Sunflowers Beneath the Snow by Teri M Brown

Author:Teri M Brown [Brown, Teri M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

2006

Ionna rushed home from school as she had been doing for as long as she could remember. However, the rushing was more urgent now, as if every moment counted. She would stare at the hour hand slowly creeping from 8 to 9, then from 9 to 10, eventually reaching the top of the mountain at noon. She always wished those hours going back down would go faster, that somehow gravity would catch the tiny arm and hurry the tiny mechanism on its way. If anything, the distance between those final two hours seemed substantially longer.

When the hour hand finally reached 1 o’clock, she would focus her attention on the minute hand, noticing each stutter step forward, willing the minutes to dare going by twos and threes. Finally, at 1:55, she would concentrate on the second hand sweeping around the clock – no variance, these final seconds no more important to the timekeeper than any others.

When the bell rang, Ionna would leap out of her seat, pulling her backpack to her shoulders as she pushed past students in the hot, crowded hallway until she finally burst into the cool, fresh air. Her friends no longer called to her, having determined that Ionna’s flight toward home had no room for detours or distractions. Several weeks of terse “I don’t have time’s” and “I need to go’s” had helped them gain this clarity.

Those hours stuck in school were a complete waste of time – time she wouldn’t get back. Ionna was not a poor student. She was top of her class – in everything. Despite only half-listening and spending far too much time focusing on the clock going around in endless circles, she made high marks.

She had begged her parents to let her stay home with Babusya, “I need to stay home and be with Babusya. She is happiest when I am with her. If I’m here, she will get better. School can wait. I could miss weeks and catch up in an afternoon. Please!”

The discussion ended with, “Babusya needs rest. The doctors say there is nothing left to do, Ionna. Sitting with her won’t make her well. Missing school won’t accomplish anything.” They were firmly in the ‘absolutely not’ camp, and nothing Ionna said would change their minds.

Ionna was not prone to believing fairy tales, though her life had always been one of happily ever afters. In her world, things worked out exactly as she intended them to work out. It was simply a matter of knowing what was wanted and asking God to make sure it happened. Like the time she wanted a bicycle and her parents said it would be impossible to find in the store so she shouldn’t get her hopes up. But she had prayed earnestly for that bicycle for several nights in a row. Then, one day, her father came home from work pushing the very bicycle she had envisioned in her mind – bright yellow with shiny streamers blowing gently from the handlebars and a small, white wicker basket perched on the handlebars expectantly waiting for Ionna’s treasures.

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