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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Kids
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Community / Home
- Published: 07/28/2012
The Life of MaryAnne Gretchen
Born 2000, F, from Philadelphia/PA, United States.jpg)
My best friend Luke and I were playing outside in the front yard, tackling each other, not worrying about life, or the hours ahead of us, just right now, in this moment together. "You know it's gonna rain, right?" Luke said laying flat on the ground looking up at the sky. "And how would you know that?" I asked unpinning him from the ground. He jumped on top of me and pinned me on the ground the moment I let go of him. "Look up at the sky, MaryAnne, what do you see?" he asked me still crouching on top of me holding me down. "Your big head, blocking the gray clouds." I said laughing. "My head is not big." Luke said defensively, "The gray clouds tell you it's gonna rain." Luke said finally getting off of me. "Oh,well I knew that." I said trying not to seem so dumb. "Sure ya did." Luke said holding out his hand so I can get up. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the ground and rolled him in the mud, and he pushed me down and did the same thing to me.
My momma came outside on the porch and yelled, "You two, lord help me, MaryAnne why can't you ever seem to keep clean, come on over here and hose all that dirt off with the hose, you too Luke. I swear you two are like 2 babies and a piece of candy, always fighting." my momma yelled standing on the porch wearing an apron. Luke and I got up and walked down to the side of the house, and turned on the hose. I sprayed Luke and Luke sprayed me, we were drenched. When we were done my momma came out with 2 towels, she dried off both of us, and sent me in the house to take a bath. "Luke, honey run down home before it starts raining and tell your momma I said come over tonight for desert, you understand me?" my momma asked, still drying off Luke. "Yes,maam." said Luke. "Alright,go on, hurry." my momma yelled sending him on his way.
My momma came inside the house with a warm bucket of water for my bath. she ripped off a piece of cloth for my rag and gave me a bar of fresh honey butter soap that she made. I washed my body, while she washed my hair. the warm water felt nice with the soft honey butter soap. "No more of that ruffhousin today, time for that is tomorrow, after your chores are done, you understand me young lady?" she asked while rinsing my hair with water. "Yes,momma." I said. "Poppa's comin home tomorrow, so we gotta clean the house. I made you and Elizabeth new dresses, and please don't get it dirty." my momma said while handing me a towel, and drying me off. "Really momma, new dresses, why, i'm sure they're just gorgeous." I said letting momma wrap the towel around me. "Yes,gorgeous dresses, for gorgeous girls." my momma said carrying me to get the ribbons and the comb and brush to do my hair.
"Here change into the little pink dress in your drawer, then come out on the porch when you're done, so I can handle that blonde frizz of your's, and put on some fresh underwear." my momma told me as she dropped me off at the door of my room. "Ok." I said, then shut the door. I put on some fresh underwear, then slipped on my pink dress with white polka dots. I ran downstairs and onto the porch where momma was sitting in the rocking chair, holding baby Elizabeth. "Momma did you make me new olive oil?" I asked her excitedly. "I did, now sit on the stool so we can get started." my momma said putting baby Elizabeth in the carriage next to her.
I sat on the stool, and momma told me a story like she always does when she does my hair. this time the story was about, Little Red Riding Hood. When momma tells it, I think about it in my head, like a movie. I can smell the olive oil as momma puts it in my hair and combs it. she makes it fresh from our olives that grow in the backyard during the summer, and during the winter, it's carrot oil. "Tomorrow, you're gonna help me make a lot of honey and butter soap, we need more, we have to store up for the winter" my momma says while putting the ribbon on the bottom of the braid she just did. "Oh my, oh my, I can't wait, the soap always smells so beautiful, and it's always soft on your skin." I said looking out at Luke's house. "Why,I believe it is." my momma said while braiding the last braid.
"Ok, sweetie pie, you're done. Time for dinner." my momma said while handing me the hair supplies. I ran upstairs to my room and put the hair supplies on the shelf that Poppa made me. When I went downstairs my 2 brothers Grodey and Laurence, were at the dinner table ready to eat. "My, oh my, look at little MaryAnne all dolled up." said Laurence. "You look like a pig with the measles." Grodey said. "Enough, i'm not giving out any spanken's tonight, you hear me, that goes for all of you, you hear me?" momma said angrily. "Yes,momma." I said and I sat down. "Yes,momma." Laurence said. "Yes,maam." Grodey said. "Alright now." momma said sitting down.
