Annie Cobb
DaVinci Academy
First Place
Checkmate
When you walked into her house, the first thing you saw was the organized pictures and trinkets by the door, always accompanied by the comforting smell of candles and the beach, even if she hadn’t been to the ocean in years. The welcoming feeling of love caused anyone to become relaxed and peaceful. My grandmother’s home was always open, just as her heart was.
“Cancer.” The silence swallowed the world, filling the hole growing inside me for a brief second before reality burst the silence and waterfalls of tears poured down. It couldn’t. She couldn’t. Out of all people, why was my grandmother chosen to suffer? She always had a nice thing to say to everyone, she would help any person in need, and she would give up anything just to spend time with us. As my mom joined in my tears, my only thought was how all our lives would change. Memories came flooding into my head, each one another reminder of what we would be giving up.
“Do you want to play a game?” My grandmother walked up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder.
“What game?” I asked. I had spent the night at my grandmother’s house, and as usual, she had something new for us to do.
“Well,” she said, “we could play chess.” She smiled and gestured to the couch. Her smile drew me in, and I ran over to her. My grandmother, or “Mimi” as we called her, pulled out a box with white and black tiles on the top.
“Now, before we start playing, you need to know the rules of the game,” she spoke, her voice as rich as dark chocolate, with a slightly powerful undertone, so at any moment, the sassy side of my grandmother would appear.
“The King is the most important,” she said, “and you lose when the other person captures him. You say checkmate, and the game is over.”
Since I was taught how to play chess, we would play all the time. Whenever I went over to her house, I would beg her to play. Wednesdays were especially great because I would come over after school. Sometimes before dinner, we would play a quick game before she whisked off to make macaroni and cheese, the signature dish when I came over. I became very good at chess, and I was soon beating my cousin as well as my grandmother. I would have never dreamed of giving it up, but I found out that your life can crash down faster than you think, not to mention twice as hard.
“Annie, come downstairs,” my mother yelled. It was late at night and I knew what was happening.
“Ok… I’m coming.” There was no question about what my mom wanted. My cousin and I had been woken up at six in the morning in a rush, and the reason was gut wrenching. During the night, both of my grandmother’s lungs had collapsed in. I think the shock of the experience made us numb, as neither of us spoke as we got ready. The air was stale, and though it was early, I was wide awake with anticipation. The whole day was leading up to the moment I walked towards my parents. I knew she had died. If she hadn’t, they would have stayed in the hospital. They would have done something. It didn’t matter if everyone said she was fine, I knew she wasn’t.
“Annie,” my mother started, “Mimi is...” The tears started to fall again, just like that Saturday afternoon when my mom told me my grandmother was sick. When my world started to slowly crash. When my family would lose the one person that meant the most to all of us.
“Dead.”
My grandmother’s death was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to experience. The impact of her death can sometimes tear me to pieces because of all the things I know. Knowing that I will never hear her voice or see her face again in this world. Knowing that there will be no more macaroni on Wednesdays. Knowing that I won’t ever feel her arms around me again.
A few months after my grandmother’s death, my mother told me that Mimi had been battling cancer for many years although I did not know it. Everytime cancer made a move and said “check,” my grandmother countered. Just when cancer thought it could take away everything she had, my grandmother made the ultimate move. She valued her days with us so much that she refused treatment just to spend quality time with her grandchildren. She had decided that she would rather lose the game than lose time with us.
Checkmate.
Lillian Hays
DaVinci Academy
First Place
Learning to Love
There is something nobody seems to tell you about living through a tragedy. Although your world feels like it is crashing into a sinkhole and you never want to move on, not everyone around you feels the same. Not everyone around you wants to stay hidden in the dark corner, kept dim by grief and sadness. They want to go forward, but you are stuck in a pit of despair—powerless to let go.
On New Year’s Day in 2009, I lost my father. My mom, who was an absolute wreck, walked through the door of my grandparents’ house, bitter tears staining her cheeks, leaving dark and dried marks where happiness once fluttered. The long table at my grandparents’ house was always a symbol of happy memories, family time, and good food. On this day, the table was nothing but the place where the worst occurrence of my life was revealed. My mom sat down at the table to share the devastating news that so heavily hung in her mouth.
“Lillian and Isaac, Daddy is gone. He’s with the angels,” she said.
“When is he coming back?” The finality of death was so absent in my life that I did not understand that he never would. However, in the coming days, I began to comprehend the irrevocability of the tragedy. I was numb and cold, devoured by sadness.
Months passed and although my mother was downhearted, it was obvious that she was ready to move on. She wanted to leave behind the sadness that caused her so much pain, so much hurt. Although my brother and I were not ready, she had decided it was time to tell us about seeing other people in her life. Specifically, a guy named Wes.
“Lilli and Ike, I wanted to tell you that I’m seeing someone. His name is Wes, and he’s very important to me. I want you to meet him.”
Tears filled my eyes. Slowly filling, sure to spill over at any moment, like a bucket under a tap. The thought of someone replacing my dad made me sick to my stomach. The words that were coming out of my mother’s mouth were like sharp stones, and each one took a piece of me and left a jagged wound.
“You love him more than us, don’t you?” my brother spat out.
“I could never. Wes is just a person in my life! Nothing could mean more than the two of you. I just want you to meet him.”
“I guess, we can try,” I said. I wanted to meet him if it would make my mom happy, but at the same time, I didn’t want him to exist.
That night mom introduced me to Wes. Our conversation was a bit awkward and I did not know what to say. However, I had never seen my mother happier. I had never seen her eyes light up brighter, I finally saw my mother truly filled with joy. Authentic joy and it was all because of Wes. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, maybe having him in our life wouldn’t be completely awful. Just maybe.
Wes was special to my mom, but he was starting to be special to my brother and me. His unconditional love for mother and support for our family made him important to us; there couldn’t have been anyone else that would give us that gift.
He had been with my mother for a while, and I could tell things were getting serious. Mom was almost glowing and I knew she was truly in love. One afternoon she said, “Lil and Ike, Grandmother Teffie wants you over for the weekend to take pictures, and pack something nice to wear.”
She was clueless about what was about to happen, how it would change her life—her life and ours. Wes drove over to my grandmother’s house, my brother and I in the backseat. Before he dropped us off, he handed my brother and me two sealed envelopes.
“Please open these later and read them. I’ll see you tonight,” Wes said.
“We’re staying with Teffie tonight, so we won’t be seeing you.” My brother’s voice was laced with confusion.
“You’ll understand what I mean later.” And with that, Wes drove off leaving us in the driveway of my grandmother’s house, perplexed and wondering what he meant.
In my grandparent’s house, my brother and I opened the envelopes. Two cards, containing the news that would alter our lives.
If there is room in your family for me, I would like to request your permission to ask your mother to marry me.
There was nothing we wanted more than to finally see our mom happy. For the first time in a long time, truly happy. Our mouths dropped, tears rolled down our cheeks, but this time it was in joy. Finally I knew that I could make room in my heart for this man who makes my mom feel so special.
Change is not always awful. It does not replace what you have lost in your life. Resisting change because you are scared to let go of the past makes it harder to love and let people in. Learning to love and letting people in has always been difficult for me, but I am glad that I realized that learning to love again is the only way to truly heal.
