A Lesson in Contentment - Part 5

 Good morning, FFFs,

It's a beautiful sunny Friday morning here. We had rain earlier this week and yesterday was the kind of day that just says Spring! My mom and I are planning on going to buy flowers to plant around the bird bath/fountain this afternoon. And tomorrow we go to my brother's house to finally celebrate my youngest niece's 1st birthday. (She's only 13 months old now, so she won't care that her "party" is a month late.)

As for writing and everything, I've managed to get some done. I need to write 400 words today to reach my goal. That doesn't sound like much when I'm used to writing 1k a day, but the last few days have been crazy and yesterday I was struggling to get 500 written. Hopefully it won't be too hard. As long as my brain will focus. It has been bouncing all over the place these last few days. I think it needs a rest. :) Or it needs cleaned out. However, the only way I know to clean my brain out is to get things done, and life has been so crazy and busy and more things just keep getting added to it, that I'm not sure what will happen. I'd love for a full week of boring nothing!

What about you? Do you want things to happen or would you rather they slowed down?

 Here's the final part of this story. It's not the end of the stories about Kelsey and Zoe, but turning the stories into a book is one of the things in my brain that haven't gotten done. Oh, well. Enjoy!

 

A Lesson in Contentment

Part 5 

    It was a more subdued group who gathered their things together and prepared to leave Miss Olive’s hospitable home.
    “How are you getting home, Kels?” Zoe asked, noticing the other girls dashing through the light rain to cars where a parent or friend was waiting. Several of them left together, but Kelsey didn’t seem in any hurry.
    “Oh, I’ll just walk home,” was the easy reply. “That’s how I came.” She started up the steps to change her clothes.
    “But it wasn’t raining then,” protested Zoe.
    Kelsey shrugged with a smile. “It won’t hurt me. I’ll just put on my wet clothes, and I’ll–”
    “Kels!” Zoe exclaimed. “You can’t go out there again and get wet! You’d end up sick.”
    At that Kelsey burst into a merry laugh. “Me? Sick? Zoe, I don’t think a little more rain will hurt me. I’m not going to melt and it isn’t cold.”
    “Aunt Olive.” Zoe called for reinforcements. “Tell Kelsey she shouldn’t think of walking home in the rain after she’s already been out walking in the rain once today.”
    Coming out of the kitchen with Aunt Olive, Wally said, “Why don’t we take her home, Zoe. I have my car and nothing else to do the rest of the day except drop Candace off at her house.”
    “Oh, say you’ll let us, Kels, please!” Zoe begged. “Aunt Olive, tell her it’s all right to accept.”
    Aunt Olive shook her head. “Zoe, Zoe, why don’t you ask her and then give her a chance to answer?”
    “Because I’m afraid she’ll say no.”
    Kelsey looked from one face to another. “I don’t want to inconvenience you if you have to take Candace home–” she began.
    Just then Candace burst into the hall where the others were standing. “Wally, you’re a dear to offer to take me home,” she began not seeming to notice she was interrupting someone, “but I’m going to go with Violet. Her father came to pick her up and said he’d take me too. He’s driving his new car, Zoe! I’m sure you’d be welcome too unless you want to ride in Wally’s old car.” She smiled at her cousins.
    “I thought you liked my car,” Wally said.
    “I do, when I can’t get a ride in a newer model.” She flashed a dazzling smile at him before turning to her other cousin. “Zoe, do you want to go with us?”
    But Zoe shook her head. “No, Wally and I are going to take Kelsey home. Have fun.”
    It was only then that Candace acknowledged Kelsey. With a nod, she said, “Bye, Kelsey.” Then not giving anyone time to say another word, she whirled around and disappeared.

    In a little while Kelsey found herself riding with Zoe and her brother, giving directions for how to get to her house but not saying any other words. She was still thinking about Miss Olive’s story.
    “That’s our house,” she said at last, pointing to a narrow brick structure two stories high. “You can let me off here. Zoe, I’ll bring your dress back to you.”
    “Oh, keep it. It looks better on you than it does on me. Besides, I never looked good in it, did I Wally?”
    Kelsey didn’t hear his answer, if he gave one, for she was already out of the car, her wet garments clutched in her arms. “Thanks for the lift,” she turned to say, her smile bright.
    “You’re welcome. See you on Monday, Kels!”
    As Kelsey ran across the yard to the porch, Zoe watched as the front door opened and girls of all sizes poured onto the covered porch and the sound of their laughter and chatter reached the car.
    “She reminds me of Aunt Olive.”
    Zoe turned to her brother. “I was thinking the same thing. And she’s just like those flowers she picked this afternoon. She brightens things up considerably. I want to take her home.”

