I let someone I loved dearly read this story. He said he really liked it and wanted me to add more to it. Unfortunately, life interfered and he died. The girl and the man didn't even have names. I picked it up today and have named them Lara and Paul. I have a tentative ending but the middle remains to be seen. Lara led the soaked , nearly freezing young man up the steep path to a small log cabin perched on the side of the mountain. She opened the kitchen door and yelled, "Hey, Gramma! We have company!" Paul saw a stooped woman with a cane come from what looked like the living room. "What in tarnation have you drug up now, Lara?" she said. But she smiled when she said it so Paul knew she wasn't really angry.
Oh this is so intriguing ,, I know there must be more.. go on..please go on.. my ears and eyes are full of anticipation...Looks like gramma approves of the young man already..
Gramma fetched a warm handmade quilt and told Paul to go in the bedroom, strip off his wet clothes and wrap the blanket around him. When he go to his underwear, he stood there with his face red. The cold air in the bedroom soon made him decide to strip them off, too. When he got back to the kitchen, Gramma hung his soaking clothes by the hot wood heater. She was discreet enough to hang his underwear under his shirt. Paul remembered his mother telling him, "Always have clean underwear. You never know when you might be in an accident." Now he was glad he heeded her advice. Gramma poured him a cup of coffee from the pot sitting on the old heater. It was piping hot and black as sin. He held it in his hands and the warmth felt good. After it cooled down for a few minutes, he took a small sip. To his surprise, it was delicious. Soon he was warm inside and out. He didn't see the girl in the kitchen and wondered where she went.
He always remembered his mother telling him, "Always have clean underwear. You never know when you might be in an accident." Now he was glad he heeded her advice." Oh gosh,, is it commercial time? ...Now I have to wait to find out what happened to the girl....
Just then the door burst open, letting in a blast of frigid air. Lara rushed in carrying an arm full of wood for the fire. “Brrr, she said, “ The temperature is really dropping out there.” He noticed that her cheeks were rosy from the cold. She was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. Judging from her speech, she was obviously well educated. He couldn’t help but wonder what a beautiful, educated woman was doing living in a remote log cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Lara filled the heater with firewood then turned to him. “Your clothes are dry“, she said. “You can change while I cook us some dinner.” While he changed, he could smell the mouth watering scent of country ham sizzling in the frying pan. Soon they were seated around an old wooden table covered with colorful oilcloth. On the table were homemade biscuits as big as your hand, a platter of country ham, red eye gravy, baked sweet potatoes and a bowl of collards. Paul could feel his mouth watering from the smell and sight of the food. Gramma said, “Lara, will you say the blessing, please?” They joined hands and Paul guessed he was supposed to join hands, too. When he touched Lara’s hand the little shock that went through him was far from religious. Lara felt a tingle go through her whole body but managed not to fall out of her chair. She prayed, “Our most gracious loving Father, we thank you for this food and all your many blessings. Bless us all and keep us in your care now and always. Amen”. Then they dived into one of the best meals Paul had ever eaten.
Oh my , this is really getting deep. the two of them when they held hands sent a chill up my own back for Lawdy sakes and gave me goosebumps. !! Hurry back Miss Shirley..im waiting anxiously to hear the next chapter..
The young man was enamored with the young women, and looking around he saw many thing that that need repairs. He explained that he was he on spring break from Haevard, he wondered that if he could trade some home repairs for his lodging until it was time to go back to school. So for a week the two young people spent almost all of the young man break together. It came to the end of his vacation, and being as smitten as he was he ask the young lady to go back with him. A very lonely look came over the young women face, and she explained that her gramma had set a spell of protection on her, so she had to tell him that she only existed in her gamma's valley. She could not leave as long as her gramma's spell was in place.
Paul went back to the city a sadder, lonelier man than he ever knew he could be. Lara was in his every thought and haunted his dreams at night. He finished his last semester at Harvard then packed his car and headed back to the little cabin on the hill and love.
