Introducing Maddie

Another peek inside my book in progress... again; any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Freezing did not describe what Maddie felt at the moment. She was beyond freezing but kept pushing herself onwards into the dark of night in the deepest part of the forest. She had a job to do and nothing was going to deter her from the task at hand. She had spent all day nursing the wounded men from the battle already and her mother had told her to go get some rest. If it had been any other day and any other circumstance she would have obeyed her mother; but not this time. She was determined to find her brother. She recalled her fears of the day. Every solider that she happened upon throughout the day she had made sure it wasn’t Elliott. If the man’s face was unrecognizable she would look to his belly for the undeniable birthmark Elliot bore. So far in her quest to find him she had failed. Still, she did not give up. She had overheard people talking about soldiers flanking the sides of Union forces in the pass and prayed her brother had been there.  Anger boiled the blood in her veins now. Elliot never listened to her, never took her advice and this time he had really done it. He was only a boy, thirteen years old, and felt he could be as good a soldier as any other man fighting in the war. She had told him he was too young and inexperienced for the job, but of course he did not listen. When news of the attack came, her mother had readied the family for the certain jobs they were meant to carry out. Maddie’s was to assist her mother in nursing the wounded. Elliott and Maddie’s three younger siblings were to stand guard at the farm and make sure nothing happened there. He seemed excited about his job. He stood brave, musket in hand with three children at his back as Maddie and her mother left for town. It was only an hour later that twelve year old Layla came looking for mother and found Maddie instead telling her that Elliott had run off to help the soldiers fight. What was he thinking? After getting her three siblings in a safe place, Maddie had continued her duties until she was sent to rest. Now she was on a mission to find her younger brother no matter what the cost.

 She had just about to reach Cherokee Lake when she heard voices. She knew she was close to the place where there was a hunting cabin and she and her brother had spent much of their time growing up. All she had to do was get to the water’s edge and follow it east a bit to get to her destination. However, when she heard the voices the she thought maybe she had happened across a bit of luck. She ran to the closest tree and squatted down by the base of the trunk in an effort to hide herself from sight. She was not going to take any chances on getting caught out in the dead of night alone by just any man. No she was to vulnerable right now alone and unarmed, and she chastised herself at that moment for not bringing her gun with her. Woman she may be, but her daddy had taught her well on how to defend herself and survive if need be before he died. She was better with the musket that her own brother and never failed to win at every game of hide and seek with her siblings. She was not afraid one bit right now, but recognized the importance of staying out of sight. She listened again carefully so she could figure out which way the voices were coming from.  She heard a man say something about blood. The sound was too far to catch every word said. She cupped her hands and held them to her mouth and blew softly to warm them a bit. She could no longer feel the tips of her fingers or her feet now. Her warm breath helped only a little, still not regaining any feeling in her fingers what so ever. She rubbed her hands together one more time and then wrapped her arms around her legs for extra warmth. She listened for a while longer and until the voices had stopped all together. She could tell that there were at least two different men out there by the pitch of their voices but neither resembled her brothers at all. After a long spell of not hearing any voices or sounds of feet walking along the forest floor she decided to be on her way again.

 It did not take her much longer to reach the lake and turn east. The wind blowing off of the water made it much colder, if that was even possible. Maddie reminded herself she was almost there now, not much further and she continued on. When she reached the big oak that marked the path to the cabin she heard voices again. Her heart skipped a beat. She knew it had to be her brother at the cabin. She started to run now and as she came closer to the cabin the voices got louder. She heard her bothers voice and relief swept over her. He was here, he was alive. She thanked the good Lord as her legs carried her even faster now towards the cabin.

“Help.” The voice was right beside her then. She could see the cabin now, but it was just the outline of the structure against the trees surrounding it. It was dark, no fire and no light inside. She stopped and turned to her right where she had heard the man’s voice come from. She seen a body of a man propped up against the trunk of a tree.

“Who are you? What side do you fight for?” She was not about to help a Union Soldier and she was not really in the mood to help anyone right now. She had to find her brother. She had heard his voice, she just knew it and yet he was nowhere to be found. Still she could not allow herself to let another man die because she was being selfish.

