Reading Women, Book Six of Christie and Angie's Literature and Blogging Project

Obviously we are not going in order with this challenge. It's been a crazy time trying to get all the books in.

This challenge is called A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. Here's how it works: Go to the picture book/art book section of the library or a book store. Select a picture (or several) from an art book, and write a story about what's happening in the picture.

We've found books we loved, books that made us cry and books that were downright offensive. This one, turned out to be one of my favorites. Reading Women by Stefan Bollmann is a collection of, well...women reading. It is amazing to think that there was a time when literate women were frowned upon. This books uses pictures and artwork to bring these times to light and offer a sort of time line of women's literacy.

I chose a picture that made me smile, made me think, and made me dream.

The photographer and muse Lee Miller, left, and her friend Tanja Ramm in Miller’s Paris studio sometime after 1929, having breakfast in bed in the company of a wall hanging by Jean Cocteau. Taken from NYTimes.com

Here is my story:

“Alfred! Be a dear and bring us some honey for our tea, won’t you?”, she yelled into the next room in using the most horrible English accent. The women giggled. Both knowing full well there was no Alfred to retrieve the needed honey. Someone would have to brave the cold held in the hardwood floor dash into the kitchen and bring back the jar. Snuggling down into the blankets, this minute detail seemed a huge undertaking. Having braved the chill to supply the tea, removing herself from the warmth of the body next to her, the softness of the blankets-simply not worth a drop of honey.

Propping herself a little more she accepted yesterday’s paper from her best friend. Turning the pages slowly they read the articles in tandem chatting about civic duty and the new park being built across the street. They daydreamed of walks near the water, holding hands, stopping to feed the ducks.

After reading comics aloud to one another they laid the papers aside. An arm came around her shoulder and she wiggled down in the bed to lay her head on the stomach of the other woman. A collective sigh went out. Tomorrow the men would begin their journey home and life would soon return to normal. The husbands would trudge through the door balancing bags and packages, sun burnt and smiling; each with a small gift and kiss for their wives.

Hugging a little tighter they pushed the thought from their minds. The pair learned years ago that these days, these stolen moments were to be cherished. They learned not to mourn their alternate lives but instead to allow the two to exist in harmony.

Entwining their legs they women talked softly of their hopes and dreams, of their now grown children and their appreciation of life. They giggled and laced fingers as they planned their next adventure.

She closed her eyes as her partner dozed. This life was everything she needed and wanted it to be. Content, she snuggled closer, closing her eyes to dream.