Rhode Island Story – Part 5

 Good morning!

Did any of you see the Super Moon last night? We did. It was huge and kind of a mix of orange and pink. We do serve a wonderful God.

Well, the King's Daughters' Writing Camp opened its gates yesterday. Camp doesn't officially start until the 1st, but already we have more campers than we have ever had before. We even have new campers inviting their friends to come and join. It's exciting to see so many girls, older and younger coming together to write, encourage one another and have some fun.

Guess what?! I sent "Phil Wood" off to my synopsis writer! That means it's nearing completion. I still have to get my proof copy after the synopsis gets written, and then do edits in there, but that is mostly a read through by another person or two looking for typos, formatting problems and such. I designed the front cover and only have a little bit to do on the cover once I get the synopsis. It's pretty exciting! :) At least I think so. ;)

 And with that, here's the next part of this story. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Rhode Island Story
Part 5

    “I . . . I don’t know any other Dales except Daddy and Mother, and my sisters,” I admitted, wishing someone would come along the beach and distract the woman from me.
    “You mark my words–” The lady shifted, lifted her cane, and shook it in my direction. “You mark my words,” she repeated, “they won’t come back. Not one that’s left will come back here.” She took a step toward me. “And good reason.”
    I stepped back again.
    “There’s more than one Dale who’s run. More than one.” She lowered her cane and leaned on it. “Now go away. This is my beach now. Git!” She waved her hat at me.
    Without a word of farewell, I ran. I ran up through the long coarse grass and into town and didn’t stop running until I was out of breath and had to sit down on a bench. I had forgotten all about my shoes and socks.
    Sitting on the bench, I pressed a hand over my racing heart and tried to fill my lungs with oxygen again.
    “Are you all right, deary?”
    I started and nearly fell off the bench. But it was only the mayor’s mother. She sat down beside me and patted my knee.
    “I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said. “Are you– What happened to your cheek?”
    “M . . . my cheek?” I had forgotten about the hat pin. Putting a hand up, I gingerly touched the scratch and winced slightly. “It was a hat pin, ma’am. Her hat blew off and hit me.”
    “Whose hat? And, deary, you can call me Grandma. Everyone else around here does.”
    Nodding, I drew a deep breath. “Grandma.” I ventured a small smile. “I don’t know who the lady is. She was on the beach, and she’s old and walks with a cane. I don’t think she liked me even though I gave her hat back.”
    Grandma frowned thoughtfully. “I wonder who that could be.” Looking around, she called, “Josiah!”
    “Oh, I don’t want to bother–” But I wasn’t given a chance to finish, for the mayor came up with a smile.
    “Good afternoon, Miss Bonnie, Mother.”
    “Josiah,” Grandma got right to the point, “do you know of an old woman who walks along the beach with a cane? And wears a hat with a hatpin?”
    “No,” came the thoughtful reply. “Is that person still at the beach? I might be able to find out who she is.”
    Grandma looked at me.
    “I don’t know,” I answered in a low voice, staring down at my hands. “She told me to run away because the beach was hers now, so I came here.” I swung my foot. “Oh!”
    “What?” Grandma and the mayor asked at once.
    “I left my shoes.” Reluctantly, I stood up. “I have to get them.”
    “Why don’t I walk with you,” Mr. Mayor suggested. “Perhaps we’ll see your old lady and I can find out who she is. What happened to your face?”
    “It was the hat pin, Josiah,” Grandma said. “I didn’t hear how the hat pin did the damage, but it did. I’ll wait in the book store for you.”
    I didn’t mind walking through the village with the mayor because he was very friendly and nice. But when we neared the beach, I grew nervous. My steps slowed as I recalled her words about the Dale family, and her shrill voice.
    “I promise it will be all right,” the mayor told me with a smile. “It is a public beach, and you don’t even have to talk to her if you don’t want to. We can get your shoes, and you can run back to Jack Frost’s while I find out who the woman is, if you’d like.”
    The sky was turning to darker shades of gray, and the puffs of wind were no longer just puffs, but actual gusts, which grew more steadily stronger. I wondered if it was going to rain. Perhaps I would just get my shoes and run all the way home to Aunt Betsy and Uncle Tony.
    We reached the beach, and I saw the woman over near the rocks where I had fallen asleep the first time. She was looking out to sea and didn’t see us as she stood there with her hat in her hand. Darting over to the grasses where I had left my shoes, I stopped short and looked around. They were gone.
    “Did you lose your shoes again?” Mr. Mayor asked with a slight chuckle.
    Slowly I nodded. “I left them right here. It’s where I always leave them when I come to the beach.” Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t lose my shoes. What would Aunt Betsy and Uncle Tony say if I did? And what would Flo and Lyn say when they found out? Perhaps a dog had carried them away. But I hadn’t seen a single dog not on a leash since I had arrived. “They aren’t here,” I whispered.
    As I looked up, I saw the old woman turn around. I gasped.
    “What is it, Bonnie?” the mayor asked quickly.
    “She has my shoes.” I pointed to the woman.
    There was no doubt that the woman was carrying a pair of shoes. The laces were tied together ,and socks fluttered from where they were tucked inside the shoes.
    Mr. Mayor stepped forward with purpose, and I trailed along behind hoping she wouldn’t notice me much.
    “Ma’am,” Mr. Mayor said, stopping before the woman and speaking in a friendly voice, “I see you’ve found a pair of shoes. If you are looking for the owner–”
    “These are my shoes, young man.”
    Mr. Mayor smiled. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I think they belong to my friend here.” He motioned me forward. “Are those your shoes, Bonnie?”
    I nodded.
    “Maybe they were once,” the woman said, “but I found ‘em, and they’re mine now, so run along both of you.”
    If I had been alone, I would have run away, but the mayor just stood and smiled.

