Part 24 If Oak Trees Could Talk
Welcome back! I hope that you’ve had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Mine was special as my two oldest sisters from Ohio and Kentucky came to visit with some of their families! As we gathered around our Thanksgiving feast of abundance, I was grateful and blessed to have this time with them.
If you’ve been following along with my Video blogs, then you already know how important family is to me by listening to If Oak Trees Could Talk! Today we are continuing in Chapter 13 The Picnic!
Chapter 13
The Picnic!
She spread out the blanket on the ground and placed the hamburgers and onion rings inside the picnic basket along with a couple of wine glasses. She also placed the bottle of wine in an ice bucket. She propped the radio beside the basket along with the bathrobe that she found for her Daddy. As she had gotten her Mom’s attention, she pointed to the house and whispered to her that that was where she was going to be if her mother needed anything. Just as she was ready to walk away, a Sheriff’s car came barreling into the driveway with flashing lights and a siren screaming.
Robert walked quickly toward the driveway to meet the Sheriff’s car and Amelia and the boys followed as well to prevent them from interrupting her parents. When they had arrived at the driveway, Eugene Perkins stepped out of the police car.
“Robert, Ms. Amelia, I am sure you know why I’m here, right?” Eugene asked.
“Hello Eugene, how are you? How are your parents?” Amelia asked hoping to change the subject. Helen taught Amelia to be polite and sociable. There wasn’t any reason to be rude; after all, Amelia had gone almost thirteen years of school with Eugene if you count kindergarten. She knew every member of his family and his parents were close friends to hers.
“My folks are fine, Ms. Amelia. Speaking of folks, Ms. Amelia, How are yours doing?” Eugene probed as he looked toward the old Oak tree.
“Well, Eugene, I am sure that they’ve been better, but they’re not doing badly!” Amelia stated.
“Now Ms. Amelia, we’re going to have to quit beating around the bush here, now you know why I am here, right?” Eugene once again asked as he looked Amelia right in the eyes.
“Well, I honestly don’t know why you’re here Eugene.” Amelia answered. “I don’t understand exactly. Are we in some kind of trouble?”
“Well, I guess you can say that Ms. Amelia, I’ve got to take your parents back to Glenview. I had gotten a call from Mr. Hodges, accusing you of taking your parents out of the home illegally. Is this true?” Eugene once again probed as he kept looking down toward the Oak tree. By this time a sound of music was coming from the tree and Eugene became more and more curious as to what was going on down there.
“I didn’t know that I had done anything illegal, Eugene. It wasn’t like they are imprisoned at Glenview. I am the one, with their permission of course, that had signed them into Glenview. I didn’t think it would be illegal to take them out.”
“Well, Ms. Amelia, Mr. Hodges disagrees. He says that your parents are liable for a lot of expenses and that you were not advised by the staff as to whether or not they were able to leave Glenview. I think it would be best if I just took your parents back, and then maybe you do things differently if you choose to take them out again. Mr. Hodges is pressing charges of kidnapping against you.”
“Now, Eugene, you know that is not the truth. You have parents that are getting older, if your father decided to leave a facility on his own accord, mine you, like Glenview, wouldn’t you want to help your mother find him? By the way, do you still live at home with your parents? Amelia stalled.
“Yes, Ms. Amelia I still live with my parents. Do you know how often I am asked that question?” Eugene asked as he obviously was embarrassed.
“I’m asking you as a friend, Eugene, please just give us some more time. Momma thinks that she might be able to reach Daddy so that he will come back to us. Eugene I’m telling you and Mr. Hodges right now, if they refuse to go back into Glenview, then there is nothing that I can do about it but stand by what they want!”
“Okay, Ms. Amelia, I’m going to turn my back on what I’ve seen here today. I will give your mother until morning to see what happens with Mr. Henry. I believe that I can hold Mr. Hodges off until then, but after that, I cannot promise you that I can help you.” Eugene said while cocking his head at a certain angle to look in Amelia’s eyes because the sun was starting to set and was shining right in Eugene’s face.
“Fair enough Eugene! Thank you. We will see what we can do! Tell your parents hello for us.” Amelia said with a sigh of relief.
Eugene got in his police car, and Amelia could hear him talking on his radio. “That’s a negative on Mr. Henry Tyler’s twenty. We’ll just have to check back later!”
He then started his car and sped off.
The sun had gone down rather quickly and it seemed as though the moon was in a hurry to shine forth. When Amelia looked toward the Oak tree she could see the silhouette of two people. She watched in awe as her parents swayed softly in an embrace to faint sounds of music. Amelia sighed once again because she knew that only her Momma could have gotten her Daddy down from the tree without breaking any bones. The radio continued to play softly and she could hear soft laughter coming from her parent’s direction. From a distance everything appeared as it should be. Both of her parents seemed as though nothing had robbed them of their past year’s happiness, but Amelia wondered how it would be if she drew closer?
