Rosie's Story Preview
Pa cupped his hand around his mouth as the children leaned in closer to listen.
"Rosie! Rosie! Where are you?"
"Oh, Ellis, will we ever find her? I'm so worried."
Ellis paused his calling out into the wooded area to comfort his wife. He turned her and took her by the shoulders, squaring her off in front of him. He smiled. His face was confident and reassuring. Her eyes looked to his and he brushed away the tear that only just slipped from the corner of her eye. "Don't fret, Miriam. Rosie has an adventurous spirit... I'm sure she's fine. She probably found other children to play with and made herself at home, losing track of time."
Miriam nodded wanting to believe him, but she wouldn't be happy until her five year old girl was safely back in her arms. So the search continued.
The house that Ellis and his brother, RJ were building was not quite half finished so the whole family had to live and sleep in the one room. Luckily, the weather was still very nice, as they moved into a mild autumn and it allowed the children opportunities to stay outside and out from under their father's feet.
The oldest son, Johnny went with his father in the northern direction. The next two children in the Sears family, both girls and the baby, Clark, of course, would stay behind with Miriam in case Rosie wandered back on her own, and the youngest boy, Toby headed out with his Uncle RJ in a Western direction.
All this fuss for little Rosie Sears.
Pa leaned back in his chair as his children were gathered around him in front of a large, warm fireplace as he told his story. Rosie sat just to the right of his feet with a blush on her cheeks, but a smile on her face. She loved hearing Pa tell stories of their childhood, even when she was the cause of many tales of mischief. On her lap was a pretty pink wrapped gift that Rosie was not allowed to open until the story came to its conclusion.
Her older siblings already had their stories and opened their gift on this chilly Christmas night and Rosie was most anxious to see what was hidden inside.
Pa continued his story...
"We searched high and low for this child. As the sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, I began to wonder if the gypsy's came by and took off with our Rosie." He looked down and winked at his daughter. "I knew if that was the case, it wouldn't be long before they brought our Pretty back home because she is such a hand-full!" Pa slapped his thigh and threw his head back and laughed along with the rest of the family.
Toby, her older brother ribbed her with his elbow and smiled reminding her that Pa was just having a bit of fun and all the children got teased in turn. Rosie did laugh.
"It's funny 'cause it's true!" Toby added.
Little Clark leaned in, eyes wide and asked, "Did ya find her? Did the gypsy's take her away?" Which brought another round of laughter from the room, because Rosie sat there among them. Clark was so involved with the story that he forgot who they were talking about!
"Finish off your story husband," Miriam gently scolded, "You've got a few more children to go through.
Ellis nodded and continued on in his dramatic fashion, that it was he and Johnny that found little Rosie in an opening of the woods, just beyond their property and just beyond hearing them call.
They could hear her singing long before they caught sight of her. When they followed her voice to the clearing, they found her busy at work gathering leaves and grass and piling it neatly in the crook of thick roots at the base of a tree. She was making a bed for a baby bird that had fallen from its nest.
"We came upon her and she looked like a woodland fairy who'd lost her wings. Her cherub cheeks were rosy red and she had sticks and leaves caught in her hair. Her dress looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. Her brown hair was a tangled mess. And she looked up at us like we had come along to help her. Wondering, maybe what took us so long to get there. Not an ounce of fear was to be seen on that child, no matter what her momma may have imagined." Pa glanced over teasingly at his wife.
She explained to her brother and Pa that she found the baby bird and it kept hopping away from her and she was determined to "help" it whether it wanted her to or not.
"When she looked up and could not find the nest to return the little bird to, she decided she needed to make it a new home. And let me tell you, we were not allowed to leave; that child would not budge toward home until that baby bird was taken care of. So there we were taking orders from a five year old, gathering leaves and sticks to make this baby bird a house while everyone else was frantic with worry."
"She was absolutely filthy," Miriam said, as she looked at her daughter's beautiful face now years later.
"But still just as Pretty." Pa flicked his finger under her chin and smiled. "Go on, now... open your gift."
Rosie gently peeled back the layers of delicate pink paper and saw a stack of blank pages bound together with ribbons pushed though holes and tied with bows to create a binding. It created a book... a diary.
