This Week

Good Morning, FFFs,
I don't have a story for you today. Sorry. I was going to get the next story ready this week, but things changed so I completely forgot about it until yesterday and I didn't have time right then, so  . . . Next week I should have something for you.

But don't go away unless you only come here to read stories. ;)

Here's an update on my week.

Saturday– I spent the morning outside burning sticks and cleaning up piles of sticks and leaves from the yard of the empty house next door. Yes, Operation Clean Up the Neighborhood is still going on. I also helped my dad wash off some rocks since we are doing some new landscaping and moving some river rocks from one place to another. The rocks were covered with dirt and seed shells from being near our bird feeders.
After lunch my brother called to see if we wanted to come over and eat supper with them. Since we hadn't gotten to see the kids much and my parents had only gotten to hold their newest granddaughter once, we were delighted to accept. It was a fun time out at their place in the country. I played ping-pong with my oldest niece and nephews. We ate supper, held the baby, and enjoyed home made ice cream for dessert.
My youngest nephew (age 2 1/2) said the cutest thing and gave my favorite alliteration yet. :)
I was walking outside with my oldest niece, 2nd nephew, and youngest nephew. Sissy and FB were walking and Busters (little guy) was stuck walking behind his siblings. Suddenly he said in a disgusted little voice, "BehBeh MY favorite," and pushed his way up beside me. Of course Sissy tried to get him to say she was his favorite, but he was having none of it. Pulling away from her, he walked to the other side of me and said, "I BehBeh's best buddy." :)

Sunday– It was another quiet day. We watched some teaching videos this week, and then I read.

Monday– My Best Friend emailed and wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday. After some talk we decided to head to a state park (Nature Center not open but the trails are) and go hiking, eat a picnic lunch, and roast s'mores. And we decided to do it that day since it was nice and there was rain forecasted for my birthday. We got the hiking and the picnic in, but there was no place to build a fire and have s'mores. So we went and got ice cream instead.
I did get my 1k written.

Tuesday– Working on things I didn't get done on Monday. Like getting something ready for the next week, and writing.

Wednesday– My birthday. And my mom's and her younger sister's birthday. We have so many April birthdays. I counted at least a dozen that I know of. I might have missed one on my dad's side of the family. It was a rainy day. I worked on things in the morning, then after lunch I donned my rain coat grabbed my umbrella and went down to my BF's house. We built a small fire in her small grill on the porch and enjoyed the cool weather, the rain, and s'mores. Then we sat on the porch swing and talked. I was down there for two hours.
We had roast and potatoes for supper and a moist, almost gooey, chocolate chip cake. Yummm! Don't worry, I did write.

Thursday– More work on things. I got next week's blog post done for Read Another Page, reviewed a book, read some, and walked. I didn't feel like writing, but I wrote some, and then after supper my brain must have kicked into gear because I wrote over 1,200 words before I quit. And after I went to bed my brain kept spinning. Now I need to write again. :)

Today– Cleaning the house this morning, and then I'm not sure what. I have several things I should work on, and a book to read, and a story to write. I'm sure I won't be sitting around wishing for something to do. ;)

How was your week?

Has anyone ever told you they were your best buddy?

Did you get outside at all?

Florida - Part 6

Hello, FFFs,

This week has been cooler. It even dropped below freezing one night. But now it is starting to get warmer. We've had sunshine this week. It's amazing how wonderful the sunshine is when you've had so many cloudy days.

Did you all have a good Resurrection Sunday? We did. It was quiet. We watched last year's Easter sermon from someone we really enjoy listening to, then we joined a live service and got to listen to our pastor's son-in-law preach. We knew my brother and his family were watching too, and some others, so that was nice.

As far as writing goes this week, it's been good. Twice I have written 2k words in a day. And so far I'm around 18,400 words written for Camp this month. I think I need to up my goal again. Should I just move it to 30k since I still have two weeks left? I figured that if I finish this Secret Project before the end of the month (not sure if I will or not), then I'll just write something else. ;)

Well, I hope you enjoy this final part of this story about Ria's gift. Make sure you read the note after the story because I'll tell you what really happened to my grandma.