“My name is Luke Conner and I am a Confederate Soldier. I am wounded bad and need to get help for my fellow men. They are only few yards away up the hill there just beyond that cabin. Can you help?”

“I can but I am trying to find my brother. Do you know if he is with your men? I thought I heard his voice.”

“Is he a young man?”

“Yes Sir, he is only thirteen. He should not have been out here today but he never listens to anyone.”

“He is here.” With that Henry pointed down to his lap. Maddie followed with her eyes and seen the body of a boy laying there. Henry was holding the boys head in his lap and the body and limbs of the boy was against his legs. Her heart dropped. She fell to her knees beside Henry and the boy and looked to his face. It was her brother Elliot. Blood was drawing a line from his mouth and down his chin. His eyes were closed and she could see wet lines making their way from the corner of his eyes and down his cheek. He had cried, and that thought made Maddie cry. Silent tears flooded her eyes as she tore her apron and began to wipe the tear streaks and blood off his face. She was not going to let Henry see her cry no matter how bad she was hurting.

“I did not realize he was so young. I came across him on my way for help. He called out to me and I found him here. He was brave and spoke of a girl named Maddie. He looked up to this girl, I think. Said the two of them hunt here at this cabin. He came here wounded knowing she would find him here. He did not quite make it. I sat with him and listened to him and then we said a prayer together right before he… he went peacefully at least. Do you know this girl he spoke of?”

Maddie gulped back more tears and replied as best she could, “I am Maddie.”

                                                                     By: Desirae Bennett



© [Desirae DeVon Bennett] and [Entertaining Thoughts and Ideas], [2013-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Desirae DeVon Bennett] and [Entertaining Thoughts and Ideas] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Photo Credit:
http://shirleymanson.pblogs.gr/tags/neoclassicaldarkwave.html
Winter Dark Forest (id: 72176) | WallPho.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/union-field-hospital.25502/

A Boy Who Loved His Mammie

This is an excerpt from my book. Tell me what you think and what I should change...

 

    He sat by the bed in the dim candle lit room watching closely while the small elderly lady occupying it slept. This was his Mammie, and the only mother he had ever truly had if had a right to his own opinion. No she was not blood kin, nor did she have the same color skin as he, but she was important to him no matter. Memories flooding his mind and worry kept him from falling asleep from pure exhaustion at this early hour in the morning. He could not recall a single day of his entire twenty three years on earth when this sweet lady was not present.  He could not remember when she first came to the Plantation owned by his father but she had once told him that he was just a baby the day she came to be his Mammie.

       When he was only a small child he once avoided a beating by his father because of her. She insisted that it was her fault that there was ink splattered all over his father’s books in his study when in fact it was he who decided to take on the role of his father and try to do the books as his father did every evening. He had never been graceful but as a small child no more than four years old he was even less so. So when he dipped the pen into the ink sitting atop his father’s desk and he heard the dog in the hall outside the door bark precisely at the same moment it was inevitable that he jumped. As he did so his hand instinctively pulled back, the pen catching and spilling every last drop of ink all over the desk and the books. Within a few seconds of scrambled thoughts and grief he heard his mammie’s voice sounding through the outside door calling his name and panic had struck. He knew he was in trouble and that fear made him dart for cover. The door opened and her head peeked around the door just enough to check to see if he was in the room and just in time to catch his leg slipping under the desk. He could hear the smile in her voice as she approached the desk saying, “come out, come out where ever you are.” Then her footsteps froze and her voice went from cheerful and playing to stern and upset.  “You come out from under that desk right now. Hiding aint gonna change this mess.”

       He hated that tone in her voice and hiding would not keep him from getting in trouble so he slowly pulled himself from behind the desk. Mammie had the most worried look on and was taking her apron off as she scrambled to the desk and pulled him up. She gave him her look of boy you are in some trouble now and simply said “stand here and don’t move while I clean this mess up.” He did as told and watched her try to clean the ink with her most favorite apron she owned. As the ink soaked every inch of the off white fabric tears began to roll down his cheeks. Even at such a young age he knew the sacrifice she had just made for him and it made him love this woman more than ever. She had spent hours sewing this simple piece of clothing and only wore it when guest were coming to visit the house. He wanted to hug her and tell her he loved her but just as he made his way to the desk to do so his father came into the room. His face immediately turned blood red and the look of murder in his eyes told his anger without a single word. He glared at her and asked what had happened.

