From
a distance, May saw a slender, cherry tree. Her leaves were dispersed and her
bark was dusted with snow. She walked over to the tree. The tree remained
unresponsive until May touched the cold bark with her fingers. The tree trembled.
May pushed snow off the branches. When May had melted the ice, she heard what
sounded like a slinky being pulled apart. A window had opened. May turned and
saw her young friend, Julia. She wore a white bow in her soft brown hair and
her large brown eyes were smiling at May. May smiled back and said,

“It’s
about time that winter left!” May knew that Julia wanted to race a few races.

When
Julia had run outside, she said, “Could you show me the new butterfly eggs?”

            In the springtime, May and Julia
would explore May’s realm in a red cedar grove.

As
the guardian of spring, May knew where to show Julia all sorts of wonderful
things, including butterfly eggs which looked like a string of yellow pods
under a leaf. She would hold Julia’s hand and reveal the activities of
neighbors, without disturbing them, whether they were a praying mantis or a
beetle. Julia, in turn, delighted May with her musical renditions of hymns.

Later,
there came a day when Julia’s bedroom window was curtained. She had fallen ill
with a little understood disease called tuberculosis. After noticing that
Julia’s window was kept open during the night, May stole warm visits with her
friend while Julia lay in bed and coughed.
Julia’s once musical voice rasped like a badger with a sore throat. May,
along with Julia’s parents, grew worried. May knew that tuberculosis ravaged people;
this disease scarred the faces of loved ones and withered plump arms and legs.

She also knew that tuberculosis was deadly. As
time passed, May grew impatient; she thought that human efforts to cure this
disease seemed ineffective and silly. She had watched Julia choke down generous
doses of cod liver oil. She
knew that Julia’s mother often rubbed vinegar into her daughter’s skin, a,
“purifying agent.”

Hi everyone! I hope that you enjoyed the first part of this story so far; I’m sorry for my long break from the talent showcase; different events came up. Please, let me know what you think in the comment section; this story was part of a project that I finished for an introduction to fiction class. It is set during the early 1800s in America. This story was partly inspired through my own experiences and love of nature and a former First Lady who adored music, as a hobby.