Mary Bobbie: A Short Story — Kathryn Spurgeon

Guilt resurfaces when Bobbie sees a forlorn toddler in a Dust Bowl shack while visiting her sisters in Oklahoma. The little girl reminds her of the daughter she lost. Can she continue to keep her part in her child's death from her police officer husband, or will her long-held secret erode all the trust their marriage is built upon? Based on a true story. When I stepped from the flivver, I breathed in the brisk Oklahoma air and released it slowly. I stretched my arms to loosen the tenseness from hours of gripping the door handle of the Model T with one hand and clutching my bonnet with the other. I was a sweet sixteen-year-old when I first saw Shannon. We met at the City Drug Store where I'd gone to get a soda with my sister, Matilda. Shannon pretended to be my server and brought me a napkin and a straw, bowing like a gentleman. I gazed into his laughing blue eyes, and he smirked like a possum facing a coyote. Giggles bubbled up inside me, and, sure as shooting, I fell in love with that good-looking man right on the spot. Shannon Layne was tall and husky, whereas I was round and pleasant. He insisted he liked me that way, a little-bitty plump woman overflowing with chuckles and laughter. I married Shannon with a smile on my face, a light in my eyes, and my brown hair curled to perfection.I had no way of knowing heartache would come with the ever-changing weather.