The Year Smiley Was Sad, Jack Ivey [best novels for students .TXT] 📗

The Year Smiley was Sad
By Jack Ivey

Smiley was a happy little town, with a population of 164. It was the quintessential small town where ladies would gather to make quilts and bake cakes for the numerous bake sales, while the men would hang out at the barber shop playing checkers and telling tall tales to each other. Each morning would find Mr. Johnson sweeping the sidewalk in front of his five and dime, waving to anyone and everyone who happened by, or Miss Stern watering the window boxes filled with beautiful geraniums that hung on the front of her small cafe. Sam Worth, the postman would make all of his deliveries on foot and could often be found sitting on someone's front porch enjoying a cold glass of lemonade.

Valerie Dixon and Clementine Butterfield had been next door neighbors and friends since grade school and spent the better part of each day together playing and having fun with each other. They both loved living in Smiley. They could ride their bikes into town for a soda or play on the swings at the park, never having a concern. Everyone knew each other in this small town and neighbors were always willing to help each other out. Mothers talked as they hung clothes on the line and fathers were always helping their neighbors with a home project.

Yes, Smiley was a happy little town; that was until the winter of '47. 1947 was the year of the big blizzard, the biggest snowstorm to ever hit this small town. It began snowing in early January and continued for what seemed an eternity. Initially, people were able to keep their sidewalks shoveled and somewhat clear and the city's one snow plow made sure that the roads were easy to navigate, but that did not last too long. Eventually businesses were closed and the townspeople were holed up in their homes. The snow kept falling and piling up until you could not even see out of your windows and people just decided to stay indoors and wait for the end.

Clementine, or 'Tine' as everyone called her, and Valerie kept in contact through their bedroom windows which faced each other on the second floor of their houses. They still managed to play each day, but it was different since they had to do so while each sat in her own bedroom.

"Tine," yelled Valerie. "Do you think this snow will ever stop?"

"I surely hope so, Val, as my parents are beginning to get grumpy being cooped up in the house for so long," she answered.

"Yeah, mine too. How deep do you think it is now?" asked Val.

"I don't know, I'd have to guess about six feet," answered Clementine.

"At least. I hope it ends soon," said Val.

"Me too," was the other girls response.

This went on for weeks until finally the snow stopped and the sun came out. It was the first week of February when they were finally able to go outside of their homes and start clearing away the quickly melting snow.

Clementine and Valerie met at the end of their sidewalks and decided to walk into town. They saw Mr. Johnson in front of his store and waved to him.

"Hi, Mr. Johnson," called out Val, but Mr. Johnson did not reply. He just gave them a dirty look and went about clearing the front of his store.

Then they saw Miss Stern yanking frozen geraniums from the window boxes and hurtling them out in the street in front of her café.

"Good Morning, Miss Stern," Clementine said as they passed, but Miss Stern answered, "What's so good about it?"

The girls quickly moved on their way when they saw the Postman round the corner.

"Good morning, Mr. Worth," they chorused, but he just ignored them and went about his business. It seemed everywhere the girls went people seemed grumpy. This was not like Smiley and they assumed that the weather had had something to do with it.

They were certain that it would wear off with time, but after five days it just seemed to get worse. No one was helpful or friendly anymore, not even their parents who used to be very good friends. The two girls sat in Tine's bedroom trying to figure out what they could do. They thought and thought and eventually Val came up with a great idea. Clementine got out some construction paper, glue and scissors and the friends went about putting their plan in place. It was then that Val noticed on the calendar that today was Friday the 13th.

"Oh boy, do you think this is a good idea? This day is supposed to be bad luck," she asked her friend.

"Well, I don't see why not, this town has had enough bad luck already," answered Tine.

So the two finished up their project and Val grabbed her coat to head home for dinner. "Ok, tomorrow morning, bright and early we will put our plan to work. Keep your fingers crossed," she said as she reached for the front door handle.

"I'll keep them crossed until tomorrow. See you early in the morning," said Clementine as her friend closed the front door.

The next morning they were up bright and early and went all through the town placing items in everyone's mail box. When they finished they sat on Valerie's front porch and watched and waited. Before long, Mrs. Rose came out to her mailbox wearing a frown. She retrieved her mail and found a bright red piece of construction paper cut in the shape of a heart with the words, "You are loved" written on it and signed by the two girls. She looked up and saw Clementine and Valerie sitting on the front porch and smiled at them and waved. Before she returned to her house, Mr. Brown made his way to his mailbox and found a similar greeting. He looked up and saw the girls and smiled, and then he saw Mrs. Rose and held up his paper heart. She, in turn, held hers up and they smiled and met halfway down the sidewalk showing off the gift they had received. Little by little everyone on the street came to their mailbox and found the greeting that the girls had placed inside. People were smiling and talking to each other again and everyone made it a point to walk by and say something nice to the girls. Before long, the news had spread throughout the city about the greeting everyone had received and then Mayor Jeffers came walking up their sidewalk. He told them how happy he was for what they had done and how much he appreciated them bringing the happiness back to Smiley.

That evening everyone gathered in the town square as a big celebration was to be held. The mayor climbed up into the gazebo and called for everyone's attention.

"If I may have your attention?" he asked the crowd. "As you know, our wonderful town of Smiley endured one of the worst winters on record this year and when it was over, all of us were pretty grumpy and the town of Smiley seemed to have lost its happiness." Everyone cheered in agreement. "But thanks to two wonderful girls, the town of Smiley is happy once again. Will Clementine Butterfield and Valerie Dixon please join me up here?"

The two girls made their way through the crowded square and stood next to Mayor Jeffers in the gazebo.

"Girls, I know I speak for everyone when I say we so greatly appreciate what you have done for us. Your little greeting of love was just what everyone needed to remind them that Smiley is a wonderful town and a place where everyone should be happy all of the time. So, in keeping with the excitement you have generated I have a proclamation." He reached into his inside jacket pocket and produced an official looking document. He opened up the paper and began to read. The crowd quieted.

"Valerie Dixon and Clementine Butterfield, in recognition of your good deed and by the power vested in me I declare that this day, February 14th, 1948 and every year on this date be known as 'Val and Tine's Day' He shook both of their hands as the crowd cheered.

The rest is history…

Text: Jack Ivey
Images: Jack Ivey
Editing: Jack Ivey
Publication Date: 02-06-2013

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