Lauralie Pope

Chapter One: The First Day of Summer

“Lilly, wake up!  It’s time.”

“Sara?”

“Yes, did you pack your bag?”

“Yeah, what time is it?”

“Five-thirty.”

“Are you sure you have everything, it’s very important” the efficient older sister questioned.

“Yes, I packed it just like you said” responded Lilly. 

The girls hauled their bags down the stairs and put them by the front door.  Sarah went in to the kitchen and prepared a light breakfast of buttered toast and orange juice while Lilly knocked on their nanny’s door.

     Angie was an education student and wanted to teach her charges about their world.  She had decided two weeks in the pine forests of east Texas would be a great opportunity for the sisters while giving her a chance to practice what she was learning in school.  Besides, she loved exploring the woods! 

“How would you two like to go camping?” Angie asked.

“Sure!”shouted Lilly.  She had gone with her brownie troop last spring and loved it.

“I don’t know” said Sarah, “Just the three of us?”

“I could see if my friend Susie wants to come?” Angie replied.

 “Well, I’d like to meet Susie; do you think she’ll come?”

“If I say “camping” she’ll ask when and where!”

“Okay” Sarah replied, “Did you ask my parents?”

“I talked to them yesterday and they liked the idea once I told them what I had in mind.”

“When will we go?” asked Lilly.

“Why not the first day of summer?  I’ll make the arrangements.”

The next couple of weeks were full of rapping up the school year, planning, and shopping for the trip.  The last day of school came quickly as the girls anticipated their adventure. 

     Angie went to bed early and slept soundly through the night.  She was dreaming that she could not get a fire to light in the pit when she was awakened by a noise.  The room was dark and she listened trying to figure out what it was that she heard.

 A muffled voice passed through the door, “Are you awake?”  followed by a tap, tap, tap on the door. 

“What time is it” Angie asked as she sat up in bed and glanced over at the clock. 

“It’s five-thirty.  Didn’t you want me to wake you up early?” asked Lilly.      

“Okay, I’m awake, thanks.  I didn’t mean this early” Angie mumbled as she fell back on her pillow wanting to go back to sleep. 

It did not take long for her to rally herself as she thought about the adventures that the next two weeks might bring.  In the two years that she had been caring for the girls, the nanny had grown to love them.  They really were sweet kids, but they always seemed a little sad.  Angie knew that they missed their parents and wondered how they could leave their daughters behind while they traveled around the globe!  I do not understand why people have kids, just to leave them for someone else to experience their first steps or first camp out. 

      The girls were used to being on their own because their parents traveled to different parts of the world on business.  Mr. and Mrs. Wade owned their own export business.  The company would purchase American made products and sell them in other countries for a profit.  The business took the couple to exotic places that the girls would read about and dream of going to someday. 

     One day Sarah told Angie, “The first place I want to visit is Egypt in North Africa.  I read about a pharaoh named Tutankhamen, or King Tut, who lived 3000 years ago.  He was only ten years old when he inherited the throne.  I want to visit archaeological sites along the Nile River and see what the tombs of the ancient kings look like.”  “I saw a mummy in a museum once, it was creepy!” Sarah had said.

  “Did you know that ancient Egyptians believed in life after death and that they would preserve a body after death to prepare it for the next life? “Sarah asked.

“I knew they mummified their dead but I didn’t know why” said Angie.

“Well we’re not going to Egypt today, let’s get out of here and go camping!” Said Lilly as she got up from the table and put her plate and cup in the dishwasher.   

     Angie liked the feeling she got from explaining new things to the girls.  At twenty-two she was determined to make something of her life, a thing her father had failed to do.  Growing up in Phoenix had been hard and having an alcoholic father and no mother around made life just about unbearable.  School was an escape from her life at home.  She had a lot of friends and felt sad when school was close to being over for good. Angie hadn’t made plans beyond graduation, but couldn’t imagine spending any more time living with her dad, or in that city.  A few weeks before the last day, her counselor called her to his office.

“Angie could you come to my office for a minute” Mr. Pack the guidance counselor asked? 

