APRIL 12th CHALLENGE

THE HISTORY PROJECT

by JRo

It was a foggy Saturday morning.  Catherine slept in for an hour before taking care of her laundry and weekly cleaning.  By noon, the sun was trying to pierce the thick, low clouds, but not having much success.  After washing up and grabbing a quick lunch, Catherine donned a heavy sweater and picked up a small bag before heading Below.

Vincent was waiting for her, and they shared a long embrace.  When they stepped back, Vincent took her hand to lead her through the tunnels.

“What have you brought today?”

“I have some essential oils for Rebecca.  She mentioned that she wanted to make some scented candles. Would you mind if we stopped to see her for a minute?”

They made their way to the candle-making chamber, and found Rebecca talking with several of the children.  She looked up and greeted them with a smile.

“Hello, Catherine.  I’m glad you could make it down for a visit.”

“Thank you.  I brought the oils you needed.”

Rebecca’s face lit up as she took the bag.  “My goodness.  Thank you so much! I didn’t think you’d be able to get them this quickly.”

“Catherine,” Samantha said, “did you know that today is Rebecca’s anniversary?”

Catherine smiled.  “I didn’t.  I guess I just had good timing.  What kind of anniversary are you celebrating?”

“Ten years ago, Rebecca became the candlemaker,” said Kipper.

“Oh my,” Catherine said.  “That’s wonderful.  Congratulations.”

Rebecca waved her hand.  “It isn’t something that I celebrate.  The children came to me looking for ideas for their history project.  They asked if anything important had happened on this day, and I shared my story with them.”

“Vincent,” Geoffrey said, “does history have to be really important things or can it be little things, too?”

“History is a record of the past.  Sometimes what may seem insignificant at the time, turns out to be extremely important.”

“Then I have an idea for our project.  Father has those big journals.  What if we go through them and make a calendar with everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries and important events.”

Samantha clapped her hands.  “Can we, Vincent?”

“That sounds like a good idea, but remember that you will have to do a lot of reading, and you will have to decide what events to include.  How will you organize it?  There are some days that might have many events, while others may have none. And can you make it so that new events can be added as they happen?”

The children were silent, and looked at one another as they tried to think of something.  Finally, Kipper jumped down from the table where he was sitting.

“What about the index cards that one of the helpers brought down a while ago?  We can put a date on each one and list everything important from that date.”

“How will you keep them in order?” Rebecca asked.

“In a box, I guess.  We can figure that out later.  Let’s go get started.”

** several weeks later **

Father was working at his desk, when the children came in holding something behind their backs.

“Good afternoon, children.  What do you have there?  Please tell me it’s not another baby rabbit.”

“It’s not a rabbit, Father, but I still think it would be cool if we had one down here,” Geoffrey said.

Kipper put a cloth-wrapped object on the desk in front of Father.  “This is our history project.  We made it for everyone.”

Father removed the cloth, to see a rolodex.

“It’s an anniversary calendar, Father,” Samantha said. “We have a card for every day of the year, and any important birthdays or anniversaries for that day are written on the card in chronological order.  This way, we will always know who is celebrating something and we won’t forget something important.”

Father flipped through a few of the cards. “This is wonderful.  You must have spent a lot of time working on this over the past few weeks.  Now I know why you were borrowing my journals.  Where did you find this rolodex?  It looks brand new.”

“Catherine brought it.” Samantha explained. “She said she found it at her father’s house. She even gave us extra packs of cards, in case one of the days runs out of room.”

“Well, that was very generous.  I hope you thanked her.”

They all nodded, and watched as Father flipped through more of the cards, stopping to read a few of them.  Finally, he sat back and took off his glasses.

“I must say that this is an incredible achievement.  What did Vincent say when you showed it to him?”

“We didn’t show it to him yet.  We wanted it to be a surprise.  We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, because he has a special day today.”

“Yes, he does.  Today is April 12th.”

Samangtha interrupted.  “It’s the third anniversary of the day he met Catherine, and they’re going to the crystal caverns.  It’s SO romantic.  Do you think they’ll ever get married?”

“Well,” Father cleared his throat.  “I think that we should be patient.  Vincent and Catherine will decide when they are ready.  In the meantime, I think what you have done with this project is a very good idea.  I wonder, perhaps we should also make one where each card represents a person.  Would any of you be interested in doing that?”

At the thought of more work, all the children made an excuse and ran from the chamber, carefully dodging Mary as she entered the chamber.

Father chuckled as their footsteps faded.  “I suppose it was too much to ask for them to organize our history twice over.”

Mary smiled.  “I’m not surprised.  They went far above and beyond with what they have already done.  What about their question about Vincent and Catherine?”

“They are quite interested.  In fact, lately it seems as though everyone has been speculating.”

“I know we should respect VIncent’s privacy, but it’s been three years.  Yes, the first two were filled with a number of unpleasant events, but this past year has been rather peaceful, and I sense that they’ve been drawing even closer.”

Father nodded, and studied the papers in front of him for a few minutes.  Finally, he motioned for Mary to come closer.

“I trust that you can keep a secret?” he said.  When she nodded, he dropped his voice even softer.  “We will soon have another event to add to our history, and Vincent and Catherine will have a different type of anniversary to celebrate.”

Mary’s face lit up, but she kept her voice low. “You mean…”

Father nodded.  “I gave him Margaret’s ring yesterday. I must admit, I never thought this day would come.  Vincent has struggled so much the past few years.  So many of the entries into our community’s history were difficult to write.  I am looking forward to what will be the most joyous entry that I have ever been privileged to make.”

