The Clock
LHOP inspired fan flash fiction by Cheryl C. Malandrinos
Disclaimer: I do not own the Little House on the Prairie television series, book series, or any of the characters.
Laura glanced up at the clock on the mantle when it chimed. Oh, how she enjoyed that beautiful present Manly had brought home the day before Christmas. She hadn’t expected any presents this Christmas. Just three weeks ago, Laura had given birth to a healthy girl. She didn’t remember much about the birth, but precious money had been spent on doctor bills and medicine. How could they afford such a beautiful clock?
“I traded a load of hay for it,” Manly told her. This put her mind at ease, especially when he told her he couldn’t have sold the load because they weren’t shipping any longer.
Nearly two feet tall, it had a sold walnut base and a glass door that covered a face wreathed with a gilt vine on which four gilt birds fluttered. Laura loved it at once.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” Almanzo said from his seat in the rocking chair across from her. His blue eyes twinkled and she could just see the uplifted corner of his crooked smile.
Laura snuggled little Rose next to her as the embers in the fireplace began to dwindle. “Just how thoughtful it was of you to buy the clock.”
“We needed it.”
She nodded. “That’s true. We could have done without something so elegant, though. It looks perfect on the mantle.” Laura sighed. “I know it’s wrong to pay too much attention to worldly things, but so many people have commented on it when they come to visit.”
Laura’s mind wandered through her childhood and she recalled Ma’s insistence that the place they lived wasn’t a home until the china shepherdess sat on the mantle. She finally understood what she meant. She wasn’t sure if they would always live here, but Laura was certain that the clock would find a place on any mantle in every spot she called home.
Copyright Cheryl C. Malandrinos - All Rights Reserved.
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