Soon I hope to devote more time to this blog. In the mean time here is another picture of my mountains.

Sometimes you just have to see the sky before dawn.

Dec. 18, 2011
Morning frost in Western North Carolina

The quite moments in the early morning are a favorite of mine. You cannot see them in the photo but tiny ice crystals danced through the air like fluff from a summer daffodils glittering like diamonds in the first rays of the morning sun.
 

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Patients – Patience

The doctor has patience to see so many patients each day.

Patients - a person who is under medical care or treatment.

a person or thing that undergoes some action.

Patience - emphasizes calmness, self-control, and the willingness or ability to tolerate delay

Wander
Wonder

 I see these two words used incorrectly often so today's words are:
Wander - to move aimlessly about physically or mentally
Wonder - awe, the child gazed in wonder at the sky.

No – know

No: opposite of yes

Know: have knowledge of

Be – bee

Be: to exist or live

Bee:  flying insect

See – sea

See: visualize, look at

 Sea: large body of water 

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Rote – wrote

Rote

 A fixed, habitual, or mechanical course of procedure

The rote he followed each day never changed.

Wrote

The past tense of write

She wrote the letter yesterday.

Right – rite – write

Right

A direction

We turned to the right after going through the tunnel.

Tom was right, the cards were stacked. 

Rite

A formal or ceremonial act or procedure prescribed or customary

The priest preformed the rite. 

Write

The act of forming intelligent or not intelligent marks, symbols, or characters to relay information.

We will write the post today. 

Sense – since – cents

Sense – mental ability,

The sense of smell, hearing, taste …

Since – time

Every since I fell my foot hurts.

Cents – money value

You – Your – You’re

You meaning not me

Your - belonging to you – ownership

You’re – the words you are condensed

You’re should only be used if you can use you are in place of

You like deer can mean one or many.

By – Bye – Buy

By – near

The car was by the road. The car was near the road.

Bye – ending or leave taking

I told Sonia bye as she left. Tom said good-bye before hanging up the phone.

Buy – purchase

We will buy only what is needed.

Rein –Reign - rain

Rein – gear for a horse

He pulled much too hard and the horses reins causing the horse to jump.

Reign – rule

The queen’s reign was much too long.

Rain – something falling from above usually water

The rain fell so fast there was no time to avoid getting wet.

 A Whisper of Secrets

 This is just a peek at what you will find inside this book

 

Preface

This story was written in memory of Jimmy and Carrie my

grandparents who instilled within me a love for storytelling and

mountain lore. These two were born in the last part of the 1800’s and

grew up in an area where education was not of the greatest importance

and both still spoke in the old dialect of their parents. They lived in

much the same way as their parents before them had in a deep cove

located in the wild and beautiful Appalachian mountain range.

This story was built around a story Grandpa told of a time when

he was a child. A time of superstition and mystery, a time when the

dusk just before dark was called the gloaming, a time when shadows are

deepest and the unknown spirits roamed the mountain valleys.

My favorite time was and still is the gloaming of the day. As a child

the greatest event of my day was spent listening to the old stories after

dinner was over and chores were done. This is the time my grandparents

referred to as the gloaming, the dusk just before dark.

Granny would say, “Come child ye granddaddy’s gonna tell a story

and you must listen close fur he’ll only tell it once tonight.”

We would either sit near the old pot bellied wood stove in the living

room or in summer on the front porch. Giggling I would climb up

beside Granny saying, “that’s silly Granny he’s Grandpa not Daddy.”

“Hush child and listen.”

Grandpa would spit either into the stove or over the banister of the

porch, wipe the dribble of snuff from his chin and begin in his soft low

voice.

vi

Merlene M. Allison

The story as he told it went like this:

“I remember one time when a haint follured Papa home. It was late

fall and Papa had gone ta town, Momma and the rest of us young’ens

stayed at home. Well it got dark and Papa wouldn’t home yet. I guess

it was getting on to be about nine o’clock when we heard the awfulest

racket. Hit sounded just like you uz pullin the lag off some woman.

Momma made us young’ens gather in the livinroom an she locked all

the doors. Momma never had shot a gun but she got Papa’s old huntin

rife out and had me and my brother Joe to load it fur her.We sit there

froze in place fur a while then somethun run up on the porch and

started pounding on the door. Momma in her bravest voice called out,

“who’s that.” It wuz Papa and he started yelling, “let me in hit’s right

behind me.”

Momma run over and opened the door, Papa run in and closed

the door back. After he had a drink of water he set down and told us

about it.Papa said this haint started folluring him just at the mouth

of the cove. He could hear it walking in the leaves next to the wagon

trail. Finally the moon come out from behind the clouds and he saw hit

plain as day standing on the ridge above him. Hit wuz bigger’n a hoss,

hit even looked like a hoss an wuz as dark as midnight but when hit

rared up on hits hind lags an opened hits mouth he knowd hit wuz a

haint. Instood of hoofs hit had claws an when hit opened hits mouth ta

scream hit had teeth an fangs like a cat-e-mount that’s when he knowd.

We stayed up most of that night an watched ta see if it was gonna try

ta come in the house.

 A note from the Author:

I have tried to make the words sound just the way he spoke, in my

mind I can still hear his soft voice in that old dialect. Can still feel the

awe of hearing the old haunting and ghost stories he told.I have taken

the liberty of changing his story adding characters and events in a more

modern time.Granny was a Native American Indian and had many

stories also. Many of her stories involved the next world to come. Not

wanting to leave her out I have taken a hint of the world to come and

woven it into A Whisper of Secrets.

Come, come walk with me maybe we too shall see that which roams

the darkened coves and deep valleys in yon mountain heights when the

gloaming comes.

 

 

©

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic,

or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval

system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied

in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this

novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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