Life on the Rise
Prologue
Author's Note: I still do not own the characters within this story; except for Laura. She is mine; and mine alone. No profit will be gained from the telling of this story, except for perhaps a few precious hours of enjoyment.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Rabb Residence
Right now, everybody is laughing. Their eyes all have that shimmering look that comes when their laughter is mixed with, or only recently followed by, tears - like the way the sky looks when the sun comes out before the storm has passed; the clouds still black and heavy with the rain that has yet to fall but the sun is bright behind them and shines anyway. Miss. Ellie would probably like that.
Everybody's laughing because of some funny story Keeter is telling. It's a good story too. Keeter always tells good stories, but Laura doesn't feel like laughing.
She can't decide how she feels, but right now she knows she doesn't want to laugh. Taking hold of her walker and slowly rising to her feet, she makes her way through the crowded living room, sliding between friends and family; all of them dressed to the nines, and all of them wearing black.
Quietly, she almost closes her bedroom door but just before it latches, a large black nose is there in the door jamb to stop her. Leaving the door ajar, she crosses the room, climbs up onto her bed and flops onto her back, staring up at the ceiling as her best four-legged pal, a 3 ½-year-old black Labrador retriever, named Candy, leaps nimbly up onto the mattress beside her and studies her face with a mix of concern and curiosity before chuffing softly and laying down to place her furry black head gently against her young mistress's belly.
Because it is every bit as soothing to her as it is to her furry friend, Laura strokes her dog's head, occasionally tugging gently at her large velvety-soft black ears.
Several quiet minutes pass before a soft knock is heard and the door opens slightly more than just the narrow space needed to grant Laura's dog entry.
Elizabeth Hawkes slips into the room and perches lightly on the edge of the bed. Even in black, with her hair pulled back in a somber fashion and her pale sorrowful face completely devoid of makeup, Laura thinks she looks strong and pretty; just in a lonely sort of way.
"I thought I saw you two come in here. How ya holding up, kiddo?"
Laura raises up, rests on her elbows, and shrugs. "Okay, I guess. I don't really know how I feel."
Skates' eyes go wide with mild surprise. "Really? Of all the people I know, Laura, I can always count on you to know exactly how you feel; and you are not shy about telling people either."
Laura shrugs again. "I'm only eight, you know. I've never been to a funeral before either." Reaching down, she brushes away a piece of lint from the black knee-length dress she wears with its lime green sash and delicate embroidery at the hemlines. "This is my first one. I guess I feel sort of weird. I only left the room because – I know Miss. Ellie said she didn't want us to be sad, and I'm not… not exactly, but I don't feel like laughing either." Laura wrinkles her nose. "Do you think that's okay, Beth?"
She nods. "I think it's more than okay."
"I really liked your aunt. She was a cool old lady."
"She adored you."
Laura nods. "She was old and tired, and she really missed your uncle."
"Yes, she did."
"She lived a long time, and she got to see some really neat stuff."
"Yep. She had some adventures, didn't she?"
"I guess it's okay that she died. She was tired of being tired. Do you think she's still tired?"
The navy pilot shakes her head. "No, no I don't, Laura. I think she's full of vim and vigor again. I think - if Heaven has a backyard - then, she's sitting on a back-porch swing talking Uncle Johnny's ears off right about now. Telling him all the things he's missed with her in the last 26 years."
Laura's eyes widen. "That's a long time."
"He died when I wasn't much older than you."
"How come she never got married again?"
Skates smiles. "I asked her about that same question shortly before I went off to Annapolis. I was worried about her being lonely in my absence. Know what she said to me?"
Laura shakes her head; listening intently.
She said, "Don't be silly, honey. I am married. Your uncle and I are just on different schedules.' Two days before she died, she made a final donation to one of Uncle Johnny's favorite charities. She still signed the check, Mrs. John Dandridge."
"Then, I'm not going to be sad. I'm going to be happy for her. She gets to be with her Johnny again on Valentine's Day. That's a good thing."
"Goodness, it is Valentine's Day, isn't it? I don't know why no one has mentioned it before now."
"Probably because they didn't wanna make you feel bad about it."
"But, I don't. That's… Well, that's sort of beautiful, isn't it?"
Laura shrugs. "I betcha Miss Ellie probably thinks so."
Skates laughs softly. "Yes. Yes, Laura, she would think so. Thank you, sweet girl. That helps me feel better… A little less lonely without her."
"Hey, that's it." Laura sits up straight and pulls the collar of her sweater back up over her slender shoulder where it belongs. "I don't feel sad. I just feel lonely. I'm gonna miss her, Skates."
"So, am I, honey. So am I."
Laura points to the thin box her friend holds loosely on her lap. It's gift-wrapped in black satin paper, tied up with a broad silver ribbon and a bright neon pink decorative rose in place of a bow. "What you got in there?"
