Lulu: Short Stories, #5

By Isaiah Matthew Jackson

A short story weaving through three generations of women at different brief moments in their respective lives where they find themselves receiving a torch they never realized they carried.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isaiah Matthew Jackson
• Release date: May 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393541264

Book preview

1945

The sun beat down like a jazz drum. At times it stuck to your skin like a suit and others it responded to the call of the humid breeze to sooth a brief chill. Lupita stared at that burning sun through the reflection of her machete until her eyes spotted. Most of the workers were ten yards away drowning in cotton when they all wished it were water. The only person near her was Daniel, the foreman who still wasn't quite as fast as 12 year old Lupita. Her mouth was dry and her palms were callused, but she grabbed her basket of cotton and moved on to the next plant.

The heat would peak at around 105 degrees on some days and today was such a day though clouds danced on the horizon. A few of the men would sing songs like Te Quiero Dijiste and even the song Lupita from time to time. Most of the men didn't know the girls name so the song was an unknown to coincidence. From dawn till dusk, little Lupita would toil at the soil for the cotton she cut. All the while, she pined to be out of the heat and up from that dirt. As the day went on, the rest of the workers would catch up to her until by the end they were parallel for a mile