Good morning FFF,
It's a bit chilly this morning and everything is wet. Yesterday we had a lot of rain and thunderstorms. There was flooding in many places around here. But this morning all is quiet. It's still cloudy and breezy, but I think the sun is supposed to come out.
Right now I'm fighting an allergy cold, but it's not too bad. I was able to actually write last evening and get 1k written. That's the 2nd time this week I've gotten a thousand words written. Usually I write 1k almost everyday, but not this month. This month has been dragging as far as writing goes.
Have you pre-ordered your A Very Bookish 4th of July? Or are you like me and are waiting for the paperback to become available? If you want the kindle copy, get it HERE before the price goes up. Or add it to your TBR list on Goodreads HERE.
Today's story is not the one I had talked about giving you. This is a new story. A story that isn't finished yet. I started it last year some time just for fun intending to write a short story. But here we are 6k words later and it's not done. So, I hope you enjoy the first part (more coming), and if you have any ideas let me know!
The sun was hot, and the water looked so cool and inviting. The waves lapped up on the sandy beach, and a few sea gulls waded, soared, and called to one another. I stopped walking before the grass met the sand. How I wanted to step into the water and feel the coolness of the waves. I was sure the sand would be hot, but that was to be expected since it was summer.
It was a different kind of summer though. My sisters and I had always gone to Grandma and Grandpa’s farm for a whole month of summer, but this year we couldn’t go. Grandma had been sick, and Grandpa had to take care of her, so we were sent here to Rhode Island, far away from our home in Springfield, Missouri, to stay with our aunt and uncle and cousins who lived in a spread-out village near the sea. My sisters and I had never been to the ocean before, or this far from home either.
We had traveled by train, and the conductor took care of us and made sure we got out at the right place. Uncle Tony met us and hugged us, got our luggage and loaded us in the car, and away we went.
Florence, Gwendolyn, and Isabella chattered the whole way, asking questions and commenting on everything until Uncle Tony just shook his head and asked with a laugh, “Are you sure I didn’t accidentally picked put a dozen girls instead of just four?”
They do like to talk. Flo and Lyn are a year apart and older than me at thirteen and twelve, while Bella is two years younger I am. They were all named by Mama and take after her in their lively talk, and energetic ways. But Papa named me. I wonder sometimes if I would have been less observant and quiet if Mama had named me. But I wouldn’t want to have any other name. My real name is Heather, but I don’t think anyone remembers that except Papa, for everyone calls me Bonnie. Papa said it was because he grew up in Scotland and loved playing in the heather there as a boy. Mama thought the name a bit odd, so when Papa said I was a bonnie wee bairn, Mama started calling me Bonnie.
On this trip I was ten.
I didn’t say a word the whole drive from the station, through the town, along the winding coast, and then across the country to the quaint little village nestled among pines and maple. We drove right through it, and I was beginning to wonder just when we were going to reach the end of our drive when we came to a stop before a two-story gray brick house with deep red trim and shutters. There was a small front porch.
“Well, here we are, girls,” Uncle Tony said.
The front door flew open and everything was confusion after that. I was hugged and talked at, and hugged again, and pulled, and told so many things that I didn’t know how I was going to survive a full month!
Somehow we all got inside. Aunt Betsy showed us to our rooms. Bella and I were staying with nine-year-old Candy and seven-year-old Julie. I hardly had a chance to catch my breath before Candy grabbed my hand and almost dragged me from the room.
“We’re going to Jack Frost’s!” she shouted.
Jack Frost? But it was summer not winter. In moments the whole babbling, chattering, laughing, and thoroughly excited group were rushing across the grass to the road. It felt like a mob to me. I’m not really shy, but large crowds overwhelm me, and right then I wished more than ever for the quiet and peace of Grandma’s kitchen or Grandpa’s barn.
I couldn’t think. My head ached, and the hot summer sun burned through my blonde hair until my whole head felt hot, and I wished they had allowed me time to unpack my straw hat. Slowing my pace I managed to drop back behind the others and sit down on a rock in the shade of a large pine to catch my breath.
Did I mention that all my cousins here were girls? There are only seven of them, but with my sisters added it felt more like twenty instead of only ten.
After finally feeling like I could breathe without panting, I looked around. When I didn’t see any sign of my aunt or uncle, I reluctantly stood up and followed the noisy group before me, for I had no idea how to get back to the house. With a sigh I trudged on, keeping the girls in sight but trying to enjoy the quietness. A few times I caught a glimpse of the shining sea to my left, but I didn’t dare stay and look at it for long lest the others get too far ahead and I lose them.
Then we came around a bend and the village lay before us in all its quaintness.
But the sea. The sea was there, rolling, sparkling, beckoning to me. I forgot all about the girls. I forgot about Jack Frost, whoever he was. I even forgot about my headache and just walked toward cool water of the ocean. Soon I was there, on the beach. Just sand, water, and sky.
Sitting down on a rock, I quickly pulled off my shoes and socks and hid them in some tall grasses. I just had to feel the water on my feet.
The sand was hot, but not so much that I couldn’t walk on it. No one else was around except three seagulls, and they flew away as I approached. Nearing the water, I felt the sand change and become damp, moist, and cooler. A wave washed up and licked at my toes.
I smiled and walked farther in.
Oooh I like it!! I like Bonnie already :D
ReplyDelete:D That's good since Bonnie is the MC. :)
DeleteI like this!! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks. :D
Delete