{"id":3333,"date":"2010-10-04T12:02:35","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T16:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3333"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:23:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:23:40","slug":"harvest-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3333","title":{"rendered":"Harvest Festival (by ljlover2001)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: Written in response to the October challenge, to write a story using the words, leaves, Indian, summer,\u00a0 smoke, frost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe soon begins to regret a hasty decision \u00a0Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K (1,835 words)
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Harvest Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Little Joe shivered<\/strong> and as was often the case, began to regret his earlier, hasty decision. Leaving the house and going for a ride had seemed like a good idea, when he left, but now he was not so sure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Should\u2019ve thought it through, a bit better, Joe,\u2019 he admonished himself, as he rubbed his hands together, and watched as his words caused smoke clouds to form, in the frosty air. \u2018At least I should\u2019ve stopped long enough to get my jacket.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

It had been a beautiful day, one of those early October days that the words Indian summer had been invented for. Riding home from school, Joe hadn\u2019t needed his jacket, but by the time he left the house, it was dark and a lot colder.<\/span><\/p>\n

As he rode through the wooded area, behind the house, Cochise\u2019s hooves stirred up the leaves on the ground, making a rather eerie, rustling sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018If I was nearer to \u2018em, I guess I could\u2019ve made myself a bed outta those leaves, but up here, by the lake, there are none, so I\u2019ll havta make do with my saddle blanket,\u2019 thought Joe. \u2018I sure as heck ain\u2019t gonna go back home, just to have Adam picking on me, all the while, and Pa not saying one word ta back me up. And Hoss was just as bad; he was laughing, too, even though he did try to hide it from me.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe thought back to what had caused him to leave the house, in such a rush, and as he did so, he prepared a place on the ground, on which to sleep. Even with the saddle blanket, he knew that by the morning, his clothes would be damp, as once the sun rose it would melt the frost on the ground and the wetness would seep through even the thick saddle blanket.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he got home from school, earlier that day, the only inhabitant of the house was Hop Sing, so he was the first to witness Little Joe\u2019s anger and bear the brunt of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy you slam door when you come in, Little Joe? Father be very cross, if he here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he ain\u2019t here, and I feel like slamming the door,\u201d yelled Joe, and he went back to the door, opened it, and then slammed it again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy you yell, all the time?\u201d shouted Hop Sing. \u201cHop Sing fetch wooden spoon, give little boy spanking, you carry on yell like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCos I\u2019m in a bad mood,\u201d replied Joe, heading for the staircase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hop Sing could tell that Joe was upset, so tried a different approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLittle boy come in kitchen. Hop Sing have cookies and hot chocolate ready for Little Joe, after long ride from school. Tell Hop Sing what\u2019s matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t hungry and nothing\u2019s the matter,\u201d replied Joe, and he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Hop Sing had the chance to speculate any further, Adam and Hoss arrived home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing, where\u2019s Joe?\u201d asked Adam, as soon as the cook appeared in the main room.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe in room, him sad about something,\u201d said Hop Sing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he\u2019s going to be sad about something else, if he doesn\u2019t get down here and take care of his horse. Pa will be back soon and Joe knows as well as the rest of us do, how mad it makes Pa if we don\u2019t take care of our mount, before we come into the house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam went to the foot of the stairs and called out Joe\u2019s name.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, get down here, NOW!\u201d he yelled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 15 year old came to the top of the staircase and glared down at his oldest brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat d\u2019ya want?\u201d he muttered.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want you, down here, at the double, taking care of your horse,\u201d said Adam, sternly. \u201cThat\u2019s what I want, and what you should have done, as soon as you got home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t wanna,\u201d replied Joe, turning away from the stairs. \u201cYou do it,\u201d and he prepared to walk back to his room.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, if I have to come up there and make you tend to your horse, it will be a much more unpleasant experience for you, than if you come down, by yourself. Pa will be home, real soon, and I am sure you don\u2019t want him knowing about you neglecting Cochise, do you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t, but I bet you\u2019re gonna just love telling him,\u201d said Joe, but he did begin to make his way down the stairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do the chores you are supposed to do, then there is no need to say anything to Pa,\u201d said Adam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, little brother,\u201d said Hoss, grabbing Joe in a headlock, and ruffling his hair. \u201cI\u2019ve some chores ta do in the barn, so while I\u2019m doin\u2019 \u2018em, and you\u2019re takin\u2019 care of Cochise, ya kin tell ole Hoss what\u2019s rilin\u2019 ya.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The two brothers headed to the barn and both began their chores. As Joe groomed Cochise, he did calm down, a bit, and he told Hoss what had upset him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOle Jonesy,\u201d he began, but after getting a rather stern stare from Hoss, he started again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Jones wants us to do a Harvest Festival at school,\u201d explained Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo need ta git riled \u2018bout that, Little Joe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot if it was just an ordinary festival, no, there isn\u2019t, but she wants us all to dress up as fruits and vegetables. It\u2019s just plain stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It took a couple of moments for Hoss to digest this information, and then, try as he might, he could not contain his laughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYa mean she wants ya ta be a potato, or an apple?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s just what I mean, and I ain\u2019t doing it,\u201d said Joe, firmly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoss was still chuckling, when they returned to the house, and the story was recounted, first to Adam and then to Ben, when he got home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s what your teacher wants you to do, then that\u2019s what you will be doing,\u201d was Adam\u2019s response, although he did, privately, think it was a rather strange plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I admit that the idea is an unusual one,\u201d said Ben. \u201cBut if it is what your teacher wants you to do, then I\u2019m afraid you don\u2019t have any choice, son.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I do,\u201d replied Joe. \u201cI just won\u2019t go to school on the day of the festival.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes, you will, young man,\u201d said Ben. \u201cYou are not missing school, just because you don\u2019t want to do something. All the other children will be dressing up, too, so you won\u2019t be the only one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going, and you can\u2019t make me,\u201d shouted Joe, and he ran up the stairs, again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben made no immediate attempt to go after him and so Adam said, \u201cI hope you are not going to let him get away with that? If I had spoken to you in that way, you would have hauled me out to the barn and tanned my hide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I am not going to let your brother get away with it, but I am going to give him a few minutes to calm down and think about what he\u2019s just said. Once he\u2019s calmer, I think he will realise that he has no choice, but to do as Miss Jones wants him to. And he will also begin to regret raising his voice to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d be regretting that, a lot sooner, if you gave him the hiding he deserves,\u201d said Adam. \u201cWhen Hoss and I got back from work, he was already throwing his weight around, and having a tantrum. You let him get away with far too much, Pa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAww, Adam, ya know Joe, speaks afore he thinks,\u201d said Hoss, ever anxious to maintain peace between the brothers. \u201cHe\u2019ll already be feelin\u2019 bad \u2018bout what he said.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Adam wasn\u2019t shouting, Joe could hear what his brother was saying and knew that he was going to be in for an uncomfortable time, once his father did react to his behaviour. Joe was already regretting what he\u2019d said, as he knew that Ben could very easily make him go to school.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was at this point that Joe decided to leave the house and go for a ride.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Maybe by the time I get back, everyone will have calmed down, a bit,\u2019 he thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, he headed down the back stairs, collected Cochise and was soon on his way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe finished unsaddling his horse, talking to him, as he did so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSorry you\u2019re not in your nice, warm stall, Cooch, but I just feel it\u2019s for the best I don\u2019t go back home, tonight. If it\u2019s any consolation to you, at least you had your supper before we left; I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As he was talking to his horse, Joe didn\u2019t hear someone coming up behind him, and so was rather surprised to suddenly feel a large coat being wrapped around his slender frame.<\/span><\/p>\n

