. Her mother was a farmer's wife, which included the duties of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Both her parents put a high emphasis on education, since neither one went to college - they wanted better for their children. Her parents were furious when she decided to stay to take care of her grandparents, and hadn't really talked to her the entire year. Now that she was on her way, her father became very chatty, and her mother very weepy.
As she stuffed one more bag into the already full car, she heard the familiar sound of a tractor. She glanced back, expecting to see her father firing up the tractor to start the day's harvest. However, the tractor stood still and her father was nowhere in sight. She glanced toward the highway, not expecting to see anyone (no one ever drove down the road unless they were lost or looking for one of the few families that lived beyond their house). What a surprise. Jessica saw the different tractors, all lined up before a police escort, each as different as the person driving them. Some were a bright red and green, bought either this year or the year before. Others were old and worn, rusted from being left out when a sudden rainstorm kicked up out of nowhere. Most had flags attached to them on one side of the seat. Others had umbrellas propped up above the chair, giving their owners some relief from the sun and the heat.
Jessica watched for a few moments as the tractors continued up the road, one after another. She smiled and shook her head. "Only in Bayton." she mumbled under her breath as she closed the car door and went back to the house to say goodbye to her family.