Thoughts for Thursday

"If I had my own way, this war would never have been commenced. If I had been allowed my way, this war would have ended before this. But we find it still continues; and we must believe that He permits it for some wise purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though with our limited understandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it."

~Abraham Lincoln, October 1862

Abandoned

Wooden structures lie along the dusty street. Houses lie on one side and stores and work buildings line the other. One house still has furniture in it, set up just as if the family still lived there. The saloon doors swing on their hinges in the breeze. The horses of the mounted officers prance uncomfortably as their riders stare. The storage tower looms in front of them. One of the officers opens the creaking door of a building with a sign that says, "Peltier General Store" on top and peaks inside only to see empty selves and dust collecting on the locked cash box; his foot marks imprinted on the dusty floor. He closes the door and turns to face his companions. There's no doubt about it; this town has one word stamped across it. Abandoned.

What He's Taught Me

So this is just a--I don't know what you'd call it, story I guess--about what God has taught me lately while I was waiting for important information. I wrote it really quickly so there's probably some grammar errors and the ending does need some work. It's not 100% relevant to my situation, but I tried to make it kind of general. And if you have any title ideas that would be great, I'm kind of empty.

I stared into the empty box in disbelief, then looked up at my husband.
"That's all? That's all that's left?" I said, hoping against hope that it was untrue.
"That's all," he repeated.
The town clock began to chime and Lewis looked up to listen.
Five. Six. Seven.
Lewis grabbed his coat from off the chair, "Time for work."
He kissed me on the cheek and went out into the street.
I stood rigid by the table, staring blankly into the box.
One sovereign. That was all we had left--and he had taken it with him.
"Time for work," his words echoed in my ears. I scoffed. Time to look for work was more like it.
Ever since the duke had cancelled the construction project Lewis went out into the city to look for work. Some of the time he would pick up an odd job that lasted a few hours. I knew when that happened because he wouldn't come home for lunch.
We were one step away from the workhouse.


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Thoughts for Thursday

"A plan of life?...I never heard of such a thing."
"Yet you would smile at an architect who, having a noble structure to build, should begin to work on it in a haphazard way, putting in a brick here and a stone there, weaving in straws and sticks if they come to hand, and when asked on what work he was engaged and what manner of building he intended to erect, should reply he had no plan but thought something would come of it."

~Elizabeth Prentiss, Stepping Heavenward

A Smile on Her Face

This story I wrote for my writing class last year. Some of you may have already read it, but it's one of my best. I actually won the Book Arts Bash's Short Story category with it. Enjoy!

“Annie, are your eyes bothering you?” I asked.
“I don’t know, a little. They sting a bit.”
“Put a cold cloth on them when we get home.”
As soon as we got home, that’s what she did, for as long as she could stand it. Annie can never sit idle for very long. She threw the cloth on the table and snatched up the music I was trying to play. “Playing that way would give anyone an headache. Slide over and I’ll show you how to play it.”
She sat down and played the first few measures, then paused and started over.
“Annie, you’re playing in the wrong key. Are you sure you can read it?” I asked.
“It is a bit fuzzy,” she admitted.
“You’re starting to scare me, Annie.”
She smiled, “I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
But she wasn’t. I told Father my concerns on the third day and he and Mother took Annie to see Dr. Moss the day after.
Annie was going blind.

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Thoughts for Thursday

"I hope I'll have a history," cried Emily. "I want a thrilling career."
"We all do, foolish one. Do you know what makes history? Pain--and shame--and rebellion--and bloodshed and heartache. [Emily], ask yourself how many hearts ached--and broke--to make those crimson and purple pages in history that you find so enthralling. I told you the story of Leonidas and his Spartans the other day. They had mothers, sisters, and sweethearts. If they could have fought a bloodless battle at the polls wouldn't it have been better if not so dramatic...And, like all female creatures, you form your opinions by your feelings. Well, hope for your thrilling career--but remember that if there is to be a drama in your life somebody must pay the piper in the coin of suffering. If not you--them someone else."

~LM Montgomery, Emily of New Moon