Florida

    Lydia gave a gasp that was almost like a scream. Her eyes widened as she looked around, and then whispered, “Where . . . where is he?”

    But Ria shook her head. “I don’t know. Come on.”

    All that day Ria and Lydia kept glancing into corners, under desks, and behind doors. Chris, Dave, and Walt joined them in the lunch room, for it was too cold to walk home, and it wasn’t long before Ria told them of the empty aquarium tank.

    “Maybe he got out and is wandering around the school looking for his lunch,” Dave whispered. “Oh!” He jerked his leg. “Something’s biting my foot!”

    Lydia did scream that time, and sprang up from the table knocking over her chair.

    The cafeteria grew silent, and all eyes turned in their direction.

    Ria looked under the table and then kicked her cousin. “There’s nothing there, Dave, and you know it,” she said. “Sit down, Lydia, he’s only trying to scare us.”

    Dave’s eyes widened. “I thought there was something biting my foot. Maybe it was just my shoe.”

    Walt and Chris exchanged glances, and Ria was sure Dave would catch it from the rest of the gang if he didn’t behave. Of course Dave wouldn’t care. Of all the gang, Dave was the most likely to cause trouble in some way or another. But Ria didn’t think about Dave and his joke much, she wanted to know what happened to Florida.

    Before the week was over ,everyone in school knew the alligator had disappeared, but no one knew where or how. Everyone went around cautiously, wondering if they would suddenly find an alligator behind a door or under a desk. Questions abounded. Did he die and get taken away and disposed of? Had he climbed from his home, wandered out an open door, and frozen to death in the cold winter weather? When asked, all the teachers shook their heads and could offer no explanation. A few looked nervous. The principal had been sick in the hospital for several days over the time Florida had vanished, so Ria knew he hadn’t done anything.

    “I just don’t understand it,” she said to Chris and Lydia as they trudged home through the snow. “How could an alligator just disappear like that? Did someone break into the school and take him away?”

    “Beats me.” Chris kicked aside a clump of snow. “No one seems to have a clue what happened. Maybe it wandered outside.”

    “But then,” Lydia said, “wouldn’t someone have found it dead? Florida wasn’t exactly small enough to fit in a cigar box now.”

    Chris had to agree with that, and nothing more was said.

    But Ria kept wondering.

*

    “Mr. Mulford!” Ria called, almost running down the hall about a week later when she caught sight of the returned principal.

    Principal Mulford, an older man with iron gray hair and a slight limp from the last war, stopped and waited. Though firm and even stern when need required, he wasn’t intimidating.

    Slightly out of breath, Ria blurted out, “Do you know where Florida is?”

    The principal glanced around quickly and then said slowly, as though he was expecting a joke of some sort. “Yes.”

    “Oh, where?”

    “Down in the southeastern part of the United States.” He looked down at Ria and added, “You should already know that, Ria.”

    Ria burst into a merry laugh. “Not that Florida; I know where the state is. I meant my alligator that Tom sent me. The one who came to live here.”

    Understanding filled the principal’s face, and he chuckled. “I was beginning to think either I had missed something on the news or you had failed in geography,” he said. “The alligator. Yes, I know where it went. Doesn’t everyone?”

    “No, sir. Chris and I have asked everyone at school, and no one, not even the teachers know. Please, what happened to him?”

    “The Kansas City Zoo took him. He was growing too large for us to keep him here, so I called an old friend of mine who works at the zoo. He came by sometime when I was in the hospital. My wife brought him over and let him in the school, and I thought she was going to tell Mr. Beemer. She must have forgotten.” He shook his head. “So, don’t worry about your alligator, Ria. He’s gone to a good home. Now you’d better hurry along to class or you’ll be late.”