Are you excited for "Phil Wood"?

Have you been to KDWC before?

Did you see the Super Moon last night?

Rhode Island Story – Part 4

 Good morning Readers!

    And how are you this hot summer morning? Yep, we've reached summer. This week has been in the upper 90s with humidity. I mowed the yard Tuesday morning and it was pretty hot out. At least there was a bit of a breeze then.

    Life has been staying busy. I have been trying to write every day and so far have managed to get my 100 words in each day. Yesterday I actually reached 1,200 words! That was fun. I'm rewriting and hoping to actually finish a story a friend and I started together. It had all sorts of problems, like Easter in summer. :) So instead of just fixing some things, I'm rewriting it.

    Registration for the King's Daughters' Writing Camp is open! If you have thought about joining, but haven't yet, or if you know of some friends who enjoy writing, here's the LINK to the website. The registration form is on that first page.

     This evening my brother is coming over and he and my dad are planning on cutting down a dead tree. Last night before I went to bed a large branch from the tree came crashing down onto the roof and falling into the yard where it broke in pieces. So yeah, we kind of need to take the tree down since there are still many other large branches just waiting to fall. 

    Anyway, enjoy this next part of the story. Does it make you think of summer? 

 

Rhode Island Story
Part 4

    “I–I just want to be alone sometimes. I want to spend time looking in the bookstore, or wandering the beach when it’s quiet. I want to hear the birds in the trees, and . . . and think!”
    “Ah, I think I’m beginning to understand,” Aunt Betsy said softly. “You enjoy things differently than the rest of the girls do. All right, if your uncle doesn’t object, I’ll let you wander about by yourself. But, Bonnie, you must promise me that you will not go down to the beach alone.”
    Rolling over just a little, I turned my head until I could see Aunt Betsy’s face. “I promise.”
    “Good. And please let me know if you are going to town or the woods. I want to know where to find you.”
    To this I agreed.
    That day turned into such a lovely day. I wandered in the woods and listened to the birds. I even found a rock to sit where I could look out over the sparkling water of the sea and listen to the wind in the trees and dream. My headache went away, and I felt must better and ready to face the noise and commotion at the supper table.
    The next day was Sunday and everyone went to church. It was the sweetest country church and reminded me of the old pictures in books. Uncle Tony reminded the girls when we got back home that they were to stay in the yard and not go on any adventures. I spent most of the afternoon reading a book on a blanket under the trees.

