My Short Stories
by
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MY GRANDMOTHER’S BOARDING HOUSE
If a house could talk, this one would have many things to tell. Even after all the years, it still stands with an ageless dignity and grace, yet there is a certain sadness about it that is easily felt and hard to bear. The house was built in 1885 by a young preacher and school teacher named James Monroe Petty for his beautiful young wife, Emma. He had gone back to
Five children were born into this happy family. Although they really felt blessed, a tragedy was imminent. One sad Sunday, the young preacher died with a heart attack while he was in the pulpit of his church preaching the Sunday message. His young widow was left with five young children and no means of support. She had land, but it was difficult to get help in making it productive. For most young widows, remarriage was the only option. Emma made a disastrous choice to do so, and the charmer showed himself to be mean-spirited and abusive. Emma could not live with him and obtained a divorce. A divorced woman had a very difficult time and was often considered to be of undesirable character. The evil man managed to take many of her nicest possessions in the divorce, but he could not take her land and home because of provisions made by James.
Emma found herself back in the same situation of needing to make a living for herself and her children. A chance encounter with a woman from
By selling a few of her acres, Emma added two rooms and refurnished the house to make up for the possessions that the greedy man had taken from her. She had tables and benches built to seat more people in the dining room and opened for business. It was hard work and there were sometimes ups and downs that caused her to think she wouldn’t make it, but she called upon an inner strength and a favorite scripture of her husband James to help her through. The children grew up and thrived, eventually marrying and leaving home. Emma lived a long and happy life in the boarding house. After she died, her daughter Exa inherited the house. Even though she loved the house and had grown up there with lots of memorable times, she couldn’t live there. Eventually, she boarded up the windows and doors and left the house empty because she had her own home and life in another community.
As the house sat there, uninvited guests entered. Small animals and insects found their ways in. Vandals destroyed what they could and marred the beautiful floors and wall paper. The old house with its underlying beauty still evident was in a sad state of disrepair. Many considered it an eyesore and thought it should be destroyed. If they only knew the stories of events that occurred within its walls! If they only knew how important this house had been to the community!
Emma Gets Arrested!
It was a success from the beginning. After the unique way Emma first advertised by giving away free lunches to the men at the gin and mill and on the railroad, the house drew customers in to eat Sunday dinners, and then the railroaders stayed and brought their families to stay when they visited them. Emma soon had her debts paid. Her beautifully furnished rooms were used for parties and receptions. Even a few weddings were held there. The people trusted Emma to prepare and serve a beautiful reception.
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About the Book
MY SHORT STORIES is a compilation of the many stories that have floated in and out of the author’s mind for years. Some of the characters are based on people she has known who have impressed her or inspired her. Most are strictly from her vivid imagination.
MY SHORT STORIES is the author’s second book. The first one, MY TOW GRANDMOTHERS: EMMA AND SPARROW, while fiction, was based on tow very different family personalities who were important in the author’s life.
Most of these stories share poignancy and humor, a difficult combination sometimes, but as the author reveals, very true to life as we know and experience it. One example is the red haired girl in The Funeral. She is a delightful child similar to one that most readers have met. Characters like Starr from the story My Own Belle Starr show an admirable strength of character. Others, like the doctors in My Friend the Country Doctor, are people the reader will enjoy meeting. The Tale of a Tooth is a fantasy based on a read incident with a tooth, and it will bring a smile to the reader. In My Grandmother’s Boarding House, Emma, a character from the first book, MY TWO GRANDMOTHERS: EMMA AND SPARROW appear again, but the house itself is an important character this time. Almost all the characters cause the reader to feel an intensity of emotions somewhere between pain and laughter.
About the Author
Sybil Taylor Heath, 85 years old, lives in the historical small East Texas town of