Have you ever felt like your brain was overloaded?

Would you like a slow or a busy week?

What do you want to read next?

A Lesson in Contentment - Part 4

 Good morning, FFFs!

I hope you've had a lovely week. Mine has been busy, a little crazy, but good.

Last Saturday my sis and I did childcare for a ladies fellowship at church.
Sunday was a normal Sunday except that I worked in the nursery during Sunday School and held a little guy. Such fun! In the afternoon I read. Tried two books and didn't end up continuing either. Then I went out with my BF and flew a kite for a bit. When was the last time You flew a kite?
Monday I mowed the yard for the first time this year. It needed it. I tried to mow around all the wild sweet William. The rest of the day I was trying to catch up on different things that I normally do in the morning.
Tuesday we got snow. All morning. Sometimes it was really heavy and would actually start to stick to things because it was coming down too quickly to melt. But by afternoon it had stopped and everything melted. I wrote 1,500 words that day.
Wednesday was pretty normal. But I had to pick quotes from my 4th of July book. That was a challenge since I've never been much of a favorite quote type person. I was able to get 1,300 words written that day.
Thursday, yesterday I guess it was, my mom, sis, and I went up to spend the day with my grandparents to celebrate my mom's and my birthday. It was a good visit, and then we came home in time for supper. I didn't write last evening. Instead, I started reading one of the other stories for the 4th of July collection. :)
Today at least the 5 youngest nieces and nephews are going to be coming over around lunch time and staying until we're not sure when. Their oldest sister is participating in a "mock trial" for school. This is her 2nd time and while her group won the first event last week, they have a harder team this week to compete against this week. Not sure I'll get any writing in or not.
Tomorrow my best friend and I are going out to celebrate my birthday. We're planning on having a picnic somewhere. Hopefully it will be warm enough to really enjoy it. I hope to write something that day.

Anyway, that's been my week. Add in Camp stuff, real life, emails, and such, and you've got a pretty good look at the business of my week. :) 

I hope you enjoy this next part of this story. I do like Kelsey, Zoe, Wally, and Aunt Olive. Do you?

 

