Happy Day - Part 3

Hello Friday Fiction Fans,
It's hard to believe it's Friday again. I feel like I lost my Monday and only had half my Tuesday and here it is Friday again. And we're back to the heat of summer. Yesterday morning was nice and we had the house open, but by mid afternoon it was hot. And today is supposed to be another hot day. But the weather is usually hot here in summer. :)

In spite of spending most of my day on Monday outside in the heat trying to find and pack everything Light of Faith needed for their last conference in TX so we could send it all with some friends who were going down to help out, I did have something exciting happen. My proof copy of TCR-3 came! Yay! It is being proof read now and I can't wait to let you all read the finished book.

I am still working on TCR-4, but have run into a slight problem. I need a picture and a name of a beautiful horse. It must be a mare but can be a Quarter horse, a Paint, an Appaloosa, a Mustang or a Morgan. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

You want to know what else I've been doing? Well, I've been making huge messes in my room and then cleaning them up. :P Crazy thing to do, you might think, but it does have a purpose. I've been needing to clean out many drawers and boxes but just never got around to it. Now, because of a little rearranging,  I've decided to tackle the project. I've made good progress, but it's slow. Oh, well.

And now here is the next part of your Friday Fiction. Enjoy!

Happy Day

Part 3

    She did write me some letters and I wrote to her. Daddy lets me write letters, but until I started to write to Miss Natalie, I only had Uncle Josh to write to. I sent pictures and things to Miss Natalie and she sent me stickers. I do like getting mail.

    It wasn’t until the end of summer that Miss Natalie came again. Daddy and I invited her and Uncle Will and Aunt Anna over on Saturday for a fun day. It was fun too. We played outside all morning and had water fights. Miss Natalie, Aunt Anna and I got Daddy soaked! He said he would get us, but we ran away.
    After lunch everyone was going to go to the park, but Daisy was taking a nap. Aunt Anna wanted to go, so Miss Natalie said she would stay with Daisy. That made me rather sad for I wanted to be with Miss Natalie. When we were only two houses away from our house, I asked Aunt Anna if I couldn’t go back home and stay with Miss Natalie. Aunt Anna called her and then said I could. I raced all the way home again. There was something I had wanted to ask Miss Natalie, but when it was just the two of us in the living room, I felt a little shy. At last I got up and walked over to her. She was sitting on the couch.
    “Miss Natalie,” I began shyly. “Do you think I’m too big to sit on laps?”
    Miss Natalie smiled. “Of course you aren’t!”
    “Do you think my mother would still hold me if she hadn’t died?”
    “Yes, Rinnah, I do.”
    I looked down at the picture of my mother and I said, “I wish she hadn’t died then because I want her to hold me.” I hadn’t ever told Daddy that I longed for a mommy to hold me. I was afraid it would make him cry again.
    I think Miss Natalie understood me because she opened her arms and said, “Would it help to pretend that I’m your mother?”
    She didn’t need to ask again for I climbed right up, and she hugged me close. It was then that I knew what a mother’s arms were like. You may think it strange, Diary, when I’d had Grandma and Aunt Anna to hold and hug and kiss me, to still wonder what a mother would be like, but grandmas and aunts aren’t the same thing.
    After Miss Natalie had held me for a minute she asked, “Who gave you the name Rinnah?”
    “My mother did. Daddy picked my middle name, Melanie.”
    “Do you know what your name means?”
    I didn’t know. I knew names had meanings, but I never could find ‘Rinnah’ in the name book. But Miss Natalie knew.
    “The name Rinnah is a Hebrew name that means ‘rejoicing song.’ So your name means ‘A rejoicing song of courage.’”
    I liked that. I liked that my mother had named me a rejoicing song. It made me feel like singing. I asked Miss Natalie if she liked that name and she tickled me and said, “I love it!” Then we played a game together until Daisy woke up.