*

    Dear Tom,

Florida is now in the zoo. Can you imagine that tiny thing you sent me months ago growing up in a zoo? I still find it hard to believe, but the girls at school are relieved, since everyone was wondering what had happened and were half expecting to find an alligator anywhere around school. Now, please don’t send me any more alligators! And don’t try any snakes, or birds, or other live creatures. Perhaps you should stick with things like shells, or postcards.

Love, Ria

Historical Note:
My grandma really did receive a baby alligator in the mail from her brother who was stationed down in Florida. The mailman really did stop and watch while she opened it because he was curious. My grandma's alligator grew and they had to use some of their ration coupons to buy meat for it. The local school that my grandma attended finally agreed to take the alligator and keep it in one of their aquariums. Then one day, my grandma, just like Ria, stopped to see her pet, and found he wasn't there. She doesn't know what became of him. It was winter at the time in Indiana, and she wondered if he'd gotten outside and died. Whether she knew at one time and has just forgotten (she's 91), or whether she never did know, we aren't sure.

Did you have a good Easter Sunday?

Did you enjoy this Ria and the Gang story?

I'm not sure what to post next week, any suggestions?

Florida - Part 5

Good morning, FFFs,

The weather has been crazy here! We had two days of low 90ºs and then it dropped and last night it was just above freezing. What are we having? Spring? Summer? or back to Winter? I'd rather have spring a little longer, thank you very much.

Camp NaNo– I'm trying to write. Some days are wonderful and I get a thousand or 1,500 words written. Other days it's a struggle to get a few hundred words written. But so far I've managed to get something written every day this month. And I'm still on track to reach my 15k goal. I would really like to up that goal to 20k, but we'll see how the story goes. I have ideas for future scenes, but I can't write them out of order very well.

I know this introduction isn't very long, but I don't have a whole lot to say. So you can go ahead and read this next to last part of the story. I hope you enjoy it!

Florida
Part 5

    Late Saturday afternoon found Ria hiding over at Corporal's house. “I just had to escape!” she explained, dropping onto the couch in a limp heap. “Kids have been over there since before breakfast. We have a few moments of quiet and then another knock comes. Chris says I should have sold tickets.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “I think I need a schedule of who can come over and when. You know, visiting hours or something.”

    The older man chuckled. “Well, I must say an alligator in town is a novelty. Don’t worry, the newness will wear off, and thenmost folks won’t even remember you have a creature from Florida.”

    “But what do I do until then?” Ria wailed. Glancing out the window toward her house next door, she saw more people approaching the porch. “I don’t think the line is ever going to end. Mr. Beemer, he’s the science teacher at school, came by earlier. He gave me some suggestions on how to feed Florida. Did you know that alligators can get really big?”

    “Yep. What are you going to do when he outgrows that pail?”

    “Uh, we do have an old washtub that I can move him to.” Then Ria’s eyes widened. “Will he get too big for that?”

    With a grin, the older man nodded. “I reckon so.”

    “Then, I . . . I don’t know. Mom can hardly stand the sight of him when he’s this little. Uh oh. Here comes Walt. I told Chris and Ray where I was going in case I was needed.” She stood up slowly. “Thanks for letting me hide out here, Colonel.”

    The old man smiled. “You’re welcome here any time, Ria. You know that.”

    Walt knocked on the door and then stepped inside. “Ria, you’re wanted. Someone from the paper wants to take your picture with Florida.”

    “Goodness me! I’ll have to send a copy of the article to Tom and tell him what a fuss he’s caused in Plainville.” After another long sigh, she waved to Colonel and went back home with Walt.

*

    For weeks the excitement of a real live alligator kept the Mitchelll home busy. The picture and article came out in the local paper and brought even more visitors. There were friends and relatives, schoolmates, strangers, and even some people who were just passing through town. During all the commotion Florida continued to eat and grow and never seemed disturbed by all the fuss. Ria’s suggestion of everyone bringing a piece of meat for the alligator had also made it into the paper, and contributions for Florida’s meals poured in.

