Too Many Rocks!

                                                            Too Many Rocks!

                                                            By Valerie L. Egar

            When Lily Amelia Merriweather grew tired of her glamorous life in the city, she packed her evening gowns and high heels, the pictures from her world travels and her little dog, Noodle. She drove to the country and bought a farm. A very rocky farm. Everywhere she looked, she saw rocks. Grey rocks flecked with white and yellow.  Others striped with pink.

            Rocks clunked against her shovel as she planted flowers. Some, the size of duck eggs, a few big as pumpkins. “Too many rocks!” she complained.

            Noodle hid behind rocks when he didn’t want to come inside. Lily Amelia walked up and down calling his name, hopping he would sneeze so she could find him.  “Too many rocks!” she declared.

            Her high heels caught on rocks when she walked to the mailbox and she fell, tearing her lace evening gown. “Too many rocks!”  Lily Amelia wrapped a few rocks from the garden in the torn dress and slipped them into the garbage can.  Gone!

           She looked around the house.  She tucked rocks in the ruffles of her purple evening gown and out they went! She stuffed rocks in the toes of her high heel shoes and tossed them.  Lily Amelia filled pillowcases, crystal bowls, baskets, vases and umbrella stands. When she loaded her suitcases with rocks, she was glad they had wheels. Lily Amelia threw away so many rocks, she had nothing left in her house to put them in.

The house was bare. Lily Amelia stood on her porch and looked. Grey rocks flecked with white and yellow. Others striped with pink. Lots of them, everywhere.

That night Lily Amelia sat on the porch and looked through the photo albums of her travels. The Great Wall of China. Stonehenge. The  Egyptian Pyramids, Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Taj Mahal. “Hmmmm.”

The next day, Lily Amelia built a neat rock wall at the edge of her field.  Then she built a tower. When she climbed the steps and looked out from the top, she could see the ocean far away.

She used the prettiest rocks to turn her house into a castle, and added a stone fountain in front. Then she made a smaller castle for Noodle and built a small fountain in front of that, too.

            She made a rock garden  at the edge of a field with a splendid sun dial she carved from stone.

            And, because she was getting to be very good at building things from rocks, she made a pyramid in the back yard just for fun.

         People driving by slowed down when they saw all she had done. She invited them in for a tour.

            Soon busloads of people were coming to see Lily Amelia’s Rocky Haven Wonderland.

            They took pictures of the view from the top of the tower.

            They took pictures of Noodle in his dog castle.

            They picnicked next to the pyramid and set their watches by the sundial in the garden.

            They admired the grey rocks flecked with white and yellow and the ones striped with pink.

            And, when they went to the gift shop, they always bought a few rocks to take home as souvenirs.

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Copyright 2018 by Valerie L. Egar. May not be copied, reproduced or distributed without permission from the author.

Published October 28, 2018 Biddeford Journal Tribune (Biddeford, ME).