Hayley's Journal

By Sonya White-Bujold

"Hayley's Journal" is a fictional short story of the trials and tribulations of a young girl growing up in rural Nova Scotia during World War II. Hayley must learn to deal her family's catastrophes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sonya White-Bujold
• Release date: Apr 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476318424

Book preview

Hayley's Journal

by Sonya White-Bujold

Smashwords Edition 2012

copywright 2012 Sonya White-Bujold

I could almost taste the freshly cut hay. It wasn’t from my father’s field, mom said he had blown all the money on liquor and then laid down with the flu. So our hay still stands high, the fields waiting for Papa to get back on his feet again.

Mama just had another baby two days ago, a little boy this time. I am the oldest daughter of the now four children and I’m 12. I’ve heard people call us Those poor, poor children when we walk by. We’re not poor. Mama says That’s hog wash ‘cause we’re rich cause God has provided us with a beautiful family and food on the table. But I didn’t have any supper yesterday.

Mama let me name the new baby boy. I called him Moses after that man in the Bible that split the sea in the middle. Mama said that was a good choice for a name ‘cause she doesn’t know of anyone else who could divide a sea in half. Papa said it was a foolish name and his only son would get teased all of his life. Then he banged his fist on the table and walked out of the house. Mama said Papa was under a lot of stress. I’m not sure what stress is but I wish Papa would see the doctor and get it fixed so maybe we could get the hay cut. Papa went on a trip, Mama said. She didn’t speak his name or even say a prayer for him. I saw some big black bruises on her arms and neck when she didn’t think I was peeking from behind the curtain.

Papa didn’t come back.

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Mama said I was a big girl now and I could take on more responsibilities around the house. And the hay needed to be cut so the horses would have food for the winter. That seemed strange to me. We needed to have hay to feed the horses so the horses could cut the hay.

Moses was now one week old. He was bigger than my play doll, and he cried a lot more than her too. Sometimes at night when I would lay awake in my bed wondering if I should pray for Papa to come home or not, I could hear Moses crying and Mama in the room next to mine. Then of course my little sisters would wake up. Since Mama told me I had to take on more responsibilities, I would pretend we were playing house and I would be their Mama and sing them back to sleep. Lucille would ask for Jesus Loves Me and Mary Lou liked How Much is that Doggy in the Window. I really liked Just a Closer Walk with Thee but no one sang it to me.

I knew what this morning would bring. Papa’s boots still weren’t by the door, so that meant Mama and I had to harness up the horses and get that hay cut, ‘cause Mama said it was going to rain soon. I don’t know how she knew that unless God told her. I heard her praying and crying this morning. I couldn’t hear what God was saying ‘cause Mama was crying so loud.

Mama put a nice spread on the table. She said I would need to have a good meal to get lots of energy. I had warm milk, fresh Bessie our cow, two boiled eggs that Lucille and Mary Lou got from the hen house this morning, and I even had a crust of bread with molasses. My two sisters got the good bread, with no crust, but here was no molasses for them.

We have Bessie, six hens, we had eight but Mama said two flew south last Christmas, a rooster I named Red and two working horses, Mama said the horses are older than her.

Mama put Lucille and Mary Lou to work too. Lucille cried ‘cause she’s only six and Mary Lou wanted to play hopscotch, she’s seven. Mama made them carry water from the well. Seven trips, seven buckets each, to put in the big wash tub that would soon be overflowing. Mama knew how to harness up the horses. I had seen Papa do it many times but he always cursed and slapped the horses’ behinds. Mama was sweet and gentle with them and they seemed to like her.