Summary: Little Joe takes out a girl who’s family recently moved from New York. Can he help her to find good in Nevada? And what does a pale moon have to do with anything?<\/p>\n
Rating:\u00a0 K+
\nWord count:\u00a0 \u00a02116<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a warm June day at the creek, and one of the last days of school.\u00a0 Little Joe was glad Miss Jones had decided to take everyone out on a picnic for the afternoon.\u00a0 Of course everyone had to bring their own lunches.\u00a0 After lunch Little Joe and several of the other boys went fishing.\u00a0 Most of the girls sat on rocks beside the creek and dangled their white bare feet into the cool water.\u00a0 Little Joe and the boys were barefoot as well.\u00a0 The water felt cool and refreshing.<\/p>\n
He noticed Eliza Jane McCleary and Miss Jones sitting down on the rocks a ways away from the creek.\u00a0 Both still had their shoes on.\u00a0 Little Joe remembered Eliza Jane and her family had moved here from New York about a couple of months ago.\u00a0 She usually kept to herself.\u00a0 It seemed like she talked little with the other girls.\u00a0 Maybe she was just shy and not comfortable making friends.\u00a0 She sure seemed quiet and sweet.\u00a0 She needed some friends.\u00a0 A carnival was coming to town next week.\u00a0 Would she be interested in going?\u00a0 She was very pretty with blonde pigtails and big blue eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Eliza Jane,\u201d Little Joe walked up to them.<\/p>\n
He noticed her face flushed when she looked up at him.\u00a0 In fact she always blushed whenever he talked to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHi,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow come you\u2019re not going barefoot like everyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there are bugs in the grass, and the water is cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh okay.\u00a0 Would you like to try some fishing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I don\u2019t want to get wet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poor girl.\u00a0 Did she not know how to have fun?\u00a0 Maybe going to the carnival would help.\u00a0 There was also the summer dance in town in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, there\u2019s a carnival coming next week.\u00a0 Would like to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d\u00a0 Her eyes lit up.\u00a0 \u201cWith you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure I\u2019ll take you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n
It was a Friday night when Little Joe took the family buggy, picked up Eliza Jane and went to the carnival which was located just outside of Virginia City.\u00a0 He noticed the sweetness of her floral perfume and thought about kissing her.\u00a0 It was a partly cloudy evening with the moon peeking in and out from behind the clouds.\u00a0 Adam probably had the perfect poem for this.\u00a0 He often had his nose in those poetry books of his.<\/p>\n
They watched different acts with a crowd of about 200 people.\u00a0 Among the acts was a knife thrower.\u00a0 Eliza Jane hid her face in Little Joe\u2019s chest as the man threw knives around his assistant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right.\u201d\u00a0 He hugged her.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s not going to hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally.\u00a0 He knows what he\u2019s doing, and she trusts him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He liked feeling her warmth against him.\u00a0 He almost kissed her right then.<\/p>\n
After they had seen all of the shows they left in the buggy.<\/p>\n
Eliza Jane questioned, \u201cThey don\u2019t have rides?\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Joe shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen them have rides.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in New York the carnivals always have rides.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u00a0 I hope you still enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were no rides.\u00a0 What\u2019s a carnival without rides?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still a carnival.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poor girl.\u00a0 Maybe she would like the dance better than the carnival.\u00a0 After all what girl would not enjoy a dance?<\/p>\n
\u201cI still miss the rides.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eliza Jane became quiet as they continued down the road.\u00a0 Little Joe tried to think of a good moment to ask her to the dance.\u00a0 He was starting to feel sorry for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, there\u2019s going to be the annual summer dance next week,\u201d Little Joe informed.\u00a0 \u201cWould you like to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
A bright smile showed on her face.\u00a0 \u201cSure.\u00a0 I would love to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good. She was going to love this.<\/p>\n
When they arrived at her home her father was there to meet them on the porch.\u00a0 Then he smiled and went on inside as if to give them some privacy.\u00a0 Little Joe leaned in to kiss Eliza Jane.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no!\u201d\u00a0 She stepped back.\u00a0 \u201cNot under a pale moon!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandmother says it\u2019s bad luck to kiss under a pale moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBad luck for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe says bad things can happen in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
