Writing dice prompt #2
A bit of fiction that explores themes of loneliness and resilience.
Metadata for this roll:
Time: Present Day
Theme: Loneliness
Character Dimensions:
Senior
Uneducated
Time Commitment: A morning.
Final Word Count: 745
Josie was still little when her Mama and two brothers died, one after the other.
First was her older brother, Ray, who got his head bashed in by an impatient mare on their Iowa farm. He was old enough to know better than to crouch behind her. But he went fast and he probably didn’t suffer.
Then Leo died and that changed things. He was just five winters old, which was long enough for a young boy to really become part of a home. The fever burned him right up. This time, Mama did call a doctor, but by the time she did, there wasn’t much to be done for little Leo. The smell of sweat and vomit that seeped through the thin walls won’t ever leave Josie’s memory.
Mama grieved hard, most days not able to get up or eat. Leo had been her favorite. There were still two little ones and Josie, but they didn’t seem to be enough for their Mama to do anything about.
The Christmas after Leo died, Josie brought her mom an envelope addressed to Santa. Her Mama sat up in her bed, took the envelope, and said, “Honey, there is no Santa Claus.” And then she continued to sleep for another few months.
Mama died that spring and nobody called any doctors.
So Josie brought up her youngest brother and sister. A baby raising babies. Their farm had long fallen into disuse so Josie cleaned houses. Daddy was on business trips up north, doing road construction, and he didn’t send money often, but Josie and he wrote every now and then.
When Josie was old enough to get married, she did, to the first boy who asked for her hand. Her Daddy was just fine with any man asking her to marry him.
Walter wasn’t kind or caring but he accepted Josie’s kid siblings as part of the household, which was enough for Josie. And once the kids were old enough, they left and got married, too, which was also just fine for Josie. She now had many mouths to feed in the home, with two babies and another on its way.
Her little brother and sister didn’t keep in touch. They tried to exchange letters every now and then, but there wasn’t much to say, and the letters became fewer and further apart.
Their Daddy passed away in a railroad incident later that year. None of them gathered for a funeral.
Josie was only twenty-seven and she was already tired of being a mom. She had been a mom of sorts for nearly two decades by that point. But Walter wanted more babies and so she continued to give them to him.
By the time Walter left for the war, Josie was mother to four babies, with three of those babies under the age of three.
They had little money, and it wasn’t long until Josie went to work at a manufacturing plant for aviation parts. She had few friends, all other wives, but they pooled their time together to watch each other’s kids as they picked up shifts.
Walter didn’t come back, but neither did any of their husbands.
Josie remarried after the war. Ray was no warmer than Walter had been, but he was marginally wealthier. They had enough for the children to start school. And it wasn’t long until Josie became pregnant again with her fifth baby.
She raised her children well, despite her constant fatigue and utter disillusionment with motherhood. Josie let her kids write letters to Santa. She made clothes that fit them. She even bought them dolls and toys when money was good. Josie was most proud that they didn’t grow up on a farm. They were sweet children who became good adults that went on to raise busy families of their own.
When all was said and done, Josie had lived a mostly comfortable life.
Now, it was her eighty-third birthday, and she sat in her worn armchair. The TV was dialed to the local news, a low murmur filling the room. Her phone hadn’t rung once that day.
Her assisted living nurse had just departed, leaving a glass of water and a handful of pills on the table next to Josie well within reach.
Ray slept in the chair next to her and his balding head lolled as a soft snore escaped him. Josie muted the television and took her pills. Then, she drifted off into her own slumber.