I gazed around the small family room as my mother braided my long chestnut hair. The gaze around the room fell to my hands, blistered and sore from working yesterday. It was a busy day. There was laundry and dishes to be washed. There were animals to be fed, cleaning the house, dusting, and scrubbing and along with that there was taking care of my baby sister, Dana, only four months old. My older sisters Angelina and Krenna usually watched her but they were off doing one of the many tiring jobs. I watched Dana as she spat up and giggled. She was fun to take care of, but not all the time. Changing her diapers and calming her from crying was the not so fun part.

I came back into present time from thinking when the sound of a pot hitting the floor filled my ears. I rushed to the scene seeing my sister Krenna sitting on the floor weeping. A pot of ash had fallen on her foot. I called for my mother and she appeared in an instant. She interrupted my father milking a cow to tell him to go and get the doctor. He rode off toward the north part of town to get him. When Krenna calmed down she said in a faint voice," I will not be able to stand or walk with my foot like this. I think it will take quite a while for it to fully heal.

This meant more work for the rest of the family including me. That morning while the doctor, my mother and father, and Krenna were in the kitchen I worked extra hard even though my back hurt from bending over the washtub full of dirty clothes needing to be washed. I could tell everyone was doing the same.

That afternoon we took a rest. I ran over to the small pond over the hill. I took my worn-out boots and thin socks off and set them by the water a few feet away though so they wouldn’t get wet. I lifted up my skirt and apron not to get them wet. The water was cool against my legs as I moseyed through the knee-deep pond. After wading and thinking about ten minutes I sensed that it was about time to get back to work, so I went over to where I had set my boots. They weren’t there.

"No, no, no", I chanted as I searched worriedly. Those shoes were the only shoes I had until mother made new ones.

I gave up looking for then and walked back to the house. I found mother scrubbing the kitchen floor. I told her what happened and all she said was, "They were your responsibility, so I guess you’ll have to go barefoot." I didn’t say anything back because she was arguing. We all learned from that.

I finished the rest of the day going barefoot on the hot, rough ground. After supper I examined my feet and suspected that I’d have a few blisters. I already had a collection of slivers that I tried to pick out with my fingernails, which was hard because my nails were really short. Mother didn’t believe in having long nails so none of us girls ever did. As it became late I trudged up to the room I shared with my sisters. They were talking about something and giggled but stopped when I came through the sheet we used as a door. We slipped into our nightgowns and blew out the candle that must have been burning a long time for it was three-fourths of the way burned. It was a waste of wax, I thought, because it was a newly made one, and what could you possibly need light for except to read the Bible

Under the warm covers Krenna and Angelina quickly fell asleep, but I could not. I lay still under the warm blanket listening to my brother; William, Andrew, and Richard whisper to each other and then occasionally chuckle. While thinking about the next day I was suddenly asleep. And the next thing I knew I was being shaken by Angelina to get up.

I quickly dressed and was looking for my shoes when I remembered that I didn’t have them. In my mind I suspected Andrew for taking my shoes. He was always playing tricks and up to no good. I was thinking that while going down the stairs. Bad idea. I am so used to going up and down the stairs that I didn’t watch what I was doing. Since I wasn’t watching what I was doing I tripped on Richard’s little wooden car with wheels. I tumbled down the stairs. At first it felt like I was doing a front flip, but when I hit the floor with a thump I decided it was nothing at all like a front flip. I heard silverware hit the tabletop and predicted that William would be the first one to see me. He would be laughing away about to fall to the floor. And I was right. William’s face was so red from laughing but immediately he stopped when the words "William you quit that right now. This no matter to be laughing at", came coldly from my father’s mouth. Krenna and Mother helped me up. My arm hurt from falling but I knew it was nothing to complain about. After what my father had said William scarcely said a word at breakfast. Hardly anyone else said a word either. That all ended when work began. It seemed harder than ever today.

The day went on but very slowly. After most of the chores were done I grabbed the berry basket from the counter and rushed out the door to the berry bushes. On the way I found a seed bag someone had left there. I picked it up because I could certainly use it for something. When I got to the berry bushes I plucked almost every berry off the bush. When the basket was full I sauntered back to the houses. While walking I reached for a few berries and popped them in my mouth. The berries were extremely sour. I practically flew in through the door to the kitchen.

"Why’s your face all puckered up Lucy?", my mother asked.

I was about to answer when I spotted the water bucket. After slurping gulps of it into my mouth I answered her. "I ate a handful of sour berries."

While in my room later on I noticed how much the bottoms of my feet hurt. I got the seed bag I picked up earlier that day. I tore and stitched up some slipper like shoes. They were crude but at least I had some, for it was nearly winter and already beginning to chill.

Winter came and the heat from the fire warns my toes and finger tips as I cook the soup for Krenna. Krenna lies sick on a blanket by the fire. She has been sick for days and she is still sick. Mother asked me to make her soup every once in awhile, so now I am making her jarred potato soup. We are still sitting quietly as Father reads the Bible.

Hours then days then weeks pass by, and Krenna’s not getting better only worse. One day while bringing soup and tea to her eyes closed. I called for mother and began crying. And I knew what I happened.

Instead of thinking about what I don’t have, I thought about what I did have.