    When Monday came, I ventured down to the village and enjoyed myself in the different shops and stores. I met some very nice people and decided that perhaps this summer wouldn’t be so bad after all.
    The days began to slip by. My favorite place was still the beach, and I could often find someone I had met in the village down there and so was able to enjoy the sandy shores and the waves which washed in shells.

    One day, about a week after my first visit to the beach, I saw an older woman on the shore. I hadn’t seen her around town before, so I hesitated. Her hair was white, and she wore a large straw hat which she kept taking off and putting back on with one hand. She walked with a limp and seemed to lean heavily on a cane.
    I wondered who she was and why I hadn’t seen her before. But I didn’t wonder long, for she was a grownup. After Aunt Betsy’s instructions, I was always careful not to go onto the beach unless an older person was there too. Some of the grownups I didn’t know, and they didn’t know me. But I always made sure I left the beach if they did.
    The sky was more gray than blue this day, and puffs of wind tossed my hair and made me laugh. Taking off my shoes and socks, I left them near some tall grasses where I could find them again.
    I had just reached the water’s edge and felt the cool, wet sand shifting between my toes and under my feet when the lady’s large straw head smacked right into the side of my head. I grabbed it quickly so it wouldn’t fall into the water and be carried out to sea. My cheek smarted a little, and I put my hand to it. That’s when I discovered the hat held a hat pin. It must have scratched me.
    I looked from the hat in my hands to the woman who stood clutching her hair, her back to me.
    “Ma’am!” I called, running across the sandy shore to her. “Here’s your hat!”
    Up close the woman’s face was leathery and covered in wrinkles. A scowl drew her white brows together and she frowned. “Trying to steal my hat, are you?” She snapped in a shrill voice.
    Blinking in surprise, I took a step back. “No, ma’am. It just blew right into me.” I held out the hat.
    “I expect you want me to pay you something for the trouble of returning it to me. Well, I won’t give you a single dime! Not one, you hear me?”
    I nodded quickly. I didn’t want nor expect any payment for simply bringing back a hat that had blown to me.
    Snatching the hat from me, the old woman scrutinized me from my sandy feet to the top of my wind-blown hair until I wished I could just disappear. “Who are you? What are you doin’ alone at the beach? You look like a ragamuffin.”
    I wasn’t sure what such a thing as a ragamuffin looked like, but I tried to smooth my hair with one hand as I stammered out a reply. “I . . . I’m Bonnie Dale. I . . . I was just visiting the beach because I love it and the water. But I’ll leave if you’d rather be alone.” I wanted to leave anyway because I didn’t like the woman and the way she was looking at me.
    “Dale?” Her eyes narrowed. “You any relation to those Dales with all those girls?”
    I nodded silently.
    “Humph.” Leaning on her cane, she looked around. “Where are those girls? Are they your sisters?”
    “Only three. The others are my cousins.”
    “Cousins? Do you live with them?”
    I didn’t want to answer, but I knew I was supposed to be polite. “Only for the summer, ma’am. We’re visiting.”
    “Oh, so you’re one of them Dales who ran away.”
    I took a small step back. “Ran away? I . . . I–” I wasn’t sure. I had never heard of any relatives running away. But I didn’t really know my relatives. Only Grandma and Grandpa, and they were Mother’s parents. And I knew that Uncle Tony was Daddy’s brother, but I didn’t know anything about running away.
    “Are the rest of the Dales coming back?” the woman demanded.

 

Where would you like to go for summer vacation?

Do you plan on coming to writing camp?