Skyler McElwain
DaVinci Academy
Second Place
Floating
Tick, tick, tick. As the clock on Mr. Cole’s bland, cement brick wall ticks away the next thirty minutes of class, I try to focus on the notes written on the chalkboard in front of me. Loud chatter was fluttering in the air like birds. It’s the second week of school and everyone is already bored out of their minds. I was on the verge of falling asleep when I felt a piece of folded up paper lands in my lap. I turn my head to see my best friend, Sarah, smile at me, showing her perfectly straight teeth. The gesture letting me know that she was, in fact, the culprit of the note. I was lucky enough to get her for my science partner, instead of some other unfavorable partners. I opened the note to find Sarah’s neat handwriting in pink gel pen.
You know that Mr. Cole is going to kill you if you don’t have all the notes, right? I bet he’ll threaten you with curium or phosphorus! Oh no! please not the yttrium! A small snicker escapes my mouth.
“Perhaps you, Miss Price, can solve this problem for the class.”
Shoot. I feel my face turn fifteen shades of red. How did he hear me from all the way over there? Just my luck.
“No? Perhaps not then? Mr. Reed? How about you?”
Alex Reed, East James High School's prize possession. Quarterback for the football team, who brought us to the championships freshman through junior year. All the EJHS coaches have high hopes for his senior year. Fairly handsome, although he never hung out with the rest of the jocks. Odd. Lost in my train of thought, I didn’t realize that the whole class was staring at me.
“Yes?” I squeaked.
Then Sarah whispered, “You’re changing seats.”
I looked up to see Katie Walker standing above me, her flawless makeup sparkling, and her blouse perfectly ruffled. She was chewing gum while her baby blue eyes showed boredom. “Move!” she said. She jerked her head toward what I assumed was her old seat, making her Jenny on the block earnings dance with her long, straight blond hair.
“Oh. R...ight sorry.”
My voice cracked eight ways to Sunday. Laughter rang in my ears. Just great. My chances at impressing EJHS’s cheer captain and maybe somehow scoring a seat at the popular table just went from little to none. Ugh.
I slid my notebook into my backpack and stood up to walk to Katie’s old seat, which was smack dab next to Alex Reed. Lovely. I slid into my seat next to him as Mr. Cole continued his lesson. After a couple minutes, I gave one final desperate glance back to Sarah expecting to see her bright blue eyes back at me, but instead I was greeted with Flawless Katie and her laughing together. WHAT! That can’t be right!
Sarah and I were never popular, nor ever bullied. We never had a friend group, just each other. We had made a vow when we were five years old that we would always stick together forever. It’s not like we didn’t want a group; we just never fit. I was smart, but not enough for the nerds, pretty but not enough for the all the popular kids, I was always there, just not enough to get noticed. It’s only halfway into the year when all the teachers even start to remember my name. I’m just not memorable. I’m just average.
As for Sarah, she was always trying to fit in, no matter what. If all the bloggers are saying that blue is the new black, you bet Sarah would have a little blue dress with perfectly correlating shoes, jewelry, and a handbag before you can say “Whoa! Slow down crazy!”. I decide to check back again, just to make sure.
Yet, there they were laughing and… no, that can’t be right. They were pointing at me! I turned back to Alex, the slightest glimmer of hope that maybe that they were pointing behind me, at him. They could NOT have been pointing at me! Right? But no, they were in fact, laughing at me. Alex looked at me like I was some kicked puppy on the side of the street.
“Sorry, tough luck.”
Wow, am I really that pitiful?
Ringalingaling! Saved by the bell! As I commit the homework on the green chalk board to memory, Sarah starts walks over to my new table. No no no! I’ve got to get out of here quick! But before I could even think about getting up, Sarah is by my side, a sweet aroma swarmed around her from her vanilla body spray.
“Hey Julia! Look, I know we usually sit together at lunch but...”
“But?”
“Well, Katie invite me to the sit at her table.”
“Really! That’s amazing! Let’s go!”
“Um. Well you see, she invited me. Just me.”
“Oh, okay, umm that’s okay,” I say, letting the disappointment and disapproval drip through my voice as I walk to the door.
I walked to the lunch room where I always sit. People’s voices buzzed around me like the inside of a bee hive in late summer. You could tell who belonged to what cliche like you could tell black from white. The Band Geeks, The Jocks, The Cheerleaders, The Nerds, who are distinctly different from The Geeks. Everyone had their place. Everyone accept us.
We were the gray in the black and white, we were standing on the thin line between one and the other. We didn’t even belong to The Misfits. We were just, there. I look over the Misfit’s Table, and I see Alex Reed. His eyes glaze over mine. Great! Now it’s going to seem like I like him just because I was looking at him! But I was looking at him, wasn’t I?
For the next few weeks, I barely survived each day. Sarah didn’t come back to me the next day, or the next, or the day after that, or the next week, or the next month. Any hope of her coming back has sunken deeper inside me than the titanic in the ocean. I’m dreading the rest of the year. She left me. She’s gone. I felt, how did I feel? I felt something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
It felt like a rain drops on a car window, slowly rolling down the smooth wet glass being pushed by a million-other raindrops until they all collide at the bottom and you can’t tell one feeling from another. Anger? Betrayal? Frustration? How could she do this! Weren’t we supposed to be friends for life! Fear suddenly started to seep its way into my body. How will I go on without her? I relied on her to say afloat, to keep from drowning in the oceans full of gossip, rumors, and hurt. I’ve heard the saying of how you have to be thrown into the deep end to learn how to swim, but I never would have thought that I was that person. I feel like I'm treading water just to keep my head above water.
I sat down at my usual table with the rest of The Floaters. Even though people were sitting all around me, it felt empty without Sarah’s filling laugh and vanilla body spray. Tears stung the back of my eyes.. No, I will not cry in school. As I mentally willed the tears to subdue, I realized I'm on my own now. No one to help me, no one to care, and no one to help me stay afloat. Who am I kidding? I'm not floating, I'm sinking.
I couldn’t stand to stay in that awful cafeteria any longer, so I decided to go to the water fountain just to get out, but not to drink anything. The water fountain has been notoriously known for the ants that have decided that it was the perfect place for their new home. Not the most sanitary place in the world. Other than the light pitter patter of rain on the window, the halls were almost silent compared to the organized chaos of the cafeteria. I looked out the grime encrusted window to see rain, lightning, and clouds as angry as Sarah after the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Ugh. I’ve got to stop thinking about Sarah on. I keep on walking, trying to focus on the bland cement walls of the school. A deep voice from behind me startles me.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I spin around to see Alex Reed standing there with his thumbs in his pockets, the rest of his hand was casually hanging out. His eyes resembled something of concern. Shoot. I was staring.
“Um. Not really, but I’ll live,” I attempted a weak smile.
“Do you want to sit at our table. I just figured it’s kinda awkward sitting at yours right now since, well you know. The whole Sarah thing.”
“Wait, people know about Sarah?”
“No, I just noticed she wasn’t sitting with you anymore,”
Alex Reed kept track of who sat with me?
“Actually, that would be great. Sitting with you, I mean” Maybe this year won’t be so bad after all. For the first time in a while I feel like I'm no longer sinking. I'm floating. And floating means surviving, and sometimes surviving is enough.
