The Past 1:
"Amelie, what are you doing over there?" A soft, affectionate voice, laced with gentle exasperation, reverberated across the sun-dappled courtyard. It was her mother, standing near the entrance, holding a neatly wrapped lunchbox in a shimmering silk cloth.
Amelie, currently perched high in the branches of the sprawling orange tree that dominated the courtyard, shouted playfully, "Mother, just a minute!"
She grabbed the last ripe orange from a high branch before executing a nimble jump down to the soft earth. She immediately placed the newly picked oranges into a waiting basket and signaled her attendant. "We will resume later," she instructed, referring to whatever lesson or task had been postponed.
She rushed toward her mother and took the lunchbox from her, her smile bright.