    I didn’t know it then, but Daddy liked Miss Natalie and she liked him. After she went back home, there would sometimes be a letter in the mail from her that wasn’t for me. And once, when I was in bed, I woke up and heard Daddy talking on the phone. I crept to my bedroom door and listened. I was a little scared that it might be something bad that had happened, but Daddy was laughing and said, “We couldn’t agree more, Natalie.” Then I went back to bed. It took me a long time to get to sleep again. I was thinking. If Daddy liked Miss Natalie enough to talk on the phone to her when it was late, did he like her enough to— Well, I didn’t let myself finish the sentence, but I thought about it for days afterwards. And I kept my eyes and ears open.

    Miss Natalie came to visit Aunt Anna again in the fall. At least that is what Aunt Anna said, but she always said it with a grin, and I think Miss Natalie really came to see Daddy and me. She was over at our house nearly every day.

    By the time Thanksgiving came around, I knew Daddy loved Miss Natalie. She came for Thanksgiving and we all had Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa’s. I didn’t get to talk much with Miss Natalie because right after dinner she and Daddy took a long walk together.
    “Aunt Anna,” I said, going into the kitchen to help dry dishes. “Do you know what I think Daddy ought to get Miss Natalie for Christmas?”
    “What?”
    “A ring.”
    She just laughed and said I should tell Daddy that. I said I would and then I said I wanted to get her a necklace with a picture of Daddy and me in a locket. Aunt Anna turned from the sink and kissed me but she didn’t say a thing. Sometimes I don’t understand her.
    It was the night after Miss Natalie had gone back home. We had gone to the airport to tell her good-bye and Daddy hardly said a word all the way home. He and I were sitting on the couch and we had just finished reading the Bible together. I curled up beside him and he put his arm around me. “Daddy, Christmas is coming,” I told him.
    “Um hm.”
    “And we ought to start thinking about Christmas presents.”
    Then he looked down and me and tweaked my nose gently as he replied, “I suppose you have all your list made out, Chickadee?”
    I don’t know why he calls me Chickadee. I don’t look anything like one. “No,” I giggled. “But I know what we should get for Miss Natalie.” I looked up at him with a grin. He had a funny look on his face.

Will you be back next Friday for the final part?

Are you enjoying this story?

And are you eagerly waiting for my newest book to come out?

Happy Day - Part 2

Good Morning Friday Fiction Fans!
I don't know about you all, but we are enjoying lovely cool weather right now in the middle of July! It feels like September with cool days and cooler nights. Our windows have been open and several times I find myself thinking that fall has come. :) It is supposed to be back in the 90s next week, so we'll enjoy this weather while we can.

How has your week been? Have you done anything really fun or interesting? My week hasn't been dull. This is the first full free week I've had since I've gotten my new computer and it's been interesting to see what I can do and what I have to adjust to. :) I have been working on correcting parts of TCR-4 and another longer short story which have been sitting on my desk for weeks! Very nice to get them done. :) Oh, one thing you may be interested in is that the proof copy of TCR-3 is in the mail to me! I should be getting it any day! So I think we may still be able to have this book out by the first of August. :) For those of you who are anxiously awaiting it, that is only two weeks away. :) Can you wait that long?

Speaking of TCR, I have been writing every day on book 4 and have gotten quite a bit done. I'm not quite a quarter of the way done, but close. I'm still trying to get caught up on other things which got stacked up when my other computer was giving out. And I haven't let myself read a single book this week. I love to read and too often I find myself reading when I really should be writing. :P So, I decided that I wouldn't start any book this week. At least not until Saturday. :)

But here is the next part of this story. It was a story that almost wrote itself.