Momma put her blonde hair into a bun on her head, and her and Laurence went to go get dinner from the kitchen. They brought out a glazed chicken, and carrots, and wild rice, and fresh lemonade. "Little Missy, hand me your plate." momma said stretching her arms out for the plate. I put it in her hand and she piled it up. She made Laurence and Grodey's plates. "Grodey, go in the kitchen, on the top shelf of the fridge is some fresh butter I made today." momma said feeding Elizabeth mushed up carrots. "Ok." Grodey said and ran into the kitchen. He came back with the butter, and boy was it delicious.
"MaryAnne clean up the plates and the trash." my mother said while eating dinner for herself. I grabbed all the plates and put them in the sink. I also got new dishes for desert, and new forks. "Get 3 more plates." momma said while cleaning up her area. Laurence brought out a crunchy peach cobbler. "Mmmmh, yummy." I said not taking my eyes off the cobbler. "We're gonna wait for the Kolemann's, the same way they'd wait for us." momma said politely folding her hands.
About 5 minutes later there was a knocking on the door. when Laurence opened the door, we saw Mrs.Ameliea, Mr.Charlie, Luke, and baby Emma. "G'day Kolemann's." Laurence said kindly, and politely. "Well lookit there I do believe we have a little gentlemen." Mrs.Amelia said as she walked in the house carrying the baby. Momma left the kitchen with Elizabeth in her arms and went to go greet Mrs. Amelia. Grover and Laurence went to go talk to Mr.Charlie, so I was at the table by myself.
"Well c'mon now, don't want the peach cobbler to get cold, now do we?" Momma asked walking back to the table with everyone behind her. "No we don't." said Grover sitting down next to me. When everyone was at the table Momma started serving the cobbler. Nice and ooey and gooey. "Why,is that little MaryAnne, looking as pretty as a lily?" Mrs.Amelia said smiling at me. "Hi, Mrs. Amelia, guess what?" I asked excitedly. "What is it,sweetie?" she asked wiping the spit from the babies mouth. "My poppa's comin home tomorrow, and my Momma said I can help her make lots of honey butter soap that's as soft as baby Emma herself." I said really happily. "Now aren't you just a lucky one, huh." Mrs.Amelia said, while breaking off a piece of cobbler with her fork. "Oh,yes." I said stuffing a big piece of cobbler down my throat.
After dessert, the Kolemann's headed on home, and I had to go to bed. I went upstairs to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and I got in the bed and waited for momma to come and tuck me in. Momma came in and kneeled down next to me on the side of my bed. "Darling you are such a gift, I learn things from you everyday." Momma said whispering. "You do!? What do I teach you?" I asked cluelessly. "Well, you taught me to find the joy in little things, like the honey butter soap, you found so much happiness in that, where I saw a bar of soap." Momma said smiling. "Oh,I guess I do." I said thoughtfully. "You also taught me to enjoy the little things you have in your life, like when you and Luke were ruffhousin' in the mud, I saw a dirty mess, you saw a fun game." Momma said rubbing my braid between her fingers. "Oh,yes,that was fun." I say, remembering the fun time we had. "Look, MaryAnne, look for the small things in life and enjoy them, even if other people don't, because that makes it all the better, because it shows how smart you are, okay?" momma said holding my hand. "Yes,momma." I said, and looked at her blue eyes, and she looked just like me!" I love you, baby, go to sleep." momma said as she was turning off the light.
The next morning I woke up early like I always do, when it's still dark outside and there's no sun yet. I put on my blue longsleeve shirt, and my overalls, and my green rainboots. I went downstairs quietly so I don't wake anyone, and I went outsid. I walked to the chicken coop with a bucket, and we got 19 fresh eggs. I put the bucket on the porch, then grabbed a new one and went to go milk Stella, our cow. as I was milking her I fed her some breakfast, cleaned up her poop, and washed her til' she was all sparkly, like me yesterday. When I went to get basin's full of hay for the horses, the sun started coming up. I fed Betsy, Tolley, Tanner, and Lightning. I had to go to the shed to get food for the pigs, and I got out a shovel, and I cleaned the pigs slop, and fed them breakfast, and washed them down. I went in the barn and found Laurence and Grover's work. We were having bacon for breakfast.