THE HISTORY PROJECT

by JRo

It was a foggy Saturday morning.  Catherine slept in for an hour before taking care of her laundry and weekly cleaning.  By noon, the sun was trying to pierce the thick, low clouds, but not having much success.  After washing up and grabbing a quick lunch, Catherine donned a heavy sweater and picked up a small bag before heading Below.

Vincent was waiting for her, and they shared a long embrace.  When they stepped back, Vincent took her hand to lead her through the tunnels.

“What have you brought today?”

“I have some essential oils for Rebecca.  She mentioned that she wanted to make some scented candles. Would you mind if we stopped to see her for a minute?”

They made their way to the candle-making chamber, and found Rebecca talking with several of the children.  She looked up and greeted them with a smile.

“Hello, Catherine.  I’m glad you could make it down for a visit.”

“Thank you.  I brought the oils you needed.”

Rebecca’s face lit up as she took the bag.  “My goodness.  Thank you so much! I didn’t think you’d be able to get them this quickly.”

“Catherine,” Samantha said, “did you know that today is Rebecca’s anniversary?”

Catherine smiled.  “I didn’t.  I guess I just had good timing.  What kind of anniversary are you celebrating?”

“Ten years ago, Rebecca became the candlemaker,” said Kipper.

“Oh my,” Catherine said.  “That’s wonderful.  Congratulations.”

Rebecca waved her hand.  “It isn’t something that I celebrate.  The children came to me looking for ideas for their history project.  They asked if anything important had happened on this day, and I shared my story with them.”

“Vincent,” Geoffrey said, “does history have to be really important things or can it be little things, too?”

“History is a record of the past.  Sometimes what may seem insignificant at the time, turns out to be extremely important.”

“Then I have an idea for our project.  Father has those big journals.  What if we go through them and make a calendar with everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries and important events.”

Samantha clapped her hands.  “Can we, Vincent?”

“That sounds like a good idea, but remember that you will have to do a lot of reading, and you will have to decide what events to include.  How will you organize it?  There are some days that might have many events, while others may have none. And can you make it so that new events can be added as they happen?”

The children were silent, and looked at one another as they tried to think of something.  Finally, Kipper jumped down from the table where he was sitting.

“What about the index cards that one of the helpers brought down a while ago?  We can put a date on each one and list everything important from that date.”

“How will you keep them in order?” Rebecca asked.

“In a box, I guess.  We can figure that out later.  Let’s go get started.”

** several weeks later **

Father was working at his desk, when the children came in holding something behind their backs.

“Good afternoon, children.  What do you have there?  Please tell me it’s not another baby rabbit.”

“It’s not a rabbit, Father, but I still think it would be cool if we had one down here,” Geoffrey said.

Kipper put a cloth-wrapped object on the desk in front of Father.  “This is our history project.  We made it for everyone.”

Father removed the cloth, to see a rolodex.

“It’s an anniversary calendar, Father,” Samantha said. “We have a card for every day of the year, and any important birthdays or anniversaries for that day are written on the card in chronological order.  This way, we will always know who is celebrating something and we won’t forget something important.”

Father flipped through a few of the cards. “This is wonderful.  You must have spent a lot of time working on this over the past few weeks.  Now I know why you were borrowing my journals.  Where did you find this rolodex?  It looks brand new.”

“Catherine brought it.” Samantha explained. “She said she found it at her father’s house. She even gave us extra packs of cards, in case one of the days runs out of room.”

“Well, that was very generous.  I hope you thanked her.”

They all nodded, and watched as Father flipped through more of the cards, stopping to read a few of them.  Finally, he sat back and took off his glasses.

“I must say that this is an incredible achievement.  What did Vincent say when you showed it to him?”

“We didn’t show it to him yet.  We wanted it to be a surprise.  We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, because he has a special day today.”

“Yes, he does.  Today is April 12th.”

Samangtha interrupted.  “It’s the third anniversary of the day he met Catherine, and they’re going to the crystal caverns.  It’s SO romantic.  Do you think they’ll ever get married?”

“Well,” Father cleared his throat.  “I think that we should be patient.  Vincent and Catherine will decide when they are ready.  In the meantime, I think what you have done with this project is a very good idea.  I wonder, perhaps we should also make one where each card represents a person.  Would any of you be interested in doing that?”

At the thought of more work, all the children made an excuse and ran from the chamber, carefully dodging Mary as she entered the chamber.

Father chuckled as their footsteps faded.  “I suppose it was too much to ask for them to organize our history twice over.”

Mary smiled.  “I’m not surprised.  They went far above and beyond with what they have already done.  What about their question about Vincent and Catherine?”

“They are quite interested.  In fact, lately it seems as though everyone has been speculating.”

“I know we should respect VIncent’s privacy, but it’s been three years.  Yes, the first two were filled with a number of unpleasant events, but this past year has been rather peaceful, and I sense that they’ve been drawing even closer.”

Father nodded, and studied the papers in front of him for a few minutes.  Finally, he motioned for Mary to come closer.

“I trust that you can keep a secret?” he said.  When she nodded, he dropped his voice even softer.  “We will soon have another event to add to our history, and Vincent and Catherine will have a different type of anniversary to celebrate.”

Mary’s face lit up, but she kept her voice low. “You mean…”

Father nodded.  “I gave him Margaret’s ring yesterday. I must admit, I never thought this day would come.  Vincent has struggled so much the past few years.  So many of the entries into our community’s history were difficult to write.  I am looking forward to what will be the most joyous entry that I have ever been privileged to make.”