Gianna Wallop
CW Davis Middle School
Third Place
Untitled
I couldn’t believe what I was reading from the newspaper, “The Union celebrates the winning of a battle that took place on June 11 and 12, 1864, in Harrison County, Kentucky in and near the town of Cynthiana. Many are calling this victory the Battle of Cynthiana”. “Huh, the Battle of Cynthiana” June questioned, “what do you think of that mom?” Johnny asked. June is my 12 year old little sister. June is a real sweetheart and is so loving and caring. June is beautiful and the most enthusiastic girl I have ever known. Johnny is my 16 year old older brother. Johnny is a big jokester. In our town he is supposedly a very attractive boy, my mom says he gets his good looks from our father. Johnny also has the ability to lighten up anyone's mood at anytime, just like our father. My name is Georgia, I’m a 14 year old girl living with my family in Kentucky. Well, we didn’t always live in Kentucky, and actually it's not my whole family.
My family and I are all Abolitionist, we want to get rid of slavery, which is one of the reasons why we moved from Georgia. My family had been talking about moving for a while and then after the Siege of Fort Pulaski on April 10-11 in 1862, my parents decided to move us to a small farm in Kentucky. When we moved my mom immediately started growing a garden full of fruits and vegetables. We trade our fruits and vegetables for our neighbor’s crops, such as wheat, corn, potatoes, oats, and the eggs and milk that comes from their livestock. We have two majestic horses, Midnight, a big black horse and Autumn, a loving chestnut horse, that my dad got years ago. We were going to get more livestock and crops but, then it happened. In 1863 my dad was sent off to serve in the Union army.
“Well, maybe we can go up and live with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas for a while” Johnny suggested, “No! What if daddy comes home!” June protested. “I don’t know, I don’t want your father to come home and we aren’t here but, then again I have to keep all you safe” my mom explained, “well, we will be safe with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas” Johnny said, “but the war could end anytime soon” June pleaded, “but, we don’t know when the war is going to end, it could be years.” my mom explained. It was true, we didn’t know when the civil war was going to end, it has been going on for 3 years now. “Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas are also going through a rough time and they have enough kids to handle right now.” mom replied, “Everyone is going through a rough time right now, and we could comfort them to make it better” Johnny remarked. Aunt Ruth was my mom's older sister. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas have five kids, their oldest son William, who is 20, is fighting in the war. James is their 2nd oldest son, he is 16 years old like Johnny. Annie is their oldest daughter, she is 15, a year older than me. Alice, their 2nd daughter, is 12 like June. Uncle Douglas and Aunt Ruth's youngest child is Noah who is ten. Aunt Ruth, Uncle Douglas, and their kids live together on a farm in Indiana. The argument over whether or not we should stay or go to Indiana went on for months, until the unthinkable happened.
I heard a loud bang on the door followed by June’s noisy steps running to open it. “Who is it?” I yelled at June. “Mamma!?” June called for our mother. My mom, Johnny, and I all rushed to the door. There was a soldier stiffly standing there. He was a tall man in a clean cut uniform, as my mom would say “he was fit as a fiddle”. “Hello, is everything alright?” my mom questioned. “I’m afraid not ma'am, I don’t know how to tell you this but, I’m so sorry. Your Husband, he is missing in action”. My mom fell to the ground bawling, her hands covered her face. The soldier mumbled some more words but it was useless, his words were drowned out by sobbing cries. My brother comforted my mom as June came over to me and buried her face, wet with tears, into my stomach. I crouched on the floor with June shaking in my arms. I tried to calm her down, but I myself had tears streaming down my face. I looked up to see Johnny crouched on the hardwood floor with my mother, he looked up at me and I saw a single tear run down his cheek. I knew in that moment that nothing would be the same.
After we found out about dad everyone was devastated. June still kept hope that he was still alive, we all did but we knew that there was a slim chance. My family and I haven’t found a good time to leave for Indiana, since it has been a rough time for everyone. It is hard not knowing whether or not our father is alright. I sometimes think about other families who have more than one family member in the war, it must be hard. I just wish the war would end...we all do.
The sun glared in my eyes as I loaded stuff into the covered wagon. My family finally found a good time to leave for Indiana. My mom originally wanted to leave before February but now its late March. My mom, Johnny, June, and I all had to pack up the wagon with food and water for us, and for the horses. We also packed some of our clothes, things that we may need, and a few things that are special to us. “Are you guys ready to go?” my mom yelled. I roamed around the house taking one more look before gently shutting the door behind me. “Yes ma'am, let's go” I said while jumping into the front seat of the wagon, sitting right next to my mom.
“It's so hot!” June complained. “Oh come on it’s not that bad, at least you don’t have to sit in the front where there is no shade” Johnny replied.” “He’s right June, the sun is baking me, I feel like a baked potato!” I joked. Johnny and I were in the front of the covered wagon with my mom while June sat in the back because there wasn’t much room up front. “Why don’t you go in the back and cool off a little Georgia” Johnny suggested. I climbed into the covered back and plopped down on the hard floor. The back of the wagon may not have a lot of stuff in it but, since we have a small wagon there isn't a lot of space. As it started to get dark the only sound we could hear were the crickets chirping loudly and the bugs buzzing around. June and I were near the front of the wagon so we could see the stars. “I think I see some lights over there, maybe a town” Johnny commented. “There is a town around here your father and I use to stop by when we traveled this way. Maybe we can stop there for the night” My mom announced. “Good idea, I am pretty tired and it will be good to get some rest ” I claimed. So, we pulled into the town, there were a lot of people there and it was really busy. There were lanterns lit and people talking and walking around. One lady and what appeared to be her husband had about three kids running around. It looked like they were packing up a Wagon to leave too. They were in the very front of the village when we first came into town. Behind their house you could barely make out the figure of a wagon. The mother was cradling a sleeping baby in her arms that she was rocking while her husband was trying to rally up all the giggling kids and pack up their wagon. We finally found a place to park our wagon so we unhooked our horses, Midnight and Autumn, to a post next to us. June, my mom, and I had to squeeze into the back of the wagon together. Johnny insisted that he would stay on watch. I had just closed my eyes to think about everything that had happened, but before I could even get the chance I heard shouts and screams, then the sound of glass breaking.
I immediately sat up, my mom and June did the same thing. Johnny stuck his head through the hood and with a frightened look on his face he quietly said, almost in a whisper “Confederate soldiers”. We Shot up off the ground and hurried outside. People were scurrying everywhere. I heard woman and kids crying and people yelling everywhere. Some people fled into buildings while others dove and hid under wagons and carriages for cover. In the middle of the town there were a bunch of Confederate soldiers on horses. As Johnny and mom went to get the horses, some soldiers were throwing bricks in a building, and then lit it on fire. “Georgia, hurry put some things in a bag we don’t have time, we have to leave the wagon.” my mom told me. I hastily got into the back of the wagon and rapidly put some canteens of water, a loaf a bread, four apples, some oats and a block of cheese into a sack along with two rags and a blanket. As I hurried outside Johnny was boosting June up on to Autumn. I put the sack over my shoulder and hopped on the horse after June. Mom and Johnny didn’t have time to get on Midnight because the soldiers were getting closer. As we dashed towards the woods my mom tripped and tumbled to the ground. Midnight escaped and got lost in the crowd of scurrying people. The soldiers were charging towards us, I heard my mom shout “go kids! Run! I’ll meet you at Aunt Ruth’s, just hurry, go, I love you all! Be safe!” and those were the last words I heard from my mom as we bolted into the woods.
