The Lowdown Hoedown

Gertrude winked at Harry from across the hall.  She was enamored by him and wished he felt the same way about her.  Harry was sporting a coon hat with a long tail.  An end of a leek was protruding from his full lips. 

The clock struck 8:00 o’clock and the tables were moved from the dance area after the pie eating contest. It was one hour before the dancing began. Gertrude’s sister Hannah took first place again much to some of the fellas’ chagrin.  Gertrude could still taste the sourness from the cherry pies she ingested. Her front tooth was stained from the blueberry pie she ate quite often, blueberry was her favorite. She knows they serve cherry pie for the contest because it not one of the favorites of the contestants.  The berries were not sitting too well with the contestants and you could hear toots as they walked across the floor.  The air was made fug by the odorous smells in the barn.  The air smelled of horses and their manure mixed in with the rank smell of damp hay.  Most folks from around these parts took those smells as a way of life and nature’s perfume. The dance hall was actually Bernie’s horse barn.  Bernie moved the horses outside to the corral and swept the main floor to prepare for the night’s hoedown

Fishing rods were lined up on one of the walls of the dancing hall.  Trapper reeled in the biggest catfish that morning and won the fishing contest. Poor Jethro lost his fishing pole when his fish hook got snagged on a log in the river. 

A tub was placed in the center of the room that contained water and apples for the apple diving expedition.  Gertrude nudged her sister Maybelle in the ribs and said, “let’s show up those other gals over there and get the most apples this year.” Maybelle and Gertrude squatted on the floor on two sides of the tub and started diving for apples. Maybelle being as competitive as her sister said, “I got to get me as many of those darn apples as I can get.”  Jeers were emanating from the audience.

Just then Sally Joe walked through the door, one of Maybelle’s arch enemies.  She was standing with her feet shoulder width apart and her hands on her hips.  She reached for something out of the pocket of her patchwork skirt.  Maybelle tensed up and stood to face her opponent.  Sally Joe pulled a quail feather pen out of her pocket with a piece of paper. 

“You know the pen is mightier than the sword. I am going to run you out of town on a rail Maybelle,”said Sally Joe as she pointed her nubby finger at Maybelle.  Sally Joe’s finger got caught in one of the gears of her tractor last year during harvest time. 

Maybelle was thrown off balance by the force of Sally Joe’s voice.  Sally Joe challenged Maybelle to a game of tic tac toe.  Maybelle was trembling as she drew the first x.  She always went for the center; but that was not a sure way to win the game.  Sally Joe was known around these parts to be the best tic tac toe player in the county.  A bead of sweat was rolling down Maybelle’s face. Sally Joe drew a circle on one of the corners.  Before Maybelle realized what Sally Joe’s strategy was, Sally Joe had a circle on two corners.  Maybelle lost the game and walked with a slouch to one of the corners of the dance hall.

Sally Joe turned towards Gertrude and Gertrude shrunk away from her.  Putting a hand up signaling that she did not want to play a part in trying to beat Sally Joe.  Sally Joe smiled smugly and walked over to Harry.  She put her arm around Harry.  He smiled like the cat who swallowed the canary.  He began to pick his teeth with the tine of a fork. 

“There’s no ifs, ands, or buts Sally Joe, you are the best tic tac toe player in the county,” said Harry proudly. 

Dusk was falling on this warm sunny night.  Children were still playing tag outside.  The children looked up at the sky marveling at the full moon. Two loons swam past the onlookers as they were gazing at the moon.

The soup was simmering in a large kettle.  Mary Sue put the lid back on the pot after she stirred in some spices. 

“Do you mind if I have a cup of that soup?  I haven’t eaten since noon,” said Billy when he opened the lid to smell the savory aroma of the soup.

“Yes, go right ahead,” replied Mary Sue as she handed him a metal cup.

“Mum told me that there was hail the other day when Uncle Willy set sail to fill their freezer for winter.  He was going to bring home a mess of catfish,” exclaimed Billy.

“When I got the mail the other day, my second cousin Henrietta told me they were hit with a bout of hail two weeks ago.”

Mary Sue added some soy sauce to the soup.  Her mum told her that soy sauce gives things just the right amount of kick. 

“Sprinkle some of that magic sauce on my cup of soup, will ya,” demanded Billy.

“Did you hear those bears rummaging through our garbage last night?” asked Mary Sue.

“Yes, I did.  I paid old man McCoy $5.00 for this bear repellant stuff and it didn’t work.  I am going to bring that tube back to McCoy’s store and demand my money back.”

“I swear on the holy grail that I covered my garbage cans with bricks and when I woke up the bricks were gone,” said Mary Sue with a look of frustration. 

While Mary Sue and Billy were having this conversation, Gertrude stared at who she thought was her soul mate from across the room.  She thought to herself, I am so mad at that con artist Sally Joe.  She has been after my man for months now.  If I had a ton of bricks right now I would set them up so they would fall on her and get rid of her once and for all.  Gertrude dotted her face with a handkerchief as her mood became more and more pied.

Jethro began playing the fiddle while Henry played the washtub base.  People started tapping their feet to the music. 

Gertrude worked up her courage, walked over to Harry, took him by the hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.  A look of surprise crossed everyone’s face. 

Gertrude said gruffly, “I have been pining for you since I saw you take first place during that outhouse race last fall.  It’s about time you started paying attention to me.”

Harry replied, “It’s about time you admitted your feelings for me darling.” They ended up dancing the night away. 

Note:  This short story was developed by using words that my friends and I came up with during the playing of an UpWords Game.  The words that are in bold print are from the game.  I challenge my readers to do the same.  I find it challenging and fun to write something either a short story or poem using specific words that I may not usually use.  This also expands my vocabulary.  Have fun.