The Old Swing

He was just walking. Like he always did through the woods in his acres of backyard. He wasn’t a very social being. He liked it where it was quiet. Where he could think. He soon came to the old swing hanging from the big oak tree. There were flowers of all sorts in the ropes from when the little girls braided them in from yesterday. The girls loved the swing. They often played tea or princesses there because the old man loved having his “enchanted forest” be enjoyed by others just as much as he did.

The flowers were wilted now, with barely any color left in them. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees and it hit the swing just right. It looked enchanted. Like a fairy could flitter out from the bushes and flowers at any moment. He heard giggling and he turned to see the girls smiling and running towards the swing. They all had different colored dresses on. They looked like fairies themselves as they fluttered through the trees. “Oh dear,” said a girl in a pink dress and brown curly hair with ribbons tied in bows. “Our flowers have wilted.”

“That’s alright,” said the girl in the yellow dress and brown hair similar to the pink’s. She was carrying a basket with the tea set carefully placed inside. “We can put new ones in the ropes.” She stated in her pretty soothing voice.

“Mr. Ozell!” shouted the girl in the blue with blond hair in braids as she ran and hugged the old man. When the other girls looked to see if the girl in blue had really seen their beloved friend, they also ran and gathered around him giddily.

Mr. Ozell chuckled. “Hello dearies. It’s very nice to see you again this fine afternoon. Is today a tea party?”

“Oh yes indeed!” replied the red headed girl in the light brown dress. “And we brought Little Snuckles, too.” She held up a dark brown teddy bear with black beady eyes. Some stuffing was coming out of his left paw.

“It seems as if Little Snuckles has had an accident! Would you like me to take him to my home after tea and I’ll have Mrs. Bunnet fix him up? She’s very good with these kind of things you know.” Mr. Ozell said in his sweetest of tones.

“Oh yes. I’d like that very much.” she said politely. “His paw got caught on a branch and tore it open.”

“Well maybe if those boys hadn’t chased us with those slimy frogs then Snuckles wouldn’t have to be fixed.” Insisted the girl in the white cream dress with her blond hair in a fancy little bun. The other girls chimed in with comments like “Yeah” and “Those rotten boys!”

“Well now,” defended Mr. Ozell, “They were just having fun in their own way. Believe it or not, you’re going to fall in love and marry one of those boys one day.”

“Marry them? Ew!” squealed the girl in the blue dress.

“Yes, Annabelle, marry them!” Mr. Ozell laughed.

“I shall never marry. I’ll just grow old with these girls around me and we’ll come to the swing everyday.” Annabelle stated. The girls chattered and agreed happily and excitedly about this idea. Mr. Ozell just smiled and laughed with his eyes. The girls continued to set up their tea party and sat daintily around the big tree stump which was now a tea table made for princesses. They invited the old man to join them. “Oh we forgot to put new flowers in the swing! We can’t have a tea party if our surroundings aren’t decorated just so.” said the yellow dressed one.

“Well just look around you, Nancy! There are flowers everywhere you look. Let’s pick some and decorate our castle.” reassured Annabelle. “Now Lizzy, you go find tulips. Sally, you go find daisies. Missy, you go get the bluebells. Nancy will get the baby’s breath and I will get the lavender.” Annabelle ordered. And they all danced off to find the flowers.

Mr. Ozell and Little Snuckles were the only ones at the table. As the old man let his mind wander and his imagination go, a brush of wind came and leaned the bear towards the old swing, as if Snuckles was saying, “Look.” Mr. Ozell looked at the swing with bright, shiny, far away eyes. He blinked and he saw a young maiden with long dark brown curls in a white, flowy, flower-like dress and a flower crown atop her head sitting on the swing. She looked beautiful, like an enchanted princess. She was barefoot. Her feet were just a bit dirty from the moist ground of the woods. Her hands were holding the ropes that now had live, fresh flowers and she was looking up with her big blue eyes at the wonders of a butterfly. He blinked again and she was gone.