Sticks swiped and struck my face but I was too frightened to worry about the scratches and bruises I was getting. It felt like an eternity until we stopped. It looked like we were in the middle of the woods because there were a bunch of trees surrounding us. There was a little creek of water on our left and a gigantic rock on our right. “Well, it looks like a good place to hide and rest” Johnny observed. June and I leapt off Autumn. “Maybe we could sleep here tonight” I mentioned, “If we can sleep at all” Johnny mumbled, “what did you bring in the bag?” he added “some food, water, rags, oats for the horse, and a blanket”. “We could lay the blanket on the ground and sleep on it” June suggested. “Good idea” I replied while pulling the blanket out of the bag. June ended up falling asleep next to me on the blanket while Johnny sat on a rock the size of a chair. Johnny nor I really slept last night, we took shifts staying on watch. Every time I heard a squirrel in the leaves or the trees moving in the wind I would tense up, every noise startled me.
“Wake up sleepy head” Johnny said gently shaking June. June rolled over then sat up rubbing her cheek. “What time is it?” she said between yawns. “Don’t know, all I know is that the sun is out so we need to get going” Johnny replied standing up straight and brushing off his pants. Johnny broke pieces of bread for us and we put some cheese on the bread to eat. “May I please have some more?” June asked. “We have to save it so we have some for later” I answered with a frown. We packed up everything and filled our canteens full with water.June and I rode on the horse while Johnny walked until we found our way out of the woods. We were back on the dirt road that we started on and now we were on our way to Indiana.
We started walking down a part of the trail where trees started to surround us and it started to shade over by the taller trees. In the distance I heard some chuckling and snickering, I knew June and Johnny heard it too because Johnny stopped the horse and we all looked ahead. Around the corner we saw a group of men stumbling towards us. “Quick, we have to get into the woods, they may be soldiers” Johnny said leading us into the forest. “Quiet so they don’t hear us” I whisper jumping off Autumn. Johnny led the horse, June, and I down the hill but it was too late. “Hey you” one yelled. “Come on over here”. Johnny strolled over there with what looked like no fear at all. Good thing the hill was there for us to hide and Autumn blended in with the trees. If we were out there it's possible that they would take Autumn to travel with or sell. “what are you doing out here?” the second man hiccuped. “Nothing much sir, I’ll just be on my way” Johnny politely replied. While June and I played possum and laid low we observed the men from afar. The men were really shaggy and mucky and they all looked like jailbirds. “You don’t want to come and hang out with us?” The first one questioned while taking a slug on what looked like a bottle of booze. “No thank you, I’d rather not” Johnny replied. “If that's what you want” remarked the second one. “Come on guys let's get out of here” the third man said to the others. When all the men were gone June and I came out from our hiding place. “That was a close one” I said as we continued on the trail.
It was morning time and June was feeding Autumn some oats. June, Johnny, and I had already eaten some apples and bread. We didn’t know how far we had to go till we got to Aunt Ruth’s but we knew we had a while. The only thing I could think about was whether or not mom was alright. June was really worried about mom too and even though Johnny is putting on a brave face, I know he is super worried. We have been walking for what feels like days now so we should be in or near Indiana. We have taken this way every time we visit Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas but we are always with mom and dad so it’s different now. I also can’t stop thinking about dad. Is he alright? Is he not? Is mom alright? Is she not? It's hard not knowing but I just hope for the best. And hopefully the best is yet to come.
“June! June, wake up! We’re here!” June scratched her head confused. “Where?” “At Uncle Douglas and Aunt Ruth’s house!” Johnny said excitedly. June sprung off the horse and darted towards the door. Johnny and I rushed to the door after her but she was already beating at the door. The door swiftly threw open and standing there was Aunt Ruth. Before she could even recognize who was standing at her door, June launched herself forward and threw herself into Aunt Ruth’s arms. “Oh my goodness, what are you children doing here!” Aunt Ruth asked before opening the door and letting us in.
It was a couple days after we arrived at Aunt Ruth’s house and we were sitting at the dinner table having roast beef and potatoes “You guys walked all the way here without your mom or dad?” Noah asked in disbelief, “And you guys got away from Confederate soldiers!” Alice added. “They also slept in the woods, something you probably couldn't do” James jokingly said to Alice, “I mean, you can’t get your dress muddy”. The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Who could that be?” Uncle Douglas wondered as he scooted his chair back. Before anyone could even stand up June sprinted to the door. We heard the door fly open, “Momma!” June squealed. I got up so quickly my chair fell to the ground with a big thump. I rushed to the door as quickly as I could. When I rounded the corner I saw my mom and June huddled on the ground embracing each other in a hug bawling their eyes out.
“How did you get here?” Aunt Ruth asked “Oh I almost forgot!” my mom hurried us outside where there was a covered wagon, not our wagon, but the one we saw in the town we were passing in. “After all the chaos settled down and the soldiers left I met Sarah and her family” my mom motioned to the family, “They were trying to travel too but a soldier stole their horse during the attack.” my mom had a saddened look on her face, “I then found Midnight so I decided they could use Midnight for their wagon. Our wagon was sadly burnt down so, I decided to go with them”. “Our family lives right around here, what a coincidence that we were heading the same way so, why not ride together” the mother, Sarah, said giggling. “I’m going to go with them to their families farm and then ride back on Midnight so they have all of their belongings.” my mom said.
“Guys! Check this out!” my uncle yelled “On April 9th,1865, near the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The Battle of Appomattox Court House, which lasted only a few hours, effectively brought the four-year Civil War to an end”. “It over! It's really over!” I declared. My mom crouched on the ground and started crying, I didn’t know if they were sad or happy tears, a mixture of both I guess. We celebrated the rest of the night. I couldn’t believe it, the war was really over. My dad was coming home... If he was still alive.
It has been weeks since the war ended. William our cousin came back home after the papers to end the war were signed on April 10th, our dad still wasn’t back, meaning he may not come back. People all over the United States are overwhelmed with grief. We had recently heard the news that President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had been assassinated April 14, 1865, just four days after the war ended. President Abraham Lincoln was shot at the Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.
All the kids were outside playing. The boys were chasing each other around while June and Alice were walking in the garden, talking and picking flowers together. I was sitting with Annie on the front porch swing. “I can’t believe the war ended!” Annie noted. “I know! I thought it would never end.” I respond. “I’m so excited William came back from the war, I worried about him every night and he was all mother and father could think about” Annie continued, “he isn't the same anymore though, I don’t know how to explain it, he just seems different”. I looked at Annie and she looked at me with a sorrowful look and I knew she was thinking about my father. Annie glanced up at the road and then with a curious expression she asked, “who is that?”. I looked and spotted someone riding a horse toward the house. I got up to take a better look when I suddenly recognized the person. I shot up and dashed towards the man, “Daddy! Dad!” I hollered “you're here, you’re really here!”. My dad jumped off the horse and hurried towards me. I hurtled into my dad and wrapped my arms around him. “What took you so long?” I cried “I went home but you guys weren’t there, I knew you must have been here” he replied. June, Johnny, mom, and the rest of the family came running towards us and we were all reunited with our dad. “Did you miss me?” my dad jokingly asked. We can finally be able to go back home and live a normal life, well almost normal.