I walked back to the house, I put all the buckets in the shed, except for the milk, eggs, and the bucket that held the dead pig. I brought those in the house, I rinsed all the eggs, and put them in a bowl, and stuck it in the refridgerator. I cleaned the milk, and put some in a bottle for baby Elizabeth, and put that in the refirgerator. I put the milk from the bucket into a reusable milk carton we have, and put it in the refrigerator, and I took the dead pig and put it in the sink for momma to slice to bacon or to ham for sandwiches. I washed my hands, and the last buckets, and brought them down to the shed, and when I came back the boys were getting on the school bus, to school, and momma was cutting up the pig. "You did a great job today. Stella gave so much milk we might have enough for me to make ice-cream." Momma said while slicing a piece of the pig. "Oh my, that'd be a delight momma." "Ok, now go on upstairs, and change your clothes." momma said pointing to the stairs. "Ok." I said then ran upstairs.
I put on ripped jeans, and a pink tank top that Poppa got me from the city.I went back downstairs and gave baby Elizabeth her bottle, and I changed her stinky diaper. "Momma, Elizabeth ate breakfast, and I cleaned her, can I give her some toys?" I asked holding Elizabeth by the kitchen table. "Go ahead, they're in the closet in my room, put down a blanket, then the toys." momma said over the pop and sizzle from the bacon. "Yes,momma." I said as I was carrying baby Elizabeth upstairs. I took the small quilt off my bed, and I got the rattle that Poppa made Laurence, and all of us played with it, and I got her some blocks that Poppa bought from the city. I went downstairs, and I layed the blanket on the floor in front of the couch, I put the blocks and the rattle on the blanket, and I watched baby Elizabeth play with the blocks, and chew on them.
I could smell the bacon and the eggs from in here. momma's bacon and eggs were the best. I cleaned up baby Elizabeth's toy's after a while, and brought them back upstairs in the closet, and I put the quilt back on my bed, and put baby Elizabeth in the carriage and she went straight to sleep. "Momma can I got to Mrs. Amelia's house to invite them to breakfast?" I asked hoping she would say yes. "5 minutes, so you better run." momma said as she packed all the other peices of bacon into wax paper, and put it in the freezer. "Thank you, momma." I said as I was putting on Grover's hand me down sneaker's.
The only thing that separate's our house from the Kolemann's is a large piece of land. we were both too young to go to school yet, so we were home all day playing, helping our momma's around the house. It was about a 10 minute walk to his house, but I finally got to the front door. Mrs.Amelia was on the porch with baby Emma, Mr.Charlie was at work, and Luke was probably in the house. "Why, is it our little MaryAnne, what brings you here sweet pea?" Mrs. Amelia asked. "Momma just made breakfast, and I wanted you and Luke to come eat with us, and then maybe you can make some soap with me and my momma." I said rushing it all out of my mouth. "I can't come for breakfast, but in an hour i'll come to help with the soap, how's that sound,MaryAnne?" Mrs.Amelia asked. "Why,it sounds just peachy,..can Luke come for breakfast?" I asked. "Sure thing, he get's so bored in this house of our's." Mrs.Amelia said. Just then Luke came outside. "Luke, why don't you and MaryAnne go eat breakfast at Mrs. Gretchen's house, and then go swimming down at the pond? "Mrs.Amelia asked. "Just fine. I'll go get my shorts to swim in." said Luke running into the house. He came back a couple minutes later, and we raced to my house.
"Ok, now you two stop that nonsense before you step into this dining room, ya hear." momma said setting 3 plates on the table, and 3 cups of fresh milk. "Yes,momma." I said walking to my chair. "Yes, Mrs. Gretchen." Luke said following after me. We sat down and immediately ate. the food was so good. we all got 2 pieces of bacon, and scrammbled eggs, and fresh milk. "Wow, that was mighty tasty now wasn't it?" momma asked while wiping her face with a piece of cloth. "Oh,yes." Luke said finishing the last of his milk. "Most definitely." I said.
