Ellies Great War – Diane Keech

In the middle of one of these patches, I noticed a green leaf poking up from the soil—not a blade of grass but the broader leaf of a crocus. The blooms themselves wouldn’t come out for another week or two. There’d be no crocuses for us this Easter. I wondered how long it would take for peace to bloom again. It had been a year since our involvement in the Great War had begun; despite everyone’s efforts to win the fight and bring our boys home again, we were still stuck in what seemed like the same spot as last year.

Would this war go on forever? The only happy, blooming thing I saw around me was the love between Lucy and Will. I wished that made me happy too. OceanofPDF.com op surprised the whole family on Easter Sunday. He ventured off to Charlotte’s flower shop up the street and bought each of us a flower to wear to church. Mine was a gardenia—the first real corsage I’d ever had. I couldn’t stop admiring it—the velvety ivory petals and glossy satin leaves—and the aroma!

It reminded me of something I cannot name, a soft, warm place I don’t remember. Haunting, delicate, mine. Oh, dear, I’m beginning to remind myself of Edna St. Vincent Millay! Except I am no poet. Maybe I am—or will be. I haven’t really tried it yet. This Easter, Mom finally got to sing the lovely solo she hadn’t had a chance to perform last year, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth.”

It was wonderful. The congregation sang the classic Easter hymns, with those of us who could read music providing harmony. As usual, I was pretty much oblivious to the rest of the show—the sermon and such.

Copyright © 2026 Diane Keech All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for brief quotations in reviews, educational works, or other uses permitted by copyright law. Published in 2026 by She Writes Press, an imprint of The Stable Book Group 32 Court Street, Suite 2109 Brooklyn, NY 11201 https://shewritespress.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2025919162 ISBN: 979-8-89636-082-7 eISBN: 979-8-89636-083-4 Interior Designer: Kiran Spees Printed in the United States This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be used to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models. The publisher and author reserve all rights related to the use of this content in machine learning.

All company and product names mentioned in this book may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. They are used for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. OceanofPDF.com To Ted Anne Mary Ann Georgine Marrott Thank you! OceanofPDF.com PART ONE APRIL 1917 OceanofPDF.com A 1 unt Ida’s parlor door swung open even before Lucy and I reached the bottom step. “I knew you were on your way, girls,” she said. “You sound like a stampede of horses clattering down those stairs!”

At least I’d made it to the bottom without crashing. I’d never worn a pair of high-heeled shoes before, so I hadn’t noticed how slippery our front staircase could be. I’d have to practice walking in these shoes before tomorrow. Who wants to make a fool of herself on Easter Sunday? Lucy and I had on our fancy shoes for the final fitting of the new Easter dresses that Ida had made for us. Well, my sister’s was new, at least.

Mine was a hand-me-down that Ida had originally made for Lucy; I’d been admiring it for the past two years. It had been her first real grown-up dress, and now it was mine. Ida had altered it just enough to fit me perfectly.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 912c090d596f7e02
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,160,417 bytes (3.014 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9798896360827, 9798896360834
• Pages: 183
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 274.44 minutes
• Total Words: 54,888
• Total Characters: 293,185
• Average Words per Page: 299.93
• Average Characters per Page: 1602.1

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