In that moment, his sweet Mammie hung her head and said, “Sir, I am so sorry. I came in here to get the boy from hiding and bumped the desk spilling the ink. I was tryin’ to clean it sir I swear.” “And what of my books, those are irreplaceable and the ink you spilled cost money. How do you plan on repaying me for that loss?” was his father’s reply. She just bent her head down further and said, “I can’t sir.” “Well I can tell you one way to repay me.” The look on his father’s face was pure evil and a little of something else that he was much too young to understand.

       With that Mammie gave a look of fear and sorrow and told him to go to his room. She then stood as tall as she could while he made his exit. He did not see her again until the next morning and she was just as cheerful and bright as the evening before and spoke not a word about her punishment. He knew she had been punished though because he had heard her screams. He did not go to his room as he was told to do; no instead he stayed in the hallway right outside the door listening to everything. He heard her screams, he heard his father’s whispers, he heard her sobbing, and he heard his father’s moans. Again he did not understand those sounds then but he knew what they were now. He also noticed as she opened the curtains and the sunlight hit her face that she had a small cut on her right cheek and at that moment he had so many emotions going through his heart at the same time. Love and respect for this woman who raised him practically and red hot anger that boiled his blood towards his father.

       He heard her slight whimper and it brought him back to the here and now. He glanced up and seen her son, Willie, scrambling out of a nearby chair to be at her side. He looked around Willie so as to see her face and seen the beads of sweat across her forehead in the candle light. In his heart he knew that her fever had returned. He stood himself and eased to be by her side just as Willie was and watched as she barely opened her eyes. She looked at her son and gave the best smile she could manage as she said, “Never forget who ya are in life and that I raised ya to be a good and honest man. Do as you’re told and all will be right. I love ya and wish I had mo time wit ya home. But that is not what tha Good Lord has in mind, no it is time for me to go home now son.” He watched Willie’s face and instantly felt as though he was intruding on an intimate moment. He began to step back and out of the room when she glanced over at him.  She reached her hand out to him but he looked to Willie’s face. Willie gave a half smile that welcomed him to his mother’s side. Sadness swept over him as he looked back to Mammie. She was pouring sweat and you could see the pain she carried written all over the face of a once beautiful woman. Now her face held wrinkles and age and her hair was no longer solid black but stripped with white stands as well. She was old, sick,  and she was going to die. The thought made his heart drop deep into the pit of his stomach and he took her out stretched hand in his. He gave her the best smile he could put on and watched as she did her best to return the favor.

       “Mammie, How can I” was all he could get out before his voice cut off and he fought back the sobs trying desperately to escape his body. “Be the man I raised ya to be just as I told Willie. Be a good and honest man and treat everyone as equal no matter what background they come from or what the color of their skin is. You’re a good man Lucas and I could not be more proud of who you are. I have been so blessed in this life of mine. I have lived a long life and God has blessed me with two sons, one I made own my own and one that I have raised with my love.”  With this last sentence she had to pause to cough. When she finally caught her breath she reached over and grabbed Willie’s hand and looked between the two men standing on each side of her. “You two look at each other.” The two men did as told and looked at each other knowing full well that they had no other choice. “You two boys come from my blood, sweat, and tears. I gave all of myself to making sure that ya both will make it in this corrupt world. I gave ya both the strength I had to take everything that will come your way and keep going. Again, she had to pause to cough this time longer. When she resumed speaking her words were much rougher and her breathing was raspy. “Promise me that ya both will take care of each other. To me, both of ya are my sons no matter the color of your skin. I need to know that you both will watch over one another.”

     Now she had tears in her voice and all Willie and Luke could do is look at one another and back at the frail lady who was asking a favor on her dying bed. Luke had always thought of Willie as a brother but had no way of taking care of him or assuring his safety. His father was the master and no one not even Luke went head to head with him. But how could he deny his Mammie her dying request. He could see that Willie was thinking the same thing that he was. All at once they both responded the same answer at the same time. “Yes mam.” And with that his sweet Mammie, his only security in life gave a small smile and took her last breath. One single tear rolled down her cheek because at last she had no strength or will left to hold them back. She was gone and he knew that this life of his would never be the same.