Momma took my hair out of the braids and put it in a ponytail with a rubberband she found in Poppa's desk. She put me in my swimsuit, which was my tanktop and shorts, and Luke got dressed in his shorts and a blue shirt. "Now, here's some towels, you two behave yourselves and walk together, ok, be back in 2 hours, have fun now." momma said handing us a bag with towels in it. We walked down the hill, past the barn, crossed the road, and down the hill, and we were at the pond. I immediately dropped the bag and plunged into the water and swam down to the other end. the water went to my chest. Luke jumped in and swam next to me, we raced each other back and forth across the pond. We had splash contests to see who's splash went the highest. they didn't go very high since we were small. When we were splashing each other, I stomped on my toe by accident, and I sat on the side of the pond and cried. Luke came over and looked at my toe, and told me to stop crying. then he said, "Pretty girls don't look pretty when they cry." He thought I was pretty, why, that was so nice. He leaned over and kissed me on the lips and then helped me up. We dried off with the towels, then walked back holding hands.
Luke went to his house to change, and I went in my room and put on a short sleeve purple shirt with a fresh pair of overalls. Luke came with his mom, and baby Emma. we sat at the table and had ham sandwiches for lunch, with lemonade. Momma saved 2 sandwiches for Grodey and Laurence. the bus would be here in 5 minutes, then Momma, Mrs.Amelia, and I are going to make the soap. Momma sent me to the shed to get the churner for the butter, and the small one for the honey. I was locking the shed when the school bus showed up and Laurence and Grodey ran up the hill to the house. I waddled up the steps with the 2 churners and pushed them by the dining room table. Momma kissed the boys on the heads, and handed them their sandwiches and lemonade.
Momma got started churning the butter, pushing on the pedal, pushing the long stick that stuck out of the middle. Mrs.Amelia did the honey, doing the same thing .Momma mixed the butter and honey in a large bowl together, and put corn starch in it and said, "That corn starch is what makes the soap soft on your skin." Momma mixed all of it up together, then took a funnel, and a baking pan, and made bar shapes on the baking pan with the funnel. the room smelled so good and sweet. She took the baking pan and put it in the oven and it baked, and Momma let it cool off on the dining room table. soon we had 73 bars of soap done.
Luke and I went outside, and we were eating berries from the tree in the back yard while our mother's were cooking ham stew, my favorite. I ran to the shed and grabbed a bucket and we picked a lot of raspberries til' the sun started going down. we filled up half the bucket. We split the raspberries in half, so we used 2 buckets til' we both had the same amount of raspberries. Luke ran to his house and gave the raspberries to his momma, and I gave my half to my momma.
I went outside to put the bucket in the shed when I saw the car drive up the hill. I threw the bucket in the shed, then ran to the house yelling, "Poppa's home, Poppa's home!" Everyone ran down to meet him. he had lots of cloth for new clothing, and leather for shoes, and cotton for dolls. "Poppa, you're home!" I yelled running towards him. he caught me and spun me around. "I have a present for you MaryAnne, it's something that you always wanted," he said. He dug in his sack and pulled out a ragdoll with nothing on it. "I asked them to take everything off of it so you could design it your way." Poppa said smiling. "Thank You Poppa, I love it." I said.
We got Poppa's things put away in the house when Mrs. Amelia called and invited us over for dessert. we brought dessert for her too. When we got there, the house smelled of raspberries. "Wow, it smells delicious in here." momma said carrying her bowl of dessert. Mrs.Amelia came out of the kitchen and told us to sit and said, "Good to have ya back, James." "Great to be back, Amelia." Poppa said smiling. Mrs.Amelia came out with a raspberry pie, and momma had rasberry ice cream, so for dessert we had raspberry pie, with raspberry ice cream and milk.
It was delicious, everyone was laughing and having so much fun. everything was perfect, because we found happiness out of something very small, raspberries.
