Greta Gorsuch - Cecilias House & The Foraging Class

Welcome to our series, American Chapters. The American Chapters series presents short stories in vivid and easy-to-read 500-word chapters, perfect for English language learners internationally, and adult literacy learners in countries where English is commonly used.

All American Chapters print stories are also offered as audiobooks for learners who want to hear and read the stories and hear the sounds of American English.

American Chapters are lively, relevant, and realistic short stories about living in the United States of America. About Americans, immigrants, sojourners, and the diverse peoples living in this wide landscape, the stories touch on the tough questions, and the great things in lifethings like work, ethnic differences, our connections to the past, our place in nature, being new, small town life, personal loss, and above all, new beginnings.

Cecilia was wondering what to do next. This was typical for her. She had a lot of energy. She had a lot of ideas. She would think of something to do. She planned to do it, and then, she did it.

Any day could look like today: Get up. Start a cake for Frannie. Put the cake in the oven. Pick up trash from the front yard. Water the flowers. Order some new I Clean It t-shirts online. Look at her fingernails. What color should she pick this week? Maybe light purple? Was that too bright? Then, take a shower. Put her long brown hair in curlers. Wait ten minutes. Take the curlers out. Brush her hair. Look at her few gray hairs and frown. Put on her make up. Put on a pair of blue jeans, an I Clean It t-shirt, an orange and red Sunflower Roughnecks team jacket, and a pair of pink socks and shoes. Take Frannies cake from the oven.

Here it was8:30 AM. Cecilia was trying to decide if she had time to clean the bathroom before her first cleaning job. She decided she didnt. She wanted to stop by Frannies house before going to town. Frannie didnt sound good on the telephone last night. If Frannie was sick, Cecilia was going to have a busy day. There were four houses to clean! Cecilia didnt look forward to cleaning them by herself. Frannie was her friend, and Frannie was also her partner in the I Clean It house cleaning business.

Whats wrong? she asked Frannie. She could hardly hear Frannies answer. Was the cell phone signal that bad?

I dont know, Frannie said. Its probably just a cold. She coughed. It feels like I cant get enough air, she said.

Is Donny there? Can I talk to him? Cecilia asked. Donny was Frannies no-good son. He was 32 years old. He didnt have a regular job.

No, Frannie said. Hes visiting friends in Houston.

Uh-huh, Cecilia said. She started planning. What could she do to help? Could she take oranges? Cough syrup? Aspirin? She said, Do you want me to come over? I have some things that might help.

No, no, Frannie said. Youll just catch my cold. This is a bad one. Its been two weeks! But really, forget it. Ill be fine. If I can make it to Mrs. Morriss, Ill see you there.

This morning, though, Cecilia didnt feel good about that phone call. Thats why she wanted to stop by Frannies. How long did Frannie have that cold? Two weeks? More than two weeks, Cecilia thought.

Cecilia took the cake and put it in the front seat. She checked her rags and buckets and sprays in the back of her car. She was ready to go. She pulled out onto the highway.

Cecilia liked listening to music. When she was driving a car, listening to music was heaven. She played all sorts of music. Sometimes she played a radio station, KSNF 99.9. It was a little country music station in Sunflower. Sometimes she could get a radio station in Dallas, KDLS 101.3. It was a rock n roll station.

When Cecilia got tired of the radio, she listened to CDs. Some were rock, some were country. She liked to try new things. Last week she drove an hour to Plainview to a used CD shop. She bought a jazz CD by Thelonious Monk. It was in the bargain basket.

This morning she listened to jazz for the first time in her life. She didnt know what to think. She couldnt catch the mood of the songs. One song, Dont Blame Me, sounded so happy. But the song title wasnt happy at all. Blame was a strong word. Blame sounded like anger and secrets.

Cecilia lived outside of Sunflower, Texas. Sunflower was a small town. In the 1960s, there were 1,400 people in Sunflower. In the 1980s, 1,000 people were in Sunflower. By the 1990s, many young people were leaving. They werent coming back. They wanted jobs in Plainview or Dallas. No one wanted to live in a town with only one restaurant and no cafs.

Sunflower was right in the middle of big country. This part of Texas was high and flat and dusty. There were few trees. The sun shone every day. The sky was high and blue. It almost never rained. On some mornings, Cecilia thought she could see for a hundred miles. The towns were far apart. She needed a car to get around.

Cecilia loved Sunflower. She loved the country all around Sunflower. Her father died a few years before. He left her his big green two-story house just outside of Sunflower. She never dreamed of living anywhere else. Her I Clean It business was small, but Cecilia thought it was doing OK. Sunflower was getting smaller, but at least twelve people there still wanted their houses cleaned. Cecilia wanted to try her business in other small towns nearby. She had a car. She wanted to grow her business. She was always planning.

Cecilia turned off the main highway to go to Frannies house. She wanted to listen to Dont Blame Me one more time. She pressed the button to play the song again. Just as the song started, she saw something. There were flashing lights in her mirror. They were bright blue, red, and yellow. She pulled off the road. It was the sheriffs car. Then, a second set of lights came up, fast. It was an ambulance. Up ahead, the sheriffs car and the ambulance both turned onto a smaller road. It was Frannies road. They were going straight to Frannies house!

Cecilia sat in shock. Then she put her car into drive. She pulled back onto the road. She was shaking. Finally, she got to Frannies house. She was just in time to see a sheriffs deputy come back outside. The deputy, a woman named Alice Garza, turned off her flashing lights. Cecilia saw Alice Garzas brown deputys uniform. Alice had on her shiny silver deputys badge. It was the shape of a star.

Cecilia knew Alice Garza. Alice and Cecilia went to school together. They were both members of the girls basketball team, the Sunflower Roughnecks. Alice went to college, and Cecilia stayed in Sunflower. Then, Alice came back to Sunflower. I missed the big sky, she told Cecilia. Their conversation this morning was between old friends.