                                                                      By: Desirae Bennett

 

© [Desirae DeVon Bennett] and [Entertaining Thoughts and Ideas], [2013-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Desirae DeVon Bennett] and [Entertaining Thoughts and Ideas] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Photo Credits:
 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35380/35380-h/35380-h.html
http://usslave.blogspot.com/2013/02/we-are-literally-slaves-early-twentieth.html

The Right Time?

So today is a rainy day and I have nothing to do. I considered writing a little today but nothing came to mind to write about until just a few minutes ago. I was scrolling through Facebook and ran across this picture...

Is it not amazing how something so simple can make you think of a million things. One sentence; four words, was all it took for me to wake up and smell the roses. If not now, when? So I have to ask myself why is it we put things off in life?

I have a very good friend who has always wanted kids. She found the love of her life twelve years ago and married nine years later. She has openly admitted to wanting kids but her husband is firm on his decision to wait until they are ready and prepared. I completely get that, having kids is a very big life change that you must be prepared for. But I am not sure how much more ready they can be. They both have established careers and though money is somewhat tight, they seem to manage just fine. Now my friend is on up there in age a bit and is now worried about being able to have them at all and if she does what the complications will be. So why not, go on and have a baby? Why wait any further? He still has the same reasons, "I just think we need to be prepared". So when is it going to be the right time? Is there a such thing as the right time?

I think there is a such thing as The Right Time. It just happens to be Right Now! Why wait? Why put things off? Life is about living and so why not go out there and live it? So you want to have a baby...go on and have it and enjoy that huge blessing in life. You want to fall in love but you keep fighting it off? Why? Let go and let what happens happen. From personal experience, it is amazing to give in and love! You want to get married but don't think it is the right time, well tell me when the right time is? If you are already thinking about wanting to marry the person you are with then obviously there is something there that is not ever going to go away. Grab hold and do not let go of that passion. Why wait, what are you waiting for? If not now, when? Have you been planning a special trip or vacation but keep putting it off for this reason or that? Why? Why are you torturing yourself? Get of my blog, type in the address bar your preferred airline and buy those tickets right now! It is the perfect time, so go for it!

Life is so short, there is not enough time to experience everything this world has to offer. We only make it worse by putting things off and waiting for The Right Time. So give up, give in, and start living life Right Now!!!!

Fate

So, you know that moment when your walking down the sidewalk looking all fine in your little red dress and stilettos and you happen across that super sexy, I mean underwear model material, man.  Now wouldn't you know that fate works magic people. At the exact moment you get right beside this god f a man, one of your heals breaks but as you begin to fall sideways he happens to catch you and help you back up. Now if that wasn't enough, this thing called fate has more in store for you. When you regain your composer as he stands holding you as if he is your guardian angel you happen to make eye contact and bam, you both fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Who doesn't love fate, right? Yeah right, because there are only a select few in this world that have this kind of luck and most of them are celebrities and this only happens in the movies they star in. So do we, as normal people, really have fate looking out for us in this area of life?

I have to be honest, I am a firm believer in fate. However, fate works a bit different for me. For example... take the scenario above. Now if you know me very well you would know that this chicky would never be caught wearing a little red dress, maybe a black one or a pink one but never red. Also, I can barely walk from point A to point B in flats without tripping over my own feet so there is no way in hell I would wear anything with a heal on them. So that fact alone kills everything above, thus it would never happen to me. Nonetheless, I must start from the beginning and tell the story of how fate works for us real people, so here goes nothing.

