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 |  these are a variety of contest I have entered. |
2,500 words Kentucky, October 19, 1941 There was a chill in the mid October air when the midwife arrived at the log cabin. The smell of smoke from the wood fire filled the interior. Harold nervously paced the floor, anxious that the damnable woman took so long in getting there. He didn't want any part of birthing his first born. When the woman went inside to attend Nanny, he politely asked if she needed help and was relieved when she declined his offer. He began to walk out the door when the woman called. "Don't go far, I may need help later." Damn, Harold thought to himself. Later, Harold heard the crying of the baby and the midwife, Ollie brought the child and lay it in his arms. “Here is your baby Mr. Noe, It is a healthy baby boy. Your wife is doing well, she needs her rest at the moment”. Said the Midwife. Harold was happy he hadn’t realized it, but he really was pleased to have a son. He had been angry with Nanny for getting pregnant, causing him to have to marry her, he had not intended on marrying this early in is life, he was only 19, and surely did not intend on marrying an Indian, or a Squaw Which he called her. His father, John, who was a Christian man, forced him to do the right thing and marry Nanny. Nanny was a good woman and a strong woman and would come to have six more children through the years. A year later Harold, joined the Army, and was sent over seas to Germany and France, He was twice shot and earned two purple hearts and a silver star. He was Hospitalized in England. It would be weeks after the birth of the baby before they would finally settle on a name for him, he was named for another relative Charles Arnold he would come to be called by some ,chalk, because of his chalky white hair when he was a young lad. ***** January 22, 1942 Mary Helen Kentucky Victoria’s Children Jackie and Helen were playing, While Tori’s (Victoria’s) Husband George, was just getting in from a hard day’s work in the coal mines. He was covered in black coal dust, and his hands looked rough and aged. He was a young man still but the coal mines had a way of aging him quickly before his years. His hair was already white while still in his 20’s. “It’s time George”, Said Tori, she hobbled over to him with her belly as large as it could be, she was pregnant with her sixth child. She had already buried one, which died of consumption. And her other, James Larry was also to die of pneumonia. They lived in an old coal camp house, which was drafty and much too small for them now that they were having another child. “Lay down and I’ll send Helen to fetch the doctor”, George said. George set beside his wife, as he was concerned for her health. He knew that many women died in childbirth. When the doctor arrived, George took the two girls outside to tend the garden. The lady from next door came to assist the doctor with what she could. All of a sudden there was a baby screaming inside and the neighbor told George he could come in. “She Had no problems with the childbirth,” said Dr. Craft. “You have a healthy baby girl.” George was filled with glee, he did not care that the child was not a boy It seems it wasn’t meant for him to have a living son. Yet he had three beautiful daughters. In nine years time Tori would have another daughter, and their daughter Jackie would give up her first born son for adoption to her parents. That would give Tori four daughters and one son living and two sons dead. ***** Cawood Kentucky 1953 Charlie and his six brothers and sisters live on a mountain with their parents. The family grew everything they needed to eat and they had cows and chickens as well. It was a daily thing for Charlie to have to work the farm, his sisters gathered the eggs and he hoed the vegetables and helped harvest them. They picked beautiful plump blackberries, in which Nannie would bake a homemade blackberry cobbler. Oh the smells that came from her kitchen were fantastic. There were homemade rolls, biscuits, pies, and cakes not to mention the chicken and dumplings, ham salad, and beautifully bronzed turkey. The smell was more than you could take, you had to bite in to something. One day Charlie wanted to go and play in the big baseball game, all of the kids were playing and he wanted to go too. Only Harold would not let him, Until he fertilized all of the potatoes. There were several rows to fertilize and the family depended greatly on the potatoes as they had them fixed in some way for every meal. Charlie liked them fried. “What a bunch of crap, why should I be the one doing all of the work,” he thought. Charlie was the go to person when it came to chores, Nannie was the one who kind of watched out for Charlie so Harold would not be too hard on the lad. Harold would get angry and had a habit of taking it out on Charlie. This day though Charlie took the fertilizer and began spreading it evenly among the potatoes. It was taking a long time however; So Charlie took the whole bag and spread it over a few rows, using all of the fertilizer. He then grabbed his baseball hat out of the barn and took off running down the hill where he met up with his father. “Did you use all of that fertilizer on those potatoes Charlie?” Harold asked. “Yes, I can honestly say that I did,” said Charlie. Knowing that he didn’t lie because he had used every grain of fertilizer on the potatoes --- although which potato got how much fertilizer is another question. In the fall when it came time to harvest the potatoes, there were some beautiful potatoes in the first two rows, followed by nubs of potatoes followed by burned up plants. Harold was fit to be tied, and that’s precisely what happened, Harold got so angry that he had to be tied to a chair until he could calm down. His father, John actually took rope and tied his arms to the chair back. ******* Fort Jackson South Carolina, US Army Basic Training Camp Charlie tried desperately to find a job in his hometown of Harlan, but the only jobs to be had was going in the coal mines. Charlie’s father had worked the mines for several years, and developed black lung disease in which the miner would cough and have difficulty in breathing. They were paid little wages for a very dangerous job. He was not going to follow in the footsteps of his father, he would however follow his lead and join the Army. He signed up and was sent to Fort Jackson South Carolina for Basic Training. Charlie was only 17 and he lied about the year in which he was born so he could go in a year sooner. He had no birth record were he was born at home in that day and time you could just swear to what year you were born. He was worked hard and spoke to like