DaVinci Academy
First Place
Checkmate
When you walked into her house, the first thing you saw was the organized pictures and trinkets by the door, always accompanied by the comforting smell of candles and the beach, even if she hadn’t been to the ocean in years. The welcoming feeling of love caused anyone to become relaxed and peaceful. My grandmother’s home was always open, just as her heart was.
“Cancer.” The silence swallowed the world, filling the hole growing inside me for a brief second before reality burst the silence and waterfalls of tears poured down. It couldn’t. She couldn’t. Out of all people, why was my grandmother chosen to suffer? She always had a nice thing to say to everyone, she would help any person in need, and she would give up anything just to spend time with us. As my mom joined in my tears, my only thought was how all our lives would change. Memories came flooding into my head, each one another reminder of what we would be giving up.
“Do you want to play a game?” My grandmother walked up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder.
“What game?” I asked. I had spent the night at my grandmother’s house, and as usual, she had something new for us to do.
“Well,” she said, “we could play chess.” She smiled and gestured to the couch. Her smile drew me in, and I ran over to her. My grandmother, or “Mimi” as we called her, pulled out a box with white and black tiles on the top.
“Now, before we start playing, you need to know the rules of the game,” she spoke, her voice as rich as dark chocolate, with a slightly powerful undertone, so at any moment, the sassy side of my grandmother would appear.
“The King is the most important,” she said, “and you lose when the other person captures him. You say checkmate, and the game is over.”
Since I was taught how to play chess, we would play all the time. Whenever I went over to her house, I would beg her to play. Wednesdays were especially great because I would come over after school. Sometimes before dinner, we would play a quick game before she whisked off to make macaroni and cheese, the signature dish when I came over. I became very good at chess, and I was soon beating my cousin as well as my grandmother. I would have never dreamed of giving it up, but I found out that your life can crash down faster than you think, not to mention twice as hard.
“Annie, come downstairs,” my mother yelled. It was late at night and I knew what was happening.
“Ok… I’m coming.” There was no question about what my mom wanted. My cousin and I had been woken up at six in the morning in a rush, and the reason was gut wrenching. During the night, both of my grandmother’s lungs had collapsed in. I think the shock of the experience made us numb, as neither of us spoke as we got ready. The air was stale, and though it was early, I was wide awake with anticipation. The whole day was leading up to the moment I walked towards my parents. I knew she had died. If she hadn’t, they would have stayed in the hospital. They would have done something. It didn’t matter if everyone said she was fine, I knew she wasn’t.
“Annie,” my mother started, “Mimi is...” The tears started to fall again, just like that Saturday afternoon when my mom told me my grandmother was sick. When my world started to slowly crash. When my family would lose the one person that meant the most to all of us.
“Dead.”
My grandmother’s death was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to experience. The impact of her death can sometimes tear me to pieces because of all the things I know. Knowing that I will never hear her voice or see her face again in this world. Knowing that there will be no more macaroni on Wednesdays. Knowing that I won’t ever feel her arms around me again.
A few months after my grandmother’s death, my mother told me that Mimi had been battling cancer for many years although I did not know it. Everytime cancer made a move and said “check,” my grandmother countered. Just when cancer thought it could take away everything she had, my grandmother made the ultimate move. She valued her days with us so much that she refused treatment just to spend quality time with her grandchildren. She had decided that she would rather lose the game than lose time with us.
Checkmate.
Lillian Hays
DaVinci Academy
First Place
Learning to Love
There is something nobody seems to tell you about living through a tragedy. Although your world feels like it is crashing into a sinkhole and you never want to move on, not everyone around you feels the same. Not everyone around you wants to stay hidden in the dark corner, kept dim by grief and sadness. They want to go forward, but you are stuck in a pit of despair—powerless to let go.
On New Year’s Day in 2009, I lost my father. My mom, who was an absolute wreck, walked through the door of my grandparents’ house, bitter tears staining her cheeks, leaving dark and dried marks where happiness once fluttered. The long table at my grandparents’ house was always a symbol of happy memories, family time, and good food. On this day, the table was nothing but the place where the worst occurrence of my life was revealed. My mom sat down at the table to share the devastating news that so heavily hung in her mouth.
“Lillian and Isaac, Daddy is gone. He’s with the angels,” she said.
“When is he coming back?” The finality of death was so absent in my life that I did not understand that he never would. However, in the coming days, I began to comprehend the irrevocability of the tragedy. I was numb and cold, devoured by sadness.
Months passed and although my mother was downhearted, it was obvious that she was ready to move on. She wanted to leave behind the sadness that caused her so much pain, so much hurt. Although my brother and I were not ready, she had decided it was time to tell us about seeing other people in her life. Specifically, a guy named Wes.
“Lilli and Ike, I wanted to tell you that I’m seeing someone. His name is Wes, and he’s very important to me. I want you to meet him.”
Tears filled my eyes. Slowly filling, sure to spill over at any moment, like a bucket under a tap. The thought of someone replacing my dad made me sick to my stomach. The words that were coming out of my mother’s mouth were like sharp stones, and each one took a piece of me and left a jagged wound.
“You love him more than us, don’t you?” my brother spat out.
“I could never. Wes is just a person in my life! Nothing could mean more than the two of you. I just want you to meet him.”
“I guess, we can try,” I said. I wanted to meet him if it would make my mom happy, but at the same time, I didn’t want him to exist.
That night mom introduced me to Wes. Our conversation was a bit awkward and I did not know what to say. However, I had never seen my mother happier. I had never seen her eyes light up brighter, I finally saw my mother truly filled with joy. Authentic joy and it was all because of Wes. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, maybe having him in our life wouldn’t be completely awful. Just maybe.
Wes was special to my mom, but he was starting to be special to my brother and me. His unconditional love for mother and support for our family made him important to us; there couldn’t have been anyone else that would give us that gift.
He had been with my mother for a while, and I could tell things were getting serious. Mom was almost glowing and I knew she was truly in love. One afternoon she said, “Lil and Ike, Grandmother Teffie wants you over for the weekend to take pictures, and pack something nice to wear.”
She was clueless about what was about to happen, how it would change her life—her life and ours. Wes drove over to my grandmother’s house, my brother and I in the backseat. Before he dropped us off, he handed my brother and me two sealed envelopes.
“Please open these later and read them. I’ll see you tonight,” Wes said.
“We’re staying with Teffie tonight, so we won’t be seeing you.” My brother’s voice was laced with confusion.
“You’ll understand what I mean later.” And with that, Wes drove off leaving us in the driveway of my grandmother’s house, perplexed and wondering what he meant.
In my grandparent’s house, my brother and I opened the envelopes. Two cards, containing the news that would alter our lives.
If there is room in your family for me, I would like to request your permission to ask your mother to marry me.
There was nothing we wanted more than to finally see our mom happy. For the first time in a long time, truly happy. Our mouths dropped, tears rolled down our cheeks, but this time it was in joy. Finally I knew that I could make room in my heart for this man who makes my mom feel so special.
Change is not always awful. It does not replace what you have lost in your life. Resisting change because you are scared to let go of the past makes it harder to love and let people in. Learning to love and letting people in has always been difficult for me, but I am glad that I realized that learning to love again is the only way to truly heal.
