Short Stories, Childhood Anecdotes and Simple Poems for Everyone

By Julian Lorenzana

Short Stories, Childhood Anecdotes and Simple Poems for Everyone contains four stories. In one, a little girl is traumatized by two auto accidents that claimed the lives of all her relatives. At the Los Nios Receiving Home, she attends school, and she is bullied. She becomes rebellious at school and at her foster homes, so she is returned to Los Nios. Finally, a school friend invites her to live with her family and her existence becomes more pleasant. She eventually graduates from college with a teaching credential and soon marries her prince charming. Another story deals with a hate-love feud between classmates that ends up in matrimony. In the next two stories, children and adults are taught that heeding advice can help avoid unpleasant consequences.

Finally, the anecdotes and the poems listed are mainly personal experiences expressed in prose or in simple rhyme for everyone to fully understand and enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546252689

Julian Lorenzana

I was born In San Antonio Matute, Jalisco, Mexico. My father died when I was seven years old. At the age of twelve and a half I came to the U. S. hoping to get a job. Instead, I ended up continuing my education, interrupted in Mexico due to the family's financial situation. I was fortunate enough to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies, a teaching credential and, much later, a Master's Degree in Bilingual Education at San Diego State University. Later, while I was holding a full-time job teaching, I took a correspondence course in children's literature, during which time I wrote four short stories. One of those stories is "Puppy Love". In this story, an old lady dies, leaving her beloved, pregnant dog behind. A family friend's son, Robbie, goes to her house to pick up the dog but finds, instead, three little puppies alone that, apparently, haven't eaten for days. He takes them home where the family intends to nurture them back to health and then put them up for adoption. Robbie's three little sisters have other ideas, though, and the decision to put them up for adoption becomes more difficult for their father. What will happen to the puppies? Will they be adopted or will the three sisters be allowed to keep them? Read the story to find out.

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© 2018 Julian Lorenzana. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  07/27/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-5269-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-5268-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018908740

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

SYNOPSIS

SHORT STORIES, CHILDHOOD ANECDOTES and Simple Poems for Everyone contains four stories. In one, a little girl is traumatized by two auto accidents that claimed the lives of all her relatives. From the Los Niños Receiving Home she attends school and she is bullied. Because becomes rebellious at school and at her foster homes, she is returned to Los Niños. Finally, a school friend invites her to live with her family and her existence becomes more pleasant. She eventually graduates from college with a teaching credential and soon marries her prince charming. Another story deals with a hate-love feud between classmates that ends up in matrimony. In the next two stories, children and adults are taught that heeding advice can help avoid unpleasant consequences.

Finally, the anecdotes and the poems listed are mainly personal experiences expressed in prose or in simple rhyme for everyone to fully understand and enjoy.

CONTENTS

A Need to Belong

Was It Hate or Was It Love?

The Story of Roy, Tom and Jerry

Childhood Anecdotes

A.   Attempted Kidnapping

B.   Kissing a Corpse’s Feet

C.   Light by Lightning

D.   Swearing Has Consequences

E.   Beware of La Llorona

Simple Poems for Everyone

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A NEED TO BELONG

By

Julian Lorenzana

I was dozing off on the couch waiting for my husband to return from work and I must have fallen asleep. Suddenly, I heard the doorbell ringing and a knocking on the door. That knocking sent my mind back to the two times a police officer rang our doorbell and gave us the terrible news that my grandparents, my father, my mother and my stepfather had been killed in auto accidents. The events were so real in my mind that I did not realize I was having a nightmare.

Why, God? Why did you do this to me? Why did you take my grandparents, and now my mother and my stepfather? What have I done so bad that you had to punish me by taking the only family I had? I wailed

As Lois, my foster mother, walked by my room, she heard my outburst and my inconsolable wailing. She knocked on the door and I opened it right away.

Lina, what’s wrong? Why are crying and asking God so many questions? You’re sad and angry because God took your relatives away, right? Lois asked.

Yes, I am, Mrs. Hartford! I answered. I’m sad and angry at Him for doing this to me! I keep hearing that He takes people for a reason but I can’t see what reason he had for leaving me all alone in this world! I added.

I had been living with my first foster parents, Frederick and Lois Hartford, for a few days and I tried to get along with them but it was difficult because I had been so happy before my mother and my stepfather were killed. Now, all I felt was anger at God, at the world, and a little bit at Lois after she told me, They say a person dies because God wants him or her with Him and to find out how those he or she leaves behind take that loss.

But I don’t know of anybody who loses all her relatives, leaving her all alone. He left me all alone. That’s what makes it so hard to understand. I don’t know how adults can handle a loss better than children. Maybe it’s because they are grown up. But me! How does God expect me to know what to do? I’m just a little girl! I exclaimed and began to cry again, but this time quietly.

Lois simply hugged me and told me, You will know what to do. You’ll be sad and possibly angry for some time but in a few years, when you think about them, you may still be sad but you’ll feel better.

After Lois left me alone, I felt a little better but shortly thereafter, a short period of depression set in as I tried to figure out why I had to live with foster parents. I began to recall the steps that had brought me to live with Frederick and Lois.

My mother, Julianne, was the only child of Richard and Connie Pelozzi and she grew up under very strict rules of parenting. This fact is probably the cause of some of the disagreements between them. She was not allowed to do some of the things children like to do, such as visiting with friends, taking part in sleep-overs, spending time on the phone and many others. This overprotection turned her into a rebellious child.

At the age of 16, because of this suffocating parenting, my mother decided to run away with her boyfriend, my father John. Her parents were furious but they kept in touch. A year later, after she told her parents that she was pregnant, they made peace with her and invited both John and her to move in with them.

Life became happier for Julianne as she had more freedom to do whatever she wanted, with John’s approval. All of them shared the same activities. They went everywhere together. My grandparents were happy doing things with my mom and dad, showering them with all kinds of conveniences. Later, they were thrilled with their approaching marriage.

Soon, the happy event came and the entire neighborhood shared in the happy event. It was not a church ceremony. A judge married them in front of only close family and friends. The music at the dance hall was provided by a local DJ and everyone present had a great time, especially the newlyweds.

Eight months later, on October 12, 1939, I was born, to the delight of the whole family. I, supposedly, brought a ray of happiness not seen in the Pelozzi family for a long time. And that happiness lasted for a long time as I became the heart of the family. According to my mother, I was very smart and outgoing, always entertaining with my antics.

At the age of eleven, my happiness was shattered when my grandparents and my father took a trip to the nearest big city. On their way back, they encountered a drunk driver on the road. The drunk driver supposedly tried to pass them and as he turned to the left lane to pass them, his car got too close to them. In attempts to avoid being hit, my grandfather swerved to the right a little too much and when he tried to straighten his car, the car flipped over on its side and it rolled into the canal running parallel to the road. When help arrived, my grandparents and my father were found dead.

This tragic event was so much for me that I went into a period of depression. I had been so happy and now my mother and I were left to fend for ourselves. It was hard for us to get over our loss.

When my mother finally got a job, our lives improved tremendously but our hearts were still bleeding. Soon, though, Mom met Stephen, who swept her off her feet. I was now twelve years old so I wasn’t too happy about my father being replaced by a new man but I soon was won over by Stephen. The way he treated me and my mother showed me that he was a good man. Almost everywhere Mom and he went, I was allowed to tag along.

A few months later, my mom and Stephen got married and we lived happily as a family. I was now thirteen years old and I couldn’t be happier with my mother and my stepfather. We got along so well that he decided to adopt me as his own daughter. For that reason, he and my mother took a trip to Los Angeles. They planned