Have you ever been to the beach?

Rhode Island Story – Part 3

 Good morning, FFFs,

It's sunny out! We've actually had sunny or mostly sunny days all week. Of course it's now humid and hot, but it's very nice to see the sun for more than two days at a time.

On the writing front I finally reached the end of "Phil Wood". Now, this doesn't mean it's done. It just means I reached the end. I still have to go back through the whole thing and add and change and maybe cut some things. But here's a bit of trivia for you:

• Jim Wood is 32k words
• Anna Wood is 34k words
• Lake Wood is 36k words
• Phil Wood is 38k words

And no, this was not on purpose. I was just writing the stories and this is how they ended up. Approximately. Does this mean the next books will continue to be longer? I have no idea. My original goal was to make each of these stories around 30k words. And I don't know if "Phil Wood" will stay this length or not. I guess we'll see.

How has your week been? Have you gotten into summer activities yet?

I can't believe I forgot to mention last week that A Very Bookish 4th of July was published! Yay! So excited for that to be out! Have you gotten a copy yet?

 Here's your next part of this story. Enjoy.

 

Rhode Island Story
Part 3

    I shook my head and rubbed my arms, for goosebumps had risen on them. “They were so far ahead, and when I saw the water I . . . I forgot about them.” To my relief Josiah didn’t say anything else and suggested we go sit on the bench outside and wait. This I was glad to do because the ice cream parlor was cold, and my dress and hair were still wet.
    No one talked, but the silence didn’t feel heavy. Uncle Tony arrived, shook hands with Josiah, gave the grandmother a hug, and then said, “Thanks, folks. See you later.” Then he opened the door for me and handed me a towel to sit on.
    Once we were on the way home, he asked, “When did you head down to the water?”
    “As soon as I saw it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone.” I stared down at my hands, realizing that I hadn’t even been at Uncle’s for a day and already I was in trouble.
    “Why didn’t you tell the others you were going?”
    I gave him the same answer I had given Josiah, adding, “I sat down in the shade because I felt a little dizzy and then I fell asleep. I didn’t mean to make everyone worry.”
    “You didn’t.”
    Quickly I glanced at Uncle Tony. “I didn’t?”
    “Nope. None of the girls even knew you were gone until you didn’t show up for supper.”
    I didn’t know what to say. I was used to being the invisible child at home just because I was quiet, but I didn’t think everyone would forget me.
    When we arrived at the house, Aunt Betsy sent me right up to change into dry clothes. No one had started eating when I returned, and it wasn’t until I sat down and Uncle Tony had asked the blessing on the food, that Aunt Betsy began dishing it up.
    “Where were you, Bonnie?” Flo demanded.
    “I went down to the water and fell asleep. You all were too far away to tell, and when I saw the water . . .” my voice trailed off and I pictured again in my mind the sparkle of the sun on the water and the feel of the waves over my feet.
    “Well, you missed out on ice cream,” Lyn said.
    That was the extent of the conversation at the table about my disappearance. No one asked why I had gone or what made me stay there. The girls chattered and laughed to each other and around me. I’m sure it wasn’t their intention to ignore me, and I could have spoken up and joined in the conversation if I had been able to think of anything to say; however, I didn’t even try. I was hungry and ate my supper in silence.
    After supper, while the other girls cleaned up the kitchen, Aunt Betsy helped me unpack and get my clothes put away in the drawer and part of the closet that would be mine for the duration of our stay.
    “Bonnie,” Aunt Betsy said at last, sitting down on the bed Bella and I were to share. “Do your sisters usually leave you out of things?”
    She looked concerned, and I tried to explain. “They don’t mean to leave me out, I just don’t talk all the time like they do. I like to think about things, and watch and listen.” I gave a little shrug. “I can talk and I’m not shy.”
    I’m not sure Aunt Betsy understood exactly, but she hugged me and said she would try to make sure I wasn’t forgotten again.

