Broken Promises

Excerpt 1

Alice knew in her heart that Millie was a good girl, but she took an instant dislike to her and that was the end, as far as Jacob was concerned. She did not care how sad he would be or that it might ruin his life. She was a woman with very few virtues.

Alice did feel sad when her young brother went away. “Better have him go now and save a lifetime with that trollop,” she piped, under her hot spiteful breath.

Millie was waiting for Jacob to come and say good-bye. He always stopped on his way to the train after his weekend visit. Hearing a knock, she eagerly raced to greet her soul mate, but instead a neighbor stood holding a message from Alice.

“Jacob won’t be coming by this morning. Alice told me to bring you this message. She said to tell you that he will not be coming back, so go ahead and make your own plans. She said that you would know what she meant.”

Rushing through Millie’s head were the words, “go ahead and make your own plans.” At that moment life had no significance for this mother to be. She felt cold and alone. “How could he do this?” she wondered.

Millie began wearing loose clothing trying to hide her condition for as long as possible. She tried to keep it a secret from her mother, but Jane noticed that her daughter was pale and losing weight. She said nothing to Millie, hoping that she would bring up the subject. Eventually every one in the village would know the forbidden secret.

It was a cold February afternoon when the contractions began. Millie was still hoping that somehow Jacob would have a change of heart and return to help her out of this dilemma. The baby was getting restless in her womb eager to begin it’s new life.

Excerpt 2

The steps were long and in a bent over position, the man moved quickly sinking into the deep ruts in the road. In a few moments he was out of sight. William stood gazing in silence, feeling shivers in his spine. He held the lace curtain back and pushed his face against the cold pane of glass thinking that he might get one more glimpse of this stranger called father. He held Sally’s hand and noticed that she was also trembling.

“Come on Sally, let’s go down stairs and have some breakfast. Be quiet though, we must not wake mother.”

The two abandoned youngsters softly wormed their way down the stairs hanging onto the rail, heading for the kitchen. To their surprise their mother was already up and making breakfast.

“Did you see Father leave?” William asked in a tearful voice.

“Yes,” his mother answered.

Excerpt 3

Alice went back to her rocking and fretting. She looked at the stovetop and decided it needed polishing. Getting the jar of vaseline, she put some on a rag and began rubbing the black cast iron stovetop vigorously. Getting another clean cloth, she made it shine. The house was clean, but it was whispering sounds of hate. The vicious tongue that lived between these walls created a mournful echo. The sounds from the wind were eerie. Evil spirits were whispering in Alice’s head.

“What are you saying?” she spoke out loud as if they could answer her back.

The north winds were the worst. On days like this, Alice was sure the house was haunted. Many people said that it was full of evil spirits, but that was doubtful.

The later it got the more she felt concern. “In one way I wish that he would never return, but then again, what would the neighbors say,” she spit the words.

Alice awoke early and checked his bed to see if he had slept there. His bed was unruffled. There was no sign of Freddie anywhere. He had not returned.

“Oh well, somebody must have asked him to stay at their house last night. I bet Sue is hiding him. She thinks that I am such a bad mother. He’ll come home soon.” Her rambling ran on well into the afternoon.

Excerpt 4

The winds groaned. The froth flowing down the mountain was spinning around the rocky ledge dumping into the river below. Freddie stared into the whirling dancing white foam. The sun suddenly came out and shone brightly on the brilliant gem studded whirlpool below. Up the water came and spun back down again. It was beckoning Freddie in a seductive manner. He began to cry.

Thoughts of his neighbor Sue came to his mind. “What is she doing now?” he wondered. “Is she baking cookies, or feeding the baby chickens, or maybe writing another story?”

He smiled and began laughing in his groaning voice. Dizziness was overtaking him. He lay back hanging onto a slippery rock. His gloves were full of holes and his hands were freezing.

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