The girls came running back from all different directions. They laughed and smiled as they fluttered around putting flowers on the swing, in the trunks of the trees, on the tea table, in Mr. Ozell’s shirt pocket, and made themselves crowns and set them upon their heads. Now they were ready for a tea party. Lizzy, the red haired girl, poured the “tea” while Sally, the blond girl with a white cream dress, pulled out cookies from the basket and set them on a tiny platter. “Are we ready girls?” asked Mr. Ozell in a gentlemanly tone.

“Yes, Mr. Ozell. Would you like a cookie?” asked Missy, the pink dressed one, as she handed the platter over to the old man.

“Why I would love one.” He took a cookie and bit down into the soft treat. The other girls took cookies and munched on them delightedly. They talked about their favorite princesses and how they would love to meet one in real life. They had conversations with Little Snuckles about his life in “the den”. They spoke of the boys and how rude they are. They even talked about princes and how they would one day meet some and get married to them, despite the earlier comments. The conversation then turned to Mr. Ozell when Nancy asked him about his late wife. “What was she like?” she asked with big curious brown eyes.

“Oh she was more beautiful than any princess I ever saw.”

“You’ve met real princesses?” Missy asked excitedly.

“I have indeed.” Said the deep voice. “But Charlotte was the prettiest of them all.”

“What did she look like?” again asked Missy.

“I’m getting there, Missy. Be patient.” he chuckled, paused, and then continued, “She had dark hair like yours, Missy, curly and long, and eyes as blue as Annabelle’s dress. And the day I first saw her she wore a dress like yours, Sally.” All the girls sighed with far away looks in their eyes as they imagined Princess Charlotte.

“Oh please do go on.” requested Lizzy.

The old man smiled. “She lived in the kingdom just over the hill,” he gestured toward the north, “and she was loved by all who knew her. She was a true princess. She would never say harsh words to you. She always had a smile on her face that was brighter than the sun. And when she spoke to you your whole body just prickled with joy.”

“How did you meet her?” Nancy asked. The other girls nodded as if to say “Oh yes, please do tell.”

“Well I would love to tell you that story young ladies, but look at the sun--” said Mr. Ozell.

“I don’t see it.” said Annabelle.

“Exactly,” was the reply, “It’s nearly behind the mountains now. Better get on home before all your mothers have a fit.”

The girls put on slightly sad faces as they put away the tea set back into the basket. Lizzy handed the old friend Little Snuckles, to take home to Mrs. Bunnet. They each kissed Mr. Ozell on his warm, wrinkled cheeks and went on their way. Giggling the whole way home.

Mr. Ozell held the teddy bear in both hands and lifted it up to get a good look at it. It’s head fell back towards the swing once again and the old man looked at the old thing. The new flowers added even more enchantment to the swing than it already had before. A slight wind blew and the swing rocked a few inches back and forth. He thought he heard giggles. But they were not little girl giggles. They were young maiden giggles. They seemed to fill the whole forest. Then the warm breeze turned cold and the old man took one more look at the swing and started walking on the path to home.  

He soon found himself a few yards away from his front door. There it stood, Sunnydale. It was a two story old “mansion” with the woods behind it and gardens with blooming flowers all around it. He walked in where Mrs. Bunnet met him at the door. She had a pressed apron around her waist and her hair was up in a tight bun. Her hair was graying but her eyes still had adventure in them. “There you are! I was getting worried about you. What where you doing out this late?” she asked Mr. Ozell in a very worried voice.

“Hello, Mrs. Bunnet. I didn’t mean to give you a fright. I was just out by the old swing with the girls.”

“Ah. Well your supper is almost ready. It should be down in about ten minutes.”

“Thank you. You make the most wonderful housekeeper.”

Mrs. Bunnet smiled and shook her head. “Well for the way you not only treat me but everyone else you’ve ever known, you certainly deserve it.”

They smiled at each other then went about their business. Mrs. Bunnet to the kitchen and Mr. Ozell to the library. He sat down at his desk and pulled out his pen and journal. He wrote about the girls and the maiden on the swing. Ten minutes passed and it was time for dinner. Mrs. Bunnet brought it in. “Here you are.” she said and looked at Mr. Ozell, “Are you feeling alright, Mr. Ozell? You seem a bit—distant.”

