This is the second of 26 short stories about a fictional character called Alice.
When Alice was born in her parents’ bedroom in 1932, Edward was nine years old. Daniel and Charles were eleven and fourteen respectively.
At first they were not very interested in her, a squalling, red-faced unprepossessing bundle of fury and could not understand their mother and her female friends cooing over her and declaring how beautiful she was. They were even more surprised to see their father rocking her in his arms and singing softly to her.
Once she began to look ‘more human’, as Edward put it, the boys took a greater interest in her and began to celebrate her developmental milestones. By the time she took her first tottering steps all three brothers were entranced by their little sister who repaid their attentiveness with flirtatious smiles.
They took pride in teaching her to ride her bicycle, to swim and fish. They taught her to climb trees and tie knots, to build camp fires and construct Meccano models. Alice enjoyed all these pursuits and adored her brothers as much as they doted on her. Happy and secure, no little girl could have lived a more enviable existence until war was declared in 1939 and everyone’s world changed.
What a lucky girl to have those 3 doting brothers. Yikes, 1939!! Can hardly wait to read the next segment!
ReplyDeleteAs the oldest of three, I can relate to the older brothers' feelings in this story. I look forward to the next part! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a continuing story through the challenge. I always wished I had brothers...
ReplyDeleteYou're leaving us wanting more. Great idea.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Nuts..war time. I'm not sure I want to read about her brothers going off to war.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing what happened to Alice during the war years!
ReplyDeleteI bet she was one tough cookie...
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog earlier. from your friendly neighborhood A to Z buddy
Shaun
Valleys ShutterBug
I always thought having older brothers would be fun. Younger brothers are fun too. I love your theme for the A to Z challenge.
ReplyDeleteI love your story of brothers. I have two...both younger, but always wanted an older brother. I love your macro cover photo. I'm a new follower
ReplyDeleteKathy at Oak Lawn Images
What a terrific idea to run a continuing story throughout the challenge. Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm real glad I came here to return the favor. Good story so far. Happy A-Zing!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to tackle the AtoZ challenge! I'm a new follower. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat concept for the A-Z challenge! 1939 for the year? Can't wait to read what happens next!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has five older brothers. They adored her until she was old enough to walk and get in their stuff.
ReplyDeleteNow they're older and they adore her again and are very protective.
As the oldest of five, with the youngest being the only other girl, this sounds quite familiar to me! It sets quite a mood.
ReplyDeleteI'm your co-host for the A-to-Z! If you didn't get an email from me the other day, it may have gone in your spam box. Please feel free to contact me via my profile or reply to that email if you need anything or have any questions.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z
Like mybabyjohn/Delores, I'm already nervous for the brothers. I'll be eager to read the continuing story, probably peeking through my fingers.
ReplyDeleteAlice was a very lucky little girl to have such attentive big brothers. Too bad the war came along.
ReplyDelete