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@hybridlore @savannah_grace2009
Here’s the next part:
May was an unusually dry month, drier than any I’d seen before. Pa and Mama were fearful of fires, always exercising caution when cooking. Any wayward spark from the chimney could catch the dry brush and start an inferno.
On a Sunday afternoon, shortly after we’d finished planting, Mama invited the Cullivers over for a picnic. Only Etta wasn’t there- she was with Chester. We sat down by the creek, under the sparse population of trees. After lunch, James stayed with the adults to talk, but Albert, Abe, George, Oscar, Mattie, and I jumped into the swimming hole. The others had a great deal of fun, diving off the bank, splashing one another. I should have been having fun, too, but I couldn’t help thinking about the fact that Etta was off with Chester instead of here in the swimming hole with us.
After a little while, I decided to sit on a rock at the edge and catch my breath a little. I hadn’t been sitting there long when Albert hoisted himself up next to me and tugged on my wet braid. I gave his shoulder a shove, hoping he’d fall back into the water, but he was eighteen, tall and muscular, and he barely moved six inches.
“I’m leaving, Libbie,” he announced to me.
“Leaving? What are you talking about, Albert?” I couldn’t imagine what he was trying to say.
“I’m going out to Little Springs- that’s about twenty miles north- to help build the railroad out there,” he went on.
“Whatever for? Doesn’t your pa need you on the farm?”
Albert shrugged. “I reckon James will work for him to earn some money. I’ll only be gone a year, if that. I just wanted to find a way to earn some good money so as I can buy some land and start farming. If all goes well with crops, I can hopefully build a home by the time I’m twenty.”
“Why do you need one so soon? James is twenty and he doesn’t have his own land yet.”
“I want to have a house so we can get married,” Albert replied. “Don’t want to make you live in a soddy where all the bugs and snakes crawl out of the walls.” Chills went up my spine, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the reference to snakes, from the breeze touching my wet clothes, or from Albert’s confidence that he would marry me.
“First off, Albert, I never agreed to marry you,” I said hotly. “Don’t waste your time building a home for me. Go find some other girl- marry Jennie Keith, for all I care. She’d fit you well.”
The bold and confident Albert of two years ago seemed to shrink into the maturing Albert of today as it began to get into his head that I wasn’t interested in him. He sat in silence for a moment, and then spoke again.
“I couldn’t marry anyone else.” When I glanced up at him, his eyes were trained on me, solemn and serious. Though he had declared before his intentions to marry me, I’d never seen him look at me the way he was now. A wave of heat spread across my body and left abruptly, causing me to shiver again.
“Then you’ll be a bachelor for the rest of your life.” The words came out before I could stop them, and I instantly regretted it as I saw the hurt look on Albert’s face. I didn’t want to marry Albert, but I wasn’t so calloused that I didn’t care about his feelings. He’d been a friend, almost like another brother to me, since the early days on the trail. I jumped off the rock into the creek. Perhaps my words would get Albert to think straight for once and he’d reconsider his brashness.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
Nooo!! Aww, poor Albert!! 😭😭
What happened with the dragon pics . . . ?
"Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out." Eccl. 12:12
You don’t want to know. lol
Go to page 199 (i think) of the Character Party to find out what happens and how to annoy Jonas.
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333It’s a whole thing… Rae will randomly start filling up the Character Party chat with pictures of dragons.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
@hybridlore @savannah_grace2009
Some more….
A week later, Albert left for Little Springs. He never said goodbye to me, and I wished I could apologize for what I’d said. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The day after he left, I was in the barn milking our cow, Molly. I heard footsteps enter the barn, and turned to see Abe approaching. I kept milking, and he stopped outside the stall, leaning his arms on top of the wooden stall door as he watched me. For a moment, silence hung between us, aside from the sound of milk hitting the pail.
“Libbie, are you doing okay?” The softness in Abe’s voice caused a lump to grow in my throat. Abe was always good at sensing when something was wrong. I couldn’t speak; things were not okay, but I didn’t know if I could talk about it. All of my close friendships, except for my brothers Abe and George, had fallen apart within the span of a few weeks.
My grief was overwhelming. I felt like I had come to the end of myself. I was alone; my best friend had betrayed me and our friend group had split up as a result. Albert, who was another of my closest friends, as strange as that was, had left, and I had screwed up our friendship, too. As annoying as he could be sometimes, Albert was like another brother, and I knew I shouldn’t have said what I did.
“What were you and Albert talking about at the swimming hole on Sunday? He went home in a mood and wouldn’t tell me what was bothering him.”
I squeezed the last of the milk into the pail and slowly turned on the stool to face Abe. I really didn’t want to admit what I’d told Albert, but Abe of all people was safe to tell. I sighed.
“Albert won’t give up the notion that he’s going to marry me someday,” I said. “And I… I told him to find someone else. He said he couldn’t marry someone else, so… I said he’d be a bachelor for the rest of his life.”
“Have you given him a chance?” Abe asked. I guffawed.
“I cannot see myself spending the rest of my life with Albert,” I said. “He’s like another brother to me, but I couldn’t marry him.”
Abe was silent for a moment, studying me. “What’s bothering you so much, then? Albert’s not the only one who’s been moody lately. Was it what happened with you and Etta?”
“How much do you know about that?”
“George told me a little. He said you and Etta had a falling out over Chester.”
“You could say that.”
“Watch the milk pail.”
I turned to see Molly shifting, her hoof moving closer to the full pail of frothy white milk. I took the milk pail and stood, and Abe moved back, opening the stall door for me. He shut the door behind me again.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” I clutched the handle of the milk pail with both hands, even though one hand would have been enough.
“Libbie, when was the last time you talked to God about all this?”
