Just A Green Mountain Girl

I'm just a Green Mountain girl with dreams, dreams of being a writer and how it came to be so.

 

Just a Green Mountain Girl

 

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon and we were all sitting around the dining room table telling stories.  There was my father and mother, my sister and brother, grandparents, an aunt and uncle and a cousin.  I was about 14 at the time and I usually enjoyed these family gathering and listening to family tales.  Today was a little different.

 

After listening to my grandparents tell stories about “the good old days” for awhile my aunt suggested we should all play a game.  It sounded like fun.  The game was called “Stump Me.”  In this game you have to use the pronoun he or she to describe someone.  The other people playing the game have to guess who you are talking about.  You can give those playing the game clues but you can’t tell who it is until after everyone has tried to guess.  The person you are describing can be real or fiction.  Whoever guessed the person first got to choose the next character and if no one guessed you got to have another turn.

 

Grandma and Grandpa chose relatives, old folks, family kin that we had often heard tales about and of course the clues lead to more tales.  All the while we were guessing we were also learning, learning history and about people we should know about.  We were learning about our family, neighbors, our community, State and our Nation.

 

Finally it came my turn to choose a character.  I’d been thinking hard about who I could choose that would stump everyone at the table. 

 

“She lived in Vermont during the Revolutionary War.”  They guessed Ann Story and Molly Pitcher, Fanny Allen and each time I shook my head no.  My mother guessed my fourth great-grandmother Betsey Mann.  I shook my head no and gave another clue; “Friend of Ethan Allen,” and another clue, “saved her family during an Indian raid.”   Every guess was wrong and so I said she is the fourth great-granddaughter of Genevieve Fox, I mean Genevieve Fox is her fourth great granddaughter.  Genevieve Fox is a Vermont author, I explained and when I get out of school I want to write books and stories just like her and teach history.

 

Finally my mother guessed.  She said, “I know who it is.  Her name is Susan Eldredge and she and her family came to Vermont from Massachusetts and settled on Otter Creek just prior to the American Revolution.  Susan is a character in the book Susan of the Green Mountains written by Genevieve Fox.  It is an historic novel and Annette has just finished reading the book.  It is a book I gave her that was mine and a book my parents gave to me when I was in high school.”

 

“Well how are we supposed to know the characters in some story book if we’ve never even heard of the book,” my aunt snapped.

 

“Because they are real people who played a part in Vermont history and the history of the United States.  However, Susan Eldredge is not her real name, but the character portrayed really was Genevieve Fox’s real fourth great-grandmother,” my mother explained.

 

“Well, if Annette can’t choose real people and play fair she doesn’t need to be playing,” my aunt retorted sarcastically.

 

“Well, I guessed the answer correctly so it is my turn.” My mother scowled at my aunt.  “You might enjoy reading the book.  It is a very good book based on the real lives of real people from that time in our history.”

 

“It is a wonderful book,” I said.  Suzanne was very courageous and strong willed.  She was brave and she was a Christian.  Life was very hard back then and they had to work hard just to survive.  They faced many dangers from wild animals, the Indians, the weather, and then the dangers of war.  I want to be just like her when I grow up.  Suzanne kept a journal and that is where the author got some of her information, the facts about that time in history and Suzanne's life.  I hope I have as much character when I grow up as that Green Mountain girl.”

 

“I doubt anyone will ever want to write a novel about you or your life,” my aunt sort of smirked.

 

I have always been somewhat of a plain person, just a simple Green Mountain girl who was also somewhat of a tomboy with a bit of a stubborn streak.  There really wasn’t anything unique about me other than I liked to write and tell stories and always had my nose in a book, even when I had chores to do.  That sometimes got me in a peck of trouble but I was an honor student and would be the first in my family to graduate high school.  My aunt always said I had my head full of silly notions, being a writer not the least of them.  My goal was to prove her wrong.  She and I had a real love/hate relationship.

 

“All right, I think it is time we changed the subject.” My mother said.  “I have a character for us to guess and then I will go make coffee and dessert for all of us.”

 

“Daughter of missionaries,” no one guessed on the first try.  “Foreign ambassador and still no one guessed.  “Danby, Vermont.”  I knew but I wouldn’t guess because I was mad at my aunt.  She had embarrassed me and made me feel stupid even though I had been right.  I’d actually met this person and would have loved to have shared the experience but I wasn’t going to give my aunt the satisfaction of hearing my story.

 

“Her name is a jewel,” my mother gave another clue.  I shrugged and didn’t guess. 

 

“Neil Diamond,” my aunt guessed and that gave me an opening I was looking for.

 

“Neil Diamond is a man.  Mom said "her name" so she must be looking for a woman.”  I looked right at my aunt. 

 

“I’ll go get the dessert plates down and set out the coffee cups,” I said and excused myself to go to the kitchen.

 

“China, The Good Earth,” my mother gave a double clue.

 

“Pearl Buck,” I hollered back from the kitchen.  “I pass.”  That meant the person on my right would get my turn.  That would have been my brother.

 

Mom joined me in the kitchen.  We just looked at each other and grinned.  “Neil Diamond!” Mom said and we both laughed.

 

“You know what, Mom,” I said, “I like being just a Green Mountain Girl.  I like my life and the adventures I find and learning new things and I really would like to be like Susan Eldredge.  She was just a common, down to earth person but she was smart and courageous and steadfast in her beliefs.  I hope I can be that kind of woman, just a Green Mountain girl.”

 

“That is a very admirable goal,” Mom said as she sliced the apple pie.  “There are a lot of remarkable women who have come from these Green Mountain.”

 

“Including you,” I said as I carried the dessert tray to the dining room. 

Reviews

[icelandicblue]

Vermont is a most beautiful state, I am always awed those rolling green mountains. Your story spoke to the way of families. I liked the historical backdrop a lot. There are so many unsung heroes of history. This was a wonderful short story.