Story preview...

                       Chapter 1

It was Sunday, around eight thirty. I was awakened by the sound of a tractor horn blasting outside my window. I went over to the fogged up window in my room to see what the fuss was about. I pressed my hand against it, and it was frozen to the touch.

“Hurry up! We’re leaving for church in ten minutes, Alyssa, if you're not out here ready to go by then, there will be a special beating in store for you !” Ma shouted the almost as loudly as the tractor horn.

I quickly got dressed in my knee-length, dandelion yellow dress, my only nice dress, did my hair in a low bun, and brushed my teeth, which took two minutes, but didn’t have time to eat breakfast, because right as I walked out of the door my mom was putting the Chevrolet truck in drive to tell me to “Hop in or else you're punished for a month!”.

“I’m comin’ Ma! I had to get ready for the day, you just wake up earlier than us and have more time to get ready! Ease up!”

“Well come on faster, and get your sister. We need to pick up Grandmama! You know how long that takes!”

I ran inside to see my sister wearing her trademark Little Butterfly Princess costume that mom totally despised. It was a pink dress with a purple fake flower belt and a rainbow flower crown, complete with some pink and purple butterfly wings.

“Lizzy! Ma’s gonna see that and freak out! Grandmama’s waiting for us at her house, so change, ‘cause we’ve gotta go before I get grounded and you get spanked!”

Lizzy started having a fit, so I pulled out the emergency “Long Boys” taffy box - it always did the trick. She sprinted to her room and started to change. Mama always seemed to like Lizzy more. I think it’s because I reminded her of Pa, who left when I was ten and Lizzy were two. It was hard to believe it has been that long ago. I looked almost identical to Pa, with my chestnut hair, but mine went to my collarbone and was curly, not side-swept short hair. Even though we had that in common, I think the thing that reminds mama of papa the most is that we have the same bright, emerald green eyes.

“LIZZY! ALYSSA! Get over here before Grandmama has to walk her tail down here! You know she doesn’t like t when we're late!”


“Sorry, Ma! Lizzy’s still changing!”

“ Really, or do you just want to stare at yourself in the mirror? Lizzy, just try to hurry up.”

I sighed. As I walked to the car, I thought about Pa and how he ran to the city, He had wanted to take me, but Ma wouldn’t let me go. I wish she had, I would give anything to get out of here. He sent Lizzy the Little Butterfly Princess costume when Lizzy was six, and it still fit. Ma hadn’t had a normal conversation with me since dad left. It annoyed me, like everything thing else that comes with living here.

Lizzy came sprinting out the door in her Sunday best - a good condition hand-me-down that I had outgrown. I had one dress, in my favourite colour, yellow, and other than that two jackets, two sweaters,  ten shirts, a winter jacket, and seven pairs of pants. I only had three pairs of shoes: sneakers, heels, and snow boots, because we got lots of snow in winter. We hopped in the rusty old Jeep and drove down the beaten road to Grandmama’s house. It wasn’t that far. We passed the trading store and a restaurant on the way there.

     Grandmama and I, We’ve had a special relationship since Pa abandoned us in this tiny town. She had the same hair and eyes as me, but now her hair is stringy and faded, and her eyes a soft grey-blue. After Pa left Grandmama was pulled closer to me, not really close but we would go walk by a little stream that turned into a narrow waterfall off a hill And have little chats. I feel like she’s one of the only people in this world who understands me. But Grandpa was changed, and not in a good way. He’d walk down to the bar and never leave, with exceptions and drive off somewhere, but nobody knows where. He never went to church anymore, because he doesn’t like the people who go there.

Grandmama was waiting outside on the front porch in a lacy white dress with stunning patterns and colours all over it. It reminded me of a field completely covered with white daisies. I wish I had nice a dress like that. Grandpa had used to run a big company before Pa left. Grandpa started a company that sold outdoor furniture. It was small to begin, but over the course of several years got larger and he made good money off of it, so Grandmama and Grandpa were pretty wealthy. Grandmama bought me all my nice clothes, and that’s how I got my only pair of heels, but after Pa left Grandpa retired from misery. It was going to be a father and son business.

It took thirty minutes to reach a church ten miles away but once we did Ma, Grandmama and Lizzy sat in the back row where no one could see them. I went to one of the middle rows, where I saw my best friend June Encadré.  She was from France and had moved here when I was eight so she had met Pa. They liked each other, and he called her Papillon which was French for butterfly. Because he knew French Pa helped her learn English. June called me livre fille, French for book girl. I was a big book lover.  She was too, which is how we became friends. I went down to sit with her, and we talked for a few minutes until the service started. We were talking about all kinds of things, like our plans today and our family.

