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Friday, April 7, 2017

A Lesson in Contentment - Part 4

Dear me! I forgot all about it being Friday. Is it really Friday?
It's been a rather crazy week and next week will be even more crazy. :P It's called "Life." Yeah, I know, it would be nice if things weren't so crazy and I could get a lot written, but it hasn't happened. Yet. Perhaps I can write more today. I sure hope so. Here's a quick look at my week.
Saturday: I actually got a good amount written for the first day of April.
Sunday: I worked in the nursery Sunday School for my mom, and then after church we had choir practice. The rest of the day was relaxing and I got to read. :)
Monday: Preparing and teaching my final writing classes. Then I had to grade papers and get everything ready for the next day. I did get 800+ words written.
Tuesday: Only 368 words written while I sat at the polls. We had a record breaking number of 19 people show up to vote! But we talked a LOT and I learned a lot about the history of the area. (There might even be an idea for a story.)
Wednesday: I was tired. And I was catching up. I did some writing sprints with some of my cabin mates which was fun and I was able to get a little over 1,500 words written.
Thursday: I got more things done and the day was more relaxed, but there wasn't much writing done. One of the girls from church who is getting married next week, came over to try her dress on (my sister was doing some altering for her) and we talked for quite a while. And after supper I had to edit what I had written the day before and then only got 280 words written. Not much. We'll see if I'm able to reach my 5k goal this week. I have a wedding to attend tomorrow afternoon. I feel that I'm so close to the ending of "Dylan's Story" but I could use prayer as I write it.

Here's the next part of this story. It gets more exciting in this part. :) Enjoy!

A Lesson in Contentment
Part 4

    Before she could decide, the old woman started to cross the street. She didn’t look to see if any cars were coming, only stepped down off the curb.
    A horn blared. Kelsey found her heart in her throat as the old woman, startled and evidently bewildered, stumbled, almost lost her balance, and then moved forward right into the path of the oncoming car.
    Without stopping to think, Kelsey flew across the sidewalk, darted into the street and hurled herself at Mrs. Stuebanks.
    She was never quite sure just what happened then, for the next thing she knew she was sitting on the side of the road with the little old lady fairly in her lap.
    “Mercy me!” ejaculated Mrs. Stuebanks. “Whatever are you doing, Child?”
    Kelsey gave a nervous laugh. “I’m not quite sure, Mrs. Stuebanks. Are you all right?”
    A crowd was beginning to gather, though Kelsey couldn’t figure out where they all came from. The driver, white faced and shaking, pushed through to ask, “Is she all right? I didn’t see her until she was almost in front of me! Why didn’t she look? Has someone called for an ambulance?”
    Kelsey didn’t try to answer. She simply sat, bewildered, and thankful that Mrs. Stuebanks was alive.
    “I called for an ambulance,” once person said.
    “Where did the girl come from?”
    “Why, that’s Kelsey. Kelsey, what are you doing here?” It was the owner of the drugstore, and he crouched next to the odd couple sitting in the street.
    “I was at the skating party and saw her. Is she going to be all right, Mr. Parson?”
    The old woman, after her first exclamation, had fallen silent and sat quite still clutching her lavender purse.
    “I hope so.”
    The wail of sirens cut through the muffled chatter of the bystanders, and the crowd parted as a police officer and two medics came forward. Mrs. Stuebanks was soon inside the ambulance while Kelsey informed the officer that the old woman lived at the home.
    “I don’t know what she is doing this far away,” she said, not making any move to rise. “I didn’t see anyone with her. Is she going to be all right?”
    The officer nodded. “I’m sure she will be. Now suppose we move out of the street. It would–” He got no farther, for a new crowd, this time of young people, arrived on the scene and pushed forward.
    “Oh, Kelsey!” It was Lottie, and she flung her arms around her sister’s neck and burst into tears.
    Kelsey hugged her and then laughed somewhat shakily, “Come on, Lot, help me up and let’s get out of the street. How did you all know about the accident?”
    Pulling herself together, Lottie drew back and swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “We didn’t. What happened?”
    Zoe’s face appeared beside Lottie’s. “Someone heard a siren, but by the time the word got around and we realized that it wasn’t just passing by, the ambulance was leaving. What happened?”
    “Zoe, let’s wait until she is out of the street first,” Wally suggested, offering Kelsey his hand.
    Taking it, Kelsey was pulled to her feet, but when she tried to stand, an involuntary cry of pain escaped her lips, and she would have fallen had not a strong arm gone around her and held her up. Her eyes closed with pain and her head dropped forward to rest on a sturdy shoulder as she fought back the waves of dizziness.
    “My leg,” she gasped, in answer to the questions that besieged her from every side. She rested her weight on her right leg, her breathing ragged gasps. It hadn’t hurt before. Nothing had. The medics had asked her if she was all right and she had assured them she was. Nothing had changed since then, had it?
    “Kels,” Lottie was saying when Kelsey could focus on something besides the pain for a moment, “it’s going to be all right.”
    Lifting her head, though she still felt lightheaded, she tried to smile. “Of course I’ll be all right, Lottie,” she whispered. “I probably just twisted my ankle–or something.”
    The policeman was standing beside her giving orders. “Two of you fellows make a chair with your hands and we’ll get her moved.”
    “Bring her into my shop,” Mr. Parson offered quickly.
    Kelsey felt herself being lifted gently by Wally and one of the other boys at the party. The crowd parted and Mr. Parson opened wide his doors. Gritting her teeth against the stabbing pain as she was lowered to a chair and the officer carefully settled her leg on another chair, Kelsey closed her eyes once more.
    Voices swam around her, but she didn’t know what they were saying Her one thought was, “Mrs. Stuebanks is all right. It doesn’t matter about me.” Something cold was settled on her leg and eased the pain.
    “Kelsey.”
    Drawing a deep breath, Kelsey opened her eyes to find Wally and Zoe crouched down before her. It dawned on her suddenly that the accident had interrupted their skating party. “Where’s Lottie?” she asked, not giving either one a chance to speak.
    Her sister’s voice answered. “I’m right here.”
    Forcing her lips to smile, Kelsey glanced over at her. “You should call the house and ask Mike if he’ll come pick us up. You’ll have to get our skates.” She turned back to the brother and sister before her. “Sorry for interrupting the party. We’ll be fine here–until Mike comes. You can all go back. There’s no use waiting–with us.”
Have you ever gotten hurt at a party?
If you were Lottie, what would you do?
Are you eager to read the full book of "Dylan's Story"?

2 comments:

Story Adventurer said...

Oh no, poor Kelsey:( I haven't got hurt at a party before, but it sounds awful. If I was Lottie I would stay with my sister. I like the story so far ⊙_⊙ can't wait to see what happens.

Rebekah said...

You know, Marissa, those were my thoughts when it happened: Poor Kelsey! I've never gotten hurt at a party either, but it doesn't sound much fun. Hopefully you'll enjoy next week's part. :)