Carrie: The Untold Story
Disclaimer: I do not own the Little House on the Prairie television series, book series, or any of the characters.
Most people know all about my sisters Mary and Laura and how they were smart, generous, and always finding a way into trouble, especially Laura. Yet it seems very few know about me, Carrie. I am the third sister, the third wheel. So here is my chance to tell you all about me and my place in this world. People always wonder why I didn't follow in my sisters' footsteps, and after reading this I think they will understand.
I was named after my mother, Caroline, but I have never been called that. To prevent confusion, everyone has always called me Carrie, or when I was younger, "Baby Carrie." I'm glad, though, because I want my own name.
My family has told me that I used to be a quick learner. I knew the alphabet when I was four. Probably because I would always listen as Mary and Laura recited their spelling words aloud. I was also helpful around the house, even as a young girl. I remember when Ma would go to the Mercantile; I would tag along and help carry the groceries a mile back home. When Laura was away I would feed the chickens for her, and I would also help cook dinner. I wanted to do big kid chores, but because of safety reasons I was never allowed.
Maybe I am making myself sound "too good". I wasn't always helpful. I remember once, when Laura was watching the house for Ma, I knocked all the eggs she collected off of the counter. I had never seen Laura so mad in my entire life. I would always do things to antagonize my sisters. I would steal their paper tablets and coloring all over their homework. Once I even hid Mary's glasses on purpose, and she couldn't find them for days.
Nothing ever stays the same. Things change, and so did I.
It all started Christmas Eve when I was invited to my sisters' school. I had always wanted to go to school with Mary and Laura, but I was never old enough. That Christmas Eve, Miss Beadle, the schoolteacher, asked me if I would like to be a special guest at school that day since all they were working on were Christmas projects. I was very happy about that.
The morning was cool, and the skies were clear. At school I watched as Mary put together a candle for Ma and Pa and as Laura placed together a calendar, in her own order. Miss Beadle gave me a piece of paper and crayons to draw a picture of something that had to do with Christmas. That was our morning, but in the afternoon things became different.
The weather began to change and snow rapidly came down. Not wanting us to miss out on anything, Miss Beadle dismissed us from school. As we walked home the snow became worse. I don't remember much about our walk home. All I know is that I tried to keep up with Mary and Laura, and I tried not to complain. We found a barn and started a fire and then Pa and Mr. Edwards came and rescued us. We were brought back to the church where many of the other children had already been taken. I don't remember anything else about that day.
That winter was long, and it didn't seem like the climate changed until May. Throughout the winter I became inattentive and quiet. My parents thought the dreary weather had caused my change in personality, but when the spring finally came it became apparent that this new behavior was here to stay.
After countless arguments about me, it was decided that I needed to see Doctor Baker. He asked me many questions, and I answered with a simple yes or no response. He then asked my parents how long I had been acting this way and they said it was since after Christmas. Finally, he concluded that being outside in the blizzard caused me illness. I was going to be fine, but I would be slower in everything I did.
Ma wasn't sure if she should put me in school, and I didn't want to go anymore, but since I had wanted to go before the blizzard, they decided to let me try. They told my sisters to make sure I was okay, and that made me angry because I knew the last thing they wanted to do was to pay any attention to me. My sister's loved me, but they didn't want to be friends with me, and it seemed like they especially now didn't want to be friends with me because they were jealous of all the attention I was getting. Mary and Laura thought I would intentionally do wrong to see what I could get away with, but really I was not thinking clearly because I was ill. It seemed as if the whole summer everyone was looking out for me whether they wanted to or not, and I couldn't do anything for myself. Of course, I really didn't want to do anything for myself, but I also didn't want everyone treating me like a pest or thinking that I was an annoyance. I stopped doing chores, and I didn't want to learn.
School went well at first. I made a new friend; her name was Faith. But when we started learning to read and write, I had forgotten all that I had memorized from Mary and Laura and I had to learn it all over again. I became frustrated because I wasn't learning as fast as the other new students. Once Faith asked me if I was backwards because I misspelled words from our first spelling chapter. I was so upset, that right then I decided that I was going to force myself to do my best at everything. The next morning I got up before everyone else and collected the eggs. Laura thought someone had stolen the eggs, but I showed her that they were in the basket. After that I started to help around the house again.
The following spring my ma had my baby sister Grace. I was happy about that because the attention was shifted from me to Grace. It seemed like after Grace was born many changes took place in my family. My oldest sister, Mary, became blind; the town was losing money so because of job loses our family moved to Winoka. While inWinoka my sister, Laura, befriended a boy named Albert. Albert was an orphan and when our family decided to move back to Walnut Grove, my pa decided to take him with us.
Faith had moved away while we were living in Winoka, so I had to start school without a friend. It seemed as if everyone else's friends stayed or came back to Walnut Grove, except mine. I tried playing with Laura, Albert, and Andy, but yet again, I was excluded from the group. We were though, starting to see a change in my schoolwork. It was becoming better.
Laura started distancing herself even more so from me after she met Almanzo Wilder, the new schoolteacher's brother. I liked Almanzo, but I was jealous because of all the time Laura spent obsessing over him. I did not like Almanzo's sister, Miss Wilder. She was our schoolteacher and she made me feel more foolish than my own parents. Since I was a slow learner, she gave me more homework than anyone else in my class so I could catch up on the work. That only made me work slower. Sometimes at school I would be studying quietly, but when she heard the slightest noise she would call out my name and blame the noise on me.
Laura married Almanzo and became our schoolteacher. She was better than Miss Wilder only because she understood were I was coming from. That year was long, and I still had no friends. In the spring Pa and Albert went on a trip to help a family move. However, there was a drastic accident during the move, and Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, the people that were moving, died in a wagon crash, leaving their two children orphaned. Pa was going to send the children, James and Cassandra, to the Orphanage of Minneapolis, but Albert convinced him to let them stay with us.
At first I did not want James and Cassandra living with us, because I was afraid I would feel even more left out. Having them move in was an answer to my prayers. Even though she was younger than me, Cassandra and I became best friends.
Cassandra was a good student, and she helped me study and my grades had never been higher. We had lots of fun that year. We plotted against Nancy Oleson, played some baseball, and helped out at the restaurant. That was the best year of my life.
I wish this upcoming year could be another great year, but it won't be. I just found out that our family is moving to Burr Oak, Iowa. I am about to leave the only place I consider home. I made new friends this year thanks to Cassandra, but now I have to leave them behind as I start a new chapter in my life. I just wanted to thank everyone who became my friend, and I also wanted to share this essay so that everyone could understand the real Carrie.