My Story--Part 2

Two weeks later, Lisbeth was the one fussing while Danny ran around the house whooping and riding an imaginary bronco. “Why do we have to go to Aunt Jo’s? I want to ride roller coasters and swim in the pool all day, not look at cows and chickens,” she mumbled while foraging in the back of her closet. “I’d rather stay home.” Even as she said it, she knew she was being unfair. Danny was thrilled about driving out to the farm in Ohio and, since their parents couldn’t get off work for a long vacation, they had called her dad’s sister Jo to see if she could keep the kids at her place for a few weeks. Lisbeth knew how badly her parents felt about canceling their Disney vacation, so she knew that if they heard her complaining they’d be hurt. She’d just have to survive a few weeks. She could do that…Couldn’t she?

Lisbeth’s spent the whole car ride to Columbus reading—she finished The Secret Garden and was almost to the part in Prince Caspian where Lucy finds Aslan when Danny announced he was bored and her mom suggested they play the ABC game. By the time the car turned onto Aunt Jo’s gravel lane in West Liberty they had exhausted all the letters in the alphabet and Danny’s ability of sitting in a seat. Glancing out the window at the dull white farmhouse and the bright red barn, Lisbeth reminded herself she intended to be miserable. The three travelers had just climbed out into the sunshine when Aunt Jo called to them from the wide front porch.

“Oh you’re just in time! Your uncle is in the barn. Chloe just had kittens and he went to see where she’s hid them. You two run along and see if you can help him. Anne dearie, you just come up and sit in this rocker and I’ll bring you some lemonade.”

Danny whooped and took off running towards the barn and after a moment’s hesitation Lisbeth jogged after him. Glancing back to see her mom take a tall glass from her aunt, she smiled slightly before turning back towards the pitch black barn entrance. Kittens! I wonder if Mom will let us keep one? She stopped just inside the door while her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She heard Danny’s excited squeal, then her uncle’s deep murmur reminding him to move softly. Tiptoeing over to where they stood in one of the stalls, she peaked around Danny’s shoulder to get a glimpse of the little mamma and the new arrivals. Chloe, a tan and white striped tabby, lay on her side licking the head of one of her kittens. The others lay in the straw nuzzling up against her soft fur. One looked like a miniature of his mother, two were pure white, and the fourth—the one getting the bath—was gray with a white-tipped tail. Maybe this won’t be such a bad vacation after all, she thought, as a grin crept across her face.

The End.