Sunday, June 14, 2009

Historical Fiction #1

Chapter One

"Lena!" screeched Julie, "Hurry up! We need to leave for the Hospital!". "Coming!" replied her sister, Lena, as she raced down the stairs. Lena grabbed her coat, rushing out the door to the lovely tune of car honks. Julie impatiently waited for Lena to get herself settled into the car, then stepped on the gas, going well over the speed limit. The girls were helping their mother, Jane, care for wounded soldiers during the war.
"Finally you're here," said their mother, "but you're rather late. I was hoping you'd make it in time to help with breakfast for the soldiers, but breakfast is well over by now. Oh well, at least you got here. Go help Nurse Geraldine change the bandages, Lena. And, Julie, help Nurse Joyce with changing the sheets on the beds." "Yes, Mom." both girls replied.

**********

Julie was very happy that Mom had let her change the sheets as she had a very weak stomach and would often faint at the sight of blood. Nurse Joyce was also a very pleasant middle-aged woman to chat with. They snatched the linens from all the unoccupied beds and carried them to the laundry room.
"How have you been, Julie?" Nurse Joyce asked.
"Very well, thanks. And you? replied Julie.
"Well, as well as can be expected in the middle of this war. I can't get over how many men come in every day with wounds! It's terrible. Anyway, it certainly keeps us all busy." said Nurse Joyce.
"I'm always glad to do whatever I can to help our country get through this awful time. Everything and everyone is so gloomy these days, I just can't take it any more! These poor men getting killed all over the world. It's bad enough when it's a conflict between only two countries but when it's between the whole world, it's so much worse." said Julie.
"I heartily agree." replied Nurse Joyce, "But I suppose we better stop chatting now and get these sheets washed! Then we can take this pile of clean linens and put them on the beds. Let's get moving!"
The two did "get moving" and cleaned the sheets and in no time at all, the linens had all been changed.

**********

Lena went off to find Nurse Geraldine, happy that she did not have to do the laundry. As nice as Sister Joyce was, laundry was not her favorite thing. She felt much more helpful with the bandages.
Sister Geraldine was very nice but not very talkative. She loyally did all her work, without talking except when necessary. Lena, normally quite chatty, had to quiet herself down when she was around Sister Geraldine so as not to distract or disturb her from her work. Lena sat and followed Sister Geraldine's orders such as handing her bandages, tools, and any other items she might need.
Although she was not able to talk throughout her task, Lena enjoyed Sister Geraldine's company very much. She was very pleasant woman in her mid sixties. Sister Geraldine also enjoyed Lena's company though she did not often show it.



Stay tuned for Chapter 2!



1 comment:

  1. Delightful story, I look forward to reading the next installment.

    ReplyDelete