He turned, to find his father standing there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went up to your room, to fetch you for supper, and found you gone,\u201d said Ben. \u201cSomehow I guessed you might be up here, close to your mother\u2019s grave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I am rather predictable,\u201d said Joe. \u201cAnd I guess when you went up to my room you weren\u2019t only going to fetch me for supper, were you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Joseph, I wasn\u2019t. I was going to reprimand you over the way you spoke to me, and to make you see that sometimes we have to do things that we don\u2019t want to do. It\u2019s called respecting your elders, and building character.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd me running off ain\u2019t made you change your mind on those things, has it, Pa?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, son, it hasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was really too cold to be spending the night under the stars, and so Joe was, in some ways, glad his father had come looking for him. And by the time father and son headed for home, at least one part of Joe\u2019s anatomy was feeling a lot warmer!<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Joe was a carrot in the school\u2019s Harvest festival, but it wasn\u2019t as bad as he feared. As Ben had said, everyone was dressed up, so none of his friends teased him, as they all looked as silly as each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

For several weeks afterwards, Joe found a carrot in his lunch pail, put there by his brothers, but he didn\u2019t make a fuss, as Cochise enjoyed the treat and even Joe, eventually, could see the funny side of the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

THE END<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Joe forever<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynne<\/span><\/p>\n

October 4th 2010<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Written in response to the October challenge, to write a story using the words, leaves, Indian, summer,\u00a0 smoke, frost. Joe soon begins to regret a hasty decision \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K (1,835 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":14203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-challenges","wpcat-40-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1161,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Saturday-at-Noon.png?fit=762%2C575&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4516,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4516","url_meta":{"origin":3333,"position":0},"title":"Coming Home (by Storm)","author":"storm","date":"October 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0This was written in response to the October Chaps and Spurs challenge. 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