{"id":243,"date":"2015-12-15T10:08:02","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T15:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=243"},"modified":"2015-12-15T10:08:02","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T15:08:02","slug":"night-line-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=243","title":{"rendered":"NIGHT LINE NIGHTMARE"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\"IMG_0023\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Faye holding her latest book HALLEY\u00a0 and wearing the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction.<\/p>\n

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction. \u00a0 (see the following web address for more information)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.newsouthbooks.com\/pages\/2015\/10\/20\/halley-wins-moonbeam-awards-silver-medal\/\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/p>\n

The summer of the year I had turned eleven Mama decided she had to go back to work at the mill.\u00a0 Our family owed money for groceries and car repairs and who knows what else.\u00a0 Now that we had electricity, we even had a power bill.\u00a0 The only job she could get was on the \u201cnight line,\u201d\u00a0 the same shift Daddy was on.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaye\u2019s plenty old enough to tend Jean, Johnny, and Jerry,\u201d he said when Mama began fretting about us being home alone until after midnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took on the work of a woman by the time I was eleven,\u201d Mama answered.\u00a0 \u201cBut I didn\u2019t want that for my young\u2019uns.\u201d<\/p>\n

I kept hoping that Mama would change her mind.\u00a0 After all, she had been talking about going back to the mill ever since Jerry was six months old.\u00a0 He was nearly three now, and sort of toilet trained. I guess that was the deciding point with her–that and the fact that our grocery bill at Bagley\u2019 Grocery was approaching $300.<\/p>\n

That first evening Mama and Daddy headed off to work together, she was practically hanging out the car window giving last minute instructions. \u201c…and don\u2019t forget to wash up before you go to bed\u201d were the last words I heard.<\/p>\n

As long as we had daylight it wasn\u2019t too bad, though the house seemed awfully quiet and somehow empty.\u00a0 The boys played in the dirt next to the back porch instead of venturing to the far side of the garden or to the edge of the woods as they usually did.\u00a0 Jean stuck by my side like glue and her eyes were large and scared.\u00a0 Then we heard a distant roll of thunder and both boys were on the porch in a flash.\u00a0 Jean was wringing her hands.<\/p>\n

I had to act brave.\u201cIt\u2019s just a little cloud,\u201d I told them, \u201cbut I guess it\u2019s time for you boys to get cleaned up anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time John and Jerry were washed and in their night clothes, the wind was whipping through the trees and lightning was making jagged\u00a0 patterns through the sky.\u00a0 I thought of the boy in our neighborhood struck by lighting only a few months ago.\u00a0 He had been helping his mother gather clothing from a wire clothesline.\u00a0 I jerked the hairpins from my hair.\u00a0 Jean did the same.\u00a0 Everyone knew metal drew lightning.<\/p>\n

I turned on the light in every room with all three kids trailing after me.\u00a0 Jerry was beginning to cry for Mama.\u00a0 Rain began and I thought of the open windows.\u00a0 Running from room to room, I slammed them down.\u00a0 The lights flickered off and then on again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flashlight!\u201d\u00a0 I cried and ran to get it out of the drawer next to Mama and Daddy\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n

Lightning flashed and thunder rattled the window panes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flashlight\u2019s metal,\u201d Jean cried.<\/p>\n

I turned loose of that flashlight as if it were a red hot poker..\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get in Mama and Daddy\u2019s bed until they get home,\u201d\u00a0 I said.\u00a0 It was the only wood frame bed in the house.\u00a0 When we were climbing in I remembered that it had metal springs.\u00a0 Maybe the mattress would protect us.\u00a0 The lights flickered out and this time did not come back on.\u00a0 I hugged Jerry to me on one side and John on the other.\u00a0 Oh, how I wished that Mama and Daddy would drive up.<\/p>\n

Gradually the storm wore itself out, and\u00a0 Jean and the boys slept.\u00a0 I could not sleep.\u00a0 I strained to make out and identify each sound.\u00a0 Minutes passed. Hours passed.<\/p>\n

Finally, finally, I heard a motor sound just outside.\u00a0 Then I heard Mama and Daddy\u2019s voices.\u00a0 I lay down and closed my eyes.\u00a0\u00a0 The door opened and I heard Daddy fumbling for the light cord.\u00a0 \u201cGuess the power\u2019s off,\u201d Mama said, \u201cI\u2019ll get the flashlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flashlight clicked\u00a0 on and Daddy pulled the sheet off us. \u201cWell, just like I told you.\u00a0 Faye managed\u00a0 fine.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t you, Faye?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir,\u201d I answered.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have the courage to tell him the truth–that I wasn\u2019t ready to take on the job of a grown woman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n