Paul got back to the little cabin and parked in the yard. He looked around in dismay. The cabin was deserted. The grass and weeds had grown high. He opened the door and went inside. Dust was everywhere. There were mouse droppings on the floor. Obviously, it had been deserted for a long while. Slowly, he walked to the back door and opened it. His heart stopped. There on the little hillside was a fresh mound of dirt that could only have been a grave. With his heart pounding, he stumbled over to the grave. There he saw a marker. He stood there with tears rolling down his cheeks. After a while, he got control of himself. Where was Lara????????
Paul called out for Lara. "Laraaah!" But there was no answer. He ran down to the stream where they first met. She wasn't there. He wandered through the woods. She wasn't there. Finally, exhausted, he went back to the cabin and sat in Gramma's chair by the heater. When he awoke, it was morning. He set about cleaning the cabin and yard, hoping Lara would come back. All day he worked. That night, he dreamed that Lara came to him in his bed. He could smell the faint fragrance of honeysuckles where her head had lain. That day he searched all the area near Gramma's grave. He found an aged wooden marker. And he knew she would never return. He stayed on in the cabin all through the summer, fall and winter. Sometimes it seemed to him that she still came to his bed at night. When spring came again, he left the cabin and went back to the city. He eventually married, had children and raised a family. But he never forgot Lara and the smell of honeysuckles in her hair.
Oh My Cod!♫ Lara's theme♫ song. and she had died. oh this is just an awful ending, that poor, poor man.,.... oh I can't take it much longer .. But Hey, it was a wonderful Story. I loved it and so did everyone else..
Henry McGee woke up in hell At least, he was pretty sure that’s where he was. He had spent the last thirty years of his life lying, cheating and stealing. He didn’t think they would let him into the other place. He was pretty sure he was dead, too. The last thing he remembered was running that red light and looking up to see an eighteen wheeler coming at him going seventy miles an hour. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a room about twelve feet square. He was lying on a soft comfortable bed. There was a dresser with a mirror. He sat up on the side of the bed. He saw two small doors. He stood up slowly. Yep, everything still worked. No dizziness, no broken bones. He opened the first door. It was a closet. It was full of brand name clothing. He opened the second one. It was a bathroom. Small but complete. He sat back down on the bed and looked around. There were no windows but somehow the room seemed to be filled with sunlight. He couldn’t see a source for the light. It was just there. Maybe he wasn’t in hell. Maybe they gave him a break. After all, he had never done anything so bad, like murder or rape. The worst thing he had ever done was fleece a widow out of her husband’s life insurance money. She should have been smarter. He spotted a third door. Curious now, he jumped up and opened it. It opened into a large sitting room. It contained a sixty inch flat screen TV and five rocking chairs. In the first chair sat a plump elderly lady who looked a lot like Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith show. She gave him a cheerful smile and said, “Morning, Henry!” In the second chair sat a man wearing overalls and a straw hat. Henry instantly named him Farmer John. He took a straw out of his mouth and said, “Morning, Henry. Nice weather we’re having. Too hot to fish, too wet to plow.” In the third chair sat a young teen age girl chewing gum. She smiled, popped her gum, giggled and said “Morning, Henry!” Henry named her Teenie. In the fourth chair sat a cowboy, twirling a lariat. He gave a hearty laugh, twirled his lariat and said, “Howdy, parder! Ready to ride?” Henry named him Tex. Henry looked all around the room. He didn’t see any windows but the light was like that in his room. He saw four doors like the one to his room. He guessed they were to the bedrooms of the others. Henry sat down in the fifth chair. Hell, if this was hell, he could deal with it! They rocked, watched TV and chatted for a few hours. Then a tray of food appeared on a table beside each one of them. The food was simple but quite tasty. They ate, watched TV, and chatted. Then the trays vanished. After a while, the light dimmed. Aunt Bea said, “Well, bedtime. Good night, everyone.” They all went to their rooms. Henry lay down on his soft, comfortable bed. He gave a big happy smile. Well, well, well, he had it made. He wouldn’t mind spending eternity here! He drifted off to sleep. To be continued