A Lesson in Contentment

Part 4

    Aunt Olive called them into the living room and when they made their appearance, they were motioned to an empty section of the sofa. Plates of the moist lemon cake were handed to them and glasses of root beer. On a low table stood the vase of coreopsis.
    Glancing about half shyly, Kelsey found the other girls, except Candace, looking at Wally who was seated on the love-seat beside his cousin. With a slight shake of her head, she dropped her eyes back to her plate. Why did girls have to be so crazy about boys?
    For some time the room was full of small talk, Kelsey keeping silent and listening as she did every day in school. Finally Aunt Olive set her empty plate down and said, “I think I would like to tell you a little story, if you don’t mind. It is the reason I love these bright flowers so much.” And she nodded to the full vase.
    At her words silence fell on the room; only the soft patter of rain could be heard through the open windows.
    “I was young, just out of high school in fact,” Aunt Olive began, settling herself in her chair and folding her hands. “I had a job in the soda shop and loved every minute of it. But my favorite time was when a certain old friend of mine would walk through the doors. No,” she said, shaking her head at the significant smiles several of the girls exchanged, “he was much too old to be my boyfriend. In fact, he was more like a grandfather. But when I was young, I had found him an interested listener when I needed someone to pour out my troubles to, for my parents were both quite busy. Mr. Williamson would often bring me a posy when he came. It might be a rose, or a wildflower he had picked along the side of the road.
    “One day he came in with a single coreopsis in his hand. ‘For you,’ he said, handing it to me. ‘Because you make every day like sunshine.’ It was so sweet of him, and I didn’t notice the young man who was standing beside him. The young man was his grandson and we were introduced. For several days Mr. Williamson brought me a coreopsis or two each evening. They brightened up my room at home.
    “Over the next few weeks I began to notice his grandson, Ernest. We would talk, and before long he would show up at the soda shop when Mr. Williamson couldn’t. Yes, girls, we fell in love over the course of the following months. We got engaged and planned on being married the following early summer when the coreopsis were in full bloom. But the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that December. Ernest wasn’t in the army, but he joined before Christmas.”
    A long pause followed, and the room was so quiet that Kelsey distinctly heard the purring of Miss Olive’s cat from across the room where it lay curled up on the back of the love-seat.
    “He was given a short furlough before being shipped out,” Aunt Olive began again, one hand holding something which hung from a chain about her neck. “It wasn’t very long, but it was time I have always been grateful for. We could have gotten married then, but neither of us wanted to. Ernest said he wanted me to be free should anything happen to him, and I–well, I didn’t want a rushed wedding. We wrote to each other often. I wrote every day, and when the coreopsis were in bloom, I pressed one and sent it to him. He carried it tucked inside his small Bible the rest of his life.” Closing her eyes, Aunt Olive drew a deep breath. “He was killed on the beaches at the invasion of Normandy.”
    A gasp came from the girls in the room, and Kelsey felt her eyes fill with tears.
    “The fields here at home were full of coreopsis.” Tenderly she took off her necklace and held it in her open hand: a pair of dog-tags and a ring. For a long minute she sat looking at them. “Mr. Williamson died shortly after the news of Ernest’s death reached us. He hadn’t been well for months.”
    A half sob came from Zoe, and Kelsey gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
    “It’s all right to cry. I did. I still do some times, but when I see one of these lovely little flowers,” and she leaned forward and with gentle finger touched a golden petal, “I am reminded of something my old friend told me the day before he died. ‘Olive,’ he said, holding my hand in his, ‘life isn’t easy. It’s hard, and we may want to hide our faces, but don’t do it. Be like those bright yellow flowers out there. They bloom in the rain because when the sun is shining they kept their faces turned toward it. They may not live long, but they brighten the world wherever they grow. Keep your face toward Jesus Christ, and you’ll be able to smile in the rain as well as in the sunshine. Don’t stop brightening the world just because Ernest has gone. Promise me you won’t turn bitter, Olive Child.’ With his tired, worn hand in mine, and a vase of lovely coreopsis blooming beside the bed, I promised. And, God helping me, I’ve kept that promise. It hasn’t always been easy, but the sight of these flowers always helps.”
    Giving a long sigh, Miss Olive smiled. “I haven’t told that story before, but Kelsey’s gift was such a sweet reminder that I thought you all might like to hear it. You all have the same choice I have, you can frown and wilt under the rain of trials, or you can keep your face bright with the light of Jesus Christ.”

Did you get snow this week?

How do you like to celebrate your birthday?

Do you have a favorite character in this story?

A Lesson in Contentment - Part 3

 Hello,

How are you this chilly, cloudy, rainy morning? Of course it might not be cloudy and rainy where you live. Funny, isn't it, to think that those who read this blog post are all most likely experiencing different weather from everyone else.

Life feels crazy busy. Juggling has never been something I've been very good at. Are you good at juggling? I taught writing class yesterday. Camp is still going on and means I have more work to do with that, oh, and to make it even better, our internet has been really slow or almost not working several times. Helpful, don't you think? (Notice the sarcastic voice.) My sis and I are providing child care tomorrow for a ladies fellowship at church. There are 13 kids and a baby signed up.

I've been writing. I finished and sent off "Lessons from Liberty" (my 4th of July story), so that's done! Yay! Now I'm back to "Phil Wood." It was slow going until I realized I was afraid of the story. Afraid I was going to mess something up again and have to rearrange or cut out parts because it didn't fit. So I was trying to make sure every idea was thought through to the end before I wrote it. Ha! For a planner that might be a good thing, but for someone who writes best without planning, it was a terrible idea. I ended up erasing all my carefully planned thoughts and just writing. And it's going so much easier and smoother now!

 I can't believe this month is half way over! I want to slow it down, but I'm still looking for the pause button. Has anyone found it yet?