Happy Day

Part 2

    It was my ninth birthday, and we were having a party. It wasn’t a large party because I didn’t have a lot of friends around, but that was okay with me. It was just going to be Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Will and Aunt Anna and their little ones and Daddy and me. But the day before my birthday, Aunt Anna called me.
    “Rinnah (that is my name), one of my very best friends since I was a little girl is visiting me for two weeks. Would you mind if she comes to your party too?”
    Of course I said I didn’t mind. Her friend’s name was Natalie.
    We did have a lovely time on my birthday and I liked Miss Natalie. She was very sweet and fun. When the little ones wanted to play duck-duck-goose, she joined in. Most grownups don’t like to play such silly games. I liked her a lot and the next day, since Daddy had to go to a meeting, Aunt Anna and Miss Natalie took me shopping with them, and we even got ice cream!
    When Daddy picked me up, I told him all about my day, and he said he was jealous. I told him he shouldn’t have those boring meetings. I’ve been to one of those meetings and I never want to go again! Daddy just laughed and said he’d be delighted to not have to go to them, but unfortunately, it’s business and if he wants to get paid, he has to go. Poor Daddy. I do feel sorry for those men who have to go to such boring meetings.
    Miss Natalie came to church with Aunt Anna and we all ate lunch at Grandma’s afterwards. I really liked Miss Natalie and she seemed to like me too. I didn’t know if she liked Daddy because she was hardly ever with him, and Daddy doesn’t talk a whole lot to just anyone. While we were at Grandma’s, I discovered that Miss Natalie draws. She drew me a picture of a little girl picking flowers and she did it all in just a few minutes. I wish I could draw like that. I’m practicing now, but I’m still not very good. But Daddy said I will be if I work hard. I’m going to work hard while he’s gone and then I’ll surprise them when they come home!
    When it was the day before Miss Natalie was to go back home, Aunt Anna got sick. She got real sick and so Miss Natalie didn’t go home after all. She stayed to help take care of the children and the house while Uncle Will was at the hospital with Aunt Anna. That was a frightening time for me because my cousin Daisy was the same age I was when my mother died. I spent nearly every day over with Miss Natalie helping with the children when Daddy was at work. We prayed for Aunt Anna together and that made me feel better.
    Uncle Will would come home sometimes and talk with Daddy and Miss Natalie and hug his children. Grandma and Grandpa were over to help Miss Natalie too. It seemed like we were all over at Uncle Will and Aunt Anna’s house more than we were at home. But it only lasted for about a week. Then Aunt Anna got better enough to come home. It was kind of scary when I first saw her because she was very thin and pale. But when she smiled, I knew she was still the same Aunt Anna.
    Since Aunt Anna was still not completely well, Miss Natalie went home for only a day and then came back. The children liked it and so did I. Once I asked Aunt Anna if she liked having Miss Natalie there all the time. She said, “I love it. Wouldn’t you enjoy it if your best friend could stay at your house for weeks?”
    I thought a moment before saying, “I don’t have a best friend except Daddy, so I don’t know.”
    Aunt Anna just smiled.
    I don’t remember how long it was before Aunt Anna was completely well again, but I do know that before Miss Natalie left to go back to her home, Daddy and I invited her and Uncle Will and Aunt Anna over to our house for supper. Since it was warm out, Daddy was going to cook hamburgers on the grill. I made potato salad all by myself. Daddy just drained the potatoes for me. And then I made brownies. I was learning how to cook and I think it is fun. (I’m still learning, and Grandma is going to let me help fix all the meals while I’m here this week.)
    Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal, and we all sat outside on the back porch after we ate. The little ones were happy to play on the swings and with a ball out in the yard. I played with them for a while, but then I came back and sat on the swing between Aunt Anna and Miss Natalie. For a while we just sat and let the swing go back and forth. Reaching out, I held a hand of each of them. I realized that next to Daddy, they were my two favorite friends and I whispered to Miss Natalie, “I wish you didn’t have to go home. I’ll miss you!”
    And she whispered back, “I’m going to miss you too!”
    “Won’t you please come back soon?” I asked. “If Aunt Anna doesn’t want you at her house, you can stay here with Daddy and me.”
    I didn’t know why Aunt Anna laughed and called me a little match-maker, but I did understand when Miss Natalie kissed me and whispered, “That’s sweet of you. I’ll try to come back soon.”

