AMANDA'S  ALTERNATIVE  PRETEND  LIFE - A SHORT STORY
          




          Amanda Elizabeth Barrow was born in May 1868 in Paoli, Indiana. The only child of herb, vegetable, and peony farmers, Amanda grew up running around in the sun, barefoot, with her best friends Josie and She-who-has-bright-eyes-born-on-a-full-moon.

           As a child, Amanda Elizabeth enjoyed drawing daisies and other flowers in the sand near the creek close to her home in the woods. She and her mother grew herbs and vegetables that they sold at the town market every Saturday (except during the winter, and that was once a month, between winter solstice and spring equinox). She grew up loving nature, and when it came time to ‘settle down’, she moved in with her best boy friend Carlos, who was a bamboo farmer and musical instrument maker. They raised one daughter who they named Amanda, who also had a daughter she named Amanda, who also had a daughter that she named Amanda, and so on.

            After Carlos passed away in 1958, Amanda Elizabeth and her best friend from childhood, She-who-has-bright-eyes-born-on-a-full-moon, together took care of the farm in Indiana that had been in the family for so many years. However, Amanda Elizabeth died almost a year later in November 1959 while she was in her beloved garden, putting the plants to bed for the coming winter. She-who-has-bright-eyes-born-on-a-full-moon was very sad to see her go, but celebrated the living of Amanda Elizabeth’s life with a big party with friends and family, and lots and lots of food, daisies, daylilies, and peonies filling the dinner table.




(this story is dedicated to my friend Rick Herter, who died in 2006)