I hope you enjoy the next part of this Kelsey story.

 

A Lesson in Contentment

Part 3

    Zoe’s shout made Kelsey pause in the middle of the stream and look back at the bridge. Some boy was standing beside Zoe, but she wasn’t sure who it was.
    “Don’t worry, I’m just going to get a few of the ones with more red in them, then I’ll be done.” She chose to ignore the presence of the stranger though she couldn’t help wondering who he was. “If it’s someone from school, the news will be all over by tomorrow that I was seen walking barefooted in the stream picking weeds. But these are not weeds. Humph! Why do I care what they think of me?”
    When she couldn’t hold another flower in her hand, she carefully walked back up stream and then paused glancing at both banks. Which would be easier to climb up?
    “Here, I’ll give you a hand up,” a masculine voice said, and the young man left the bridge and stood on the bank of the stream with his hand out.
    It would have been rude to refuse, and Kelsey hated to be rude. In a few minutes, therefore, she was standing on the road again while Zoe exclaimed over the beauty of the flowers.
    “Oh, excuse me, Kels,” Zoe said after a moment, “let me introduce you to my brother, Wally. Wally, this is Kelsey.”
    “Hi,” Wally greeted her cordially. “I’ve seen you at school but have never been introduced. It’s nice to finally get to meet you.”
    “Hi.” Kelsey nodded and focused her attention on rearranging the flowers so that the ones with red were more mixed with the others. Having grown up with a house full of girls, she wasn’t sure what to say around boys. Except for her sister’s friend; he felt like one of the family.
    “Say, do you girls want a lift home? Aunt Olive told me where to find you and said you’d been out a while.”
    “We’d ruin your car, Wally,” Zoe laughed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we are rather wet.”
    “You can stand on the running boards on either side. I’d drive slowly. It would be faster than you could walk. And easier on your feet.” He glanced significantly at Zoe’s bare feet. “Come on,” he coaxed.
    Linking her arm in Kelsey’s Zoe replied, “What do you have up your sleeve, Wallace?”
    “A piece of Aunt Olive’s lemon cake,” admitted Wally with a grin. “She promised me one if I’d bring you two back.”
    Kelsey, having finished arranging her flowers, looked at Zoe and raised her eyebrows. It really didn’t matter to her what they did. She wouldn’t mind a lift, though she had never ridden on the running board of a car before.
    It only took Zoe a moment to give in, provided that Kelsey would come with them. Not feeling the need to refuse, Kelsey nodded and was soon laughing with delight as the gentle rain pelted her face and the wind tossed her wet curls.
    The ride was brief and when they had reached the house, Kelsey gathered her flowers which had been laid on an old shirt on the seat, and thanked Wally shyly.
    “Come along, girls,” he said, motioning them forward. “I believe Aunt Olive would rather see you dripping water in her kitchen then in the hallway.”
    Aunt Olive’s greeting was cordial and she handed each girl a towel, telling Zoe she’d probably find clean, dry clothes in the guest room. “Come down when you’re dry,” she told them.
    Kelsey held out her flowers. “These are for you, Miss Olive. I thought they matched your kitchen.”
    “Coreopsis! Kelsey, did Zoe tell you these are my favorite flowers?”
    “No.”
    “I didn’t know they were, Aunt Olive,” Zoe turned around at the door to say.
    “They are. Wally, would you get that vase.” She opened an upper cabinet and pointed. “I think there are enough flowers to fill it.” She was right, and soon the vase with its bright nodding flowers stood on the table. “These take me back a long time ago,” she mused half aloud. Her hand reached up and she clutched something inside her dress. “I–” With a quick shake of her head, she turned to the girls. “Go on. Get out of those wet clothes and then come back. I’ll have some lemon cake waiting for you.”
    Kelsey soon found herself dry and in borrowed clothes. The dress was a perfect fit and Zoe nodded approvingly.
    “Candace and I have spent so many nights here at Aunt Olive’s that we’ve taken to leaving some of our clothes so we don’t have to pack every time. That dress fits your slender figure much better than it ever did me. Are you ready to go down?”
    Giving another look in the mirror, Kelsey shrugged. “My hair looks terrible, but it always does after it gets wet unless I spend a long time fixing it properly.”
    “Nonsense! You look fine!” remonstrated Zoe. “I love your curls. They fit you. Now let’s go down before Wally eats all the cake. What do you suppose the other girls have done in our absence?”
    Kelsey had completely forgotten about the other girls. Perhaps it had been rude to run off and leave them even if they had offered the others a chance to go with them. Candace would be sure to make some remark about her hair or her borrowed dress. For the first time since she had arrived, Kelsey wished it was time to leave and she could set off for home. But Zoe didn’t give her time to think any longer, for she linked arms with her in the friendly fashion she had, and together they descended the stairs.