She didn’t know what to expect and was surprised when he questioned her about plans for continuing her education.  “I can’t afford college Mr. Pack. I need to find a job” she said.

“That is one option Angie, but you might consider this” he said as he described an opportunity to do both.

  She cried through the graduation ceremony and worried weather or not she would see her friends again.  The Wade family and a new life were waiting for her in Texas.  She would care for the Wade’s daughters as their live in nanny, while attending college.  When the parents were home she would have the weekends off.  Angie believed in education for several reasons.   She liked discovering how simple things seem on the surface and how complex and intricate they turned out to be. Her father said school was a waist of time and she found the opposite of most of what he said to be true.  Her father was narrow minded and rejected family life preferring the bar scene.  He wasn’t mean exactly, he just didn’t understand her. 

“When I was your age, he said, I used to party with my friends.  How come you don’t do that Angie? 

“Because, your idea of fun is fighting and being drunk dad.” She replied.  “You go through friends like they don’t mean anything.  You call it fun, but I see it differently and I don’t want any part of it!” 

     Angie watched the other kids in school.  She noticed what drew some kids to sports while others were attracted to gang life.  Not all of the kids belonged to one particular crowd.  Some seemed to wander among a few just on the outskirts, as if unable to decide who they wanted to be.  She knew most of the kids because they had gone to school together since kindergarten.  She knew which ones had divorced parents or stay at home moms.  She was a little jealous of the kids whose moms seemed involved in their lives because she didn’t know her own mother.   She noticed that the kids that took school seriously seemed happier than the others but did not know why.  Only later did she discover the value that education offers people who accept the challenge.  Her professor, Dr. Wagner, was the first to help her understand that education was about growing as an individual and offering meaning to life and so much more than a means to a career.  She would often talk to the girls about getting all they could out of their education.

“What did you learn today?” she would ask.

She wanted the girls to think about those things and get them to explain or describe them, knowing it would help them to remember them better.  She liked to add a little bit more information on the subject and encourage them to ask questions.

“You sound like my teacher,” Lilly would say as she ran off to play.

“Last one to the car sets up the tent” Angie hollered as she ran out the door.

     The sky was just starting to turn orange as the mini van pulled out on Twenty-One headed north.  Their favorite News Boys song came on the radio and the girls sang at the top of their voices as they made their way toward Coldspring.  They were looking forward to meeting Susie at Double Lake. 

     Susie had made it to camp the day before and enjoyed every minute since she arrived.  She had an Aunt that used to live in Coldspring three miles away from Double Lake.  They used to take picnics out to the lake and swim after lunch.  She had arrived after dark and had to set the tent up with little light.  She didn’t mind though and once her bed was made, she built a fire and laid in a lounge chair, stared at the stars, and listened to the sounds of the woods until late in the night.  The moon shone high above, gracious with its light as she put out the smoldering embers and entered her tent for the night.  Susie slept late the next morning but was eventually wakened by three smiling faces. 

“Where’s breakfast?” Angie asked as Susie sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Don’t you mean lunch?” Sarah teased.

“You must be Sarah” Susie responded, “Angie warned me about you!”

“Who me?” Sarah asked innocently.

“Come on girls, let’s set up our tent and let Sleeping Beauty here have a chance to wake up” Angie said.

The girls began unpacking the van and were anxious to set up camp so that they could get a look around.  It was a warm day but there was a light breeze that blew as they picked just the right spot to put up their tent. 

“Lesson one, find a flat spot and pick up twigs and rocks so you don’t end up having to sleep on one” Angie explained as she unzipped the case containing their temporary home.

The moon shone high above, gracious with its light as the two sisters slipped through the gate and down the street unnoticed. 

“Okay you two can go, but you have to be back before dark!  .  They went about a hundred yards further to the barn and slid the door open just enough to squeeze inside.  It was pitch black inside and it took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust.  Sara heard a whimper coming from her little sister, and put her arm around the shaking child. 

“Let’s pretend like we’re horses and have come into the stall for the night” Sarah whispered.

We’ll close the door and take a good long nap.  When we wake up we can have a picnic!”