a dog, as all of the young men were. He already new how to shoot, he was a sharp shooter before ever joining the military. In times past he would get his younger sister Brenda to hold light bulbs in her hand while he would shoot them out, she would also hold them between her teeth. It was a dangerous act that in later years scared him just to think about it, what if he had missed he thought, it sent shivers up and down his spine. His little sister Brenda never thought twice about holding the bulbs, she wasn’t a bit afraid that he would miss, he was her hero. He was declared a sharpshooter by the army, and given a medal of distinction to commemorate it. All of the men were given their first set of orders, there were those being sent to Florida and California and such, Charlie got his orders and he was sent, at the time, overseas to Anchorage Alaska. That was the year Alaska became a state, he was there at the time. Charlie loved it there, he thought it was beautiful and though it was cold he learned a lot by staying indoors and reading books, he would set and study the dictionary or encyclopedias. Why he became so smart, you could pick up a book and ask him a question and he could give you the right answer. ***** Harlan Kentucky,1962 Charlie and his friend Gary were out loafing around when Gary told Charlie he had a date with Caroline. “Tonight I’m going to the movies with Caroline, I’m sure she has a friend if you want to go and we make it a double,” Gary said. “Well OK, What does she look like,” Charlie replied. She’s beautiful, she has dark hair and green eyes, she’s real slim, she’s a knock out, If I wasn’t already with Caroline I’d take her for myself,” said Gary. “Well I’ll come by and pick you up at six and you and I will go by and get the girls,” said Charlie. Charlie was the only one with a car, he had a nice little yellow Plymouth, Although he did not a drivers license he was able to buy his car when he got out of the army and came back home to Kentucky. That night Charlie went by and picked up Gary and the two of them retrieved Caroline, who gave directions to how to get to Wanda’s house. When Charlie first laid eyes on Wanda he was blown away, Gary had not done her justice, she was even prettier than he had said. Charlie was very pleased with his date. The two couples went in to see the movie and when they left, they went to the teen hang out called Denny Ray’s, it was a little malt shop, where the kids would dance, eat, and play music. They went in and found a booth in the back where they were near the kitchen. “ I understand you have been in the Army for the last few years,” said Wanda. Yeah I was in there for a tour, I was stationed in Alaska,” Charlie said. “Wow, I can’t imagine going some place like that, it sure is far away, I bet you missed your family, didn’t you?” asked Wanda. “Yeah, I missed my sisters mainly and my mom, I liked it over there though, it was beautiful, the winters were unbelievably cold but the summers were amazing, it stayed daylight even at night, It was wild,” Charlie added. “Is that the only place where you were stationed?” Wanda asked. “No! I was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina to take my basic training. Gary gathered his jacket and the girls’ jackets for them. Well are we ready to go,” Charlie concluded. Charlie and Wanda began dating and continued to date for the next three months, Until one day when Charlie collected Wanda from her home and took her to Pop’s Café in Harlan. “Hey Wanda, you look great tonight”. “Thank you”. At that time a waitress came by to take their order, Charlie Ordered for the both of them. “We’ll have two hamburgers with every thing and a platter of crinkle fries,” Charlie loved crinkle fries, When you entered Pop’s Café that is all you can smell is burgers and fries. The aroma would tempt even the most seasoned vegetarian. “mmm, I can’t wait till she gets back with them, I’m starving I didn’t eat anything today,” said Wanda. “No wonder you’re so skinny. While we wait, I’ve got something I want to talk to you about. It’s important.” Said Charlie, as he moved his chair over to the side of Wanda instead of across from her. He took her hand and put a ring on her left ring finger, “Will you do me the honor of being my wife, I will take good care of you and I will love you the rest of my life.” Wanda looked down at the ring and then up to Charlie , She reached over and kissed him on the lips gently, I would love to be Mrs. Charles Arnold Noe.” The two of them embraced slightly and kissed. At about that time the food came and the two of them devoured the fries and burgers, which were the best in town. Wanda could not wait to get home to tell her mom and sisters. On March 19, 1962 Charlie, Wanda, Gary , Carolyn, and Wanda’s mother Tori, traveled to Jonesville, Virginia Where the two were married in a little church on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Charlie could not find a descent job so he decided to enlist in the military again but this time he thought he would try the Airforce. He didn’t have to have basic training again since he had already had it. ***** Monterey California 1962 Wanda had always loved the movies, she watched every movie that came out and she bought every movie magazine, she kept up with all of the gossip about the stars. She longed to live in California and perhaps be an actress, she loved them all, Cary Grant, Elizebeth Taylor, Tyrone Powers, etc. in later years her younger daughter would please her by telling Wanda that she looked like Elizabeth Taylor. She denied that she did. Charlie came to Tori’s house where Wanda was, “I got my orders…” Wanda interrupted him, excitedly jumping up and down, “Where are we going?” Charlie grinned at Wanda and asked her, “Where is the one place you’ve always wanted to go? He asked. California, your kidding me, is that where we are going? Wanda was so excited she couldn’t contain herself. “That’s right we’ll be heading to Monterey for the next three years.” Wanda screamed, she could not believe how lucky she was, she had dreamed her whole life of going to California and now here she was going. They lived there for a little while, they had a hard time financially getting by. Wanda discovered she was pregnant with their first child, she was afraid because she was 3,000 miles away from her family and she knew nothing about babies. Her mother wasn’t there to ask questions about it either. Soon She found herself in labor, Charlie was there for her, he never let her feel as if she were alone. He was working two jobs, one on base in the Airforce, and the other at the Humane Society taking care of abused and unwanted animals. |
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