"Your Ma has been saving pages for months and she trimmed and tied off every single one of those bows," Pa said, beaming with pride.
"I thought, perhaps if you could write down your thoughts and dreams, you might be content to settle down in one place and not be so eager to run off ...chasing baby birds. You're always so busy going from place to place." Miriam was smiling but just a hint of worry could be seen behind her eyes.
Rosie wasn't so much a thinker. She was a do-er. When she overheard Pa say they were going to be short in paying the bills- a thing Ma was very conscientious of, Rosie went into town and found a job cutting wood for an older widow woman. And then she found work doing laundry for another. Rosie Sears was rarely idle. And her mother desperately wanted her to be content at home- afraid and seeing the signs of a wandering soul and she couldn't bear the thought of losing another child to the call of adventure.
Rosie hugged the empty diary to her chest, excited with the thought of filling up each and every page with the thoughts that always felt like too much for her brain to hold. She stood up and hugged her father and then her mother, thanking them for her gift.
"It's perfect," she beamed.
She had to force herself to sit back down at her father's feet and to be patient and hear the rest of the stories and see the rest of the gifts her siblings got. She couldn't stop smiling. Thoughts swirling around in her head, she probably didn't hear much of the stories anyway as anxious as she was to sneak off and "talk" to her new friend... her diary.
The baby, Dalton, didn't even make it through his story and would not be roused to play with the interlocking wooden links Ellis had carved for him.
But at last, the children were released to head to bed and only Rosie, and of course Dalton, were excited about it.
Rosie asked for permission to stay up later to write in her new book.
"Ten minutes, Pretty," her father granted. "No more. Morning comes on quick."
Rosie nodded and rushed up the ladder to the loft where she and her siblings sleep. She moved all the way to one side as her siblings scurried around completing their bedtime tasks.
She thumbed the stiff pages and reveled in the sound they made. She took a deep breath as if her next movements were to signify a momentous occasion...
Dear Diary,
I have only just received you this very day....
Pick up where she leaves off.
Sign up for Lavender Letters Rosie's Story from the Westbound Series to read more of Rosie's diary entries as well as letters she writes bringing you along as her adventures unfold.
Click here to find out all of the details and to sign up.
"Rosie! Rosie! Where are you?"
"Oh, Ellis, will we ever find her? I'm so worried."
Ellis paused his calling out into the wooded area to comfort his wife. He turned her and took her by the shoulders, squaring her off in front of him. He smiled. His face was confident and reassuring. Her eyes looked to his and he brushed away the tear that only just slipped from the corner of her eye. "Don't fret, Miriam. Rosie has an adventurous spirit... I'm sure she's fine. She probably found other children to play with and made herself at home, losing track of time."
Miriam nodded wanting to believe him, but she wouldn't be happy until her five year old girl was safely back in her arms. So the search continued.
The house that Ellis and his brother, RJ were building was not quite half finished so the whole family had to live and sleep in the one room. Luckily, the weather was still very nice, as they moved into a mild autumn and it allowed the children opportunities to stay outside and out from under their father's feet.
The oldest son, Johnny went with his father in the northern direction. The next two children in the Sears family, both girls and the baby, Clark, of course, would stay behind with Miriam in case Rosie wandered back on her own, and the youngest boy, Toby headed out with his Uncle RJ in a Western direction.
All this fuss for little Rosie Sears.
Pa leaned back in his chair as his children were gathered around him in front of a large, warm fireplace as he told his story. Rosie sat just to the right of his feet with a blush on her cheeks, but a smile on her face. She loved hearing Pa tell stories of their childhood, even when she was the cause of many tales of mischief. On her lap was a pretty pink wrapped gift that Rosie was not allowed to open until the story came to its conclusion.
Her older siblings already had their stories and opened their gift on this chilly Christmas night and Rosie was most anxious to see what was hidden inside.
Pa continued his story...
"We searched high and low for this child. As the sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, I began to wonder if the gypsy's came by and took off with our Rosie." He looked down and winked at his daughter. "I knew if that was the case, it wouldn't be long before they brought our Pretty back home because she is such a hand-full!" Pa slapped his thigh and threw his head back and laughed along with the rest of the family.
Toby, her older brother ribbed her with his elbow and smiled reminding her that Pa was just having a bit of fun and all the children got teased in turn. Rosie did laugh.