Our church wasn’t huge. Only four families went, there were sixteen dark oak benches and at the front, a little stage. The priest walked in and talked about how when the unexpected happens, God will be watching and helping you along the way. It was an inspiring sermon, and I felt compelled to do something for my community. Right as I was leaving the church, I saw an old lady hobbling across the road, holding bags of groceries from the next door local farmers market. I went over to her and asked her if I could help carry her groceries to her car, which was right across the road. She gladly accepted my offer and thanked me gratefully for helping her. I was just glad I could help. On the car ride back home, I pulled out a good book by one of the all-time best authors. It was my favoured genre, mystery. I was really into those books, although this one was my favourite, and I had read it several times in a row. This was mainly because I had no money to buy a new book, I had asked my mom many times but her answer was always the same, no.

   We rode down the bumpy gravel roads to drop off Grandmama, who got mad at me for asking the old lady if I could help her, and her exact words were:

“I would be offended if a girl asked me, and I might even whack them on the head with my cane.”

Grandmama always said funny things like that, and one of the only things I like about her is that she is usually just a sour old bag. She was fairly nice to me, but she despised Ma. She thinks Ma was what made Pa leave. When we reached her house, we parted and made the thirty-minute trip back home.

While Ma went to the market to buy some food, she told us to clean the house. Our house was small, we all shared a bathroom, my sister and I shared a bedroom, and my mom had her own, but other than those three rooms we just had a kitchen and a garage that was hardly big enough to fit our broken down Ford Tudor Sedan. I mopped the floor while Lizzy polished the bathroom fixtures which just consisted of one sink, a toilet, and a bath. I was doing more of the work that required the elbow grease. I was trying to make Ma happy and do it fast so I could be done because I was really excited for my date with Andrew Smithers tonight, and hoped she would allow me to go because she wasn't too fond of his family. His parents and my Ma didn't get along too well because they thought that she wasn't responsible enough to look after two girls. I totally disagree, and so does Andrew, and he's nothing like his parents.

When Lizzy and I were finished cleaning, we read some of Winnie the Pooh together, because it was her favourite series of books. I taught her to read when she was three because she would always watch me when I was reading and taught her most of what she needed to know before kindergarten. I had spent my own money on Winnie the Pooh and I remember her seeing it and how her little face we lit up, that’s when I knew we were on the same side in what I call our family “war.” Before she could read, I read to her. She thought the sound of my voice was soothing, like the waterfall at our church, which made a gentle whooshing sound while the pastor said his calming words of prayer.
When Ma got home from the market she made lunch, a plain turkey sandwich and an apple. We had some lemonade, which was a special treat. Our meals usually were dead silence, but I had to break it.

“Hey, Ma... Andrew invited me to go to the local diner for dinner, and I did all my chores,” I said hesitantly.
“Really, I hadn’t noticed,” She said sourly.
“Well, it’s nice and I’ve never been Ma, and it could be a good experience! He’s paying for it, so just think about it, please.”

I kissed her on the cheek and went to my room knowing soon she would follow saying whether or not I could go. All I could do was wait with my fingers crossed. I pictured

About twenty minutes later I heard a knock on my door and was hoping it was Ma, but instead, Lizzy bounded in.
“Ma wants to talk to ya’, and I am pretty sure you're in trouble, good luck...” Lizzy said with her head down, but I knew she hoped Ma would come out in a good mood. I stalked into the kitchen nervous, but excited.

“No.” My face fell.
“What do you mean no!” It came out as more of a statement than a question.
“I mean no, you aren't going to your dinner.”
“Ma!”
“I don't like the whole Smithers family. Why would he be different?”
“He's a great boy, Ma! He's nothing like his parents!”
“Is he picking you up?”
“In an hour.”
“Then prove to me he's a decent boy when he comes to pick you up.”
“Ok! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I squealed.“Oh, and Ma?”
“Mm?” She grunted.
“I'm going to June's.”
“You can't just say you are and leave! Ask your mother first young lady!”
“Can I?” I said timidly, with hope in my voice.
“Fine, but will you just get out of my hair? The farm doesn't work itself.”

I ran out the door and down the road. June was actually fairly wealthy, for this town at least, and would let me borrow her clothes for dates and special occasions. When I reached her house, she let me in and we ran to her room. After shutting and locking the door, we opened her closet. The first thing to catch my eye was a pink, ruffled, sparkly dress, but it seemed too flashy. She saw me look and raised her eyebrows.

“That?”
“Yeah, because I wanna look like a flapper who jumped into a vat of pink paint and then glitter,” I said sarcastically.

We laughed, and after trying on a few outfits decided on a red short-sleeve blouse decorated with white polka dots, paired with some jeans snagged from Marco’s, June's older brother’s room and brown sneakers.

“Alyssa, you look amazing! J'aime ça!”
“Jamie’s car? Who’s Jamie? What car!”
“No! J'aime ça! It means I love it!”
“Oh! Well, thanks, even though they’re your clothes.”

We both burst out laughing, mainly because I was horrible at French. She offered to drive me home, but since we only lived down the road. I declined. I walked down the road and approached the house. Little did I know that this night would change my life forever…