"I brought my lantern," said Mama. Emily said we had to try it and that she would drive slowly and that we could help watch in case something was in the road. Mama fumbled inside her pocket for some matches, and by starlight she struck a match and ignited the lantern's wick. The weak flame soon strengthened and burned steadily. "If you will hold it out the window I think I can see the edge of the road," said Emily. Mama put her arm out the window and held the lantern up so Emily could see and Wanda stared past the little circle of dim light, watching for something in the road. "Here comes a car!" said Wanda and Emily pulled her car to the edge of the road and stopped, waiting until the other car had passed.
When they came to the end of the pavement, Emily had only the weeds to use as a guide for the edge of the road. Wanda knew they had only come about halfway. Her eyes were tired and she began to wish she had never asked to go to the program. She peered out into the darkness as they came to the cemetery. She thought she saw something but she knew it had to be a shadow, but she shivered anyway. The tall gravestones glistened in the starlight. They stood scattered among the graves like soldiers on guard. Wanda blinked and rubbed her eyes. Had she seen something white jump up between the graves? No, just because this was a cemetery didn't mean there were real ghosts here. Then there was no mistake about it; something big and white had jumped up and was coming straight toward the car! She gripped the seat and tried to tell Mama they were being chased by a ghost, but her voice wouldn't work! She could hear the ghost breathing as it got closer to them. Soon it was right beside the car!
"Ruff! Ruff! Ruff-ruff!" Wanda jumped from fright and covered her head with the tail of her skirt. "Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Mama. "That old dog scared me so bad I almost dropped the lantern!" The dog ran behind the car for a while, then turned and trotted back to the shadows of the cemetery to wait for another car to chase.
When Emily turned the car off the main road, trees blocked the starlight and the darkness seemed to close in around them even more. "Well, at least we are close enough to home now that we can walk the rest of the way if we have to," said Mama. Everyone was tired; it was way past bedtime. "Wanda, you'll have to carry the lantern home; my arm is too numb to carry it and Charlotte."
As they walked from Emily's house, Wanda said to Mama, "Thank you for finding a way for me to be in the program. I hope Daddy can get a car of his own soon."
(Please understand that parts of these stories may not have actually happened; for instance I don't know if a dog chased us or not. However, the main theme of the stories did happen.)
I remember being a child and wanting something so bad, like your sister, Wanda. Lots of times my mother just had to say "no" because we didn't have a car and she was divorced from my dad and he lived 2 hours away. My grandparents were close but my mom hated to ask them to take us anywhere that we didn't absolutely have to go because they did so much for us anyway.
ReplyDeleteStill enjoying your history!