The Hollow

By Bettie MacIntyre

The Hollow is Irene’s story, and the loving relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter. A pathology of metaphorical memories in short story form. Irene was born at the onset of WWII, in a small town at the Elephant Mountain’s foothills, known as The Hollow, in Vermont. Her parents sought employment in Connecticut to support the industrial war effort, leaving their infant baby, Irene, with her elderly grandparents. Her gram became her mother, who taught her at an early age about life, death, and rebirth at a systemic level, and how to embrace it with love. Prayer and church were the basics of the family, and a foundation that followed her throughout life. A naive country girl whose best friend was Bessie, the cow. Gram taught her to read and write from the Bible. She experiences her grampa’s death, the birth of a baby sister, and in a brief time, her mother’s passing. All the stories are heartfelt embedded memories; from Irene’s gram teaching her to swim, and her fifth Christmas present, a red hair ribbon. Throughout her life, she had the greatest love and foundation a child could possess. She promised she would care for her gram and sister and, in their end, validated it with a final kiss. The Hollow is a poignant, sensitive story readers of all ages will enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bettie MacIntyre
• Release date: Nov 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005806620

Bettie MacIntyre

I have lived most of my life in New England, but my heart will always remain in Vermont. I accomplished all that I wanted with in my career, but as my vocation, I love to write, and have been drafting short stories and poems from childhood. After taking early retirement, I put pen to paper and gave birth to the scrapes of stories and poems filed away, and The Hollow was born. It is a metaphorical story of a naïve country girl from the foothills of Vermont. I say metaphorical, but I will let you decide. I’ll give you a clue—Bettie I. MacIntyre.

Book preview

THE HOLLOW

By

Bettie MacIntyre

Smashwords Edition

Copyright: Bettie MacIntyre ©2020

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is coincidental.

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Dedication

To gram, with love

Acknowledgments

The ending is another beginning.

To my beloved gram, now in heaven, thank you for being the Crone in my life. Your wisdom and guidance gave me a solid foundation, knowing the thread of life is through faith and trust in God. Simplicity, not complexity, is the path to happiness. My heart aches for her and embraces her teachings.

I thank my mother. Her most incredible gift to me was her creative use of words. She was known for her poetry, reading, and a heritage of intellect passed down to me. I set aside reams of accumulated scraps of paper, notes, and short stories written over many years. It seemed natural to follow her path, someone who wrote in solace to express her inner feelings. A legacy of comfort is something I understood.

I decided to write a book of metaphorical memories. I followed the high road of existence, as a mirror reflects an image of self. One substantial commitment to honor life is the Fifth Commandment. Honor thy Father and thy Mother. Amen.

I want to mention an old friend, Jo Campbell. Several years ago, Jo and I had many friendly kitchen conversations. Being a sweet, sophisticated lady she is, Jo urged me to write this book. Jo, I kept my promise, and thank you for your encouragement.

My dearest friend, Deb Silon. I could not have done this without her thoughtful reading and editing. Thank you for the dedication and encouragement.

Arthur…Without his support, I would never have completed this story. He has been a faithful reader and grammarian—most of all, showing patience and understanding with my efforts. Our life is always another Genesis.

I want to give a special thank you to my editor, Stefan Vučak. He not only edited my manuscript, but educated and advised me through this process of publishing. Stefan is a celebrated author of several books. Not only a writer, but offers his guidance and talent to other aspiring authors. I am honored that he mentored me in this challenging world of publishing.

www.stefanvucak.com

My final thank you is to God. My strength and fortitude comes from Him. With His guidance and listening to my daily prayers, I would not have survived. When I am troubled, or just need a quiet moment, I pray, Whatever happens to me, I know God will set my life in order. Amen.

