MAMA'S STORY, THE BEGINNING
Joyce Peterson
Annie pushed the fallen leaves ahead of her with the toe of her 3 inch
heeled shoes, as she stumbled along the path through the forest. It had
diminished to a few rows of trees since the picture in her hand had been
taken. She knew she should have worn sneakers, but if she did find the
small cottage, that she hoped was there beyond the end of the path, and
it was still inhabited, she wanted to make an impression for her Mother's
sake. Mama didn't know she had come to this particular place, only that
she was going to
had that look on her face that said, "I'm not sure I believe you but
we'll talk about it when you get home."
Annie had reached her thirtieth birthday, but she still couldn't lie to
her mother without feeling guilty. Her Mother, on the other hand, had
kept her whole life, before Annie was born, a secret except for a few
facts that had sneaked out in their conversations.
She wondered if the forest in the picture was really the place, about
which Mama had told her all those wonderful stories when Annie was small.
Tales of tiny beings that made servants of the ants, and carriages of
the leaves , carriages drawn by centipede horses. Those stories were the
reason she had been able to hire the detective to seek out this sight.
When he had asked if she wanted him to find out anything about the
forest, she told him, "No," she would handle it . Mama's story belonged
to no one but the two of them.
Annie had worked for years in the same office of a small brewery in
her ambition had always been to be a writer. She had had a little
success with some of her other books. But nothing like her best selling
Children's Book. It had included all the stories her Mother had told her
about the "Little World in the
every time she thought "
rows of straggly trees but the detective had given her specific
instructions and this was the place. Now, if there really was a cabin at
the end of this path, she felt that her money had been well spent.
She had found the photo by accident when, as a child, her Mother had
asked her to bring something from a dresser drawer. Although Mama
wouldn't answer any questions about it, except to say "It's just some
dumb old cabin in a forest in
been Mama's home before she came to
diminished in size because of the new houses built at the edge, but there
was still enough of it left to be recognized in the picture, since the
gas station, where she had left her car, was still there on the corner.
It had a few minor updates but was much the same. The middle aged man
who seemed to run the station had looked at her as though he was going to
say something but changed his mind.
She had always felt the frustration of having to make up everything that
had happened to her Mother before she was born but, whenever she
questioned her about it, Mama would just say, "You don't need to know
about all that."
She had surmised, from some of Mama's brief answers, that the cabin had
been Mama's home where she had been raised by her Father after he own
Mother died. Mama had gone so far as to say that her Mother died when
she was born. Because of Mama's hesitation to mention anything about
the man who would have been Annie's Grandfather, she had visualized him
as so cruel, that Mama had to run away . She had gone to
closest big city to the small cottage in the
decided Mama must have been pregnant with her, so she had wondered what
her Mother's father had done to her, when he found out, to make her run
away.
Mama had told her those exciting forest stories but had never told any
stories about herself. Annie had always liked stories to have a
beginning, a middle and an end. She felt that the life she and her
Mother had lived together was the middle of the story. She knew that the
beginning was the time Mama had lived in a cabin in this forest. When
the path ended, she looked across a big field and saw a cabin. She hoped
that, today, she could put some truth to the story she had made up as the
beginning of Mama's story.
Looking at the picture again she could see that someone had certainly
kept the cabin up to date. The yard in front was fenced in and there
were flower beds being tended by a man who didn't see her approaching.
She could see that he was quite old and wrinkled. He was smiling and
humming as he dug a trowel into the dirt to loosen some weeds.
This couldn't be her Grandfather whom she had always envisioned as tall
with a scowl on his face. Of course, her Grandfather must have died and
the property had been sold. As she walked up to the gate, the man looked
up. He dropped the trowel and came to meet her.
"Well,
you?" He asked as the smile seemed to encompass his whole face.
Annie didn't know how to answer him. Many of her friends had told her
that she looked like her Mother but who was this man who seemed to know
her Mother. She decided to play along as she told him, "Just thought
I'd drop by and see the old place. Did you know the man who used to own
this cabin, his name was Mullins?"
He laughed as he told her, "Knew him quite well. Still do, because I'm
that old scallywag. Surely I haven't changed so much you don't recognize
me,
Annie looked at him for a few minutes trying to decide how to answer him.
She decided that only the truth could get them both threw an awkward
situation. "I'm not
He reached across the gate and took her face in his hand. "Sorry, Annie.
I've waited so long for her to come home. Guess you might as well start
calling me Grandpa. Will
When she shook her head, she saw misunderstanding in his eyes. She
hurried to tell him, "She's fine but she's not with me." Then she added,
"Not this trip." Annie knew at that moment that she was going to have to
make up a whole new story for Mama's past life.
"Is there a hotel nearby? I'd like to stay around for a while and get to
know more about some things that Mama never told me. I left my car at
the gas station near the path that brought me."
"
your using it. I hope she will be coming soon but right now it will be
good to have it occupied. Your car is in good hands. Eddie Bleecken
owns that station. Eddie Junior has been running it since his Dad died.
Junior went to school with
car belongs to
Annie smiled, "But I'll need the suitcase that's in the trunk if I'm
going to stay with you. I hope I'll still be welcome when I change into
jeans and sneakers. I can walk back and get it."
The old man held up his hand. "You'll do no such thing," he told her.
"Besides, Junior would have my skin if I didn't let him do a favor for
dinner. I did learn to cook when I had to."
Annie couldn't believe her luck. Dinner with her Grandfather and a man,
who had been a friend of her Mother's, was more than she could have hoped
for. "If you're sure he wouldn't mind, that would be great. I did leave
my key with him. By the way, I learned to cook, too." She laughed.
When her Grandfather pushed the gate open and offered his arm, Annie
linked her arm through his and smiled as she told him, "O.K., Grandpa.
Let's see this cabin that I've dreamed about for so long." When she saw
him looking at her with a question on his face, she added, "I'll explain
later." When they entered the cabin, she saw a big room with a fireplace
that was dark and empty.
When he saw her looking at it, her grandfather explained, "It's been
pretty warm lately, besides, I had a furnace installed when we added on
to the house. I only start a fire, occasionally to save on the gas bill.
Now let me show you to
it, if you want to freshen up a bit."
Annie followed him down a long hall. When he opened a door to Mama's
room, the sunshine poured through a large window and lighted the hall.
Annie saw a room that held furniture that might have been purchased 40
years ago but, like the other furniture she had noticed in the living
roon, was so fine that it would probably last another 40. The doilies,
on the dresser and side tables, looked like the ones Mama had made for
their condo. When she saw the cover on the bed, she couldn't help but
exclaim,as she touched it, "How beautiful!"
Annie heard tears in Grandpa's voice, as he replied, "
just before…" He let the words trail into nothingness, then cleared his
throat to say, "She was going to have it after she married."
Annie wanted to ask him more but thought better of it.
"I better make that call. You'll like Eddie. He's a bachelor so I'm
sure he'll appreciate getting his dinner made for him," he told her.
As he started down the hall, Annie called after him, "Remember I can cook
if you need any help."
Cont.
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