Skyler McElwain
DaVinci Academy
Second Place
Floating
Tick, tick, tick. As the clock on Mr. Cole’s bland, cement brick wall ticks away the next thirty minutes of class, I try to focus on the notes written on the chalkboard in front of me. Loud chatter was fluttering in the air like birds. It’s the second week of school and everyone is already bored out of their minds. I was on the verge of falling asleep when I felt a piece of folded up paper lands in my lap. I turn my head to see my best friend, Sarah, smile at me, showing her perfectly straight teeth. The gesture letting me know that she was, in fact, the culprit of the note. I was lucky enough to get her for my science partner, instead of some other unfavorable partners. I opened the note to find Sarah’s neat handwriting in pink gel pen.
You know that Mr. Cole is going to kill you if you don’t have all the notes, right? I bet he’ll threaten you with curium or phosphorus! Oh no! please not the yttrium! A small snicker escapes my mouth.
“Perhaps you, Miss Price, can solve this problem for the class.”
Shoot. I feel my face turn fifteen shades of red. How did he hear me from all the way over there? Just my luck.
“No? Perhaps not then? Mr. Reed? How about you?”
Alex Reed, East James High School's prize possession. Quarterback for the football team, who brought us to the championships freshman through junior year. All the EJHS coaches have high hopes for his senior year. Fairly handsome, although he never hung out with the rest of the jocks. Odd. Lost in my train of thought, I didn’t realize that the whole class was staring at me.
“Yes?” I squeaked.
Then Sarah whispered, “You’re changing seats.”
I looked up to see Katie Walker standing above me, her flawless makeup sparkling, and her blouse perfectly ruffled. She was chewing gum while her baby blue eyes showed boredom. “Move!” she said. She jerked her head toward what I assumed was her old seat, making her Jenny on the block earnings dance with her long, straight blond hair.
“Oh. R...ight sorry.”
My voice cracked eight ways to Sunday. Laughter rang in my ears. Just great. My chances at impressing EJHS’s cheer captain and maybe somehow scoring a seat at the popular table just went from little to none. Ugh.
I slid my notebook into my backpack and stood up to walk to Katie’s old seat, which was smack dab next to Alex Reed. Lovely. I slid into my seat next to him as Mr. Cole continued his lesson. After a couple minutes, I gave one final desperate glance back to Sarah expecting to see her bright blue eyes back at me, but instead I was greeted with Flawless Katie and her laughing together. WHAT! That can’t be right!
Sarah and I were never popular, nor ever bullied. We never had a friend group, just each other. We had made a vow when we were five years old that we would always stick together forever. It’s not like we didn’t want a group; we just never fit. I was smart, but not enough for the nerds, pretty but not enough for the all the popular kids, I was always there, just not enough to get noticed. It’s only halfway into the year when all the teachers even start to remember my name. I’m just not memorable. I’m just average.
As for Sarah, she was always trying to fit in, no matter what. If all the bloggers are saying that blue is the new black, you bet Sarah would have a little blue dress with perfectly correlating shoes, jewelry, and a handbag before you can say “Whoa! Slow down crazy!”. I decide to check back again, just to make sure.
Yet, there they were laughing and… no, that can’t be right. They were pointing at me! I turned back to Alex, the slightest glimmer of hope that maybe that they were pointing behind me, at him. They could NOT have been pointing at me! Right? But no, they were in fact, laughing at me. Alex looked at me like I was some kicked puppy on the side of the street.
“Sorry, tough luck.”
Wow, am I really that pitiful?
Ringalingaling! Saved by the bell! As I commit the homework on the green chalk board to memory, Sarah starts walks over to my new table. No no no! I’ve got to get out of here quick! But before I could even think about getting up, Sarah is by my side, a sweet aroma swarmed around her from her vanilla body spray.
“Hey Julia! Look, I know we usually sit together at lunch but...”
“But?”
“Well, Katie invite me to the sit at her table.”
“Really! That’s amazing! Let’s go!”
“Um. Well you see, she invited me. Just me.”
“Oh, okay, umm that’s okay,” I say, letting the disappointment and disapproval drip through my voice as I walk to the door.
I walked to the lunch room where I always sit. People’s voices buzzed around me like the inside of a bee hive in late summer. You could tell who belonged to what cliche like you could tell black from white. The Band Geeks, The Jocks, The Cheerleaders, The Nerds, who are distinctly different from The Geeks. Everyone had their place. Everyone accept us.
We were the gray in the black and white, we were standing on the thin line between one and the other. We didn’t even belong to The Misfits. We were just, there. I look over the Misfit’s Table, and I see Alex Reed. His eyes glaze over mine. Great! Now it’s going to seem like I like him just because I was looking at him! But I was looking at him, wasn’t I?
For the next few weeks, I barely survived each day. Sarah didn’t come back to me the next day, or the next, or the day after that, or the next week, or the next month. Any hope of her coming back has sunken deeper inside me than the titanic in the ocean. I’m dreading the rest of the year. She left me. She’s gone. I felt, how did I feel? I felt something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
It felt like a rain drops on a car window, slowly rolling down the smooth wet glass being pushed by a million-other raindrops until they all collide at the bottom and you can’t tell one feeling from another. Anger? Betrayal? Frustration? How could she do this! Weren’t we supposed to be friends for life! Fear suddenly started to seep its way into my body. How will I go on without her? I relied on her to say afloat, to keep from drowning in the oceans full of gossip, rumors, and hurt. I’ve heard the saying of how you have to be thrown into the deep end to learn how to swim, but I never would have thought that I was that person. I feel like I'm treading water just to keep my head above water.
I sat down at my usual table with the rest of The Floaters. Even though people were sitting all around me, it felt empty without Sarah’s filling laugh and vanilla body spray. Tears stung the back of my eyes.. No, I will not cry in school. As I mentally willed the tears to subdue, I realized I'm on my own now. No one to help me, no one to care, and no one to help me stay afloat. Who am I kidding? I'm not floating, I'm sinking.
I couldn’t stand to stay in that awful cafeteria any longer, so I decided to go to the water fountain just to get out, but not to drink anything. The water fountain has been notoriously known for the ants that have decided that it was the perfect place for their new home. Not the most sanitary place in the world. Other than the light pitter patter of rain on the window, the halls were almost silent compared to the organized chaos of the cafeteria. I looked out the grime encrusted window to see rain, lightning, and clouds as angry as Sarah after the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Ugh. I’ve got to stop thinking about Sarah on. I keep on walking, trying to focus on the bland cement walls of the school. A deep voice from behind me startles me.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I spin around to see Alex Reed standing there with his thumbs in his pockets, the rest of his hand was casually hanging out. His eyes resembled something of concern. Shoot. I was staring.
“Um. Not really, but I’ll live,” I attempted a weak smile.
“Do you want to sit at our table. I just figured it’s kinda awkward sitting at yours right now since, well you know. The whole Sarah thing.”
“Wait, people know about Sarah?”
“No, I just noticed she wasn’t sitting with you anymore,”
Alex Reed kept track of who sat with me?
“Actually, that would be great. Sitting with you, I mean” Maybe this year won’t be so bad after all. For the first time in a while I feel like I'm no longer sinking. I'm floating. And floating means surviving, and sometimes surviving is enough.