    She did come back about a month later for Aunt Anna’s birthday. I didn’t know she had come until I saw her come into church with Aunt Anna and Uncle Will! I was so excited to see her again. Even Daddy seemed pleased and they talked for a while. Miss Natalie couldn’t stay for very many days this time, and I was sad when she left.

Did you like this part?

You still have two parts to go.

Happy Day - Part 1

Good Morning Friday Fiction Fans!
It doesn't seem possible that it can be Friday already! The week has flown by! On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent the day teaching a writing class of 32 children ages 9-13. There were some crazy moments, but overall I really enjoyed it. :)

I haven't gotten a bit of writing done this week. I know, it is rather sad. I'm trying to get used to my new computer and figure some things out. I'm hoping to get to work on TCR-3 very soon as I now have all the illustrations! Yippee! I can't wait to make this book available to you favorite readers. :)

I know this if short, but I really don't have a whole lot of time nor a whole lot to tell you, and instead of rambling on and on about nothing, I'll just stop.

Now I have to decide which story to start today. Hmm, let me go look . . . I decided on a story.

Happy Day

Part 1

    Dear Diary,
    I just got you today, but since I couldn’t wait to use you, I decided to start writing tonight. I’ll probably have to finish in the morning because Grandma will be coming up soon to tuck me in.
    This day has been the happiest day of my life! Always and forever I’ll never forget it. And just so I can remember all the details, I wanted to write them down. Daddy said I’m good at remembering all the little things, but I might forget them when I get to be old, like in my thirties, and then I couldn’t tell them to my children and grandchildren. Of course I know I wouldn’t have grandchildren when I am in my thirties, but later on I really might not remember everything or they might get mixed up in my mind. I want to set them down forever in this lovely, pink diary.
    Maybe I should tell it all like a story. I do like to tell stories. Aunt Anna said I tell the younger ones splendid stories. But this isn’t for the younger ones, it’s for the older ones, but mostly it’s for me, and Daddy and Mama. I love to write that name: Mama. How sweet it looks!
    But I must begin.

    I suppose I should go way back to when I was just a baby practically. I was only nineteen-months-old when my mother got very sick and died. Being so young, I don’t remember it or her at all. Of course I’ve seen Mother’s picture lots of times, but it’s not the same. Pictures can’t kiss you or hold you on their lap when you are tired. But a Daddy can. Daddy raised me himself. Well, almost by himself. Aunt Anna helped some when I was little before she got married, and Grandma and Grandpa helped too, but mostly it has just been Daddy and me.
    We’ve had a good time together, just us two. Daddy took me out on a sailboat one time, and we flew in an airplane to visit Daddy’s Uncle Josh in Maine when I was eight. I didn’t like the plane too much, but I wasn’t scared because Daddy was there.

    Life hasn’t been all happy though. I mean, when I was little I had a temper. I still have one, but Daddy and I have been praying and Jesus is helping me control it better. But when I was little, I’d get stubborn sometimes when I was told to do something and then when I got in trouble I’d scream and be just awful. I remember one time especially.
    I think I was about four when it happened. I was staying with Aunt Anna, and Daddy was expected to come pick me up any minute. Aunt Anna told me to clean up a mess I had made, but I said no and just stood there. Aunt Anna said, “If you won’t pick up, then you can sit in that chair until your daddy comes.”
    Well, Diary, I didn’t like that and I threw myself on the floor and screamed. Just then Daddy walked in. He didn’t say a word, just picked me up and spanked me. I don’t remember many spankings, but that one I do remember. Then I picked up the toys. So you see, life wasn’t always easy for me or for Daddy.

    I remember another time when I was about seven. I had been in bed for some time, but I couldn’t get to sleep. Finally I decided to risk a spanking by getting up and going to see Daddy. Slipping into the living room, I saw Daddy seated in his chair staring at a picture of Mother. And Diary, he was crying! Until then I didn’t know that Daddy’s ever cried. I forgot all about maybe getting a spanking and just flew across the room and onto his lap. There I put my arms around his neck and whispered, “Don’t cry, Daddy, I’m here.”
    Then Daddy put his arms about me and held me oh so tight. He didn’t say a word for a long time. We just held on to each other in silence. I think that was the first time I knew that Daddy was lonely sometimes, and I started to pray that he wouldn’t be so lonely.

