Becoming a Writer

Rebecca loves to read - and its evident in her writing. I love to see the stories she comes up with. They are way cooler than the only story I ever remember writing - The day it rained strawberries.
Here's her latest story:

Oh please, thought Suzie, please go on. Don’t look here. Suzie was still crouched down in her hiding place in the old musty cellar. She hoped the soldier didn’t find her. She did not want to be a servant in the king’s palace. The King didn’t even govern over them. Well at least he hadn’t until the last three months. Her brother Daniel had already been taken by the king’s soldiers a month ago in their stay in the bordering kingdom for their vacation. Suzie shuddered at the thought of the horrible memory. They had been getting ready for bed when they came. Judah had come and warned them. As soon as they heard the news her parents bolted the door shut and started moving the table towards the door. She remembered her father’s unusually stern voice saying,” Away from there SuzIah!” She and Daniel had jumped away from the door, just as the soldiers had barged in. They were big, strong and muscled, their pointed spears gleaming in the moonlight. She remembered the duke (looking elegant in his purple satin sashe) looking directly at Daniel and saying in his nasal voice, “ Just the sort the king is looking for. Take him.” She remembered the soldiers grabbing Daniel, and her father trying to fight, but was soon thrust aside by the soldier. She wanted to scream as she watched Daniel being pushed into a cage-like wagon, and being chained up. That had been a month ago, but she still remembered it so vividly. It had happened so fast, but still when it happened she felt as if it were going by so slowly, like torture. Now the door was always bolted shut, and the windows always blocked with cloth. She missed Daniel more than ever. Old Josiah used to say that you never know how much you love something until it’s gone. Boy did she know what he meant. Daniel was always so kind, so willing to help, and he was filled with the power of God. You could feel the power when he spoke, his voice always firm but soft, that it made you believe that you could overcome any obstacle that lay before you. Daniel was what Old Josiah would call “ a very righteous child” Everyone wanted to be more like him, more kind, more loving, more trusting in the Lord. Stepping out of her daydreamish memory, Suzie heaved a sigh of relief. The soldier had not seen her. Her whole family was safe. Her whole family? Suzie almost screamed at a sudden realization. In her hurry to hide, she had forgotten her baby sister, Miri! Surely they wouldn’t bother to take a baby, would they? But what if, Oh no! What if they took Miri and waited for her to grow up? And then they used her? She prayed, her heart still thudding violently, that they would not touch Miri. She waited another five minutes until she heard the door shut. Thank goodness! Miri was still there sleeping. But as Suzie looked around, she saw that their potatoes, bread and milk were gone. Oh well. They still had water, pomegranates and sunflower seeds. Oh! Why couldn’t the Babylonians just leave them alone. She wished that she wasn’t a Hebrew. As soon as the words entered her brain she instantly regretted it. Daniel would never think such a thing! And it wasn’t just the Hebrews who the Babylonians were bothering. A few of their neighbors who weren’t Hebrew had been disturbed too. Suddenly, Suzie heard crying. She sighed. Miri was awake. “All right, I’m coming Miri.”. She went and took Miri out of the cradle and held her. “There there” she cooed. “Everything’s all right.” Mother will be back at her regular time. It’s fine”. No it is not fine! a voice said inside her head. Daniel is gone and will never return! Father is gone and won’t be back for two weeks, and mother is gone most of the day. And most of all, there are Babylonians! Miri quieted down and Suzie went to grab a small bit of water for herself. Suzie set Miri down and went to the back window. Slowly she pushed away the cloth. Good! She said to herself. The Babylonians are gone. She knew they weren’t gone forever, but at least she couldn’t see them. As Old Josiah would say, ‘Out of sight, out of mind’. She wished they could be gone forever. But she knew they’d be back next week. She sighed, then quickly put back the cloth. She wished mother were here. At least she knew that mother would be back. With Daniel, she knew it would be years before he’d come back., because in order for him to come back, King Nebechanezar would have to be dead, and that wouldn’t happen in a long time. Suddenly she felt ashamed. She should stop moping, and count her blessings like Daniel would. She began to think about her Blessings.
Blessing# 1. Miri is alive and well
Blessing #2. I am alive and well
Blessing#3. The Babylonians did not take me or Miri
Blessing#4. We still have water, pomegranates, and sunflower seeds
Blessing#5. Mother should be home in three hours
Blessing#6. Miri is not crying
Blessing#7. I am not sick
Blessing#8. Mother and Miri are not sick.