The Life of MaryAnne Gretchen(Fatimah Peters)
My best friend Luke and I were playing outside in the front yard, tackling each other, not worrying about life, or the hours ahead of us, just right now, in this moment together. "You know it's gonna rain, right?" Luke said laying flat on the ground looking up at the sky. "And how would you know that?" I asked unpinning him from the ground. He jumped on top of me and pinned me on the ground the moment I let go of him. "Look up at the sky, MaryAnne, what do you see?" he asked me still crouching on top of me holding me down. "Your big head, blocking the gray clouds." I said laughing. "My head is not big." Luke said defensively, "The gray clouds tell you it's gonna rain." Luke said finally getting off of me. "Oh,well I knew that." I said trying not to seem so dumb. "Sure ya did." Luke said holding out his hand so I can get up. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the ground and rolled him in the mud, and he pushed me down and did the same thing to me.
My momma came outside on the porch and yelled, "You two, lord help me, MaryAnne why can't you ever seem to keep clean, come on over here and hose all that dirt off with the hose, you too Luke. I swear you two are like 2 babies and a piece of candy, always fighting." my momma yelled standing on the porch wearing an apron. Luke and I got up and walked down to the side of the house, and turned on the hose. I sprayed Luke and Luke sprayed me, we were drenched. When we were done my momma came out with 2 towels, she dried off both of us, and sent me in the house to take a bath. "Luke, honey run down home before it starts raining and tell your momma I said come over tonight for desert, you understand me?" my momma asked, still drying off Luke. "Yes,maam." said Luke. "Alright,go on, hurry." my momma yelled sending him on his way.
My momma came inside the house with a warm bucket of water for my bath. she ripped off a piece of cloth for my rag and gave me a bar of fresh honey butter soap that she made. I washed my body, while she washed my hair. the warm water felt nice with the soft honey butter soap. "No more of that ruffhousin today, time for that is tomorrow, after your chores are done, you understand me young lady?" she asked while rinsing my hair with water. "Yes,momma." I said. "Poppa's comin home tomorrow, so we gotta clean the house. I made you and Elizabeth new dresses, and please don't get it dirty." my momma said while handing me a towel, and drying me off. "Really momma, new dresses, why, i'm sure they're just gorgeous." I said letting momma wrap the towel around me. "Yes,gorgeous dresses, for gorgeous girls." my momma said carrying me to get the ribbons and the comb and brush to do my hair.
"Here change into the little pink dress in your drawer, then come out on the porch when you're done, so I can handle that blonde frizz of your's, and put on some fresh underwear." my momma told me as she dropped me off at the door of my room. "Ok." I said, then shut the door. I put on some fresh underwear, then slipped on my pink dress with white polka dots. I ran downstairs and onto the porch where momma was sitting in the rocking chair, holding baby Elizabeth. "Momma did you make me new olive oil?" I asked her excitedly. "I did, now sit on the stool so we can get started." my momma said putting baby Elizabeth in the carriage next to her.
I sat on the stool, and momma told me a story like she always does when she does my hair. this time the story was about, Little Red Riding Hood. When momma tells it, I think about it in my head, like a movie. I can smell the olive oil as momma puts it in my hair and combs it. she makes it fresh from our olives that grow in the backyard during the summer, and during the winter, it's carrot oil. "Tomorrow, you're gonna help me make a lot of honey and butter soap, we need more, we have to store up for the winter" my momma says while putting the ribbon on the bottom of the braid she just did. "Oh my, oh my, I can't wait, the soap always smells so beautiful, and it's always soft on your skin." I said looking out at Luke's house. "Why,I believe it is." my momma said while braiding the last braid.
"Ok, sweetie pie, you're done. Time for dinner." my momma said while handing me the hair supplies. I ran upstairs to my room and put the hair supplies on the shelf that Poppa made me. When I went downstairs my 2 brothers Grodey and Laurence, were at the dinner table ready to eat. "My, oh my, look at little MaryAnne all dolled up." said Laurence. "You look like a pig with the measles." Grodey said. "Enough, i'm not giving out any spanken's tonight, you hear me, that goes for all of you, you hear me?" momma said angrily. "Yes,momma." I said and I sat down. "Yes,momma." Laurence said. "Yes,maam." Grodey said. "Alright now." momma said sitting down.