What's your weather like?

Do you want to read "Lessons from Liberty"?

Have you ever picked flowers in the rain?

A Lesson in Contentment - Part 2

 Good morning, FFF,

I hope you are enjoying this month of April. I was until the weather got warmer and we had the windows open and allergies hit me. :P I'm still fighting an allergy cold. I'm feeling better than I was, but not back to normal yet. And I've been busy. It feels like this month is crazy full!

Saturday was busy as I was trying to get a lot written and do some other things. I ended up not writing too much.

Sunday I sang in the ladies ensemble for church, then got to read in the afternoon at home. So nice.

Monday I reached the end of my 4th of July story! It's out to beta readers now.

Tuesday was one long and boring day. I worked as an election judge and had 16 people come in to vote. I can't say that I was too surprised since the only thing on the ballot was school board and none of the 3 people had been on before, so you couldn't check their track record.

Wednesday I was so tired! And spent most of the day playing catch-up. I did get some planning and plotting done for "Phil Wood" so that I could write.

Thursday was busy. Almost all my nieces and nephews were over all morning and half the afternoon. I helped Sissy design a mock cover for her story for school. Helped Funny Boy trace and cut out a baseball bat for his school project, listened to Doodle Bug read his school paper, played some violin/piano duets with Goof Ball, and played with Buddy, Missy, and Buster. I did get almost 500 words written, but they were words hard to come by because I was so tired.

Today. Maybe today I'll be able to get some things done. My family is going to a school performance for some of my nephews this evening so I'll have to write before then if I'm going to write.

 Anyway, that was a very short glance at my week. Add to that Camp stuff, regular life, emails, and more. Yep, I'm busy. But here's the next part of the story. Hope you enjoy it.

 

