TO BEGIN WITH I can’t tell you to buy a certain product or nor do I want too. I don’t give love advice

couldn’t begin to but I can tell you that there isn’t anything bbetter than a story made up or real. I’ve always loved being read to it’s a an opportunity to let someone else do the work while you the listner sit back and enjoy the adventure. My blog isn’t a blog but story time. I hope you enjoy the short ride.

“You’re kidding,” Maggie said.

“Nope, my grandma told me.”

“You’re kidding; your Grandma told you that they did it in the back seat?” We’d been friends most of our lives, and grew up practically next door, going to the same schools and sometimes liking the same boy.

I talked a lot about my grandparents.  Since Maggie’s grandparents were deceased by the time she was three I’d take Maggie with me to their farm. My parents thought together; we would have been too much. But Maggie was all right with that, and I knew she lived vicariously through my stories.

“Yeah, but they had a forty-seven Ford, I said. Grandma said it was the cat’s meow.

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” I said,” that it’s the same as the bomb in today’s language, and no, she didn’t tell me they did it, but what else would you do in the back seat of a car?” Gees, don’t you know anything?

Grandma said they had a great marriage, but she also said that almost didn’t.

“Why not?” she asked her large brown eyes praying for more.

“I miss her so much. She was very special and Grandpa too.” He was a little strange, but he always gave great hugs.

Anyway, when I was little, we’d come to their house for the weekend.

Sometimes, Mom and Dad would send me out here for the summer. I’d swim in the pond and help pick vegetables and put them up in jars. We’d never had to go to the store for milk. We had cows that supplied the milk. After milking, we’d put a cloth over the big silver bucket and strain off that part we shouldn’t drink. Grandma let it set for a while, and when it got cool, I’d churn it in this big jar with paddles. It took hours to make it thick and creamy and made this big yellow mound of butter It was great on the hot biscuits with the homemade jam. We made strawberry jelly; it was my favorite, but she made others too.  ever fruit we had it became jelly too. After we finished churning, we’d have a treat and no I’m not going to tell you what it was.

“Ok! Ok, but what did they do in the back seat?” Maggie, asked, her big eyes swooning.

I looked at Maggie. “I don’t know and who cares, anyway? This isn’t about that; it’s about my grandparents.”

“Ok, tell me about it. How old were they?”

“About our age,” Grandma said when they fell in love. But they knew each other all their lives. They grew up next door just across the creek.

I need a swim,” I said. Let’s go to the pond. It’s great.”

“Pond? Ugh, that’s gross.”

“Have you ever swum in a pond?”

“NO, but I’ve heard that it’s yucky.”

“Who told you that? I’ll bet Herbie told you that didn’t he?” I said. “He doesn’t know beans. I bet he hates taking a shower in the morning. He stinks. Probably needs deodorant.”

“Anyway,” said Maggie rolling her blue eyes. Tell me the story, I’m dying to know. I love romance stories.” “Her voice dropped in a conspiratorial whisper I have books. I’ve sneaked them into the house. My Mother would kill me if she knew. I hide them in a secret place.”

In the back of the closet behind your pile of winter sweaters, I know I found them looking for my shoes you never returned.” I sat smiling at Maggie, her O-shaped pink lipstick in perpetual surprise.

“Enough already tell me,” said Maggie, or I’m just going to just die.”

“Let’s go for a swim. The pond is just ahead and I’m hot.”

“OHMYGOD,” the pond! Said Maggie and frowned after me.

Maggie stuck her toe in the cool, dirty water than a foot and felt soft, cold mud between her toes.

She squealed. “My God, Herbie was right, it is gross.” “What was that?

Something nibbled at my toe.”

“Probably a sunfish,” I said. Grandpa used to fish for them with Grandma when they could sneak away.”

“I’m cool enough,” she said, shaking one of her tiny feet like a cat and turning her back to climb out of the mucky mud. “I want to hear the story.”