    Now I must go to bed, Diary. Grandma is here to tuck me in.

    I’m back again. Grandma, Grandpa and I just ate breakfast and Grandma asked what I was going to do this morning. (Aunt Anna is going to take me roller-skating this afternoon.) I told her I was going to write everything down about yesterday so I’d never forget if I lived to be as old as her and Grandpa, and so, here I am.
    Where was I? Oh, yes.
    As I grew older, Daddy and I did everything together. Well, almost everything. I still couldn’t go on all his business trips, but I have gotten to go on many. One time we went to Hawaii! The beach was so warm and the water was so blue and we had such a wonderful time that neither of us wanted to go home again.

    I recall hearing people talking about me since I was little. It might have been because Daddy wasn’t very good at doing hair, so mine was usually a mess unless Aunt Anna did it, and my clothes, though they were clean, were often wrinkly. I didn’t care about that, but the talk bothered me. It was as though they thought I couldn’t hear when I was standing right near them or something because they would say to each other, “That child needs a mother’s hand.”
    And the other would reply, “I’ve told Paul that many times (Paul is my Daddy’s name), but he always says they get by.”
    Now I never thought that kind of talk was very nice. I mean Daddy was right. We were getting along, and just fine too. But that was before I turned nine.

Do you like it so far?

Will you be back next Friday for Part 2?

Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!
What a glorious morning! Do you have big plans for today? Are you going to shoot of fireworks or watch a display of fireworks tonight? There are so many things I'd love to do today to celebrate the 4th, but I have too many grand ideas. :)

This week has been interesting in regards to my computer. It's gotten worse and worse. But, the good news is that I have another one on it's way to me right now! Well, I don't think it's moving on the 4th, but it should arrive in a day or so. Then maybe I can start working on catching up with everything.

Update on Triple Creek Ranch:
I have gotten back into writing book 4. Finally. I have 8 parts written and parts of two other scenes which come later on in the book. I don't normally write parts ahead of myself, but these two scenes just needed written before I thought about them too much. :)
Book 3 is getting close and closer to being finished. The illustrations are almost finished and once I get my new computer I'll be able to work on putting the book together! I can't wait. I'm sure some of you are eagerly waiting for it's publication too. :) I'll try to hurry.

And now, I'm going to give you a poem I wrote. It's been a long time since I wrote and posted a poem, but I didn't really have anything that fit with the day, so I hope you enjoy it. If you want a story to read, you can go read the Medford's 4th of July here and here.

Independence Day

If I lived in Philadelphia, my heart would swell with pride,
In 1776 I’d stand, with patriots at my side.

If I served at Ft. McHenry and the British came to fight,
In 1812 I’d wait to see Old Glory in the light.

If I traveled west by wagon, I would gladly stop and say
A prayer of thanks to God above on Independence Day.

If I flew a plane with Rickenbacker above the foreign skies,
I’d be fighting for our freedom and its glow would fill my eyes.

If I were on board the Missouri in 1945,
I’d thank the Lord that peace had come and I was still alive.

If I joined Neil Armstrong in his trip up to the moon,
I’d wear a grin because I’d know my flag was going too.

So many years of history, of battles, folks, and things,
Our flag still flies in freedom’s skies while my heart loudly sings.

This land of 50 states and stars, the land I call my own,
Is for the brave, the true, the free, where Liberty calls home.

Where should I then in this great land its birth to celebrate?
Two hundred thirty-eight years have gone, God bless the United States.

If I were east in Washington D.C. I’d watch the fireworks display.
If I were up in Boston, I’d hear the Boston Pops play.

If I were in west in California I’d see a dazzling sight.
If I were down south in Austin, I might celebrate all night!

But I am here with family, in the middle of the land,
No fireworks or speeches, and no military band.

But I’ll still give thanks for the U.S.A.
And celebrate Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!