What had he gotten himself into?\u00a0 What did a pale moon or any kind of moon have to do with kissing?\u00a0 Adam and Hoss had never mentioned anything about that to him.\u00a0 Neither had Pa.<\/p>\n
~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n
Little Joe came home to see Adam reading a book while he sat in his blue chair by the fireplace.\u00a0 Hoss sat on the hearth as he ate an apple with some crunching that didn\u2019t seem to bother Adam.\u00a0 Pa was at his desk working on some kind of paperwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was the carnival?\u201d\u00a0 Adam looked up from his reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I enjoyed it.\u00a0 I thought it was fun, but Eliza Jane was disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappointed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t have any rides.\u00a0 She said that the carnivals back in New York do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t never seen a carnival with rides,\u201d Hoss said between chews.<\/p>\n
Adam added, \u201cWhen I was in college I went to a couple of carnivals that had them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Joe replied, \u201cYou mean the carnivals in Boston have rides too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pa stopped writing and answered, \u201cThe carnivals back east tend to be bigger and have more to offer than the ones out here in the west.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope she ain\u2019t one of them people who always sees the bad in things,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s usually got to be some kind of good found in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Joe hadn\u2019t thought about that before.\u00a0 Was Eliza Jane one of those people?\u00a0 Would she find something wrong with the dance too?\u00a0 Oh please no.\u00a0 She had to find something good about it.\u00a0 Surely she couldn\u2019t be unhappy with everything.\u00a0 Could she?<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cI hope so too.\u00a0 Oh and get this.\u00a0 When I tried to kiss her she said we couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Her grandmother says it\u2019s some kind of bad luck to kiss under a pale moon.\u00a0 Now what\u2019s a pale moon, and what does kissing have to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam\u2019s one eyebrow went up.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever heard that before.\u201d\u00a0 Pa shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t never heard that either.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss bit into his apple.<\/p>\n
Next Adam thumbed through his book.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a poem in here about the moon.\u201d\u00a0 He stood up and read aloud with dramatic inflection in his voice, \u201cThe Pale Moon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The light so pale in the night sky.<\/em><\/p>\n Yet brighter than the brightest star.<\/em><\/p>\n A large wandering solitary eye<\/em><\/p>\n Seeing all around and even afar.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The soft beams caress the valley<\/em><\/p>\n And chase the lurking shadows away.<\/em><\/p>\n A blanket of light covers every tree<\/em><\/p>\n And holds the darkness in sway.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In the morning comes the sun<\/em><\/p>\n As the moon fades softly to bed.<\/em><\/p>\n Night shadows slip away and run<\/em><\/p>\n While the valley in light is fed.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Little Robins all in chorus sing,<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Always find good in every single thing.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And there you have it, little brother.\u00a0 Something about the pale moon.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe asked, \u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a sonnet.\u00a0 Surely Miss Jones teaches you kids poetry?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course she does.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood.\u00a0 I was getting worried.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam clapped the book shut and sat back down.\u00a0 Then he reopened it and returned to reading it silently like he was earlier.\u00a0 Hoss started snickering.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s so funny?\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe wanted to know.<\/p>\n Hoss laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYou two!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n Pa said, \u201cI take it you probably won\u2019t be taking Eliza Jane out again?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 I told her I would take her to the summer dance.\u00a0 That was before I tried to kiss her.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss grinned.\u00a0 \u201cJust don\u2019t try to kiss her again under a pale moon, little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery funny to you too.\u201d<\/p>\n Older brothers!\u00a0 Sometimes they were annoying.\u00a0 Still they were his brothers.\u00a0 What if there really was a point in what they each shared?<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n During the final days of school Little Joe started paying special attention to the words that Eliza Jane said.\u00a0 Her desk often squeaked whenever she sat down or got up.\u00a0 Miss Jones sometimes grinned like a cat who had just caught a rat.\u00a0 The blackboard was covered with stains.\u00a0 On and on her complaints went.\u00a0 Little Joe remembered Hoss saying he hoped Eliza Jane wasn\u2019t someone who found the bad in everything.