Momma put her blonde hair into a bun on her head, and her and Laurence went to go get dinner from the kitchen. They brought out a glazed chicken, and carrots, and wild rice, and fresh lemonade. "Little Missy, hand me your plate." momma said stretching her arms out for the plate. I put it in her hand and she piled it up. She made Laurence and Grodey's plates. "Grodey, go in the kitchen, on the top shelf of the fridge is some fresh butter I made today." momma said feeding Elizabeth mushed up carrots. "Ok." Grodey said and ran into the kitchen. He came back with the butter, and boy was it delicious.
"MaryAnne clean up the plates and the trash." my mother said while eating dinner for herself. I grabbed all the plates and put them in the sink. I also got new dishes for desert, and new forks. "Get 3 more plates." momma said while cleaning up her area. Laurence brought out a crunchy peach cobbler. "Mmmmh, yummy." I said not taking my eyes off the cobbler. "We're gonna wait for the Kolemann's, the same way they'd wait for us." momma said politely folding her hands.
About 5 minutes later there was a knocking on the door. when Laurence opened the door, we saw Mrs.Ameliea, Mr.Charlie, Luke, and baby Emma. "G'day Kolemann's." Laurence said kindly, and politely. "Well lookit there I do believe we have a little gentlemen." Mrs.Amelia said as she walked in the house carrying the baby. Momma left the kitchen with Elizabeth in her arms and went to go greet Mrs. Amelia. Grover and Laurence went to go talk to Mr.Charlie, so I was at the table by myself.
"Well c'mon now, don't want the peach cobbler to get cold, now do we?" Momma asked walking back to the table with everyone behind her. "No we don't." said Grover sitting down next to me. When everyone was at the table Momma started serving the cobbler. Nice and ooey and gooey. "Why,is that little MaryAnne, looking as pretty as a lily?" Mrs.Amelia said smiling at me. "Hi, Mrs. Amelia, guess what?" I asked excitedly. "What is it,sweetie?" she asked wiping the spit from the babies mouth. "My poppa's comin home tomorrow, and my Momma said I can help her make lots of honey butter soap that's as soft as baby Emma herself." I said really happily. "Now aren't you just a lucky one, huh." Mrs.Amelia said, while breaking off a piece of cobbler with her fork. "Oh,yes." I said stuffing a big piece of cobbler down my throat.
After dessert, the Kolemann's headed on home, and I had to go to bed. I went upstairs to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and I got in the bed and waited for momma to come and tuck me in. Momma came in and kneeled down next to me on the side of my bed. "Darling you are such a gift, I learn things from you everyday." Momma said whispering. "You do!? What do I teach you?" I asked cluelessly. "Well, you taught me to find the joy in little things, like the honey butter soap, you found so much happiness in that, where I saw a bar of soap." Momma said smiling. "Oh,I guess I do." I said thoughtfully. "You also taught me to enjoy the little things you have in your life, like when you and Luke were ruffhousin' in the mud, I saw a dirty mess, you saw a fun game." Momma said rubbing my braid between her fingers. "Oh,yes,that was fun." I say, remembering the fun time we had. "Look, MaryAnne, look for the small things in life and enjoy them, even if other people don't, because that makes it all the better, because it shows how smart you are, okay?" momma said holding my hand. "Yes,momma." I said, and looked at her blue eyes, and she looked just like me!" I love you, baby, go to sleep." momma said as she was turning off the light.
The next morning I woke up early like I always do, when it's still dark outside and there's no sun yet. I put on my blue longsleeve shirt, and my overalls, and my green rainboots. I went downstairs quietly so I don't wake anyone, and I went outsid. I walked to the chicken coop with a bucket, and we got 19 fresh eggs. I put the bucket on the porch, then grabbed a new one and went to go milk Stella, our cow. as I was milking her I fed her some breakfast, cleaned up her poop, and washed her til' she was all sparkly, like me yesterday. When I went to get basin's full of hay for the horses, the sun started coming up. I fed Betsy, Tolley, Tanner, and Lightning. I had to go to the shed to get food for the pigs, and I got out a shovel, and I cleaned the pigs slop, and fed them breakfast, and washed them down. I went in the barn and found Laurence and Grover's work. We were having bacon for breakfast.
