The other day I felt like writing a short story. So I grabbed my pen and my notebook and starting writing. I thought I'd share some with you. Here is what I've got so far.
Once upon a time, in a town
called Roseburgh in South Dakota, in the year 1872, there was a girl who lived
with her Papa and Mama, and her four sisters and three brothers. They were a happy family, living in a humble
farm house on the seaside. They weren’t poor, nor were they rich but they were
better off than some folks.
Now this girl was around
twelve years old. Her name was Tyla Clarkson. She had five younger siblings and
two older siblings. Now I’ll tell you a little about her siblings: There was
Rose who was only three months, than Luke who was two, Clare who was six, Will
who was eight, Lydia who was eleven, than there was Tyla, than Josephine (whom
everyone called Jo) who was fourteen, then Robert (whom everyone called Robby)
who was almost seventeen. They had no school for it burned down a few years ago
so their Mama taught them at home.
The Papa worked as a banker,
and the Mama spun wool from the sheep and sold it to the general store for
extra money, until just recently. The four older children knew why, Papa had
lost his job at the bank. The four youngest children didn’t know and they
didn’t even wonder why Papa came home each day with a sullen face as another
job was turned down to him. Tyla missed her Papa’s handsome voice as he used to
sing tunes at the piano each night, and how he would always read them a story
before they went to bed. Tyla knew that life wouldn’t go back to normal for
awhile.
Lydia would usually cry herself to sleep each
night. Tyla would pray that work would be sent to Papa soon. And Jo would
comfort them both. That was what the nights were like in the girls’ room for
awhile.
One morning, Tyla awoke with
the sound of waves crashing and the cow mooing to be milked. She knew it was
her turn to milk Daisy. She looked over to where Lydia and Jo were, they were
still sleeping soundly. So she slipped out of bed to only shiver as her bare
feet touched the cold floor, the winters were very cold in Roseburgh. Tyla
quickly slipped her feet into her cold slippers and pulled a blanket over her
night gown. As she tip-toed downstairs she silently dodged the creaky
floorboards.
As Tyla entered the kitchen she found Papa sitting at the kitchen
table finishing off a bowl of warm porridge. He had to wake up early each day
so he could set out and look for work. He smiled at her through his sad eyes as
Tyla licked her lips at that porridge. But she couldn’t stop, there’s no more
milk left and she must hurry to the cow that is now mooing even harder than
before. Tyla got frustrated for not waking earlier so Papa could have had some
warm milk with his porridge instead of water.
As she slipped her feet into her
big boots, Papa grabbed his big woolly coat and hat and kissed her as he rushed
out the door. Tyla whispered as he rushed past “good luck, Papa. I love you.”
And he waved to her through the window with a twinkle in his eye.
Tyla wrapped a scarf around
her neck, pulled the blanket tighter over her shoulders and opened the door.
She could see half the sun peeking out behind the mountains behind the sea, and
the birds were just beginning to sing. The sunlight cast an orangey look over
the ocean. It was very cold and there was a strong wind. Luckily the snow had
ceased falling. Tyla began walking towards the barn with the wind against her.
The snow was crunching under her boots as she walked.
She thought to herself
how hard it is with not much money anymore, Mama was doing her best to save
milk and eggs to sell. Robby went out every day to care for the animals and
chop wood for the fire. He would also go around the neighbourhood chopping wood
for the folks and doing odd jobs to earn some more money. He didn’t earn a lot
of money but whatever he got he gave to Mama and Papa. Tyla smiled, her brother
was so caring…so much like Papa. He would be awaking now for breakfast. At that
thought she quickened her steps and finally reached the barn. She grabbed the
milking stool and bucket and went over to Daisy the cow and started milking her.
That's all I've got so far. It's a non-fiction story and I made up the town Roseburgh. I like writing stories...I don't usually write them but when I do I love it.
What have you been doing this week?