 A Lesson in Contentment

Part 2

    Before Kelsey could think of something to say, Aunt Olive was back. “It looks like you girls are on your own. Have fun and don’t catch a chill, or your mothers will never let me invite you again.” With that laughing remark, Aunt Olive waved the two dripping girls back out into the rain.
    The walk was delightful. Kelsey, used to walking barefooted through wet grass, over rocks and along broken sidewalks, thought the paved road an easy path and walked along confidently. But Zoe, her feet tender, felt each small pebble and, though she said nothing, half wished she had worn her sandals. To keep her mind off her feet she asked, “How many brothers and sisters do you have, Kelsey?”
    “Seven. One older sister and the rest younger sisters.”
    “No brothers?”
    “Not one. Poor Dad always wanted a son, but he got daughters instead. He likes to tease Lauren, she’s my older sister, and me by saying that all the girls have been used up in the family now and we’ll no doubt get a house full of boys when we get married.” She laughed brightly and tossed back her wet hair.
    “Do you believe him?”
    “It doesn’t matter if I believe him or not. Neither one of us is married. Lauren does have a boyfriend though. And I think–” she hesitated and then lingered in the road until Zoe was right beside her. “I think he’s going to propose soon.” The sparkle in her eyes and the bright smile showed just how delighted she was.
    “Oh, Kels! How exciting!” And Zoe clapped her hands.
    “But you must not say anything about it, because I don’t know for sure, and I don’t want Lauren to suspect anything.”
    Zoe promised silence and then exclaimed, pointing ahead, “Look, there’s the bridge!”
    Soon the girls stood leaning over the railing watching the water dance and swirl below them.
    “Kels,” Zoe asked, “why are you so quiet at school?”
    Without turning around, Kelsey replied, “I’ve never been good in large crowds; besides, everyone else always has things to say, and I like to listen.”
    “Well, what things do you like to do? Besides take walks in the rain.” And Zoe smiled.
    Kelsey laughed and tipped her face back and closed her eyes against the falling moisture. “I often ride my bike to the old folks home and visit with the residents. Sometimes one or two of my sisters will go with me. I could sit and listen to them tell stories for hours.” Shaking off some of the water from her face, she looked over at the girl beside her. “I suppose you think I’m strange.”
    “Why? Because you enjoy visiting the older folks?”
    Kelsey nodded. “Most girls give me a sympathetic look and soon after find an excuse to leave me.” Picking up a pebble from the side of the bridge, she dropped it into the water below. It made a soft splash and the ripples spread out to mingle and combine with the ripples from the raindrops.
    “I don’t think you’re strange. I like listening to my grandmother, well, actually she’s my great grandmother. She lives with us, you know. You should come see her sometime,” she invited warmly. “I know she would enjoy a visit. And so would I.”
    Stealing a glance at the speaker, Kelsey wondered if Zoe was just being polite or if she was in earnest.
    Almost as though Zoe read her thoughts, she added, “I’m mean it, Kels. I would love to have you come over. Sometimes it gets rather dull in our large house. Do you live in a large house? I would think you’d have to with all you girls.”
    A merry laugh escaped Kelsey’s lips. “Large house? Us? You wouldn’t call it large.” Another laugh burst forth. “Zoe, the eight of us girls share two bedrooms and in each bedroom are two sets of bunk beds. Mom and Dad have the other bedroom. There are two bathrooms in the entire house, and the kitchen is so small that if anyone is in there cooking, you have to practically go outside to turn around. I could invite you over some time, but it’s not exactly the kind of place most people want to come to.”
    “Well, I want to see it.”
    “You’d be the first person who does.” There was no bitterness in Kelsey’s voice, just a matter of fact statement. “Come on,” she suggested, changing the subject. “Let’s see what the water looks like on the other side of the bridge.”
    Quickly the girls crossed the road and leaned over the railing.
    “Oh, Zoe! Look at those flowers!” Kelsey pointed to the golden yellow coreopsis which bloomed all along the bank. “Wouldn’t those look lovely in your aunt’s kitchen?”
    “Yes. And Aunt Olive does love flowers. But Kels, we’d get drenched trying to pick some in this rain with the grass so tall.”
    “Zoe, we already are drenched,” Kelsey chuckled. “We have been out in the rain, you know. But you might tear your dress. Mine will be fine. Wait for me; I’m going to get a handful.” So saying, she hurried from the bridge, and was soon pushing her way through the long wet grass down to the water’s edge where the flowers were growing thickest. Looking up, she waved at Zoe before proceeding to gather one flower after another. She wasn’t content to remain on the slope at the edge of the water, for she saw more lovely ones growing on a tiny island in the stream.
    “Kels! Be careful!”

How was your week?

Do you have allergies?

Have you ever picked flowers in the rain?

A Lesson in Contentment - Part 1

 Good morning,

I really need to write some more short stories. I was searching through my list of what I'd posted and I wasn't finding many that weren't just shared. Today's story was first published here in 2017. I had hoped that by now I would have finished the book about Kelsey and her family, but I haven't. I've written a few other stories about them, but not the full book.

This week has been busy. Haven't they all been this way? I taught yesterday, and babysat my nieces and nephews last evening. And KDWC started yesterday. I worked in the nursery on Wednesday night, so I didn't get much written then. However, on Monday and Tuesday I was able to write 2k words each day. That was fun. I ended up writing more in March than I had ever written in a month before. We'll see what April looks like.

Anyway, here's your story, or the first part of it anyway. Enjoy!

