WELL DONE! WEREN’T WE BEAUTIFUL by Ann Hite

(A tribute to the women in my family)

Weren’t we beautiful in the morning, waiting for the bus. The sun still far from showing itself, the day the black cloud rolled through the sky, turning the air yellow and green, splitting the place with a bolt of lightning, crackling in our hair and leaves of the trees, whipping in a frenzy over the moment of change.

Weren’t we beautiful in the heart of the country dirt roads, gravel spraying us when cars drove by. Flowers dotting the forest floor, the wild blueberry bushes, the thorny blackberries, pulling at our tender skin, staining our fingers with purple juice.

Weren’t we beautiful watching the mountains in the distance colored in orange, yellow, and red. The source of water flowing to the sea, to the place where we camped in pup tents. The raccoons gathering on the edge of the darkness, waiting for us to drop a crumb. The ocean moving in and out, shifting under our feet, sifting the sand like flour sprinkling in a big bowl like snow falling outside the window.

Weren’t we beautiful in the warmth of a fire on a freezing night, cracking and popping with sparks escaping the stove door, heat dancing through the cold house, taking off the edge.

Weren’t we beautiful in blouses covered in little sequins, the gray of our hair turning snow white. The heart of the holiday most loved. Toys and lights. Banana bread and sugar cookies with green and red icing. Knights and horses with bows and arrows surrounding the castle.

Weren’t we beautiful walking in the mountains, a place that filled our hearts with long ago happiness, the clean crisp air, the bright blue sky. Trees scrubbing the clouds, catching them, pushing them to the ground.

Weren’t we beautiful scrub boards in hand, washing clothes, hanging them on the line outside. Clothespins gripping the edges as wind whipped them straight into the air.

In September of 2011 Gallery, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, published Ann Hite’s first novel, Ghost on Black Mountain. In 2012 this novel was shortlisted for the Townsend Prize, Georgia’s oldest literary award. In the same year, Ghost on Black Mountain won Hite Georgia Author of the Year. She went on to publish four more novels, a novella, memoir, and most recently Haints On Black Mountain: A Haunted Short Story Collection from Mercer University Press. In December 2022, Haints On Black Mountain was one of ten finalist for the Townsend Prize. The collection was a Bronze Winner in Foreword Indie Award 2023 and Georgia Author of the Year Second Place Winner for Short Stories 2023. Ann received a scholarship to the Appalachian Writers Workshop Hindman Settlement in the summer of 2020 and was invited back in 2021. Her passion for history influences all her work.