Skates shrugs. "Don't know. It's for you."
Laura squints. "Do people usually give presents at funerals?"
Skates chuckles as she hands over the gift. "No, but then, Aunt Ellie wasn't anything like most people."
Soft excitement suddenly shines in Laura's eyes. "It's from her?"
Skates nods again. "She told me to give it to you today."
Laura shakes the box gently as she shoos her dog's curious nose out of the way. "It's kind of heavy. Can I open it now?"
"Well, of course, you can." The brunette navy pilot's smile lights up her face despite the discreet evidence of recent tears. "She wanted you to have it."
Elizabeth watches Laura gently slip her thumb under the tape and begin to remove the wrapping paper with exaggerated care and declares with gusto. "Didn't anybody ever teach you how to open a present. girl? You're supposed to rip the paper to shreds!"
Laura's eyes go wide as she hugs the half-unwrapped box to her chest and shakes her head adamantly as if what has just been suggested to her is an act of sacrilege.
The gift giver's niece shakes her head in amusement and shrugs, "Okay, do it your way."
When all the paper is carefully removed, folded and set aside, Laura gingerly lifts the lid and squeals with pure unadulterated delight "Old books!"
As Laura's aunt and uncle come hurrying to her bedroom door and peer in over the threshold curiously in response to her excitement, she smiles radiantly and holds up three well-used tomes. Puzzled, they turn to Skates for an explanation.
She helplessly shakes her head. "I have no idea what my aunt was thinking." She plucks the book that is clearly the oldest and the most dog-eared from Laura's grasp and studies it for a moment before she holds it up, putting it on display once again. "I can understand her wanting to leave Laura copy of Huck Finn. That makes complete sense, but it wasn't like her to give used gifts. If she had only told me, I would've gone out and purchased newer copies of each of these."
Laura shakes her head emphatically, yet again. "I don't want new books, Beth! These are better. These were hers. The last time I was in her house, I was looking at her books. She had so many! That were books in every room! Even the bathroom! Sometimes the bookshelves were so full the books looked like they might fall out! It took me a long time to look at all of them. She said that her books were like old friends. I took these off the shelves, so I could open them. She told me to take them home that day. I said, 'No, Miss Ellie. I can't take your friends."
Mac crosses the room. Scratching the Labrador behind the left ear, she joins the girls on the bed and carefully picks up the pale blue linen envelope nestled in the bottom of the box. Holding it out to Laura, she smiles. "Looks like she left a note for you."
Laura smiles as she gently turns the pages of one of the old books. "Read it for me."
Mac carefully opens the envelope, unfolds the letter, and scans it quickly before she hugs her niece close and begins…
Hello, Laura-girl,
I've decided to leave you some of my old friends because I know you'll take most excellent care of them. Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn first, then you'll be ready for the more grownup stuff.
Mac pauses to gently caress the covers of the other two books briefly. She finds a volume of poetry by Maya Angelou, and a biography titled; Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox.
She returns her eyes to the elderly lady's elegant penmanship.
I've marked some important passages in the other two books for you as well, but you can discover those later, when you're ready.
It's funny how life works, Laura. I'm at the jumping off place and you've still got the training wheels on. It's going to be a grand adventure for you, kid and I know it's going to take you far. It was nothing less than an honor to share a little of mine with you. Since I'm short on time, let me say to you that if you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that Laura, and if anyone is ever foolish enough to try to tell you differently - well, you just, stick your tongue out at them and walk away sweet girl. Never listen to the cold words of people who are not smart enough to believe in you.
No matter where life takes you, or what challenges you face, always remember to rise.
Until we meet again…
Your friend,
Eleanor Curtis Dandridge
Still leaning casually against the door frame, Laura's uncle queries, "Are you really interested in a biography about FDR, sweetheart?"
Laura shrugs and tells the truth. "I don't know yet, Uncle Harm. I picked the book up off the shelf in her house because I saw his picture on the back cover. I told Miss Ellie, "I think I've seen him before. Mrs. Kefauver has little pictures of all the American presidents up on the wall above the chalkboard in her classroom. Miss Ellie told me he was the 32nd president and that he stayed in the White House longer than any of the others. I asked her if he did anything good while he was president. She said that I should read the book and decide for myself."
Elizabeth Hawkes laughs merrily. "Aunt Ellie would say that. She would say exactly that. She always said too many teachers tell kids what to think, instead of teaching them how to think."
Smiling serenely, Laura tells them, "The book of poems was on the table beside her bed. She read me some of it. It was pretty good." She gently takes the hardbound Twain novel back from Keeter's wife. Carefully, the eight-year-old girl flips the old pages, passed the table of contents, to find, and read aloud, the obscure warning printed there.
· "Notice: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.
· By order of the author,
Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.
Looking up from what will be her newest treasure, Laura's eyes widen comically as she giggles with delight. "Oh, this is gonna be a fun book!"