"It's funny 'cause it's true!" Toby added.
Little Clark leaned in, eyes wide and asked, "Did ya find her? Did the gypsy's take her away?" Which brought another round of laughter from the room, because Rosie sat there among them. Clark was so involved with the story that he forgot who they were talking about!
"Finish off your story husband," Miriam gently scolded, "You've got a few more children to go through.
Ellis nodded and continued on in his dramatic fashion, that it was he and Johnny that found little Rosie in an opening of the woods, just beyond their property and just beyond hearing them call.
They could hear her singing long before they caught sight of her. When they followed her voice to the clearing, they found her busy at work gathering leaves and grass and piling it neatly in the crook of thick roots at the base of a tree. She was making a bed for a baby bird that had fallen from its nest.
"We came upon her and she looked like a woodland fairy who'd lost her wings. Her cherub cheeks were rosy red and she had sticks and leaves caught in her hair. Her dress looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. Her brown hair was a tangled mess. And she looked up at us like we had come along to help her. Wondering, maybe what took us so long to get there. Not an ounce of fear was to be seen on that child, no matter what her momma may have imagined." Pa glanced over teasingly at his wife.
She explained to her brother and Pa that she found the baby bird and it kept hopping away from her and she was determined to "help" it whether it wanted her to or not.
"When she looked up and could not find the nest to return the little bird to, she decided she needed to make it a new home. And let me tell you, we were not allowed to leave; that child would not budge toward home until that baby bird was taken care of. So there we were taking orders from a five year old, gathering leaves and sticks to make this baby bird a house while everyone else was frantic with worry."
"She was absolutely filthy," Miriam said, as she looked at her daughter's beautiful face now years later.
"But still just as Pretty." Pa flicked his finger under her chin and smiled. "Go on, now... open your gift."
Rosie gently peeled back the layers of delicate pink paper and saw a stack of blank pages bound together with ribbons pushed though holes and tied with bows to create a binding. It created a book... a diary.
"Your Ma has been saving pages for months and she trimmed and tied off every single one of those bows," Pa said, beaming with pride.
"I thought, perhaps if you could write down your thoughts and dreams, you might be content to settle down in one place and not be so eager to run off ...chasing baby birds. You're always so busy going from place to place." Miriam was smiling but just a hint of worry could be seen behind her eyes.
Rosie wasn't so much a thinker. She was a do-er. When she overheard Pa say they were going to be short in paying the bills- a thing Ma was very conscientious of, Rosie went into town and found a job cutting wood for an older widow woman. And then she found work doing laundry for another. Rosie Sears was rarely idle. And her mother desperately wanted her to be content at home- afraid and seeing the signs of a wandering soul and she couldn't bear the thought of losing another child to the call of adventure.
Rosie hugged the empty diary to her chest, excited with the thought of filling up each and every page with the thoughts that always felt like too much for her brain to hold. She stood up and hugged her father and then her mother, thanking them for her gift.
"It's perfect," she beamed.
She had to force herself to sit back down at her father's feet and to be patient and hear the rest of the stories and see the rest of the gifts her siblings got. She couldn't stop smiling. Thoughts swirling around in her head, she probably didn't hear much of the stories anyway as anxious as she was to sneak off and "talk" to her new friend... her diary.
The baby, Dalton, didn't even make it through his story and would not be roused to play with the interlocking wooden links Ellis had carved for him.
But at last, the children were released to head to bed and only Rosie, and of course Dalton, were excited about it.
Rosie asked for permission to stay up later to write in her new book.
"Ten minutes, Pretty," her father granted. "No more. Morning comes on quick."
Rosie nodded and rushed up the ladder to the loft where she and her siblings sleep. She moved all the way to one side as her siblings scurried around completing their bedtime tasks.
She thumbed the stiff pages and reveled in the sound they made. She took a deep breath as if her next movements were to signify a momentous occasion...
Dear Diary,
I have only just received you this very day....
Pick up where she leaves off.
Sign up for Lavender Letters Rosie's Story from the Westbound Series to read more of Rosie's diary entries as well as letters she writes bringing you along as her adventures unfold.
Click here to find out all of the details and to sign up.