Annabelle

I remember the first time I saw Annabelle; I remember it like it was yesterday. Elder Lowell was an old man full of life but when Tuberculosis threatened his life his only daughter came quickly with her family. It was a normal summer day August eighth, eighteen ninety nine my friends and I were playing ball in the street in front of my house on Ridge Way, when we saw a large black car pull into Mr. Lowell's driveway.

A tall muscular man dressed in dark clothes stepped out of the car first, and then went to the passenger seat to help a light brown haired, middle aged woman out of the car. Stepping down from the back seat were two young girls; one looked close to my age and the other was younger close to my sister Lily’s age. The older one was wearing a short blue dress that only went to her knees with matching blue ribbons keeping her long blonde hair away from her face. The younger girl was in a long pink dress, more traditional to her family’s money; her hair was a darker blonde but still long and held back like her sister’s with a ribbon. They all wore saddened smiles as they went into their grandfather’s home.

We spent the whole last day of summer outside playing ball in the street. When dinner time came my best friend Edward, stayed for dinner. During dinner my curious mother asked us if we saw Mr. Lowell’s family arrive. We told her they did. My mother always asks questions, my father says that women like to be informed and to get used to it. My mother then started with question two and three “Did you introduce yourself? How many grandchildren does he have?” then my sister Lily chimes in with “Does he have a granddaughter my age? Can I meet her?” I told them that he has two granddaughters and I didn't introduce myself. My mother glared at me then proceeded to scold me for not being polite, I tried to change the subject by telling Lily there was a little girl that looked her age and that mother should bring her over to play soon, Lily was very pleased at the thought of another little girl to play with. We ate in silence for the rest of dinner because the only interesting topic had been exhausted for the evening, but lily still had a huge smile on her face knowing she will finally meet a girl her age instead of playing in a neighborhood full of boys.

I went to bed that night just wondering what the older girls name was and if she would be in school the next morning. I pictured her long blonde hair and beautiful lean figure as I closed my eyes. I hoped I would see her at school in the morning.