Holly Cusumano

Chapter One Barbara was wearing such a lovely hat! As she walked through town, she spied her own reflection in the large storefront windows. A sign said, “Hand Painted Portraits – Capture Your Image.” And wanting to remember her lovely mood on this lovely day, Barbara stepped inside The Franklin Artist Studio . Before she knew what happened, she agreed with Mr. Franklin that he should paint her portrait. After drawing her silhouette on the canvas, the artist jumped up and went out the front door. He quickly returned with a flowering branch, cut from a crape myrtle shrub. He told his sitter, “Hold this leafy-green branch in both hands. It will add balance to the painting.” Barbara smiled, “I’ve always loved crape myrtle. It reminds me of my childhood home in the South.” Mr. Franklin checked a notebook on his desk. “Ok, let’s see. Come back every Saturday morning for the next three weeks.” Barbara was shocked. “Really? That many times?” Chapter Two The next day, Barbara was...

  Rebecca Jane and Willie Smith Chapter One Brother and sister Willie and Rebecca Jane Smith carefully walked down the rocky path to the bottom of the ravine. To catch his breath, Willie sat down in the tattered old wicker chair under a Vitex tree. It was a cool, shady spot where a wide, deep, pond formed at the base of a small waterfall. Rebecca Jane said, “Whew! I love to take a walk but that was a longer hike than I expected. They paused for a few minutes listening to the sound of rushing water and feeling the mist on their faces. They rested there. Willie tilted his head to one side. He said, “I’m not sure but I think I hear the sound of a banjo playing in the distance.” Rebecca said, “That’s funny, brother. I was just thinking that I smell food cooking. Get up! Let’s investigate!” They hiked down the mountainside to a dirt road. No cars were driving by but they stayed along the edge and safely walked single-file. Rebecca was in the lead. Chapter Two As they wal...

  Henry and Richard Chapter One Henry sat in front of the school and waited for his parents to pick him up. It had been a long day. Henry had learned his numbers and his letters. He had played kickball on the playground with his friends. And he’d eaten a good lunch. Henry was simply tired. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something twirling in the air . Was it a butterfly? He jumped up as another one flew past him. The seeds were dropping from a nearby Japanese maple tree. Like a hummingbird, each seed had a pair of wings. These seed wings felt like paper. Then, Mommy’s car pulled up to the curb and Henry hopped in. She asked, “Did you have a good day today?” He said, “Yes, I did, but I am tired and hungry.” Momma smiled, “Let’s go right home. I baked a hummingbird cake for our family.” Henry laughed. “How small is it?” Mommy said, “It is a regular-sized cake baked with pieces of pineapple inside. So sweet a hummingbird would love it!” Henry and Richa...

 April is the time of dogwood trees. Margaret and Mary Katherine Chapter One It was a cool, sunshiny day and the twins Margaret and Mary Katherine put on their springtime coats and hats to take a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. The dogwood trees were still flowering, some pink and some white. Mary Katherine said, “I wonder why dogwood trees are called dogwood? What’s doggie about them?” Margaret answered, “I don’t know, but I see that the Kousa dogwood trees are just beginning to flower.” She smiled, “I spy something white with four petals!” Mary Katherine said, “Woof, woof!” The girls walked toward the new ice cream shop and Mary Katherine reached into her pocket. She found two coins and a bit of lint. She muttered, “Not enough to buy anything but let’s go in.” The shop was bright and clean. The fancy new wallpaper had wide green and white stripes with clusters of bright red cherries. A large glass jar with a lid sat on the high counter. It was filled with freshly made...

There is a willow tree in the March story card. John and Vivienne Chapter One The teacher asked John to show his classmates the model boat he had made. Over the weekend, with the help of his father, John built the tiny ship out of small pieces of wood and glued them together. He climbed up onto the school’s stage. The other kids sat on the floor. They were his audience. The teacher was smiling. John took a deep breath. He was feeling a little sweaty. He was nervous. John began by saying, “I love ships and boats of every kind. How do they float? Someday when I am grown up, I hope to sail my own ship.” He held up the model for everyone to see and moved quickly to get off the stage. Just then, a little boy raised his hand saying, “But exactly how did you do it?” John wasn’t sure what to say. Did this kid want to know everything about making it? Everyone was looking at him. It was very quiet. John scanned the children sitting on the floor. Then he spied his friend Vivienne ...

 H ere is the February Story Card featuring a Japanese Cedar tree. Franklin, Andrew, and Betty Lee Chapter One Franklin reached down and picked up a tiny pinecone from the snow-covered ground. It was still attached to a short, green branch. Andrew said, “Let’s collect them all into a pile.” Franklin laughed and said, “Yes, a big pile of teeny, tiny pinecones.” The children began their work. The Japanese Cedar tree stood taller than the house. Betty Lee said, “I can jump as high as this tree!” But when she tried, her boots stayed stuck in the snow. She stumbled and fell down. Her socks got wet right away. The boys held her hands and together they walked to the back door of the house. Andrew said, “You will feel better soon, little sister. The house is warm and dry.” They quickly took off their coats and boots, except for Betty Lee, whose boots were still outside in the snow. Mommy helped her to take off her coat because she was too young to do it herself. Franklin said, ...

This is the first post of a series of Story Cards that I will be creating for our three-year-old twin grandchildren. The stories will be written in two chapters and mailed a few weeks apart. I know that children enjoy stories featuring their own names, but I have decided to use given names selected from the family tree that I created for the twins when they were born. The stories will be "flash fiction," a storytelling genre in which the characters, storyline, and setting are captured in just a few words. They are very short stories. Given the economy of words, the stories will likely all begin in "medias res," that is, in the middle of the action. Each card will contain little inserts to be held while the stories are read to them and will feature a tree.  So, here is the January Story Card. Adrian and Russell Chapter One With the glow of the moon, the two boys saw the spiky seed pods strewn across the sidewalk. So many were on the ground! So many were still on ...

People often tell me their dreams. No, not their personal goals, I mean they ask me to interpret their nighttime dreams. I do like to think about symbols and their meanings. And like Lucy van Pelt in the Peanuts comic strip, I provide inexpensive insight. My husband is going through a phase where he talks and moves around a lot during sleep. It’s very hard to res t with a melodramatic opera or Greek tragedy being played out in bed, right next to you. The other night, during the second act, he jumped and screamed. I said, “Are you all right?” He said “Snakes.” Snakes are classic symbols appearing in the mythology of cultu res around the world. Often thought of as a symbol of evil (Adam and Eve), they can also rep res ent transfiguration (shedding skin) and healing (rod of asclepius). A few years ago, I made herbal dream pillows to sell, based on a book Dream Pillows and Love Potions by Jim Long, herbal superstar and author. Dream pillow recipes change d...

About 10 years ago during our routine Saturday phone call, my father asked me an amazing question, “Why does seeing something beautiful make a person cry?”  I was honored that he asked me such a powerful question and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. In my lifetime, I've seen some beautiful things that have made me cry. When I was 17-years-old and an exchange student in Spain , I walked down a dark corridor inside a church, turned a corner, and saw a huge painting (10 by 16 feet), El Greco’s “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.” That was 1972, but I vividly remember the colors in it: the metallic gold, the reds, and the grays and how the elongated faces and figu res dripped emotion. I remember the awe I felt in seeing that the artist had painted a sheer white gown over a black velvet robe (lower right). I stood quite close to it for as long as the guide would allow. For many, the natural world evokes wonderment. About 25 years ago, on a trip to rural Canada...