Bokelskere.no

Hopin' and dreamin'... I been doin' it for years. But only since I came here did I dare believe som of the dreams might come true.

"A girl can hope, can't she? Sometimes all a person has to hold on to is hope."

A person can't put a price on somethin' as valuable as experience an' knowledge.

"Just 'cause things don't go the way we want 'em to doesn't mean God's quit carin'. He cares deep, but His ways aren't ours. His ways are always better."

The stars wavered, distorted by her tears, but she stared hard at the flickering bits of light. Papa and Mama lived somewhere behind those stars. Papa believed the Bible when it said the Father's house had many mansions.

After Mama's death, he had held Tressa on his lap and explained that the Father's house was Heaven, and that Mama now lived in a beautiful mansion built by God.

Tears stung her eyes. Although Mama and Papa had been gone for years, she missed them as much as if they'd only left her yesterday. Memories from her early years - carefree, joyful, surrounded by love and laughter - were the only happy possesions she carried into adulthood.

Tressa wriggled backward, distancing herself from the group. The conversation left her feeling as though her breathing was constricted. The purpose in coming to Kansas was to secure a husband - she knew that - but shouldn't marriage be a dignified topic?

Somehow Luella's smirks and the other's teasing comments made a mockery of the beautiful union her parents had shared.

Slipping to her knees, she propped her arm on the windowsill and rested her chin on the back of her wrist. Stars glittered overhead, beautiful against the velvety backdrop of black sky.

How often had she sat in the window of her childhood home and made wishes on the stars?