Blessing#9. Hopefully no one in my family is dead
Blessing#10. Father should return in two weeks
But if you have more troubles than you have blessings, what’s the point of counting the blessings? she thought. She could think of at least forty four troubles. She glanced out the window again and saw a goat. It would be nice to be a goat. Not a trouble in the world, never worrying about Babylonians, or thinking that your father might be dead, that your mother might never return, that your brother is gone, that your brother just had to be the best brother in the world, that no one but Hebrews can pronounce your name so you must be called Suzie, that you don’t know when your next meal might be, if you’ll be taken captive by the Babylonians, that your sister might be taken, that your family could be, that you could be killed, that you might never see the bible which so many talk about. A goat doesn’t have a worry in the world, when a human, namely me, has a hundred. She thought all of these things and quickly forgot her ten pointless blessings. After thinking all of this, Suzie began to cry. Tears began to stream down her face. What am I doing, crying like this? Daniel could have a thousand more troubles than me, same with an old imaginary woman whose children have been captured and husband been killed. Even knowing this, she still thought that she was the worst off person in the world. She thought of her wish to be the goat, and instantly thought of how childish it was to want such a thing. Miri started crying again and Suzie instantly shoved the cloth back into the window and ran to Miri. “Don’t worry Miri. I’m here. Everything is going to be all right. Mother should be home in an hour.” What am I saying? Norhing can be all right! How could it be? Just because Mother is suppose to be coming home in an hour doesn’t mean our troubles automatically disappear. It means that one little inch of worrying is gone. What does that got to do with it? But she knew that she wouldn’t be half as troubled if Mother were home. She tried to think of something to do with Miri to pass the time. She couldn’t think of anything, and after a long time, she decided to get supper ready. She got one of the pomegranates and sliced it and took a little piece and smashed it into very tiny pieces for Miri. Then she got out the two plates that the family owned (the only two plates) and set them down on the cloth which was the table. After that she resolved in taking care of Miri, who had just spit up. “Oh Miri..” she sighed. She got a cloth and wiped it up, rinsed the cloth and hung it up to dry. Miri began to whine. “All right, all right”, Suzie said. She bent down and picked Miri up and held her, but she still cried. Your fussy today aren’t you.” Suzie said. She cuddled her, but still she cried. She waited for ten minutes until Miri quieted down. Once she did, Suzie went to set her down in the cradle. She rocked the cradle until Miri fell asleep. Once she did, Suzie crept away silently. She sighed. She was tired. It had taken so long to get her to sleep. She wished Daniel was there. It never took him long to quiet Miri. Suzie wanted to get out of the house. Now that the Babylonians were gone and Miri was asleep she finally could. She grabbed the water pitcher and went to the well. She might as well do something useful. As she walked towards the well, she ran into Delia, who was also carrying a water pitcher. “Hello Delia.” she said. “Hello” said Delia shyly. “Are you going to the well too?” she asked. “Yes.” said Suzie. “Where’s Merad?” she asked, “I haven’t seen him lately.” “He’s not feeling well.” said Delia sharply. Hmm. Suzie thought, I wonder what happened to him. Suzie wasn’t stupid, and she could tell that Delia was obviously lying. “Where’s Daniel?” Delia said in a mocking voice. Suzie’s face flushed red. “You very well know what happened to him. I’ll bet Merad isn’t sick, I bet he got taken away by the soldiers!” Suzie snapped. “Why you little… Your mother will hear about this!” Delia said angrily. “Fine.” replied Suzie. “Yours will too.” She quickly ran ahead to the well before Delia could get there and filled up the water pitcher, then walked back home the long way to avoid meeting Delia. When she got to the house Miri began to wake up. Suzie sighed. She hoped Miri wouldn’t cry. But of course, she did. Suzie went to go get her. She picked her up. Her cries instantly stopped. She held Miri and walked outside. Miri would probably feel a little cooped up to. Miri did seem happier once they got outside. Suzie kept her out there for a little while then took her back inside. When they got inside Suzie sat down with Miri and waited for mother to come home. A little while later Mother came home! Suzie quickly sat Miri down and ran to Mother. “Mother!” she said. “Hello sweet. As soon as Miri heard Mother’s voice she began crying. “I’m coming sweetie, I’m coming.” Mother said. She went and picked up Miri and the cries instantly stopped. “Mother there were soldiers in the house!” Suzie exclaimed. “Soldiers!” Mother exclaimed. “What did they do!?” Suzie told her the whole story. “Well I’m glad no one was hurt.” Mother said. “I see you’ve prepared dinner for