“Grab me a case of wide-mouth Ball jars, Sissie. I gotta can up the ‘maters today ‘fore they all go ta mush.â€
“Okay, Mama. Is there anythin’ else ya need from the Piggly Wiggly?â€
“Don’t think so, girl. Just don’t forget them jars, now.â€
Bess hung up the kitchen phone, sat at the table and sipped on her fast-cooling coffee. “Lawdie! It’s gonna be a scorcher! Think I’ll make up another jug of sweet tea. The menfolks are gonna be a-wanting somethin’ cool-like ‘round noon.â€
Life on the family farm was far from easy. Bess had been up since 4, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, slopping the hogs, and fetching kindling for the kitchen stove. The men, her husband and three sons, were out in the fields working the land for next spring’s planting. Sissie, the oldest child and only daughter, worked in town for the doctor and brought in the only regular paycheck.
“She’s a good girl, Sissie is,†muttered Bess as she bustled around the kitchen getting the canning supplies ready. “Sure is good of Doc Henry to hire her for his sec’tary.â€
Sissie hung up the office phone and made herself a note to remember to stop by the store before heading home. Mama didn’t ask for much, and never anything for herself. “Wish life was easier on her,” she thought.
“Good morning, Doc Henry. Johnny Martin is in the waitin’ room with a bruised up ankle. Says he fell outta the apple tree getting his Mama enough fruit for a pie. And, Suse Mayhan has a croupy sounding cough. Who shall I bring in first?”
Out in the field Paps and the boys pushed the mule to walk the plow in straight lines. Billy and Mick, the babies, were 12 year old twins, but they worked ever’ bit as hard as their Paps and older brother, Zeke who was 17.
“All right, boys. Let’s finish this row and get on in the house to your Mama’s good cookin.”
“Get up, Sal!”
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Trifecta’s editors asked for 33-333 words using MOUTH in its third definition:
3: something that resembles a mouth especially in affording entrance or exit: as
a : the place where a stream enters a larger body of water
b : the surface opening of an underground cavity
c : the opening of a container
d : an opening in the side of an organ flue pipe
these are my 333 . . . now you go write your own. And, do check out the other fantastic writers while you’re at it. It’s a great community.