A wave of guilt washed over me. It hadn’t been recently, that was a fact. I’d gotten so caught up in my emotions that God had sort of been left behind.
“It’s been a little while,” I mumbled. Abe reached for the milk pail, taking it from my hands and setting it down on the hay. He stepped closer and pulled me into a hug.
“Libbie, I care about you, you know,” he said. “You’ll always be my little sister, and I want to see you happy. I think you should start talking to God again about what happened. And if you ever want to tell me about it, I’m here.”
I blinked back the warm tears that were pricking my eyes. “Thanks, Abe.”
Abe picked up the milk pail, and together we walked back to the house.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
Aww I love that scene so much!!!!!!! It was so sweet! Great job!
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333Me too!!! Abe is so sweet!!
"Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out." Eccl. 12:12
@hybridlore @savannah_grace2009
Thanks! I want to develop their brother-sister relationship more.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
@hybridlore @savannah_grace2009 @vinagirl
Here’s the next section! Please tell me if there’s anything that feels superficial or unrealistic. (Raegan, if you haven’t already, you might want to read all the previous posts starting on page one to get caught up)
One afternoon Mama asked me to walk to town for a few things from the store, and as I walked through the sweltering sun, I finally did what Abe suggested, something I hadn’t done in a long time. I prayed.
“God,” I said aloud, “I’ve been so preoccupied in my own pursuits and desires that I haven’t taken the time to talk to you. I’m really sorry.” After a few more strides, I added, “I feel so alone now. My friendship with Etta fell apart. I don’t ever talk to Chester anymore. Albert’s in Little Springs. I guess I still have Lillian, but she’s not as close as Etta was. I miss Etta. What she did really hurt, but I miss her.” I suddenly realized tears were running down my face.
Forgive your brother, as I have forgiven you. The Bible verse popped into my head, and I blinked. How could I forgive Etta? Could I really trust her again?
“God, you’re gonna have to help me,” I confessed. “I don’t think I can forgive her, not unless she apologizes.”
I heard nothing in response, but a strange warmth filled my body, and it wasn’t the heat from the sun. It was a peace, a love, that I had not felt in a long time.
Arriving at the general store, I had just entered when I heard a voice behind me.
“Libbie! Fancy meeting you here!” I turned to see Lillian behind me, a basket over her arm and her curly brown hair piled atop her head.
“Lillian! It’s good to see you again.” We embraced, and as I stepped back, I added, “Did you just start wearing your hair up?” Lillian nodded.
“Mama said I might as well, now that I’m no longer in school,” she replied. I fingered the end of my braid, wondering what Mama would think if I tried putting my hair up. I was sixteen, after all.
“How have you been since I last talked with you?” I asked. I hadn’t seen Lillian much recently. Although we said hello in church, there hadn’t been many social opportunities to spend time together.
“All right,” Lillian replied. “Our crops have been struggling. We’re making do, but we might be a little thinner this winter.”
“I think all farmers in this part of the country are facing the same crisis,” I said.
“We’re praying for rain,” Lillian nodded. “How are you doing? I haven’t talked with you and Etta in a long time. We should really gather sometime for a sewing party, the three of us and Sara.”
I swallowed and shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Mr. Harrison behind the counter to see if he was listening to our conversation. He was bent over a ledger, scratching down some figures.
“Etta and I aren’t on the best of terms right now,” I said in a lower voice. “It’s a long story.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Lillian exclaimed. “Here, why don’t we purchase what we need, and then you can tell me about it as we walk home. My house is somewhat on the way to yours.”
After selecting what I had come to buy, I stepped out into the street to wait for Lillian. She joined me a moment later, and we began walking out of town in the direction of her house.
“Please, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what happened with you and Etta,” Lillian said. “You two were such good friends.”
I sighed. “You know I liked Chester.”
“Yes.”
“He started asking her home from church, and Etta went behind my back,” I said. “She knew I liked him, but she agreed to let him walk her home, and didn’t tell me about it until later. We had a bit of an argument and haven’t been speaking for several months.”
Lillian was silent for a moment. “Is your friendship really worth destroying over a boy?”
“What she did really hurt me,” I replied. “If she would apologize and try to make things right, then I’d try to forgive her, but she hasn’t. She’s just gone on with Chester. Obviously it came down to our friendship or Chester, and she chose Chester.”
“Maybe…” Lillian paused, choosing her words carefully. “What if you made the first move? You could just talk to her. Be honest with her, tell her how her actions made you feel, but also tell her how much her friendship means to you.”
“I don’t think I could,” I replied.
“It’s your choice, Libbie. How much do you really value Etta’s friendship?”
I stayed silent, chewing on her words. I knew Lillian was right, but what she was proposing sounded almost impossible for me to do.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
@hybridlore @savannah_grace2009 @vinagirl
If any of you have ideas of plot twists I could add, or events that could happen in the story, I’d love to hear them. I feel like I keep running out of new ideas, but I want to strengthen my story and the characters. Maybe I just need to go read some more historical fiction from this time period lol.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
I can’t wait for the next part! I don’t really have many ideas for plot events, but I’ll let you know if I think of any good ones! Yeah, probably reading other books like it would help.
"Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out." Eccl. 12:12
I really like this scene!!!
Some ideas for plot twists:
Maybe she apologizes to Albert or something?? And then realizes that she does like him? Or something happens with her and Chester? OR A NEW BOY MOVES TO TOWN!!
Sorry, all my ideas seem to be centered around romance….lol
Lukas&Livia
#Lalbert
Sef&Chase
#HOTTOLINE
LEFSE FOREVER!!!!!! <333Ahhh I want to tell you what I had planned but I don’t want to give spoilersssss!
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
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