 

Smiling in the Rain

Part 1

    Feeling foolish, Kelsey ducked her head and stared at her sandal as she spun it around with her toe on the wooded floor of the neat living room.
    An uncomfortable silence pervaded the room for thirty seconds before Zoe laughed. “Of course I think that going outside in this rain would be fun. Who cares about our hair. Come on, Kelsey, let’s go.” Springing to her feet, Zoe almost skipped across the floor and pulled the blushing girl to her feet.
    No one else made a move to join them as they disappeared from the room.
    Once the two girls were alone in the hall, Kelsey stopped short. “You don’t have to go outside, Zoe,” she whispered. “I just made that suggestion because the others wanted something new to do, and Candace kept vetoing every sensible idea. I–”
    “I know.” There was a merry twinkle in the taller girl’s eyes. “Candace likes to rule the girls, and most of them are more than willing to follow her lead. But she’s not the only leader. I’m just glad you did suggest this. I’ve been longing to get out in the rain all day!”
    “You have?” And Kelsey eyed the well-dressed girl in astonishment.
    “Yep.” At Kelsey’s continued stare, Zoe went on. “Look Kels, just because I come from a family with considerable means doesn’t necessarily signify that I’m a snob.” Her grin took away the sting such blunt words might have caused. “Now come on, let’s go have some fun.”
    Leaving their sandals on the covered porch, the two girls, one from the upper, wealthier side of town and the one from the other side of the tracks, ran down the steps and into the light summer rain.
    Kelsey loved the rain. Tipping her head back, she squinted her eyes against the drops. With a toss of her head that freed her red hair from the confines of bobby pins, she laughed in pure delight.
    “Oh, this is fun!” Zoe exclaimed. “Kels, do you ever stomp in the puddles?”
    “Of course! Where are they?” And Kelsey, feeling that for the first time in years she might have a friend, blinked the drops from her lashes and hurried over to Zoe who was standing before a large puddle. “Come on, let’s jump on the count of three.”
    “All right. One, two, three!”
    The splash sent the water as high as their knees and caused both girls to laugh merrily.
    After several minutes of enjoying the puddle and the rain, Kelsey ventured to remark, “I love to walk in the rain.”
    “Barefoot?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “All right, where shall we go?” questioned Zoe, apparently ready for anything.
    Kelsey looked around. “I don’t know. I’m not in this part of town very often. At home I like to walk down to the creek and watch the water. Sometimes I go visit old Mrs. Mead. She always has a fire going on rainy days and I get dried off there and listen to her tell stories.”
    “Oh, Kels, that sounds like fun. How far away is Mrs. Mead’s house?”
    Kelsey raised her eyebrows. “Too far for us to walk.”
    Zoe looked disappointed, but she shrugged and said, “Oh, well. Let’s walk down to the drug store. We could get something to drink there.”
    At that suggestion, Kelsey burst into laughter. “Zoe, we look like a couple of drowned rats! We’d never hear the end of it at school if we did such a thing, for someone we know is bound to be there with it being Saturday!”
    Reaching up, Zoe pushed back a bit of her dark hair which was plastered to her face. “I suppose so, but don’t you think we could walk down to the stream? It’s not too far from here.”
    Looking back toward the house, Kelsey hesitated. “I wish some of the other girls would come out,” she remarked softly. “I feel sort of bad going out and leaving them.”
    “Well, don’t feel bad. Aunt Olive invited all of us girls so we could enjoy the day together. She loves both her nieces, but she knows Candace can be a snob and overly bossy. Suppose we run around to the kitchen, I’m sure Aunt Olive will be in there, and we can ask her.”
    With a feeling of relief, Kelsey nodded and squeezed Zoe’s hand as hers was taken in a friendly clasp.
    Aunt Olive was indeed in the kitchen and stared in astonishment at the two girls standing on her back porch before she began to laugh heartily. “Oh, girls, are you having fun?”
    “Yes, Aunt Olive,” Zoe nodded. “But Kels and I want to walk down to the stream, but we want to know if you think it would be rude to run off and leave the others.”
    “Didn’t they want to join you?”
    Zoe shrugged. “Candace is in one of her moods, and I don’t know if we can convince any of the others to join us or not. But may we take a walk, Aunt Olive? You have no idea how delightful this rain is!”
    “Suppose I go and find out if any of the others want to go too.”
    Zoe nodded quickly and Aunt Olive disappeared.
    “I don’t think anyone will come, do you?” Zoe asked in low tones.
    Kelsey shrugged. The afternoon was not starting off as she had thought it would. Well, it had started off with the usual stiff circle of girls, and one in particular who didn’t want to do anything, but things had rapidly changed. 

Do you like walking in the rain?

How was your week?

Have you ever been with people who act like Zoe's friends?