Maggie looked around. “Where are you?” She began flailing her arms like the TV robot. I was her best friend and went everywhere together. “Annie.” “Annie, she cried.”

I popped up beside her.

She let out a scream. “Oh my God, Annie, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” I said giggling, “but it’s so cool in the bottom and a big catfish was swimming around. Maybe Grandpa and Grandma had him hooked.”

“Catfish?” said Maggie

“Never mind, let’s go dry off under that big tree.”

“That’s the tree, isn’t it?” she said, pointing to the hundred-year-old oak in awe,”

“The tree that began everything.”

I’ve told Maggie everything. She already knew about the big oak tree close to Bear Grass Creek, which ran through their property. “Yep, this is the tree.” they sat down under its large, meaty tree roots like fingers that ran along the leafed soil. It was heavy with leaves just beginning to turn and hung close to the ground like a big full skirt.

“OK. Are you ready?” I asked.

“Yep,” Maggie said. “I’m all ears” removing a tiny pond slug that found its way into her ear. “Ohmygod” she said.

“Like I said… and Maggie began to yawn.”

They had known each other their whole life, but they didn’t get together until they were our age. When they were little, they were neighbors, and they used to play together while their parents would dip a cup from a big copper pot.”

“Copper pot?” asked Maggie.

“Yeah! Grandma called it a still because you never heard it. They hid it back in the trees, near the water. “It made white lightning,” she said.

“Wow,” Maggie said. “What’s white lightning?”

“Something that you shouldn’t drink too much of. Well, anyway, Grandpa and her, sat back here under the tree when they weren’t working. And Grandpa’s dad found them one day. Grandma didn’t say, but I bet they were caught kissing. And Grandpa’s daddy probably beat him.”

“Why do you think that?” asked Maggie.

“Because Grandpa has a scar,” pointing to my face.” Right here by his eye.

Grandma always kisses it when she sees him.”

“Wow. That’s nice,” she said dreamily.

“But one year, there was a drought, and it became the worst dry spell ever. There’s a big creek that used to be bigger in the backyard that separated the two pieces of land. The creek was really on Grandpa’s dad’s property. The sheriff came out.  Said that the creek belonged to the Sawyers, but the water belonged to everyone. Grandpa did everything to convince his dad they wouldn’t hear of it. Grandpa knew that if he put one toe on Grandma’s property or got too close to her, there would be big trouble and he’d get 

and he’d get hauled off to the jail and probably beat.”

“What he’d do? Did he take a big pole and put a bucket on the end of it?”

“No,” I said. “But that’s a good idea.”

“Grandma said that Grandpa shimmed up the big tree just on our side of the property and took a big bucket and a long rope, thinking he’d dip it out like a ladle of soup. Then he fell into the stream. Grandma’s dad, Great Grandpa, came out with a gun.

When Grandpa climbed out of the creek he threatened to shoot him.”

“Did anybody come to help him?” asked Maggie.

“No, but Grandma started to scream and nobody could shut her up, and that’s when the feud ended.”

“Well, what about the back seat of the car?”

“I’m getting to that. Like I said, the feud was over. Then there was a big storm, and it rained for days. The creek rose and went everywhere. The crops all got watered, so they didn’t have any reason to fight until one day, Grandma’s daddy found them under this tree again, looking up into its tall branches, and that’s when the real trouble began watching a shimmer of fish jump into the air.” They were only twelve then. He took Grandma by the arm and practically dragged her home. When Grandpa’s daddy saw him with his hand full of Grandpa’s hair, he got out his shotgun. Eye to eye if he ever sees him, or if he ever touched him again that he’d be dead.”

“Wow. How’d they ever get together Annie? I mean, my mom and dad would have watched me like a hawk.”

“Grandma said they cooled it for a while and waited for things to calm down. But they had a plan.”

“What kind of plan? They couldn’t run away or anything.” Maggie’s imagination was running in fast mode.

“Just listen,” I said with the authority of a teenager a year older than her best friend.