Amelia loved what she was witnessing. However, she knew that it was going to come to an abrupt end. Although Eugene Perkins gave them a break this time, Amelia knew his reputation of being ruthless at times. He was a Sheriff who thought more of himself than anyone else did and quite frankly he let the job go to his head. He liked to throw his weight around and lord over people when he had an opportunity. Amelia considered the situation with her parents to be an awesome opportunity for him.
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk!, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are about half way through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply subscribe to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Part 22 If Oak Trees Could Talk!
Hello Everyone, I’ve been out and about quite a bit the past month, but I want to sincerely thank you for your patience and for hanging in here with me as I continue reading and Video blogging my Romance/Suspense Novel If Oak Trees Could Talk!
Chapter 12
No Place Like Home!
Suddenly, the boys came running around from the side porch and frightened her!
“What are you doing, Momma? Are you going in or not?” Dylan asked, as he walked over and lifted up a potted plant to find the house key placed underneath.
“Yes, sweetie, I was just having some wonderful memories!” Amelia whispered.
“We have always loved it here too, Mom, we miss being here. Can we just come over some time to hang out like we used to?” Rob asked.
“Well, I don’t know why we couldn’t! After all this house is like a member of the family, it needs to have life in it!” Amelia stated with a smile. “Now, let’s get in here and get what Gramma needs for her picnic!”
“Gramma’s having a picnic? Will it be in the gardens like we used to do?” Dylan asked with excitement.
“No, I’m afraid not, boys, this is a special picnic just for adults, okay?” Amelia replied.
“Yuck, it’s one of those kinds of picnics. Don’t worry we don’t ever want to go to that kind of stuff anyway!” Rob said with a wrinkled up look on his face.
As the three talked they moved forward through the door of Amelia’s childhood home. Everything was neatly in its place, just as it was when Henry and Helen left, but the house never felt the same. It never smelled the same either. Before Helen’s accident, the home always seemed so warm and inviting and smelled of wonderful scents of fresh baked goods. Helen loved to cook and bake for not only her own family but she was always fixing meals or baking breads, cakes, pies or other delectable sweets to take to neighbors, shut-ins, or even the residents at Glenview Residential Home for the Elderly. It was ironic that she herself became one of those residents!
When her parents were well, Amelia brought the boys over every day to see their grandparents. Henry would take the boys outside into the garage or down by the creek or down by the Oak tree. He was always telling them funny stories and helping them to become who they were going to grow up to be. Helen, of course, always spoiled the boys rotten. She always had fresh baked muffins or cookies with hot cocoa loaded either in marshmallows or with whipped cream with cherries on top. Helen would have the cups ready, the hot cocoa made and waiting for the boys when they come through her door! No greater parents or life could Amelia have asked for.
“Man, there it is!” Dylan let out a shout!
“There what is?” Rob asked his brother.
“That pocketknife that Gramps gave me, I’ve looked all over the place for it! I remember now that Gramps said that he would sharpen it up for me. He always said that a dull knife was actually more dangerous than a sharp knife. He was going to sharpen it so that he could teach us how to carve. Gramps always taught us things like that. I sure do miss his yard trips!”
“What are yard trips?” Amelia asked
“They were trips that Gramps would take us on and we would explore. We never came into the yard that we never learned something new! One time he showed us this big old worm moving through the grass. He said that you could tell if there was going to be a good or bad winter by the color of those worms.” Dylan said as he opened and shut his pocketknife. He checked to see how sharp it was by seeing if it would shave the hairs on his arm.
“Woolly Worms, That’s what he called them! He said they were Woolly worms!” Rob joined in.
“I remember that the Woolly Worm he showed us was browner then it was black and he said that the winter wasn’t going to be bad! He told us if the worm would have been blacker than brown that we could expect a bad winter. He started giggling when he told us about the bad winter. He winked at us and said that if we were to have a bad winter, then that would just have meant that we would have to blow up some tire inner tubes to sleigh ride down to the old Oak tree in the side yard. He also said that it meant that we would just get special treats! He licked his lips and told us to bring on the hot spiced apple cider or hot chocolate with extra marshmallows! Dylan continued, as everyone giggled while picturing Henry’s impish grin.
“Okay, we’ve got to hurry and get what we came in here for! I am sure Gramma is probably wondering about us! Dylan please search in the pantry closet and see if you can find a picnic basket. Rob would you go upstairs please to the linen closet in the hallway, and get a blanket? It doesn’t matter what kind, just a blanket. I will go get Gramma her radio and new batteries.
They each headed off in different directions to get the supplies that Helen had requested that they bring to her. As they met in the living room, each one of them had the same thought.
“Shouldn’t we get some kind of clothes for Gramps to put on?” Rob asked with a giggle.
