Collection of Short Stories

Snapshots of Memories

"Sarah, wait up!" Elise called, chasing her sister through the woods. It was right by a river and their grandma brought them there thinking it would be fun; they called it the "muddy place."

"Both of you need to slow down before you fall and hurt yourselves," their grandma told them.

Sarah sighed, "Grammie, I'm 8 years old, I'm not going to fall. Maybe you should be more worried about Elise."  

Elise was six and had always been very small for her age, which resulted in everyone treating her like the baby of the family. However she was very stubborn and strong willed, not listening to what she was told. Currently Elise was venturing closer to the river, where it was the most muddy.  

"This is gross," she complained. "I don't even like the muddy place." Right as she finished her sentence Elise slipped and fell into the mud.  

"Elise!" Their grandma cried. As Elise started crying from being dirty, Sarah rolled her eyes. She was annoyed that they would have to go back home now.  

Their grandma picked Elise up and they all walked back to the car. She was wrapped in a blanket that was kept in the backseat and since it wasn't a far drive back to the house their grandma just put Elise in the far back of the car where a third row of seats would normally go.  

Eventually Elise stopped crying once she was finally at her grandma's house and cleaned up. For years to come her family would tease her about the "muddy place" and how she fell in the mud and cried. At first she hated that day, but eventually Elise had to cherish that memory.

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"Wow," Elise whispered, gazing up at the sky around her. "Do we get to go in any of them?"  

Today her grandma had taken her and her sister on another adventure; this time to go look at hot air balloons. Neither of the girls had ever seen one in real life, and their grandma thought it would be a fun experience.  

Their grandma shook her head, "No, you don't get to go in one, but it will still be fun looking at them right?"  

Both girls nodded their heads enthusiastically. They loved anything their grandma brought them to do; she was Elise's favorite person in the world.  

For hours all three of them made up fun stories for the people riding in the hot hair balloons, and what kind of adventures they would take in one. Sarah and her grandma were both afraid of heights and knew they would never actually ride in one, but Elise was only seven and believed that one day she would. Her grandma told them all about how they worked and Elise thought it was the coolest thing ever. She was so glad their grandma did this for them.  

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"Sarah hold her still!" their grandma ordered, eyeing the squirming dog in Sarah's arms. They were taking a surprise Christmas pictures for the girls' parents at a place that would take pictures with animals. Their grandma decided it would be fun for the girls to get a picture with their dog Peanut.  There were two people dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Santa was attempting to hold the dog on his lap.

Sarah reached over and tried to still the dog, knowing it was over excited. Elise flushed with embarrassment - she was eight years old and didn't want to be taking pictures. Why couldn't they just take one themselves? They were really too old for Santa.  

"Elise wipe that pout off of your face or you won't be allowed to have cookies when we get home," their grandma said.  

Immediately Elise put a smile on her face, not necessarily because she wanted cookies - although she did - but she knew it would go much quicker and her grandma would be much happier if she just cooperated. Half an hour later they were finally done, after much struggle with the dog.