us.” “Yes,” Suzie said. “Thank you.” Throughout dinner she told mother the events of the day, about her scuffle with Delia, and finally asked, “Did Merab really get taken away by the soldiers?” “Well I don’t know sweetie. It is a harsh accusation, but from the way you described Delia I think you might be right.” Mother replied. “I suppose it made you angry when Delia asked you about Daniel. How do you think she felt when you accused Merab of having been taken captive?” “Yes, I suppose it was a little harsh. I hope I didn’t hurt her too much. But Mother she was rude to me” Suzie said. “But sweetie, you should treat others the way you want to be treated.” Her mother responded. “Yes,” said Suzie. She bit into her pomegrante. Her lips puckered. It was a little bit sour. Suzie thought about what her Mother had said all through the evening. After Supper she worked on her godseye and helped with Miri. Before she went to bed she washed her face, and still thought about it. “Good night Mother.” Suzie said. Mother gave her a quick kiss. Then Suzie went to her blanket and Pillow filled with goose down. She said her prayers and asked God to help her to know what to do with Delia. She prayed for Daniel and for Merab too. Then she went to sleep. In her dream, Daniel worked for King Nebechanezar. Only the Daniel in the dream wasn’t her brother. It was a different Daniel and the king had called him Beltashazar (bel-tay-say-zar). Daniel was smart and wise. He had friends too. He and his friends to eat the foods they were offered. “It just isn’t kosher!” one of them exclaimed. Daniel had an experiment. He and his friends ate their food, while the Babylonian boys ate the unhealthy food. In the end, Daniel and his friends were much more healthy. The next day before mother left, Suzie told her about the dream she had had the night before. They had a breakfast of sunflower seeds and water. As soon as Mother was about to leave, they had a family prayer(with what little family they had left). Suzie hoped Mother would bring home grain. The morning went by fairly quickly. There were no soldiers and all remained peaceful until Miri got hurt. Miri was squirming in Suzie’s arms, and Suzie wasn’t paying much attention, and Miri fell. Luckily they were near the table blanket so her fall was cushioned. But Miri screamed and got a big bruise on her arm, so you could tell she was hurting. It took quite a while for Miri to quiet down, and throughout that time Suzie was worried that Miri might be seriously hurt. She gave Miri plenty of water and drank a little herself, until all the water was gone. Suzie waited for Miri to fall asleep, but that didn’t happen for a long time, and all the while she was very thirsty and hot. Once Miri finally fell asleep, Suzie quickly set her down in the cradle, grabbed the water pitcher, and went to the well for water. On the way there she passed Judah. “Hello Judah!” she called. “Hello SuzIhanna.” he said in his usual gruff voice. “Are you going to the well?” “I am” Suzie replied. “Would you mind getting some water for me?” he said. “No, not at all Judah.” “Thank-you” She would have to make two trips to the well! She didn’t know why she’d said yes. Miri would probably wake before then, and she planned to stop by at Delia’s house. Oh well. She’d have to go very fast. Quickly she ran to the well. She filled the water pitcher and ran to Judah’s house. When she got there, the door was wide open. She didn’t know what to do. Should she knock? Or should she just come in? Eventually, she shut the door, and then knocked. Judah came to the door. “Ah. I see you’ve brought my water SuzIahnna.” “ Yes I have Judah.” Suzie said. “Thank-you.” he said. “You’re welcome.” Suzie replied. “Come in.” Suzie stepped inside. She followed Judah to his water bucket and dumped the water from the water pitcher into his bucket. “Goodbye Judah.”, she said, heading out the door. She started heading toward the well. When she got there she could see Delia coming. “What are you doing here?” Delia asked when she saw her. “Same thing that you are.” Suzie replied. “Look, about yesterday… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about Merad.” “I’m sorry too.” Delia said. “I’m very sorry about what I said about Daniel. I didn’t really mean it.” “That’s all right.”, said Suzie. She quickly filled her pitcher up with water and went on her way. She expected to hear Miri’s familiar cries as she got near the house , but surprisingly didn’t. Good she thought now I can relax. She was hungry. She didn’t want any more pomegranate or sunflower seeds. She headed to the cellar to get some flour and oil to make bread. She crunched on something near Miri’s cradle. She looked down and to her horror, she saw bogweed! How did it get there. There was only one logical explanation The soldiers! She was terrified. Bogweed could be very dangerous. If someone inhaled it they would get very drowsy, have nausea and wouldn’t be able to keep anything down. The same happened if it made contact with someone’s mouth. She remembered when Daniel had sniffed some. He couldn’t keep anything down for three days. His face had gotten so pale, and he had complained about feeling weak and not being able to stand up. And Miri was a baby! What would happen if she didn’t eat or drink for 2 days! She could die! Suzie shuddered at the horrible thought. When Daniel had been sick because of the bogweed, Old Josiah came over and stayed with them for a week to take care of Daniel. Oh well. She couldn’t do anything to help until Mother came home. Her stomach growled loudly. She started down to the cellar to get some food. When she got there, all the flour was missing! The soldiers!, she thought angrily. