Althea, September 1966 “James, are you out there?” Althaea and James let go of each other and sat up straight. “It’s okay,” James whispered. “It’s just my mother.” “Your mother?” I didn’t think my heart could beat any faster than it did when I put my head on James shoulder just a few minutes earlier,…
The back porch hadn’t been invaded yet, so I took up residence there. Since the funeral, the house had been consistently full of people dropping off food and paying their respects. It was strange to see my mother interacting with a room full of strangers, though they all seemed to know her quite well. I tried…
ALTHAEA – September, 1966 I could feel his eyes on me. I pretended I was reading, but every few minutes I would casually glance up to see him watching me from across the room. When he stood, I bolted. James Porter. I had heard there was a new kid in school. I didn’t usually bother…
My hands trembled. The journal slipped to the ground. The way Mrs. Carmichael described my grandmother, always writing, mad me believe this journal was hers. I let the reality register for a moment. This was my mother’s journal. My parents first met when they were just a couple of years older than me. They lived…
Althaea- September, 1966 I saw him exiting the park on his bicycle. He was surrounded by a light that drew my eyes from the sidewalk cracks I was studying as I made my way to the grocery store. I watched him from afar feeling an unfamiliar quiver in my stomach. I’m not one to get…
The dream I had in the treehouse haunted me, but it didn’t stop me from heading back there every chance I got. Today was no different. It was the perfect day to curl up with my sketchbook, and lose myself in the scratching sound of my pencil, as images leaped from my mind to paper.…
I was traveling down the long dirt road behind my grandmother’s house when I saw it. It stood alone. It was the prettiest tree I had ever seen, the sunlight hit its branches as though each was lightly wrapped in twinkling white lights. And, nestled in the middle, was a tree house. I wondered if…
Shortly after I heard the screen door slam and my mother crank up the station wagon, I went back to exploring the house. I walked the halls, my mind in tune with each creaky step of the wooden floorboards. Running my hands gently over the walls, the banister, I let my thoughts wander to…
I landed with a thud. Sliding down the old wooden banister to the first floor was exhilarating. Having only seen that in movies, I was impressed I was able to pull it off. “Eden, I need to make a run into town and meet with the funeral director. I’ll be back in about an hour.…
“Eden, where the hell are you?” my mom called from somewhere downstairs. I couldn’t tell exactly what side of the house her voice drifted up from as we had only been here a week, and this was by far the biggest house we had ever lived in. When we arrived last week, I had…
LITTLE MISS WORDY 