Gianna Wallop
CW Davis Middle School
Third Place
Untitled
I couldn’t believe what I was reading from the newspaper, “The Union celebrates the winning of a battle that took place on June 11 and 12, 1864, in Harrison County, Kentucky in and near the town of Cynthiana. Many are calling this victory the Battle of Cynthiana”. “Huh, the Battle of Cynthiana” June questioned, “what do you think of that mom?” Johnny asked. June is my 12 year old little sister. June is a real sweetheart and is so loving and caring. June is beautiful and the most enthusiastic girl I have ever known. Johnny is my 16 year old older brother. Johnny is a big jokester. In our town he is supposedly a very attractive boy, my mom says he gets his good looks from our father. Johnny also has the ability to lighten up anyone's mood at anytime, just like our father. My name is Georgia, I’m a 14 year old girl living with my family in Kentucky. Well, we didn’t always live in Kentucky, and actually it's not my whole family.
My family and I are all Abolitionist, we want to get rid of slavery, which is one of the reasons why we moved from Georgia. My family had been talking about moving for a while and then after the Siege of Fort Pulaski on April 10-11 in 1862, my parents decided to move us to a small farm in Kentucky. When we moved my mom immediately started growing a garden full of fruits and vegetables. We trade our fruits and vegetables for our neighbor’s crops, such as wheat, corn, potatoes, oats, and the eggs and milk that comes from their livestock. We have two majestic horses, Midnight, a big black horse and Autumn, a loving chestnut horse, that my dad got years ago. We were going to get more livestock and crops but, then it happened. In 1863 my dad was sent off to serve in the Union army.
“Well, maybe we can go up and live with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas for a while” Johnny suggested, “No! What if daddy comes home!” June protested. “I don’t know, I don’t want your father to come home and we aren’t here but, then again I have to keep all you safe” my mom explained, “well, we will be safe with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas” Johnny said, “but the war could end anytime soon” June pleaded, “but, we don’t know when the war is going to end, it could be years.” my mom explained. It was true, we didn’t know when the civil war was going to end, it has been going on for 3 years now. “Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas are also going through a rough time and they have enough kids to handle right now.” mom replied, “Everyone is going through a rough time right now, and we could comfort them to make it better” Johnny remarked. Aunt Ruth was my mom's older sister. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas have five kids, their oldest son William, who is 20, is fighting in the war. James is their 2nd oldest son, he is 16 years old like Johnny. Annie is their oldest daughter, she is 15, a year older than me. Alice, their 2nd daughter, is 12 like June. Uncle Douglas and Aunt Ruth's youngest child is Noah who is ten. Aunt Ruth, Uncle Douglas, and their kids live together on a farm in Indiana. The argument over whether or not we should stay or go to Indiana went on for months, until the unthinkable happened.
I heard a loud bang on the door followed by June’s noisy steps running to open it. “Who is it?” I yelled at June. “Mamma!?” June called for our mother. My mom, Johnny, and I all rushed to the door. There was a soldier stiffly standing there. He was a tall man in a clean cut uniform, as my mom would say “he was fit as a fiddle”. “Hello, is everything alright?” my mom questioned. “I’m afraid not ma'am, I don’t know how to tell you this but, I’m so sorry. Your Husband, he is missing in action”. My mom fell to the ground bawling, her hands covered her face. The soldier mumbled some more words but it was useless, his words were drowned out by sobbing cries. My brother comforted my mom as June came over to me and buried her face, wet with tears, into my stomach. I crouched on the floor with June shaking in my arms. I tried to calm her down, but I myself had tears streaming down my face. I looked up to see Johnny crouched on the hardwood floor with my mother, he looked up at me and I saw a single tear run down his cheek. I knew in that moment that nothing would be the same.
After we found out about dad everyone was devastated. June still kept hope that he was still alive, we all did but we knew that there was a slim chance. My family and I haven’t found a good time to leave for Indiana, since it has been a rough time for everyone. It is hard not knowing whether or not our father is alright. I sometimes think about other families who have more than one family member in the war, it must be hard. I just wish the war would end...we all do.
The sun glared in my eyes as I loaded stuff into the covered wagon. My family finally found a good time to leave for Indiana. My mom originally wanted to leave before February but now its late March. My mom, Johnny, June, and I all had to pack up the wagon with food and water for us, and for the horses. We also packed some of our clothes, things that we may need, and a few things that are special to us. “Are you guys ready to go?” my mom yelled. I roamed around the house taking one more look before gently shutting the door behind me. “Yes ma'am, let's go” I said while jumping into the front seat of the wagon, sitting right next to my mom.
“It's so hot!” June complained. “Oh come on it’s not that bad, at least you don’t have to sit in the front where there is no shade” Johnny replied.” “He’s right June, the sun is baking me, I feel like a baked potato!” I joked. Johnny and I were in the front of the covered wagon with my mom while June sat in the back because there wasn’t much room up front. “Why don’t you go in the back and cool off a little Georgia” Johnny suggested. I climbed into the covered back and plopped down on the hard floor. The back of the wagon may not have a lot of stuff in it but, since we have a small wagon there isn't a lot of space. As it started to get dark the only sound we could hear were the crickets chirping loudly and the bugs buzzing around. June and I were near the front of the wagon so we could see the stars. “I think I see some lights over there, maybe a town” Johnny commented. “There is a town around here your father and I use to stop by when we traveled this way. Maybe we can stop there for the night” My mom announced. “Good idea, I am pretty tired and it will be good to get some rest ” I claimed. So, we pulled into the town, there were a lot of people there and it was really busy. There were lanterns lit and people talking and walking around. One lady and what appeared to be her husband had about three kids running around. It looked like they were packing up a Wagon to leave too. They were in the very front of the village when we first came into town. Behind their house you could barely make out the figure of a wagon. The mother was cradling a sleeping baby in her arms that she was rocking while her husband was trying to rally up all the giggling kids and pack up their wagon. We finally found a place to park our wagon so we unhooked our horses, Midnight and Autumn, to a post next to us. June, my mom, and I had to squeeze into the back of the wagon together. Johnny insisted that he would stay on watch. I had just closed my eyes to think about everything that had happened, but before I could even get the chance I heard shouts and screams, then the sound of glass breaking.
I immediately sat up, my mom and June did the same thing. Johnny stuck his head through the hood and with a frightened look on his face he quietly said, almost in a whisper “Confederate soldiers”. We Shot up off the ground and hurried outside. People were scurrying everywhere. I heard woman and kids crying and people yelling everywhere. Some people fled into buildings while others dove and hid under wagons and carriages for cover. In the middle of the town there were a bunch of Confederate soldiers on horses. As Johnny and mom went to get the horses, some soldiers were throwing bricks in a building, and then lit it on fire. “Georgia, hurry put some things in a bag we don’t have time, we have to leave the wagon.” my mom told me. I hastily got into the back of the wagon and rapidly put some canteens of water, a loaf a bread, four apples, some oats and a block of cheese into a sack along with two rags and a blanket. As I hurried outside Johnny was boosting June up on to Autumn. I put the sack over my shoulder and hopped on the horse after June. Mom and Johnny didn’t have time to get on Midnight because the soldiers were getting closer. As we dashed towards the woods my mom tripped and tumbled to the ground. Midnight escaped and got lost in the crowd of scurrying people. The soldiers were charging towards us, I heard my mom shout “go kids! Run! I’ll meet you at Aunt Ruth’s, just hurry, go, I love you all! Be safe!” and those were the last words I heard from my mom as we bolted into the woods.