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone. First Daniel, then some food stolen, then Miri and the bogweed, and now all their flour stolen. The Babylonians had plenty of food any way, why did they need theirs? And why would they do the bogweed? Thinking all of this, Suzie threw herself on to the dirt floor and sobbed. She cried and cried and cried. Why did this terrible life have to be hers? She cried for ten whole minutes. She cried herself to sleep and slept for an hour. When she woke up her face was smudged with dirt, and had a little mud from where the tears had met the dirt. She walked up the few cellar steps and came up. Miri was still sleeping soundly. A wisp of hair fell to Suzie’s face. She brushed it off and felt the dirt. She went to the water basin to wash her face. Not much water was there anymore. Most of the water they had went to drinking. After she cleaned up, she went and sat down and started working on her
god’s-eye. Her stomach growled loudly. She started heading towards the sunflower seeds then stopped. They needed to save their food. She could wait till supper. She had skipped lunch the rest of the week and could do so today. Especially today. She went back and started working on her god’s-eye. She worked on it for quite a while then stopped. Life would be boring without Babylonians. But it also wouldn’t be dangerous. She walked toward the window and pulled back the black cloth. She could see Old Jeremiah’s home, and Judah’s too. She could also see Hannaniah’s dwelling. He was her age, tall and shy and she could see him peeking out his window too. Only he was looking at something else. Delia and Merad lived behind Hannaniah. She could see the goat wandering around. She saw the well. All the plants were yellow and brown. Only Judah’s plants were watered. She looked down at the plants that were by her house. They only had a tint of green, and were mostly yellow with a few brown spots. She should water them. She blocked the window with the black cloth and went out. She walked along the dirt road kicking up dust. When she went past Hannaniah’s house she could see him staring at her through the window. When he saw that he had been seen he sheepishly stuffed the black cloth back in the window. She continued on her way. When she got to the well she used the frayed old rope to pull up the bucket. It was halfway full with water. She realized that she hadn’t brought anything to carry the water with. Oh well, she thought. She would be able to take the water bucket from the well. She hoped no one would mind. Most people used their pitchers of jugs to get the water, not the bucket. She untied the knots of rope and took the bucket back towards her house. When she got there she watered the plants. Since she had used the water bucket she would have to go back to put it back in the well. She headed back with it. She went their quickly, and tied the bucket back as fast as she could. Then she headed back home, thinking about Daniel. But not her brother Daniel. She was thinking about the Daniel that was in her dream that she had had two days ago. In her dream, the Babylonian boys had been much paler and fatter than the Hebrews. She wondered why. If they ate that food all the time it was bound to happen, but probably not in one week. When she arrived home she started working on her god’s-eye again. Mother came home fifteen minutes later. “Mother!” Suzie cried. She ran to Mother and sobbed into her clothes. She wasn’t sure why she was crying, probably because of Miri, but she cried anyway. When Suzie finished her hysterics her mother said “Whatever is the matter dear?” Suzie pointed to Miri and said “Bogweed.” “Oh dear.” Mother said. “But how did..” “Babylonians! They came when I was at the well and they stole all the flour and a few potatoes. Why would they do that to Miri Mother? Why?” Suzie asked. “Run.” Mother said. “Run and get Old Josiah. Now!” Her Mother’s voice trembled. Suzie obeyed. She ran as fast as she could to Old Josiah’s home. She ran and kicked up dirt and started coughing. Delia was outside and said “What?” “Bogweed. Miri.” Suzie said. “Oh dear.” Delia’s face went from a look of wonderment to pure fright. Suzie ran faster. She got to Old Josiah’s house quickly and didn’t bother to knock. She just burst in and said, “Josiah! Come quick! Miri’s got bogweed!” Old Josiah couldn’t come fast so he sort of jogged. They got to Suzie’s house quickly. “Where is the child?” he asked hoarsely. Mother pointed to Miri. He opened her mouth and inspected it. “I shall get my things.”, he said. Mother nodded. “Suzie.” Mother said. “I brought home seeds and grain.” She pointed to the tiny cupboard. “Now we just need oil.” She said sofly.