Marys' Tale

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                             Marys' Tale: The Beginning

I watched the willow tree pappy had planted by the cold creek. The graceful sway of the tree was mesmerizing as the stream gurgled its' meandering way down the mountain. At times, the creek looped back on itself, as if it sought a way to avoid the influx into the river, just two miles south from where I stood.

 Tom was my steppappy, but yet he'd treated me the same as his own. He'd married my mammy when I was six months old and the subject of my real pa was never mentioned, at least not where I'd hear.

 Just a few days after Tom and ma got married, Toms' parents deeded a five acre parcel of land to them. Then they sold the rest of their farm. Tom had questioned them, but his pa answered, "Now, Tom, if'en we'd a-wanted ya ta fret, we'd ah-tole ya a long time ago. Yer ma jes needs ta get her some warmth down in them ole' bones of her'en. Ya know, it woot'en hert yer pa nary a bit, neither." Soon after that, Grammy and Grandpap moved to Arizona. They never did come back. That was what I'd been told.

 The place Tom planted the willow was the only cleared spot on the land, at the time. The tree had thrived there, in a crook of the creek, that reminded me of an elbow.

 Tom had cleared the land and made a thriving farm for us to call home. This was a fine accomplishment, considering how often he dipped heavy into the corn whiskey. After his bouts with his drunkeness, Ma would scold him. Somehow though, her voice was never harsh, and the look between them could always shut me out. Just for that small bit of time, they were in a world of their own. After each episode, Pappy tried hard to shun 'the devils' brew', but he always came back to it.

 He was proud of his farm, though, and his family. He often bragged how "...his'en was as good, or better'an any aroun'...". It was true All his hard work, with Ma by his side, had made ours one of the better farms in the small Tennessee mountain community, where we lived.

 A big splash in the creek behind me, made me turn from the tree, and my thoughts. I smiled big as I felt my eyes light up. "Hi, John", I said, "You're running a little late aren't you?" He grinned back. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Mary.", he said, apoligizing. He moved quickly to me, and took my hand. Pulling me to his side, he said, "Okay, come on."