Cover art by Laura Shinn.

http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1 – Gram and Irene

Chapter 2 – Early Morning

Chapter 3 – Whispers of War

Chapter 4 – WWII and Auntie

Chapter 5 – Grampa

Chapter 6 – Bloomers

Chapter 7 – The Memory

Chapter 8 – The Secret Garden

Chapter 9 – Early Spring (a baby sister)

Chapter 10 – Gram and School

Chapter 11 – Mattie’s Adoption

Chapter 12 – Dolly Late Spring

Chapter 13 – The Swimming Hole

Chapter 14 – Summertime

Chapter 15 – The Decision

Chapter 16 – Renewed Spirit

Epilogue – The Evolution of Time

Standing at the Grave

About the Author

Prologue

Many moons, and now, another sunset. I sit at my desk and stare out the window, yearning for the yesterdays without any philosophical idea why, grateful for the life I have lived. Fantasized dreams, many realized, and still a few to come. My deepest desire is to put pen to paper and write a story based on a grandmother, a little girl, and a shared bond of love. It is an accumulated pathology of life that encompasses an era of time between generations. After a woman raised her family, now in her mature years, she nurtured a little girl, Irene.

My narration needed a preface that would provide a greater understanding of Irene’s life journey. Her grandmother’s teaching influenced Irene’s early life by instilling lessons tempered with unbounded love. Simplistic as it may have been, it was a time of joy and happiness for her.

Many considered Irene poor. Perhaps in material wealth, but not in essential necessities. As Irene matured, she never compared herself with friends and classmates. She derived comfort in realization that her gram was a sage. She had only two books, but in her mind, this outweighed any library. Gram’s Good Book was a treasured leather-bound Bible, its edges frayed from daily use. The second was a small, black-bound volume by Aristotle. Gram had Irene memorize a life’s lesson, one she always recited when she became frustrated.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.

Irene was nine when gram decided it was time for her granddaughter to read Aristotle’s wise words. Her grandmother, her ‘Cronie’, became mother and teacher in her life’s journey.

My story is about an elderly grandmother, once considered a Crone, and frequently defined by others as a grumpy old woman. A deceptive definition. The way I picture her, she is a woman who lived through many tribulations. Yet, she was a woman who gave all her attention to tutoring her grandchild. Through the passage of time, grandmothers and those beyond provide knowledge and wisdom, a gift without a price.

Grandmother’s white hair was like billowing clouds, and her wrinkles were stripes of courage and experience. She guided Irene through her youth. She made her see aging as a beautiful gift of wisdom, and instilled in her the importance of education. She taught her granddaughter about death and rebirth, and taught her the value of making decisive choices. She showed Irene how to live each day with eagerness, and when death eventually arrives, to embrace it with love.

Irene was born before the onset of WWII, before the atom bomb, Vietnam, Kennedy, astronauts, and Martin Luther King.

She experienced births, deaths, abandonment, love, lust, and success. From a humble beginning, she molded herself in style and grace. She achieved poise by sheltering the memory and loss of her gram. In her later years, she pushed away feelings of neglect, and recognized within herself and inherited intellect. Her perfect memory and unconventional philosophy set her apart from others.

From her adolescent years, learning was not a skill, but a gift. As she developed into womanhood, her inherited intellect became hampered by adversity. It was apparent in her early years that life had problems.

She had only one significant friendship throughout her life. A joy like no other—her sibling. Irene promised her sister she would always be there for her, and their bond was inseparable. When her sister Mae died after a prolonged battle with cancer, part of Irene’s soul went with her.

I finally put pen to paper and created a series of stories about Irene. It is a simple life of a naïve farm girl, stories told from heartfelt memories. Knowing life would always be in turmoil, Irene journeyed to attain serenity of spirit, faith, and enjoyment of existence.

Throughout her life, she offered aid to those less fortunate. She did not turn anyone away because of the wisdom her grandmother, her ‘Crone’, had given her.

Irene became a Renaissance Woman.

B.M.

Romans

5: 3–5

And that’s not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. The strength to go on gives us character. Character produces hope, and hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. Amen.

Chapter 1

Gram and Irene

To find the location of my grandmother’s house can be problematic, because the area was settled in the mid-1800s. It is just beyond the foothills of the Elephant Mountains. There is a valley bordering a river that flows to a bend at a narrow old oak bridge. Once you ford the river, the road curves. On the left, you can see the Old Casket Factory, a garden, and tall sugar maples. Now you’re at our Family Homestead. You cannot miss it as the rambling veranda reaches across the entire facade of the house. Gram had two rockers on the porch, one for herself and the other for grampa, but he preferred to sit on the