A Second Stay-at-Home Story

“If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.” I’m confused. A deafening roar of thunder woke me this morning and rain is falling. Is this coming in like a lion or a lamb? The temperature is warm. I’m still thinking March will hold some more winter.

In shuffling through those stay-at-home stories, I came across this one. It might be the beginning of a child-size mystery. Who knows? Anyway, here ’tis.

Under the Quilting Frame

Sally enjoyed cold, wintry days when her mother, grandmother, and Aunt Abby gathered  in the living room to quilt. Most times, Mama kept the quilt in a frame and hoisted it up to the ceiling to be out of the way, but when the other two women arrived, down came the quilt from the ceiling. The three grown-ups sat around it in their straight-backed chairs, needle, thread and thimbles busily stitching together the top, cotton batting and lining to make a warm cover for a bed. As their needles flew, so did the conversation.

At these times, Sally was supposed to be in the kitchen doing her homework or in her bedroom reading. However, if she were very quiet and careful, she could slip back into the living room, scoot under the quilting frame when no one was looking and settle down on a pillow on the floor among the dress hems and black, lace-up shoes. She always brought a book with her in case the conversation over her head became boring. This, however, was hardly ever the case and Sally gleaned some wonderful information that she would never have heard otherwise.

Not meaning to eavesdrop or be a snoop, Sally simply liked being close to those adults who made up a large part of her world. She didn’t always understand everything that was said and some of the words were a mystery to her until she looked them up in her dictionary. One day, however,  Sally heard a comment that caused her to gasp so loudly it was a wonder no one heard her.