Maggie zipped her pink-colored lips.

“Grandpa got an old tin can and wrote Grandma some notes. He’d kick it like any old can, and it ended up in Grandma’s yard. One day, her daddy got a hold of it, but before he found out what was in it, the cow started mooing. He dropped the old can and ran to the barn, but it wasn’t really the cow it was Grandpa sounding like one. Anyway, they’d meet at different times. This went on for a long time, Grandma said, but when she turned fourteen, she told her mom and dad that she wanted to get married. They told her she was too young. She said she knew what she wanted and nothing was going to stop her. They had a big argument and they locked her in her bedroom and hoped she would change her mind. Except that was exactly wanted they wanted them to do. After midnight

Grandpa snuck over to help Grandma with her stuff. She only had a few things anyway. Two dresses and a pair of shoes that she only wore on Sundays, a necklace that her mother had given her, and a silver brush she wrapped up in a shawl that had belonged to her grandmother. They were so quiet that Grandpa’s beagle, Jack, didn’t hear them. Annie looked over at Maggie. She was quiet for a change.

Good, she thought, I’ll finish the story and then go for another swim before it gets too late. They didn’t get too far when they heard old Jack and then heard their dads. They tried to run faster, but they didn’t wear shoes. They ran toward the main road, but the beagle had a frail on them. They fell to a tall grassy spot, hoping to throw all of them off. But it didn’t work. When Grandpa raised his head, Grandma’s dad had a gun pointed at his ear.

Maggie. Maggie woke up lunch, was over. I came to find you. Maggie looked up in the face of her co-worker at the doctor’s office.

“What did you mean did he shoot him? “Were you daydreaming?”

“What where am I?” What time is it? Oh my gosh. Is he mad?”

“No, Doc’s still at the hospital on rounds, but you have a phone call. She needs to talk with you.”

“Did she say who she was?”

“Yeah, somebody by the name of Annie.”

“You’re kidding, right? That’s impossible unless it’s another Annie.”

Maggie hurried to the open door of her once. It smelled like water and dirt. The picture of her best friend was on the shelf above her desk picture of another decade, but she could never get Annie out of her mind. She’d been gone for ten years.

And then there was that story. The one she heard over and over in her mind. Annie had promised it was a love story, and it was, but what had happened to her grandpa and Grandma? The story wasn’t finished. Annie’s life was cut short. They were going to get together for dinner that night, but Annie was on her way back when a hit and run driver drunk driver ran her off the road. The headlines of the morning told the story. Maggie shook her head, trying to clear that long night out of her mind. They had made plans for her and Annie.

They wanted to open a desperately needed clinic, the first in the area.

She picked up the blinking red light. It was her boyfriend of three years.

“Hi, Honey. I thought I’d give you a call. It’s been kind of weird today.” “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Maggie said. “I was outside for lunch. You know that big oak tree. I fell asleep and dreamed about Annie.”

“Yeah, well listen to this…” I had to draw a mock ad for a paper. And all I could draw was a pond with catfish. You remember the one that Annie had in her stories about her Grandpa and Grandma. I don’t know if I believe them, but they were good stories. I wish I’d had a grandparents like hers. But I have you and I feel so lucky.”

“Me too,” Maggie said, very lucky.” Did I ever tell you that Annie thought you were gross?”

“Well, I was then, and ponds grossed me out and I still get shivers thinking about that slime between my toes.”

Maggie began to laugh. “Who’d ever thought I’d end up marrying you? It must have been fate. Annie’s responsible, you know, even if she thought you were weird. She did tell me that her grandpa was weird, too, but her grandma loved him.

“At least,” Maggie said, “Grandma’s dad didn’t kill him. Do you know the rest of that story she told, the one where she said that they did it in the back seat- of a 

forty-seven Ford?”

“No, but I have a surprise for you. I’ll pick you up after work.”

“Ok, I’ll be waiting.”

Also, this is my first and unfamiliar with this stuff. Be patient.