    But like all novelties, the excitement wore off after a time, and the visitors dwindled until only the gang and a few friends stopped to see him. Florida outgrew his milking pail home and was settled in the larger washtub Chris had discovered in the attic. With the lack of visitors came a lack of meat, and some of the family’s food stamps had to go to purchase meat for their somewhat unwanted pet.

    “Now he’s eating our steaks,” Chris grumbled as he looked down at Florida who was enjoying his supper.

    Ria nodded. “I know. What are we going to do with him, Chris? I wish we could send him back to Tom.”

    As the days grew colder, some place had to be found for Florida to live, for Mrs. Mitchell put her foot down about him living in the house any longer.

    “Absolutely not,” she said. “I didn’t mind so much when he was smaller, but that creature is growing so quickly I can almost see him do it! I’m afraid you’ll have to find somewhere else for him to live, Ria.”

    Fiddling with her fork, Ria stared down at her potatoes. “I’d be happy to send him somewhere, because he is a lot of work, but where can I send him?”

    “Would they take him at the school?” Mr. Mitchell asked. “They have aquariums with fish and turtles in them. Why not an alligator?”

    At that, Ria looked at her brother quickly. “Perhaps they would! Chris, let’s ask at school tomorrow.”

*

    After some talk, the high school agreed to take Florida off Ria’s hands. Soon he was established in his own aquarium, and Ria stopped by almost every day to see him. It was a relief not to have the gangly, growing creature at home any longer. In one of her letters to her brother Ed, she wrote,

    “Florida seems to enjoy his new home very much. Since the walls are glass, he has a much better view than he did before. The other kids enjoy watching him. Well, some do. Some of the girls hurry past his home with averted heads. It’s silly, really–being afraid of Florida, I mean. I wonder how large he will grow. Tom said he’s seen some really big ones.”

*

    One Monday morning, on her way to class, Ria stopped short and stared. Florida wasn’t in his large, glass aquarium.

    “Florida?” She began to look around, half expecting to see her alligator emerge from a closet.

    “Come on, Ria, we’ll be late for class.” Lydia hurried up behind Ria and tugged at her arm. “What are you looking for anyway?”

    “Florida isn’t in his home anymore.”

    Lydia gave a gasp that was almost like a scream. Her eyes widened as she looked around, and then whispered, “Where . . . where is he?”

Where do you think Florida is?

Have you been writing?

What's your weather been like?

Florida - Part 4

Good morning, FFFs,

Has life changed drastically for you with the coronavirus? The biggest change for me is no church. I miss the fellowship.

My niece, Kinsley, was born last Friday evening. She has a round face and dark hair. So cute. The other kids are in love with her.

I'm doing Camp NaNo and so far I'm making good progress on my Secret Project. I have ideas for it, I just don't know how they all fit together. ;) But so far, when I get stuck I lie on the floor, stare at the ceiling and think about the story until the next scene pops into my head. I know it sounds odd, but it's worked so far. :)

I'm also working on getting some of my longer kindle stories formatted for 4x6 paperback. I can't wait to get the proof copies! So far I have three non-Christmas books formatted that size, and am working on another. I'm wanting to publish "Choices for Max" and "Mystery at Random"  as small books.

Oh, if you haven't already, head over to Read Another Page and try your hand at the games I created just for you! By doing so you can enter a giveaway.

The weather has been warmer. Still lots of clouds and rain, but mixed in with that is sunshine, so it hasn't been too bad. I got our yard mowed yesterday. Well, all except where the flowers were blooming. The grape hyacinths and wild sweet Williams are in bloom, so I mowed around them. Last Saturday my nephews and I went down to the creek and picked up 3 bags of trash. It still needs more clean up.

Here's your next part of this story. I hope you enjoy it!