\u00a0 What if she was?<\/p>\n Little Joe picked up Eliza Jane in the family buggy and they went to the dance.\u00a0 It was held in the ballroom of one of the hotels.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss were there as well to dance with different ladies.<\/p>\n Little Joe noticed it was partly cloudy outside with the moon again peeking in and out from behind the clouds.\u00a0 Would he be able to kiss Eliza Jane tonight?\u00a0 Hopefully she wouldn\u2019t bring up the pale moon again.\u00a0 What did that poem say that Adam read?\u00a0 There was something about the moon being pale.\u00a0 Oh that may have been the title.\u00a0 It ended with something about finding good in everything.\u00a0 Hoss said that too.<\/p>\n Little Joe and Eliza Jane danced all evening long.\u00a0 He enjoyed holding her close to him and smelling her floral perfume.\u00a0 He really wanted to kiss her.\u00a0 From time to time he noticed her looking at other people and even looking over at the musicians.\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 What was she noticing?<\/p>\n He finally asked her, \u201cWhat are you looking at?\u201d<\/p>\n She replied, \u201cOh just different people here.\u00a0 I noticed that one brother of yours keeps going back to the table and getting more food.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat would be Hoss.\u00a0 He loves to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you\u2019re enjoying the dance tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just okay?\u201d<\/p>\n Oh no.\u00a0 Please don\u2019t let this be.\u00a0 She\u2019s already found something wrong with it?<\/p>\n \u201cWell the music isn\u2019t really that good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u00a0 It sounds fine to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe music back in New York is beautiful.\u00a0 That piano player here isn\u2019t really very good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 We need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n They stopped dancing as Little Joe lead Eliza Jane on outside onto the boardwalk.\u00a0 How could he explain this to her?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t she find the good in anything at all?\u00a0 She always had these complaints.\u00a0 That had to be a sad way to live.<\/p>\n \u201cIsn\u2019t there anything you like about the dance?\u201d\u00a0 He questioned.<\/p>\n A puzzled look crossed her face.\u00a0 \u201cWell I like being with you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s good.\u00a0 All I\u2019ve been hearing from you are complaints.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI miss New York.\u201d\u00a0 Her big blue eyes turned sad.\u00a0 \u201cNevada is not New York.\u201d<\/p>\n A moment of silence followed.\u00a0 So that was the problem.\u00a0 New York had been Eliza Jane\u2019s home, and now she was far away from there.\u00a0 New York and Nevada were probably as different as night and day.<\/p>\n Little Joe replied, \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u00a0 It\u2019s not.\u00a0 Why did your family move out here?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve heard you say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause my papa said it was his dream to come out west.\u00a0 Mama talked me into coming along.\u00a0 I was thinking about staying with my grandmother back there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s good when someone pursues their dream?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t you be happy for your papa for pursuing his dream?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess so.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t thought of that.\u201d<\/p>\n He put his hands on her shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cListen to me.\u00a0 A lot of us love it out here.\u00a0 We see the good in it.\u00a0 Can\u2019t you find some good in it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t know?\u00a0 Take my brother Hoss for instance.\u00a0 He sees the beauty in nature, wildlife, and in every sunrise and sunset.\u00a0 He looks for the good in so many things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe had a feeling that maybe Eliza Jane was considering it.\u00a0 He hoped he was helping her to see things differently.\u00a0 Maybe someday she would learn to love Nevada too.<\/p>\n The next thing he knew he leaned in to give her a kiss.<\/p>\n \u201cOh no!\u201d\u00a0 She stepped back away from him.\u00a0 \u201cNot under a pale moon!\u201d<\/p>\n Oh great! Not this again.\u00a0 How did that poem go?\u00a0 Maybe he needed to borrow the book from Adam and read the poem to her<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n Author\u2019s Note:<\/p>\n Written for the 2021 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.\u00a0\u00a0 The game was Five Card Draw and the words and\/or phrases I was dealt were:<\/p>\n Under a pale moon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Little Joe takes out a girl who’s family recently moved from New York. Can he help her to find good in Nevada? And what does a pale moon have to do with anything?<\/p>\n Rating:\u00a0 K+ Word count:\u00a0 \u00a02116<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12349,"featured_media":23242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1008,40],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-36996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-challenges","tag-pppt","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Ponderosa-Paddlewheel-boat.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCarnival
\nDance
\nGo barefoot
\nComplain<\/p>\n