Mr. Ozell suddenly shook his head and blinked his eyes. “Yes. I’m alright. Just thinking.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what were you thinking?”

“About Charlotte.”

“Oh. I see. She was a very pretty girl.” Mrs. Bunnet said as she picked up Charlotte’s picture off of Mr. Ozell’s desk. She was exactly how Mr. Ozell described her to the girls. Even though she wasn’t really a princess or neither did she live in a kingdom, she very well could’ve been royalty. Her face showed all the light she had and her smile warmed your heart.

“Yes, she was.” Said Mr. Ozell also looking at the picture.

“You’re a strong man, George. Most men I know who have lost their wives fall to pieces. But you’ve kept it together. Look at you! You’re the sweetest man I’ve known in a long time. And everyone just adores you. I know I couldn’t be as strong as you are. You lost your wife and your dear daughter all in one day.”

“Charlotte was like that, strong. I suppose she rubbed off on me.” He said with a sad smile. The kind where you are thinking about a happy memory that makes you smile but also makes you sad to remember that it is only a memory. “We were married for six years. And we were excited to finally be having a child. I sometimes wish it were me who would’ve died so that they could both be alive. But it’s not that way. I held Lily for an hour. An hour, Mrs. Bunnet!”

Mrs. Bunnet just listened. Mr. Ozell carried on, “The next thing I know my wife died from child birth. Then my dear Lily died soon after that. I wasn’t sure what to do. Both things I cared most for in the world, gone. My mother tried to comfort me, along with Charlotte’s family. But all I could do was cry. But then I realized crying wouldn’t help me. Wouldn’t help anyone else. So I taught myself how to be happy again.”

Mrs. Bunnet placed her warm hand on Mr. Ozell’s broad shoulder. The old man looked over at her with tears in his eyes. They looked at each other for what seemed an hour. Just helping one another without words. Finally Mrs. Bunnet spoke. “I wish I could’ve known her. I’m sure my late husband, Henry, would’ve loved to know her, too.”

All Mr. Ozell could do was smile at her. The hour was late and without a word the two old friends departed and slowly walked to their bedrooms, both thinking about their deceased spouses.

The next day Mrs. Bunnet was up early and out the door to do some shopping. Mr. Ozell went to the bench in the garden by the side of Sunnydale. There was a patch of white day lilies that he planted in honor of his daughter. He watched a butterfly flutter around his lovely garden. It seemed to dance in the air. He then heard his name being called by a small voice. He walked around to the front of the house to see who it was. It was Nancy. She was wet from head to toe. Her brown hair was sticking to her dress and water was dripping from the hem of her skirt. “Nancy!” he said.

“Oh Mr. Ozell! I was coming over to have lunch with you so you could tell me more about Princess Charlotte and those rotten boys were playing in the creek and splashed me.” she said in a very distressed voice. “I’m cold.”

“Oh dear. Well those boys shouldn’t have done such a thing to a precious girl like you. Come, sit in the sun and you’ll be dry and warm in no time. I’ll go make some sandwiches for us to eat. How does that sound?” Mr. Ozell said as he tried to comfort the shivering girl.

“Oh that sounds lovely.” She politely answered. Soon the old fellow was back with a platter of sandwiches and a pitcher of strawberry lemonade. “Come and sit with me at the garden table.” He said. As the two friends ate lunch Nancy insisted that he tell her more about Princess Charlotte. “Well what would you like to know about her?” asked the old man.

“How did you meet her? Did you have to climb a high tower? Or fight a dragon?” Nancy asked sincerely.

Mr. Ozell laughed. “Oh no, nothing like that. In fact, I met her by accident.”

“Accident?”

“Oh yes. You know that old swing you’ve spent so many hours playing by?”

“I do! I do! I love that swing. So do the other girls.”