*

    The next few days were difficult for me. It seemed that every one of my cousins was as talkative and outgoing as my sisters, and I was often dragged along to wherever the others were going. Then I would be forgotten until it was time to go home. We visited the woods and the beach. I wasn’t sure which I liked better. We went down to the village, and I quickly learned my way around. I wanted to browse the quaint shops and spend hours in Read Another Page Books, but I didn’t dare go in lest I lose the other girls.
    I did discover that Mr. Josiah, whom I had met that first day on the beach, was the town mayor. I think he looks too young to be a mayor, but I won’t tell anyone that. And the lady who was with him, is his mother. But she looks too old to be his mother. Finding out who those two were, and finally getting to eat ice cream at Jack Frost’s, were the only things I enjoyed besides going to bed, those first three days after our arrival.
    On the fourth day I awoke with a headache. It wasn’t bad, only it made me not feel like being pleasant. I snapped at Bella when she started to chatter while I was reading my Bible. And at breakfast, when Flo, and Stacy–my oldest cousin–started talking about a trip to the lighthouse, I burst into tears and ran away from the table.
    In my room I flung myself onto my bed and cried into my pillow. I was miserable and wanted to go home! At least at home I was allowed to be invisible and alone.
    “Bonnie,” Aunt Betsy said, sitting down on the bed beside me and rubbing my back. “What’s wrong, honey?”
    “I don’t want to go with them!” I wailed.
    “Are they being unkind to you?”
    “No.” How could I explain things? Daddy would understand.
    “Lynn said your nerves are bad.”
    “My nerves are just fine!” I snapped back, then was instantly sorry and said so, though I kept my face hidden in the pillow.
    Aunt Betsy kept rubbing by back. “Tell me what’s wrong, honey.”

What are you excited for this summer?

Have you read A Very Bookish 4th of July?

Have you ever felt like Bonnie?

Rhode Island Story – Part 2

 Good morning FFFs,

I won't keep you long before letting you read the next part of this story. My nieces and nephews are coming over for breakfast and to spend the day. The boys will probably mow the yard, and then I'll probably take the oldest 5 on a bike ride. Not sure if I'll let Missy come along or not. She can't go as far as her older siblings. But maybe Missy, Buster, and Kitty Kinz can ride bikes in the parking lot. Of course Kitty Kinz is only 14 months, so she won't actually be riding. Not sure what else we'll do today. Maybe play games, or swing. 

I unofficially joined the 100 for 100 challenge. It's a challenge to write 100 words a day for 100 days. The reason I didn't join officially is because you are supposed to only work on one story until it is done and then you can move to another one. Well, I have so many stories and I never know which one is going to be the one I can work on, so I am still trying for the 100 days of writing 100 words. It is nice that they let you take one day a week off. So I can skip writing on Sundays unless I miss a day during the week. They also allow you to have one "grace week" so if something comes up and you can't write that week, it's okay. So far I'm doing fine.

Yesterday I ordered the proof copies of a new pocket book and my very first hardcover book!!!! I can't wait to see them!

Okay, here's the story. Enjoy!

 

Rhode Island Story
Part 2

    Soon my feet were covered, then the waves lapped about my ankles and then splashed the hem of my dress. It was a red dress with white polka dots and reached just below my knees. As much as I wanted to, I dared not go farther. For some time I just stood, mesmerized by the rhythmic waves, the blinding shimmer of the sun on the water, and the refreshing wind that stirred my damp bangs.
    I began to notice that I felt a little light-headed and moved back toward shore and wandered over to some large rocks which offered the only shade on the beach. There I sat down and closed my eyes hoping the strange feeling of constant motion would pass. Finally I lay down, curled up in the shade with my head pillowed on my arm, and gradually the sensation passed.
    But I didn’t want to move. It was so calm. So peaceful. I fell asleep.