Its about mid-day on your day off and you suddenly remember that you had that errand to run that you have been putting off for about three weeks. Ah, what the heck, you might as well go and get it done. You run out the door quickly before you change your mind and begin the long walk down the sidewalk towards your destination. Your not in a bad mood so you have a little pep in your step and your are really making head way. Thinking about that puts a smile on your face! You are now in a great mood because you are proud of yourself. You turn the corner of a building and immediately bump into something hard. You try to keep your head down as you realize that you just ran into someone and are completely embarrassed when you notice that you forgot to change out of your pajamas and now you are even more humiliated. You mumble your apologies with your head still down and try to maneuver around them but it gets even more awkward because the other person is doing the same thing and now you are caught doing the two step tango! Wow, could things get much worse? This goes on for a minute and you brave a glance up to see who this person is playing this sick game with you. And then it happens, eye contact. Not with a god of a man but with a man. Not ugly though, no not ugly at all actually then he smiles and your breathing stops for a split second and you think, Wow he is perfect. He says sorry for the trouble and you nod but no words come from your mouth. All you can do is keep staring. He notices and strikes up a random conversation. Eventually this leads to a date the following week and BAM, little thing called LOOOOOOVE happens! And it was all accomplished while looking your worst in the most unexpected place. Fate baby!

Now, I don know about you but I would believe the second story if a complete stranger walked up to me and told me that this was how they met their significant other, wouldn't you? So this proves fate does in fact work for us real people! Not really, but let me think I am the all great philosopher and that I proved a great point in the debate on fate, okay! Give me this one...

I have sincerely missed all of my loyal followers and look forward to the emails on this one. I will try my best to not be absent like I have been recently! XoXo

Time Travel?

What if we could go back in time? I have heard this question a million times, hell, there are even people that have tried and are trying to build time machines. So, knowing this makes anyone begin to wonder what they would do if they were given the chance to time travel. Would you go forward and see what life will be like in the future? Would you go back to a time in the past that you think you would have loved to have been a part of? Or would you go back to the recent post and change some things in your own life then fast forward to the present or the future to see how it all played out? These are all really good questions, I think. Here is my take on things.

If I was given a time machine; I would give it back! As much as I love history there is no way I would want to go back and live it. Shit was way to hard back then with way to many rules. Yes, I'm lazy like that. I certainly don't want to go back and change recent past because in my head I have a ton of things I think I could have done differently. However, if even one of those things were changed or turned out differently them I wouldn't be where I am at today. And I'm happy. Confused and lost and struggling to make it day to day but I'm happy. I also have no need to know my future. God knows that and I have faith in him to have that under control. I leave that with him. So I have no need for a time machine. I like making my mistakes. I like living my life with a thousand questions because of the challenging part of it. Without the challenges, I would be bored.

So what do all of you think? Would you want to use a time machine or not?

Love Me for Me

Where I have gone? Every now and then I find scattered pieces of myself hidden here and there and when I reach out and grab them I get a few minutes of myself back but then it all fades away and I'm back on the hunt. I wish I could show everyone what I'm really made of. There is a lot going on in this head of mine and I can't seem to get it out. I just want to be me, loved and respected for my actions and my thoughts. Where have I gone?

What Is Your Favorite Book?

 

What is your favorite book? I have been asked this questions more times than I can honestly count and every time I am asked I struggle to answer. It is the one question I dread most. It seems every day my answer will change. So as I thought about this dilemma more I came to a conclusion that I think makes perfect sense.

I have read thousands of books, and I have a perfect memory of all of them. So this gives me over a thousand books to choose from when someone asks me the question I dread most. What I think happens, however, is my mood decides my answer. So for example, if one day I am feeling downright evil and angry, then I might answer with a Stephen King book such as Insomnia or this one book called Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. If I am feeling adventurous that day, then perhaps my answer would more than likely be After Forever Ends by Melodie Ramone or one of my all-time favorites The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. This can go on and on with every type of mood or feeling I could ever think of having, so I will spare you all the details this time. Even so, hopefully you catch what I am trying to say here.

Now do not get me wrong, I certainly have my set few choices of top personal favorites. Most of them are classics like Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, Ethan Frome by MS Edith Wharton, Emma by Jane Austen, and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. What can I say; I must be one of those hopeless romantics I love to make fun of. What I cannot help but wonder is this; does this happen to everyone or is it just me? If someone comes up to you and asks you what your favorite book is, do you have to think about it for a few minutes or do you know the answer right off the top of your head? Better yet, do you have more than one favorite book or do you have a terrible time picking from the many you love? I am intrigued now so help me cure my curiosity.    

Links you may enjoy:
http://www.goodreads.com/