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?