Lilly liked that idea.  She was tired from being up all night and having to walk so far.  The two girls put their belongings into the stall, made a big pile of hay, and Sara got out the sleeping bags from the backpacks.  They laid the first one on top of the hay and used the other one to cover up with.  As the sun rose in the east, the two girls curled up together in their quiet little nest and Sarah waited for her sister to fall asleep.  

     Once Sarah was sure Lilly was sleeping, she snuck out of bed and went to inspect their things.  She was too anxious to sleep and wanted to be sure Lilly had what she needed.  Sara opened the blue bag and poured out its contents onto the floor, a pair of scissors, dad’s pocket knife, a compass, two sturdy flashlights, a ten pack of batteries, a small radio, twine, a small sewing kit that had a package of various sized needle, some spools of thread, a thimble, and a tape measure.  Next to the sewing kit laid a map of Texas, and another map of the hill country region.  On the floor next to her knee sat a

Sara put everything back into the bag and reached for another one.  She took a look inside and new its contents.  She had prepared that one herself.  Next, she opened her backpack and found the first aid kit, set it aside and looked at the clothing inside.  She wondered how the girls would wash the outfits and began to feel overwhelmed.  She put the things away and wiped the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

Lilly was more interested in stories about American Indians and how tribes use to live off of the land.  Her class had been reading about them.  

“I wonder what it was like to live like the Native Americans?” she asked.

“The Comanche were hunter gatherers, or nomads, lived in hide covered tents and carried their belongings from place to place as they followed the buffalo” Angie explained.  “Lipan Apache Indians settled along the San Saba River northwest of San Antonio.   They moved to a Spanish mission there in hopes of being protected from Comanche raiders, but they couldn’t adjust to the sedentary lifestyle and ended up rejecting mission life.” Angie explained.  Sarah asked, “What are Comanche raiders?”

“They were people that would go and steal from other tribes to get supplies that they needed and lots of times they would kidnap women or children to increase their population.”

“Poor kids!” Sarah

Fiction Piece Revision Account

My original fiction piece draft was fun to write and I appreciated the feedback that I got in class.  Most of the comments seemed positive, Heather’s in particular.  Once I went back to work on the piece, I found it difficult.  I did not have a set purpose for it, other than to fulfill the assignment, and see what I could do with fiction because it was my first attempt.  After reading and discussing our text book and differentiating between popular and literary fiction, I realized my story needed purpose if it was to amount to anything.  I learned that true literature teaches its reader something.  Popular fiction is enjoyable and entertaining but has little else to offer.  I believe in education!  I want to offer my readers a meaningful experience.  I want them to walk away from the book knowing something that they did not know before, or reflecting on some aspect of their lives, seeing it from a different perspective.  I want them to find excitement in learning.  My story is written with a particular audience in mind.  I want to write for adolescent kids.

 I understand that I have a lot to learn, as I am at the beginning of my writing journey.  I do not know where it will lead but am taking on the challenge.  I may not get far but this class has helped me to understand that writing is not all about talent and “either you have it or you don’t”.  I think so many people don’t try things because they tell themselves they can’t, or they think those things are for other people, better people than themselves.  At least that is what I used to think before this class.  I have learned that it takes hard work, commitment, and lots of revising to make a piece good.  I have also discovered that I enjoy writing!  I like the creative side of it and I enjoy research.

 I like what the text says about using people and experience from real life as models for characters and situations in fiction.  I used to wonder how authors could invent so much and now I understand that there is more reality to fiction than one sees on the surface.  That was a surprise to me.  It also accounts for many of the changes in my fiction piece.  I started out in the first draft just using some people I know to base the characters on.  But since then I realize I should incorporate my experiences as well.  Not all of the second piece is based on reality.  I made up the alcoholic dad because I want my character to be complex rather than flat like in popular fiction.  I also tried to do that with the girls because while they have plenty of money, they are not living fairytale lives because there parents are gone so much.  I plan to have the girls go on a scavenger hunt and locate plants and animals native to the East Texas forest.  That way I can get a little science into the story and work on descriptive writing too.