Florida

    “Sure.” The door opened, and Chris appeared buttoning his everyday shirt. It always amazed Ria how quickly her brothers could change. “When word gets out that you have a pet alligator, the gang will be over, the kids from school will come see it, why you might even get your name in the paper if it gets mentioned to the right people.”
    “I’d still be lonely.”
    Chris looked surprised. “You would?”
    “Yep. All those people would come to see Florida, not me. I could hide in the closet, and they wouldn’t notice as long as the strange and exotic creature from down south was around to gawk at.”
    Laughing, Chris pulled her braid lightly. “You read too many books. Come on, I’ll help you figure out where to put him. Or is it a her?”
    Ria shrugged.

    After supper Mr. Mitchell stopped in the kitchen where Ria was drying dishes. “You know, Ria, you could probably ask the science teacher at school how to take care of an alligator.”
    Ria turned quickly. “I was going to do that today, Daddy, but with all the kids pestering to come see it, I didn’t get a chance to. I’ll do that tomorrow. You don’t think Florida will die before then, do you?”
    “No,” Mr. Mitchelll chuckled, “I don’t think Florida will die before then.”

*

    Mr. Beemer, the science teacher, told Ria things she could feed her new pet and asked it he might stop by and see him on Saturday. To this Ria agreed happily.
    Word of Ria’s alligator spread more rapidly than a brush fire in July. All day, schoolmates stopped her to ask if it was true. Did she really have an alligator at her home? Had one of the gang really sent it? Could they come see it?
    To everyone Ria had one answer. “Yes.”
    By the time school was out Ria wanted to hide. It felt like the entire school was following her to her house. Suddenly she stopped short and turned around, looking for someone.
    “Who are you looking for?” Chris asked. Somehow he’d managed to find his way to his sister’s side.
    “Ray. Well, I was looking for Al first, but then I remembered he graduated.”
    For a moment Chris scanned the crowd and then motioned to someone. A moment later Ray shouldered his way through the chattering crowd of schoolmates. “Ria wantes you.”
    Ria thought she heard a note of sadness in her brother’s voice. “I want you both,” she quickly said. “Tom said I wasn’t to let the gang torment Florida, but what about all these kids?” And she glanced at the crowd who were beginning to urge them to keep going and to ask what was taking so long.
    “Let them in a few at a time and tell them they can’t touch him.” Ray suggested.
    “And only let them stay a short time,” added Chris quickly.
    “I don’t know if Mom’s going to like this many people crowding into the house and then out again.”
    “She’s right.” Chris nodded, looking at their older cousin. Ray was only a year older than Chris, but he was also a higher rank in ROTC. “It’ll be a logistical nightmare.”
    After a little more talk, Ray climbed up onto a bench, whistled, and called for attention. “We know you all want to see the alligator, but so many of you at once might not be good for his temper. Besides, we have to figure out how to get you all in and then out of the house without Aunt Emma having a fit.” Ray smiled. “So, come over tomorrow sometime.”
    “And,” Ria scrambled up onto the bench beside her cousin, “if you want to see him eat, bring a small piece of meat.”
    There were some groans, and some unkind remarks about making them wait, but most of the kids didn’t mind a slight delay, and the crowd soon dispersed, except for the rest of the gang and all the younger siblings and cousins. Together they were enough to almost fill the Mitchell home.
    “Ria,” Dave asked, edging up to her as she accepted Ray’s hand to step down from the bench, “do you really have an alligator? A live one? Or is this some big joke?”
    “Come see.” Ria set off for home, flanked on one side by her brother and on the other by Ray.

    Later that evening as Chris and Ria sat in the living room playing Chinese Checkers, Chris said, “You know, Ria, that was a great idea about asking the kids to bring meat. I got to thinking, it’s going to take some of our food stamps to get meat for him. Maybe we should require a little bit of meat from everyone who wants to see him. Not much, just a small piece.”
    Ria moved a marble thoughtfully. “But won’t it make him sick if he eats too much at once?”
    It was Chris’s turn to look thoughtful. “Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe we should wait and see who comes with meat tomorrow.”

Do you think Chris was right about why Jack sent Florida?

Are you doing Camp NaNo?

What has your week been like?