“Well many years ago, when I was just a young lad, and my father owned Sunnydale instead of me, I went strolling through my big woods. I had a sense of adventure back then. Anyways, I came upon that swing. But it wasn’t old and tattered like it is now. It was fairly new and the tree stump was still a tree.”

“But if the stump wasn’t there, how did you have tea parties?” Nancy inquired.

Mr. Ozell chuckled. “Do you want to know about how I met the princess or not?”

Nancy settled her little behind back into the garden chair and nodded her head.

“Where was I? Oh yes, the swing. Well the swing wasn’t empty. There was a girl in it! And my, oh my, was she pretty. What a sight she was! She was just how I explained her to you yesterday. You know how you put flowers in the ropes of the swing?”

Nancy nodded excitedly.

“Well she did the same thing. There were lilies and lilacs and baby’s breath up and down those ropes. Charlotte was sitting on the swing just how a princess would sit. The swing swayed back and forth a few inches and she was brushing her bare feet on the moss. A butterfly caught her eye and she giggled as it landed on her nose.”

“Did you just stand there and watch? Did you say anything to her?” Nancy asked. She was getting a bit excited to see what would happen next.

“Well let me tell you, small one. When the butterfly flew off her nose it came and flew by me. That’s when she saw me.”

“Aw!” Nancy sighed.

“So then I told her hello and she told me good afternoon. The sound of her soft voice just filled the forest and everything tingled with delight. I pushed her on the swing a little while and her laughs echoed through the big woods.”

Nancy went and climbed on the old man’s lap as he continued his story. “We talked for hours. And then what felt a short time later we had to go home to eat supper.”

“Supper just ruins everything doesn’t it?” Nancy said.

“It may seem that way.” The old man laughed. “But we saw each other every day after that and soon, we fell in love.”

Nancy sighed happily. Mr. Ozell smiled at her. “And then we were married. It was a very happy day. Everyone was there to see us married. The princess looked very pretty in her white dress and she told me I looked dashing in my bow tie. And after that the Princess and I lived happily ever after.”

“I hope I meet someone much like you if I ever get married.” Nancy stated. She was dry now and a bit sunburned.

“I hope you do too, little one. Now you better get home before your mother starts worrying about you.”

“Alright. Thank you for lunch and the story, Mr. Ozell.”

“You’re very welcome, deary.”

                                                      ~

Years passed and the girls grew older and taller. They were all very beautiful. The boys grew, too. And they seemed to have a bit more interest in the ladies. They no longer splashed them or pulled their hair. Mr. Ozell and Mrs. Bunnet got older, too. Mr. Ozell had a cane now and Mrs. Bunnet’s hair was all the way gray.

The children came less and less to the old swing and started going to barn dances and the movies more. Soon Lizzy went off to college in London, Annabelle met a boy from another town, Missy moved to the big city, and Sally became a schoolteacher in the neighboring town. But Nancy stayed. She was very grown up now. She held herself like a princess and she was always very kind. She reminded Mr. Ozell of Charlotte quite often.

Nancy visited Mr. Ozell nearly everyday. If there was ever a friend faithful to Mr. Ozell it was Nancy and Mrs. Bunnet. They both cared for the old man and never thought to leave him. Mr. Ozell cherished them both the same. The three of them were sitting in the parlor. Mrs. Bunnet was sewing, Nancy was fixing up a bouquet of flowers for the dining room table and Mr. Ozell was smoking his pipe. “Remember that day when you told me the story of Charlotte?” asked Nancy.

“I do indeed! That was a fun day, wasn’t it?” Mr. Ozell replied.

“When was this?” asked Mrs. Bunnet.

“I think you were out shopping.” Nancy answered.

“Ah. It’s a lovely love story, isn’t it Nancy?” said Mrs. Bunnet.

“Oh indeed! I think I even told Mr. Ozell that I wanted to marry a man like him after the story was finished.” Nancy said and the three of them laughed.

“Well do you think you’ll ever get married?” asked Mr. Ozell.

“Oh yes dear, would you? What about Fred Klyde? He seems like a lovely fellow. Or what about James Porter? You two seem to be great friends. You talk to him nearly every day.” Mrs. Bunnet chimed in.