*

    Water splashing in my face roused me some time later, and I sat up in bewilderment. My feet were wet, so was my dress. I sputtered as another wave broke over me before receding. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet, wondering how long I had been asleep. It must have been some time, for the sun, which had been past noon when I reached the water, was now far down in the west behind the tall trees.
    Feeling more refreshed but quite hungry, I left my rocks and splashed my way back to the beach which was only a small strip now. I wondered where my sisters and cousins were. How was I to get back to my uncle’s house? Had anyone missed me yet?
    “It’s a bit late to be taking a swim, don’t you think?” A friendly voice said.
    I turned quickly and saw a nice looking young man with a grandmotherly woman holding his arm. They were looking at me, and I suddenly realized I looked like a drowned rat. “Oh, I wasn’t swimming. I fell asleep in the shade behind those rocks over there until the water woke me up,” I answered quickly.
    “I’m glad you weren’t swimming alone,” the man replied. “It’s not safe.”
    “What’s your name, child?” asked the grandma. “I don’t recognize you.”
    “I’m Bonnie Dale,” I replied, trying to push my wet hair back from my face. I had long ago given up trying to explain about my name, for it only confused people. “I’m visiting my aunt and uncle for the summer, only now I don’t know how to get back to their house. My cousins and sisters were all going to Jack Frost’s, but I wanted to see the water.” I didn’t add that I still had no idea who Jack Frost was.
    “Well,” the young man said, “suppose we walk you to the ice cream parlor and see if we find them. Do you have any shoes?”
    “Shoes? Oh!” Turning, I looked around. Where had I hidden my shoes? “I put them in the grass to keep them safe,” I murmured.
    “Go help her look, Josiah,” the woman said with a slight chuckle. “I’ll wait here.”
    Josiah stepped beside me. “Do you remember where you took them off?”
    I shook my head. “I sat on a rock, but there are rocks everywhere.”
    “We’ll find them unless someone came and carried them away, which isn’t likely. Come on.”
    With his help my shoes and socks were soon found, and I used his handkerchief to dry my feet and then put my shoes and socks back on. All this time I wondered. Were the girls still at Jack Frost’s? And who was Jack Frost?
    “Now,” Josiah said, “let’s go to the ice cream parlor.”
    I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but I have to find Jack Frost because that’s where the girls went.”
    “Jack Frost’s is the ice cream parlor.”
    “Oh.” I glanced up, expecting to see him laughing at me, but instead he just smiled.
    “If you aren’t from around here, you wouldn’t know Jack Frost sells ice cream.” He gave me a wink and then offered his arm to the grandma.
    Without another word I walked with them, and when the grandma held out her hand to me, I took it. I was feeling very lonely and a bit frightened and homesick. It was getting later and later, and I longed for the sight of a familiar face.
    The village was quiet. Josiah said folks had gone home for supper. At the ice cream parlor only empty chairs greeted us, except for the white-haired man behind the counter.
    “Evening, Josiah.”
    “Evening, Jack. Did a group of girls come in here this afternoon?”
    “Sure did. Tony’s girls came with with some others I didn’t know. Talked so much I’m still wondering how they managed to eat their ice cream.”
    “Did they say anything about missing someone, or where they were heading next?”
    I almost held my breath.
    The man wrinkled his forehead and thought a moment. “Nope, can’t say that they did. Least ways I didn’t hear it.”
    Josiah looked down at me. “Are you Tony’s niece?”
    I nodded.
    “Can I borrow your phone, Jack?”
    “Sure can.”
    Josiah left us and disappeared behind the counter and over to a phone on the wall. I couldn’t hear what he said, but in a few minutes he was back.
    “Thanks, Jack. Well, Bonnie, your uncle will be here in a couple of minutes. It sounds like they just discovered you weren’t at the house. Didn’t you tell anyone you were going to the beach?” 

 

Are you more like Bonnie or her sisters and cousins?

Have you ever tried the 100 for 100 challenge?

Have you ever lost your shoes somewhere?