I walked back to the house, I put all the buckets in the shed, except for the milk, eggs, and the bucket that held the dead pig. I brought those in the house, I rinsed all the eggs, and put them in a bowl, and stuck it in the refridgerator. I cleaned the milk, and put some in a bottle for baby Elizabeth, and put that in the refirgerator. I put the milk from the bucket into a reusable milk carton we have, and put it in the refrigerator, and I took the dead pig and put it in the sink for momma to slice to bacon or to ham for sandwiches. I washed my hands, and the last buckets, and brought them down to the shed, and when I came back the boys were getting on the school bus, to school, and momma was cutting up the pig. "You did a great job today. Stella gave so much milk we might have enough for me to make ice-cream." Momma said while slicing a piece of the pig. "Oh my, that'd be a delight momma." "Ok, now go on upstairs, and change your clothes." momma said pointing to the stairs. "Ok." I said then ran upstairs.
I put on ripped jeans, and a pink tank top that Poppa got me from the city.I went back downstairs and gave baby Elizabeth her bottle, and I changed her stinky diaper. "Momma, Elizabeth ate breakfast, and I cleaned her, can I give her some toys?" I asked holding Elizabeth by the kitchen table. "Go ahead, they're in the closet in my room, put down a blanket, then the toys." momma said over the pop and sizzle from the bacon. "Yes,momma." I said as I was carrying baby Elizabeth upstairs. I took the small quilt off my bed, and I got the rattle that Poppa made Laurence, and all of us played with it, and I got her some blocks that Poppa bought from the city. I went downstairs, and I layed the blanket on the floor in front of the couch, I put the blocks and the rattle on the blanket, and I watched baby Elizabeth play with the blocks, and chew on them.
I could smell the bacon and the eggs from in here. momma's bacon and eggs were the best. I cleaned up baby Elizabeth's toy's after a while, and brought them back upstairs in the closet, and I put the quilt back on my bed, and put baby Elizabeth in the carriage and she went straight to sleep. "Momma can I got to Mrs. Amelia's house to invite them to breakfast?" I asked hoping she would say yes. "5 minutes, so you better run." momma said as she packed all the other peices of bacon into wax paper, and put it in the freezer. "Thank you, momma." I said as I was putting on Grover's hand me down sneaker's.
The only thing that separate's our house from the Kolemann's is a large piece of land. we were both too young to go to school yet, so we were home all day playing, helping our momma's around the house. It was about a 10 minute walk to his house, but I finally got to the front door. Mrs.Amelia was on the porch with baby Emma, Mr.Charlie was at work, and Luke was probably in the house. "Why, is it our little MaryAnne, what brings you here sweet pea?" Mrs. Amelia asked. "Momma just made breakfast, and I wanted you and Luke to come eat with us, and then maybe you can make some soap with me and my momma." I said rushing it all out of my mouth. "I can't come for breakfast, but in an hour i'll come to help with the soap, how's that sound,MaryAnne?" Mrs.Amelia asked. "Why,it sounds just peachy,..can Luke come for breakfast?" I asked. "Sure thing, he get's so bored in this house of our's." Mrs.Amelia said. Just then Luke came outside. "Luke, why don't you and MaryAnne go eat breakfast at Mrs. Gretchen's house, and then go swimming down at the pond? "Mrs.Amelia asked. "Just fine. I'll go get my shorts to swim in." said Luke running into the house. He came back a couple minutes later, and we raced to my house.
"Ok, now you two stop that nonsense before you step into this dining room, ya hear." momma said setting 3 plates on the table, and 3 cups of fresh milk. "Yes,momma." I said walking to my chair. "Yes, Mrs. Gretchen." Luke said following after me. We sat down and immediately ate. the food was so good. we all got 2 pieces of bacon, and scrammbled eggs, and fresh milk. "Wow, that was mighty tasty now wasn't it?" momma asked while wiping her face with a piece of cloth. "Oh,yes." Luke said finishing the last of his milk. "Most definitely." I said.
