No Name by Tamsin Butler Have continued the story and would really appreciate any ideas :) [4,463 words]
No Title Sake Man by Janette Dejesus . [4 words]
Valentine,S Day by Janette Dejesus Story has been deleted. [1 words]
The Adoption by Janette Dejesus About 2 girls who are adopted and one goes over the edge and commits a crime. [1 words]
The 9-11 Opportunity by Gregory Allen This idea was given to me by my boss. He is the star of the story. Fixed a couple of thing... [3,872 words]
Sally Part One by Gregory Allen Opening chapter in the adventures of Sally. [2,245 words]
Those Old Men by Charles F Kane A serious theme to ponder about, as we become may become the old men I describe in the first part... [424 words]
House Of Dolls by Lady Sashi When one of the X-Men dabbles in the Craft, the results are unforeseen. [3,148 words]
Alphabet by Tamsin Butler I was seeing if I can write a story starting from Z and working backwards. I am still working on it. [213 words]
Ocular Dolor by Ouazan G Skilad "Left?" "Right." "When?" "What?" Benny the doorkeeper in my building was almost completely deaf. [749 words]
Tom by Gregory Allen Story about Tom the prick. [528 words]
The Writer's Twist by John H Pallister Frank Damper is a writer a good one, he leads a pretty straight forward life until a strange... [6,027 words]
The Perfect Lover by Loyd A Lesbian Love Story. [545 words]
The Pen by Alvin Gladstone Story of a man and his pen. [4,897 words]
The Last Song Of C S H (A Reprise) by Lawrence Peters If you need to know... [578 words]
The Highway by Debbie Bailey - [1,541 words]
The Dawn Of Twilight by Matt M Cantelon A man returns to his home town only to find he can never truly go back. Any feedback is w... [1,537 words]
The Agent by Laurence L'abre I wrote this for my GCSE a year or two ago ago. The assignment was 'a story set in one room'. I would... [909 words]
Russian Roulette by Daniel Brown Five men find themselves in a room being forced to play Russian Roulette. [616 words]
Memorize by Griffin Lance Pool A man who works for a german weapons facility is told to find weapon blueprints from a factory in Russ... [824 words]
Memories Past by Alice W-M It's pretty self expanitery [453 words]
Kitty And The Mystery Of Loreta by Maya Eaddy One day kitty and Loreta were sitting at home when someone cat-napped Loreta.wh... [263 words]
Jesus And The Woman by Jamie Fernandez Run-down woman encounters an inspiring Mother. [1,247 words]
Entity At Midnight by J Steven A man leavs work and is visited by something supernatural. [427 words]
Child by Laurence L'abre My little brother was annoying me the other night and somhow inspired me to write this story. Any feedbac... [635 words]
Black Shadow by Mousie It's my first story kinda, so don't be too harsh but I'd definitely appreciate suggestions. Thanks... [413 words]
A Close Facsimile by Jason P Neubauer The fax machine made me do it. [2,412 words]
The Wall by Upasana Datta The story has been set in a serene Indian village once under the British reign.The story is basically... [815 words]
Red by Ouazan G Skilad A short story about a professional hitman who has been in the business one job too long. Please take the ti... [302 words]
Ypres 1917 by Kimberly McGuinness It's World War I. Mud, sickness and death surround everyone and everything when two soldiers meet: ... [3,043 words]
Tree Man by Robert Davis A man finds solace in the shadows of a great tree. [726 words]
The Walls Have Eyes And They Whisper by Jason P Neubauer I find that sometimes actual nightmares, when they are lucid ones and are ... [981 words]
The Waiting Room by Julia Helen Livingston - [700 words]
The Trouble With Immortality by Iain Spittles I know this will make some of you laugh. A tongue in cheek peek into another world... [591 words]
The Skeptic by Jason P Neubauer Kind of a character sketch. I wanted to write something that included a guy who was kind of a jerk... [6,703 words]
The Last Song Of Cold Steel Heart by Lawrence Peters - [3,382 words]
The Gamble by Vera Marbrylouch A fund raiser, set up as a fake casino in Monte Carlo allowed everyone to "gamble" and "win big." T... [394 words]
Quick And Dirty by Devin B Wieland Quick and Dirty follows the decline of a 25 yr. old man. In short, he believes that he must ret... [2,533 words]
Pursuit Of Survival by R M Harcourt Futuristic. [1,433 words]
Planet 22 Butte Montana Summer '03 by Robert J Speers An in depth look at the inner workings of a trail dusty roadie. [1,872 words]
Its Alright by Gregory Allen A short little brain fart. [837 words]
Hottie Pursuit by Iain Spittles Was walking through town yesterday and got the idea for this...... [734 words]
Five Dollars by Stevo Nagie A homeless man finds five dollars, has a small adventure, then loses the five dollars. [264 words]
First Bonding by Art Becaud A young mother to be bonds for the first time and realises her destiny. [445 words]
Everybody Loved Polly by Randall Barfield I detest violence and violent people! [1,809 words]
Doctor Trek - Crossbreed by Ian Kidd The Captain and his companions are plunged into a parallel universe where fiction is r... [11,902 words]
Call Girl. by Tamsin Butler Random story based around my job and my aspirations. [331 words]
Building The Outhouse
A Fallen Warrior by Byron Tuckett - [967 words]
Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 [21] 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
| |
TITLE (EDIT)
Building The Outhouse |
DESCRIPTION
This is a true story.