Sticks swiped and struck my face but I was too frightened to worry about the scratches and bruises I was getting. It felt like an eternity until we stopped. It looked like we were in the middle of the woods because there were a bunch of trees surrounding us. There was a little creek of water on our left and a gigantic rock on our right. “Well, it looks like a good place to hide and rest” Johnny observed. June and I leapt off Autumn. “Maybe we could sleep here tonight” I mentioned, “If we can sleep at all” Johnny mumbled, “what did you bring in the bag?” he added “some food, water, rags, oats for the horse, and a blanket”. “We could lay the blanket on the ground and sleep on it” June suggested. “Good idea” I replied while pulling the blanket out of the bag. June ended up falling asleep next to me on the blanket while Johnny sat on a rock the size of a chair. Johnny nor I really slept last night, we took shifts staying on watch. Every time I heard a squirrel in the leaves or the trees moving in the wind I would tense up, every noise startled me.
“Wake up sleepy head” Johnny said gently shaking June. June rolled over then sat up rubbing her cheek. “What time is it?” she said between yawns. “Don’t know, all I know is that the sun is out so we need to get going” Johnny replied standing up straight and brushing off his pants. Johnny broke pieces of bread for us and we put some cheese on the bread to eat. “May I please have some more?” June asked. “We have to save it so we have some for later” I answered with a frown. We packed up everything and filled our canteens full with water.June and I rode on the horse while Johnny walked until we found our way out of the woods. We were back on the dirt road that we started on and now we were on our way to Indiana.
We started walking down a part of the trail where trees started to surround us and it started to shade over by the taller trees. In the distance I heard some chuckling and snickering, I knew June and Johnny heard it too because Johnny stopped the horse and we all looked ahead. Around the corner we saw a group of men stumbling towards us. “Quick, we have to get into the woods, they may be soldiers” Johnny said leading us into the forest. “Quiet so they don’t hear us” I whisper jumping off Autumn. Johnny led the horse, June, and I down the hill but it was too late. “Hey you” one yelled. “Come on over here”. Johnny strolled over there with what looked like no fear at all. Good thing the hill was there for us to hide and Autumn blended in with the trees. If we were out there it's possible that they would take Autumn to travel with or sell. “what are you doing out here?” the second man hiccuped. “Nothing much sir, I’ll just be on my way” Johnny politely replied. While June and I played possum and laid low we observed the men from afar. The men were really shaggy and mucky and they all looked like jailbirds. “You don’t want to come and hang out with us?” The first one questioned while taking a slug on what looked like a bottle of booze. “No thank you, I’d rather not” Johnny replied. “If that's what you want” remarked the second one. “Come on guys let's get out of here” the third man said to the others. When all the men were gone June and I came out from our hiding place. “That was a close one” I said as we continued on the trail.
It was morning time and June was feeding Autumn some oats. June, Johnny, and I had already eaten some apples and bread. We didn’t know how far we had to go till we got to Aunt Ruth’s but we knew we had a while. The only thing I could think about was whether or not mom was alright. June was really worried about mom too and even though Johnny is putting on a brave face, I know he is super worried. We have been walking for what feels like days now so we should be in or near Indiana. We have taken this way every time we visit Aunt Ruth and Uncle Douglas but we are always with mom and dad so it’s different now. I also can’t stop thinking about dad. Is he alright? Is he not? Is mom alright? Is she not? It's hard not knowing but I just hope for the best. And hopefully the best is yet to come.
“June! June, wake up! We’re here!” June scratched her head confused. “Where?” “At Uncle Douglas and Aunt Ruth’s house!” Johnny said excitedly. June sprung off the horse and darted towards the door. Johnny and I rushed to the door after her but she was already beating at the door. The door swiftly threw open and standing there was Aunt Ruth. Before she could even recognize who was standing at her door, June launched herself forward and threw herself into Aunt Ruth’s arms. “Oh my goodness, what are you children doing here!” Aunt Ruth asked before opening the door and letting us in.
It was a couple days after we arrived at Aunt Ruth’s house and we were sitting at the dinner table having roast beef and potatoes “You guys walked all the way here without your mom or dad?” Noah asked in disbelief, “And you guys got away from Confederate soldiers!” Alice added. “They also slept in the woods, something you probably couldn't do” James jokingly said to Alice, “I mean, you can’t get your dress muddy”. The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Who could that be?” Uncle Douglas wondered as he scooted his chair back. Before anyone could even stand up June sprinted to the door. We heard the door fly open, “Momma!” June squealed. I got up so quickly my chair fell to the ground with a big thump. I rushed to the door as quickly as I could. When I rounded the corner I saw my mom and June huddled on the ground embracing each other in a hug bawling their eyes out.
“How did you get here?” Aunt Ruth asked “Oh I almost forgot!” my mom hurried us outside where there was a covered wagon, not our wagon, but the one we saw in the town we were passing in. “After all the chaos settled down and the soldiers left I met Sarah and her family” my mom motioned to the family, “They were trying to travel too but a soldier stole their horse during the attack.” my mom had a saddened look on her face, “I then found Midnight so I decided they could use Midnight for their wagon. Our wagon was sadly burnt down so, I decided to go with them”. “Our family lives right around here, what a coincidence that we were heading the same way so, why not ride together” the mother, Sarah, said giggling. “I’m going to go with them to their families farm and then ride back on Midnight so they have all of their belongings.” my mom said.
“Guys! Check this out!” my uncle yelled “On April 9th,1865, near the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The Battle of Appomattox Court House, which lasted only a few hours, effectively brought the four-year Civil War to an end”. “It over! It's really over!” I declared. My mom crouched on the ground and started crying, I didn’t know if they were sad or happy tears, a mixture of both I guess. We celebrated the rest of the night. I couldn’t believe it, the war was really over. My dad was coming home... If he was still alive.
It has been weeks since the war ended. William our cousin came back home after the papers to end the war were signed on April 10th, our dad still wasn’t back, meaning he may not come back. People all over the United States are overwhelmed with grief. We had recently heard the news that President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had been assassinated April 14, 1865, just four days after the war ended. President Abraham Lincoln was shot at the Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.
All the kids were outside playing. The boys were chasing each other around while June and Alice were walking in the garden, talking and picking flowers together. I was sitting with Annie on the front porch swing. “I can’t believe the war ended!” Annie noted. “I know! I thought it would never end.” I respond. “I’m so excited William came back from the war, I worried about him every night and he was all mother and father could think about” Annie continued, “he isn't the same anymore though, I don’t know how to explain it, he just seems different”. I looked at Annie and she looked at me with a sorrowful look and I knew she was thinking about my father. Annie glanced up at the road and then with a curious expression she asked, “who is that?”. I looked and spotted someone riding a horse toward the house. I got up to take a better look when I suddenly recognized the person. I shot up and dashed towards the man, “Daddy! Dad!” I hollered “you're here, you’re really here!”. My dad jumped off the horse and hurried towards me. I hurtled into my dad and wrapped my arms around him. “What took you so long?” I cried “I went home but you guys weren’t there, I knew you must have been here” he replied. June, Johnny, mom, and the rest of the family came running towards us and we were all reunited with our dad. “Did you miss me?” my dad jokingly asked. We can finally be able to go back home and live a normal life, well almost normal.