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.