Home > Work > All the Little Hopes
1 " What’s all them blue jars for?” I whisper, “Vicks VapoRub. Daddy uses it for everything. Colds, bug bites, cuts, bee stings, dry skin, bruises, headaches, sore muscles. "
― Leah Weiss , All the Little Hopes
2 " Do you know a bee only lives forty-five days and that only the female honeybee stings? "
3 " You take one cup of softened butter and one cup of milk, two cups of sugar, threes cups of self-rising flour, and four eggs. One of the three-layer cakes has white icing and the other caramel. After "
4 " wolpertinger. "
5 " Oh, Lordy, ma’am.” He clears his throat. “I’m sorry I scared you thinking that way, seeing this government car and all. No, ma’am. I bring good news.” Mama’s body softens, "
6 " He checks his teeth in the mirror, flattens a cowlick with spit, and opens the door. The hinge creaks as he rolls out. "
7 " Daddy cuts the motor, and they jump down and move at a fast clip. Mama yells, “It’s not our boys,” so they don’t race their hearts. "
8 " Bout a hundred, last count. "
9 " Does that come to about a thousand pounds of beeswax and eight thousand pounds of honey a year? "
10 " We’ll be keeping the two blue stars in our window representing our men in harm’s way. "
11 " We watch the newsreel about the faraway war that rages, and like always, I look hard to catch a glimpse of Everett or Wade. "
12 " Out drifts lemon, mint, salt, vinegar, and the metallic whiff of blood. In the middle is a line of matching bottles labeled Stump, Ditch, Willow, Lightning, and Urine. Baskets of tiny silk bags tied with ribbons and dried roots are in orderly rows. "
13 " I go to the cupboard. I open the doors to a lacquered red interior the color of the Chinese music box in Aunt Fanniebelle’s curio cabinet. Out drifts lemon, mint, salt, vinegar, and the metallic whiff of blood. In the middle is a line of matching bottles labeled Stump, Ditch, Willow, Lightning, and Urine. Baskets of tiny silk bags tied with ribbons and dried roots are in orderly rows. "
