New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
The fourth series in the Dusty Town sequence.
The Stars at Night. Episode 8
July 4, 1899
The sun had started to sink low in the sky as they began to head back home from the day’s 4th of July celebration in town. There were games for the children, several bands and singing, special events for the adults, and plenty of delicious food and desserts to go around. The vittles were Betty Lou’s doing as they had been every year since she had the restaurant, and if you asked her, she would tell you it was too many years to count but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. For with the town deeply etched in her very soul, it was all a labor of love for Betty Lou.
Willie and Sue had finally been able to corral Jacob’s grandkids and the Strong family with Betty Lou were finally on the dirt path toward the main house.
“Pa, thought we’d stay out on the porch for a while tonight. Watch the colorful sunset. It’s such a warm pretty night.”
Jacob nodded and smiled and remembered again all those evenings after supper spent on the porch. Yet time marches on no matter where you are, and with that little Jake tugged on Jacob’s arm and dragged him over to his favorite chair and proceeded to bring one toy after another out to play until he got so plumb tuckered out that he fell asleep at Jacob’s feet. Sue gathered the young’uns up and went in to get them ready for bed.
“Night Grampa!” Jake called out in his sleepy little voice. “Night little man, sleep well,” Jacob called back.
And, like the old days, Jacob, Willie, and Betty Lou were left sitting in their usual spots on the porch. Jacob found comfort in that.
“Sure is a pretty night,” Jacob thought out loud, as the three of them watched the sky turn a deep red mixed with the bright yellow of the setting sun and hues of purple and orange. “Still takes my breath away, even after all these years,” Betty Lou answered.
It had been a hot day, but the soft breeze was cooling as they sat together on the porch. The trees rustled ever so gently, and the crickets sang to them ever so sweetly. It was peaceful there, so peaceful, and they were quiet for a while, resting from the day and thinking of days gone by and perhaps days to come.
“So many stars tonight,” Jacob began. “In the city, too many lights, couldn’t see many stars. I had forgotten what it was like here. Took so much for granted and then forgot it all. The city consumed me, it was so busy, you forget who you are and where you came from sometimes. Reckon a lot of people must go to the city to forget, like I did.”
“Reckon so,” Betty Lou mused, “reckon so. New York City was busy, busy, busy. You get caught up in it and before you know it, you almost lose your very soul. It’s a shame how it is.”
Willie added, “I don’t remember the city much. Don’t reckon I want to either. This place is part of me and I won’t ever want to be anywhere else I’m believin’.”
Then, they just sat for a while in silence, enveloped in the night that had slowly crept in around them until the Independence Day fireworks display in town lit up their rural Kansas sky red, white, and blue.
Read Prior Episodes of New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
Starting Over Again in Kansas. Episode 1
Nothing’s Changes. Everything’s Changes. Episode 2
Knowing What to Do When the Time Comes. Episode 3
Still Plenty of Sweet Living Left for Them. Episode 4
Morning Light. Episode 5
”You can’t count how much we all love you.” Episode 6
A Spare Room in the Back of the Store. Episode 7
The Stars at Night. Episode 8 (This one)