“Yes, I suppose that we should,” Amelia agreed with a slight grin on her face as well. “I will go and get him something, whether or not your Gramma can get him to put them on will be questionable! Wait just a second boys, I’ve got to go to the wine cellar as well! If Gramma is having a romantic picnic, than they’ve got to have wine. I’ll be right back. We should all go together to give these things to her!”
The boys waited patiently in the living room where they had spent so much of their time. Pictures of their parents and themselves lined a wall that Gramma and Gramps called the “Wall of Fame!” The boys stood staring at the pictures as they told a wonderful story about a happy family that seemed to have everything.
“Man looking at this wall is sad!” Rob blurted out.
“I love looking at all of the old photos, especially of Gramps and Gramma! Even at Mom’s pictures when she was young. Look at that goofy grin. Who poses like that?” Dylan said with a chuckle.
“You do, look at that picture of you! You look just like Mom in that picture, look at you’re goofy grin. Oh wait! Look at Gramps in that picture! I take it back you look just like him with his goofy grin!” Rob said as he became more and more excited while looking at the pictures and stating something that had not really appeared so real to them before.
“Goodness if we look like Gramps when we are young……Don’t even say it!” Dylan ordered. “Don’t even say it!”
Suddenly their humorous revelation of their family portraits was interrupted when their Mom walked back into the room.
“What’s so funny, boys?” She probed as a smile come on her face seeing that the boys seemed happy about something.
“Believe us, it is nothing that we ever wanted to talk about Mom!” Rob answered as he threw a punch into Dylan’s arm.
“No, Mam, me neither.” Dylan agreed as he socked his brother back!
“Well, okay, let’s move it out! Gramma probably thinks we’ve gotten lost like Gramps today! Let’s get this stuff to her!” Mom ordered. “Just leave the door, we will come back up and get it later!” She continued as she walked toward the front door.
Thanks again for reading along or “tuning in” each week to If Oak Trees Could Talk!
If You would like more information on how to purchase your copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk or any of my other books please go to my Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Hornback/e/B00J43R78C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1413214474&sr=8-1
Never miss a week of hearing or reading along of If Oak Trees Could Talk! Please go to my blog at https://authorartistmomof2.wordpress.com/ as every week is listed in the archives! You can also find my story published in the Lakeview Times http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
As always I would love to hear from you! If you have recently began reading along or have found my video blogs and would want to hear the entire story please Subscribe to my Youtube Video Blogs!
Thanks for all of the new followers, comments and the “likes.” They really encourage me to continue sharing each week! Until next time, I hope you have an awesome week!
Dancing and Prancing Leaves!
Hello Friends, I know that this week I am changing it up a bit from my usual Video Blog If Oak Trees Could Talk. The reason is simply because I live in a virtual golden and russet forest this time of year and I love it! I’ve included a video of this rainy autumn morning in Georgia and I hope a little inspiration for you today!
It is a rainy Monday morning in Georgia as I am writing this! I simply love my times out on my front porch, in my wooded jungle of sorts, sipping my morning coffee and simply listening and watching as I spend time in His presence!
Autumn leaves are swirling around in the current of the wind until they slowly make their way to the ground! However, I’ve noticed one leaf this morning that seems to be rebellious, out into a current of its own, golden in color, swirling and dancing in the wind! It seemed that it too would hit the ground as it came swirling downward. Then suddenly it would catch another current and soar up into the air again! I couldn’t take my eyes off of that leaf until finally after what seemed like the longest while of it dancing and prancing through the air, it finally swirled down and around and around until it lay down so ever gently on the only bear place on the ground!
I thought how weird that leaf was but then I felt as though the Lord was speaking to me in what I had just witnessed. He has made us as unique as this beautiful swirling leaf. He has called us to come out from among the crowd and do something uniquely designed for us to do, that we alone have been created to do! What I thought was rebellion, was simply obedience, one seemingly out on its own dancing and catching the wind of His breath and Spirit as He directed the current! It was a precious moment for me this morning as I seem to struggle sometimes with the fact that I’m out here feeling very alone sometimes with my hopes and dreams. It’s not like I do not have supporters and those that cheer me or encourage me, but what the Lord puts in your heart of hearts sometimes seems allusive at times and the self-doubt as to whether you’re chasing a pipe dream kicks in!
Ah…… I breathe in a peaceful sigh as the Lord always sends the little assurances like only He can to encourage me! This morning was a great pick me up as I am soaring high under the power of His breath!
Thank you for spending this time with me! Be encouraged that you’re always under the watchful eye of the One who created you! Blessings to you my dear friends! As always I would love to hear from you! If you have recently began reading along or have found my video blogs and would want to hear more please Subscribe to my Youtube Video Blogs!
Selling now on Amazon for only $1.99! Check out the rest of my books on my Author Page!
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Hornback/e/B00J43R78C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1413214474&sr=8-1
Selling now on Amazon for only $1.99!
Check out the rest of my books on my Author Page!
Authorartistmomof2 
You must be logged in to post a comment.