Momma took my hair out of the braids and put it in a ponytail with a rubberband she found in Poppa's desk. She put me in my swimsuit, which was my tanktop and shorts, and Luke got dressed in his shorts and a blue shirt. "Now, here's some towels, you two behave yourselves and walk together, ok, be back in 2 hours, have fun now." momma said handing us a bag with towels in it. We walked down the hill, past the barn, crossed the road, and down the hill, and we were at the pond. I immediately dropped the bag and plunged into the water and swam down to the other end. the water went to my chest. Luke jumped in and swam next to me, we raced each other back and forth across the pond. We had splash contests to see who's splash went the highest. they didn't go very high since we were small. When we were splashing each other, I stomped on my toe by accident, and I sat on the side of the pond and cried. Luke came over and looked at my toe, and told me to stop crying. then he said, "Pretty girls don't look pretty when they cry." He thought I was pretty, why, that was so nice. He leaned over and kissed me on the lips and then helped me up. We dried off with the towels, then walked back holding hands.
Luke went to his house to change, and I went in my room and put on a short sleeve purple shirt with a fresh pair of overalls. Luke came with his mom, and baby Emma. we sat at the table and had ham sandwiches for lunch, with lemonade. Momma saved 2 sandwiches for Grodey and Laurence. the bus would be here in 5 minutes, then Momma, Mrs.Amelia, and I are going to make the soap. Momma sent me to the shed to get the churner for the butter, and the small one for the honey. I was locking the shed when the school bus showed up and Laurence and Grodey ran up the hill to the house. I waddled up the steps with the 2 churners and pushed them by the dining room table. Momma kissed the boys on the heads, and handed them their sandwiches and lemonade.
Momma got started churning the butter, pushing on the pedal, pushing the long stick that stuck out of the middle. Mrs.Amelia did the honey, doing the same thing .Momma mixed the butter and honey in a large bowl together, and put corn starch in it and said, "That corn starch is what makes the soap soft on your skin." Momma mixed all of it up together, then took a funnel, and a baking pan, and made bar shapes on the baking pan with the funnel. the room smelled so good and sweet. She took the baking pan and put it in the oven and it baked, and Momma let it cool off on the dining room table. soon we had 73 bars of soap done.
Luke and I went outside, and we were eating berries from the tree in the back yard while our mother's were cooking ham stew, my favorite. I ran to the shed and grabbed a bucket and we picked a lot of raspberries til' the sun started going down. we filled up half the bucket. We split the raspberries in half, so we used 2 buckets til' we both had the same amount of raspberries. Luke ran to his house and gave the raspberries to his momma, and I gave my half to my momma.
I went outside to put the bucket in the shed when I saw the car drive up the hill. I threw the bucket in the shed, then ran to the house yelling, "Poppa's home, Poppa's home!" Everyone ran down to meet him. he had lots of cloth for new clothing, and leather for shoes, and cotton for dolls. "Poppa, you're home!" I yelled running towards him. he caught me and spun me around. "I have a present for you MaryAnne, it's something that you always wanted," he said. He dug in his sack and pulled out a ragdoll with nothing on it. "I asked them to take everything off of it so you could design it your way." Poppa said smiling. "Thank You Poppa, I love it." I said.
We got Poppa's things put away in the house when Mrs. Amelia called and invited us over for dessert. we brought dessert for her too. When we got there, the house smelled of raspberries. "Wow, it smells delicious in here." momma said carrying her bowl of dessert. Mrs.Amelia came out of the kitchen and told us to sit and said, "Good to have ya back, James." "Great to be back, Amelia." Poppa said smiling. Mrs.Amelia came out with a raspberry pie, and momma had rasberry ice cream, so for dessert we had raspberry pie, with raspberry ice cream and milk.
It was delicious, everyone was laughing and having so much fun. everything was perfect, because we found happiness out of something very small, raspberries.
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Gail Moore
04/15/2019Awesome story, the little thing in life that count for so many lovely memories.
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