Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Twilight Years of Life (07/02/09)
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TITLE: Twilighters Club.
By Gloria Pierre Dean
07/04/09 -
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infamously steep incline of Market Hill challenged her, but she refused to take the bus
home. All of her neighbors rode the bus home and they could not understand her
stubborn resistance of modernity.
“Only silly young children climb that hill”, her friends said.
“This hill will never defeat me”, she said stubbornly.
Her daughter recently bought her a high arch walking shoes, so could do this climb with
pain in her arches.
Maricella was a market trader now. She sold fresh flowers that she grew in
their backyard. So, once a week, on Saturday, she cut the beautiful blooms and
carefully placed their stems in wet paper before filling her tray, placing them on her
head and doing the two mile walk to the market. Each day she tended her plants,
trimmed, watered and loved them passionately.
As a young girl ,Maricella was a folk dancer as was her mother before her.
Many of her clients paid huge sums of money to see her dance. Her beautiful self-
designed flamboyant skirts draped her feminine form effortlessly. On her head she
wore a uniquely designed hat covered with masses of raffia straw fruits that resembled
the real fruits of her beloved land.
“You started a trend”, the locals said to her, as more and more girls
adapted her original costumes. She danced to the local folk songs, and still did at home
now in the privacy of her home where only Archibald watched. But that was a long time
ago. Maricella smiled to herself as she recalled her local fame.
”Vanity of vanities”, she smirked in derision to herself, totally agreeing with King
Solomon.
At the age of 25 she had started Maricelle’s Dancing School which was,
as it turned out, a successful venture. Even tourists came and took courses on ‘Island
Dancing’ as they called it. Maricella did not give up professional dancing till she had
her second child. By this time her husband Archibald asked her to stop.
“Time to pull in your horns and mind the children, my love”,
he said, in his usual frank manner. Well, she taught the girls to dance instead and
today her oldest daughter, who moved to the mainland to study did part time dancing
when she was not doing Accounting. She has even had small dancing parts in movies,
and last month when she sent her an email saying,
“Mama, they have started Worship dance at our church and I am on the team”.
This piece of news filled Maricella with such joy; to know that her legacy lives on and
for the Glory of God too.
Now in her mature years, Maricella was a full time care giver to Archibald
who had a mild stroke years ago. Her hobby now is growing exotic blooms in her back
yard. Thank God they had bought that ten acre lot of land when land was going cheap
from the Richelleu Estate. So her challenge to herself now that she no longer danced
for money, was to sell the most beautiful orchids and lilies in the market. She even had
customers who bought for weddings and funerals. Last year she won the “Best and
Brightest” Award again, seven years running.
Recently though, she had this brilliant idea that changed her life again.
She knew that there were lots of older women and men in her neighborhood ,and she
wondered to herself,
“Why not !” “ Why not indeed”...
So she designed an advertisement and placed it in the local paper and waited and
hoped. Meanwhile she prepared the spacious spare room that no one used anymore.
With the help of Bob, the local handy man, she moved the furniture into the barn. She
then polished the wooden floors, and made brightly colored curtains on her old Singer
machine.
Her dancing club called “Twilighters” opened last week.
Fifteen ‘twilighters’ showed up. They had such fun.
No charge, a ‘just for fun and exercise club’.
Sixteen ‘twilighters’ dancing to the sound of folk and modern music. That brought a
smile to Archie’s face.
In the twilight of her life, Maricella is still climbing Market Hill, looking after Archibald,
growing and selling flowers and dancing again.......
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