Time Passes As the days of December rolled past, Alexis experienced a holiday season that was mostly unremarkable. In later years she remembered it as a time that her mother was so wrapped up in her work that Alexis rarely saw her. When she did see her mother, Genevieve seemed to be very tired, as…
Category: Novels by S. L. Pirtle
The Accidental Texan: Part 3, Chapter 4
Flower Girl “Good morning, Eileen!” said Alexis, causing Eileen to practically jump off the bike, just as she was stopping outside the mudroom door. “My goodness child, what are you doing out here? And at this time of night!” said Eileen, leaning her bike against the side of the house, noticing that Alexis was fully…
The Accidental Texan: Part 3, Chapter 3
Learning to Read Several children who attended Alexis’ birthday party brought small books as gifts. Alexis liked the books. She liked looking at the images in the cartoons, and could pretty well figure out what the story was. She liked bugging her parents to sit down with her and read out loud, but she found…
The Accidental Texan: Part 3, Chapter 2
Sponge Lost Alexis loved having baths. She loved getting dirty, but she loved getting clean afterwards. Usually getting dirty was done with her father or her friends, and getting clean was a special private time with her mother. Genevieve might have passed the housekeeping and cooking off to others, but when it came to her…
The Accidental Texan: Part 3, Chaper 1
Four Years Old “Hello honey, how was your trip? What did you get Alexis for her birthday?” asked Genevieve, laying down her brush and lacing her fingers together, flexing her palms away from her body, producing a series of sharp cracks from her knuckles, which didn’t sound quite in unison, as her husband came into…
The Accidental Texan: Part 2, Chapter 13
Dana Returns Alexis was having fun smearing patches of wet slimy color over a piece of paper her mother gave her. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Genevieve was busy providing an example for her daughter on the finer points of finger-painting. “Mrs. Archie, should you be doing that?” asked Eileen as she passed through the…
The Accidental Texan: Part 2, Chaper 12
Getting Back to Normal Alexis was glad to have her mother home, though she didn’t like having the woman-in-white running the household. She was surprised when the woman began giving Eileen, orders and treating the faithful woman like a servant. Alexis remembered how much Nana and Eileen used to argue over how much salt to…
The Accidental Texan: Part 2, Chapter 11
The Woman in White Alexis didn’t like it when her mother started going to New York without her. She had always loved traveling on the train. During the day her mother would leave the door to their sleeper compartment open and let Alexis roam up and down the passageways, popping in and out of other…
The Accidental Texan: Part 2, Chapter 8, 9, and 10
One Studio Genevieve watched as Kelly lowered the Christmas tree, which they spent the whole morning un-decorating. “Kelly, let’s not set the living room up as a studio again. I never paint down here any more. The light is really better upstairs.” “Are you sure, dear?” asked Kelly, surprised. He was used to the idea…
The Accidental Texan: Part 2, Chapter 7
Christmas As the days counted down to Christmas, the temperature continued to drop, and Alexis was kept inside longer each day. Snow in December was uncommon in Misty, Texas, so the change in the weather took everyone by surprise. When snow started falling on December 23, the hardware store sold out of show chains, and…