[614 words] |
AUTHOR
Caroline Woodson |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
-
[August 2005] |
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (16)
Love, English Style (Genres) The first chapter of a manuscript I'm working on. Romance****Adult****Set in East Texas. Opinions? [1,284 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Eight) (Genres) Does anyone ever really review anything here? [1,697 words]
Love, English Style (Chapter Eleven) (Genres) - [1,483 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Five) (Genres) - [1,985 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Four) (Genres) - [1,624 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Fourteen) (Genres) - [1,918 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Nine) (Genres) - [1,348 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Seven) (Genres) May I have some feedback please? [1,652 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Six) (Genres) - [1,469 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Ten) (Genres) - [1,628 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Thirteen) (Genres) - [2,163 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Three) (Genres) - [953 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Twelve) (Genres) - [1,924 words] [Romance]
Love, English Style (Chapter Two) (Genres) - [872 words] [Romance]
Stormy The Cloud Saves The Day (Children) A children's story I wrote a long time ago. [461 words]
The Best Man (Genres) Maid of honor and best man find they were meant for one another. [707 words] [Romance]
|
Building The Outhouse
Caroline Woodson
Building the Outhouse
She’s almost 47 years old and still the baby of the family. She realizes now how right they all were when they said she would always be the baby. The last born, and the youngest of the siblings.
It’s been almost ten months since her dad died suddenly of a heart attack. The guilt and the grief have abated only a bit.
Guilt because even though she couldn’t have done anything for him she still feels like she should have been there. Maybe somehow she could have seen it coming. The grief is bone deep and devastating.
As much as she’d like to have him back, she’s thankful that he no longer suffers the pain he dealt with all his life. And even more thankful that when the time of his death arrived, he was exactly where he wanted to be. In the home he built just a few hundred yards away from the site where the house he was born in stood.
She has many wonderful memories, some stand out more than others. One in particular stands out. It’s helping her dad build the outhouse.
Long before he built the house he would retire to he built a one room cabin that sat close to the private road. At the time there was no running water down there in the middle of the woods. Therefore the closest bathroom was about five miles away. So basically if you had to go, you went in the woods.
It’s a blistering hot day everyone is busy putting the finishing touches on the cabin. Besides herself everyone includes her mom, sister, her two brothers and their wives. She sees her dad collecting and stacking scrap lumber out behind the cabin. Curious she walks over to him.
“Daddy what are you doing?”
He grins through the sweat poring down his face. “I’m gonna build an outhouse.”
She’s a young woman in her twenties and has never known anything but indoor plumbing. She is repulsed by the idea of an outhouse.
“But why?”
He jerks his thumb back toward the cabin and says, “Cause I’m tired of you womenfolk complaining about having to go in the woods.” Then he laughs at the look on her face. She grins back.
“Well it’s not our fault that we can’t stand there and pee off the cabin porch like the men can.”
He hands her a hammer and some nails. “Here you can help me.” At her look of mortification he laughs. “Come on, I’ll bet your knowledge of building an outhouse will be valuable to you later in life.”
She finds that it’s surprisingly easy to build an outhouse and before long it’s almost finished. Her dad disappears into the shed, then comes back out again carrying not one, but two toilet seats. She’s puzzled.
“Why do you have two toilet seats?”
He begins to screw the seats into place. “Because when I was growing up if you had a two seater outhouse you were considered rich. Besides I don’t want you women to have to wait in line out here.” This time it is she who laughs.
Years later after her parents built their retirement home her dad said he was going to tear the outhouse down, but she begged him not to. So he removed the toilet seats and hauled the outhouse behind the shed. He found that it was a good place to store his rakes and shovels.
Her dad is gone now and she feels the pain of that loss every day of her life. But when she goes “home” to visit the outhouse and her memories are still there.
|
READER'S REVIEWS (6)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
" What a sweet memory. " -- AG, Oklahoma, USA.
"That was amazingly sweet!" -- Kim.
" This brought tears to my eyes. You truly write very well." -- F.G., Houston, USA.
" What a truly lovely and touching story. And very well written." -- MS, Pennsylvania, USA.
"This is a wonderful piece. Such a loving tribute to your dad. You write so well. " -- CJ, Iowa.
"I am at a loss. I agree w/everyone, you write really well." -- MS, Washington.
TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS CLICK HERE! (SELECT "MANAGE TITLE REVIEWS" ACTION) |
|
Submit Your Review for Building The Outhouse
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.
|
|
Submit Your Rating for Building The Outhouse
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 1995 Caroline Woodson |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
October 2005 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2504
|
|
