Throwing the Yellow Dodder--Snippet 7

* This is a continuation of a work of fiction.

....Lucy began to think about how lucky her family was to have all of the little things that she always forgot they had, had until she was around Mable. Mable did that for her. She made her think of the little things that she often overlooked. She wished she wasn't like that, but she'd been doing it her whole; letting the big things blot out the sun's warming rays that she hard forgotten to notice, forgotten that she needed, forgotten that she longed for. Being with Mable was like walking in the first warm, spring day after a long winter. Her skin reached out to the rays for warmth, for comfort; the rays came to her in the decibles of Mable's aged, accented voice.

 Lucy guessed that she had gotten so used to comparing her life to other people that were above her that she had forgotten that she could also look down. Lucy also began to think about she was going to the library as soon as her shift ended to get a library card and a fresh book. She would just have to make time to read and learn; Mrs. Mable had and she was a good woman, a real good woman.

 Mable sat wishing she could walk. Oh', how she longed to stretch her legs and feel the beautiful, hard Earth beneath her sore feet. She smiled a little thinking about how much fun it had been to walk bare footed in the cool mud of a hot, August day when she and Nellie had spent numerous afternoons digging up pitcher plants and wading out into the Conecuh river for Bladderworts. Nellie always found some reason to fall in or stay an extra half hour. They both didn't mind staying a little longer. It had always been fun to try and come up with an excuse that they hadn't used before.

  Breezes off the lake carried them around the lake. Each had their minds on things happy and sad that were on and in much different places and days. Mable thought of William and Nellie and all that was the full essence of them. Lucy tried to figure out where each dollar was going to come from to pay each bill. It had been an expensive month. She wondered if everyone's junk was always breaking down and quitting on them.

  Lucy pushed Mable along the gravel path talking and listening, teaching and learning, judging and learning.....


Snippet 8 coming sooner than later,
 
    David