“Oh, I’m not sure. If I find the right man, I suppose. But I’m in no hurry. I’d much rather be single all my life and just live here at Sunnydale with my two most favorite people in the world.” Nancy said in a sort of daydream tone.

Mrs. Bunnet smiled. “Of course you would, dear.” Then there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Mrs. Bunnet said as she laid down her sewing and went to the door. She came back in with a young man. It was James Porter. He was tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed rather nicely and had a smile on his face. “Hello there, Nancy.” He said.

“Well hello, James! What a surprise.” She replied with a smile.

“I’ve come to ask if you’d like to come to the community picnic with me tomorrow.” He asked so fast that Nancy could barely understand what he said. She supposed he was a bit nervous. She looked at Mrs. Bunnet and Mrs. Bunnet looked at Nancy with a smile. Nancy looked over at Mr. Ozell who nodded his head. “I would love too.” She answered the boy. James took a deep breath as if he were holding it all that time and said “Wonderful! I’ll pick you up around noon—here?” he questioned.

“Here would be fine.” Nancy assured.

Mrs. Bunnet showed him out the door and came back into the parlor. “Well what a coincidence that was, Nancy! And how sweet of him to ask you. You two are such good friends already, it’s the perfect date.” Mr. Ozell laughed softly at this comment. Nancy blushed a little.

The next day Mrs. Bunnet fussed around Nancy as she got her ready for the picnic. James came and picked her up and they walked arm in arm on their way to the park. Mrs. Bunnet and Mr. Ozell watched from the front door as the two young ones walked away. “Oh George, I can see her in a white dress already.” Said Mrs. Bunnet. Mr. Ozell laughed and said, “So can I, Emily, so can I.”

                                                      ~

A few hours later Nancy came running in through the house. “Mrs. Bunnet! Mr. Ozell! Come quick I have great news for you!” Mrs. Bunnet came quickly down the stairs and Mr. Ozell came in through the library. “What is it, dear?” asked Mrs. Bunnet.

“James has asked me to marry him!” Nancy said so excitedly and so fast that Mrs. Bunnet took a moment before she could react.

“Oh Nancy! That’s wonderful! When did he ask you?” Mrs. Bunnet said just as fast and as excited as Nancy.

“Just now. I was showing him the old swing where I used to play so often and he proposed to me right there!” Nancy informed. Mrs. Bunnet looked over at Mr. Ozell with a great big smile on. “Seems as if that swing is meant to make people fall in love.” She said a bit sarcastically.

Mr. Ozell just shook his head as if to laugh and then turned to Nancy. “That is wonderful my dear. And as a wedding present, I give you Sunnydale.”

“Oh, not Sunnydale! That’s too big of a present for me. Even though I love it here I could never take it away from you.” Nancy said.

“No, I insist. It’s too big of a house for just two people and I’m sure your future family will love it just as much as you, Mrs. Bunnet and I.” Mr. Ozell said.

Tears came to Nancy’s eyes. “Oh thank you Mr. Ozell. You too, Mrs. Bunnet! You two have been so good to me. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“You’re welcome.” They both said at the same time and smiled.

                                                      ~

The wedding was a wonderful one. They had it by the old swing. And while Nancy and James were saying their vows, Mrs. Bunnet was crying and Mr. Ozell handed her a handkerchief. Mr. Ozell looked back up at his dear Nancy and his eye caught saw the swing. And he thought he saw Charlotte sitting there, holding a baby and smiling up at him and at Nancy. He blinked and Charlotte and the baby were gone. He looked over at Nancy just as her and James kissed. The crowd cheered and Mrs. Bunnet cried. It was a happy moment.

Not long after that Nancy had twin baby girls with brown hair. One girl had blue eyes like her father and the other brown like her mother. They named the girls Charlotte and Lily. They grew up in Sunnydale with Mr. Ozell whom they called Grandpa and Mrs. Bunnet who they called Grandma. If you asked any of the people at Sunnydale what there favorite place in the world was, they’d all say: the old swing.