Amelia Redstone

I had a contest on my main blog to see who could come up with the best ending for a story I started. The winner was Storyteller! she did a fantastic job! here is the complete story!

Amelia Redstone

written by: Brittney & Storyteller

Amelia Redstone was the most popular girl in her small school in Hamilton, Pennsylvania. Amelia was very beautiful with gorgeous black wavy hair, and very unusual honey colored eyes. All the other girls in the school were jealous of Amelia’s good looks. Amelia’s father was the only banker in the little town of Hamilton, and had made his fortune fast and easily. The Redstone’s were probably the most known family in the town. Amelia had grown snobby, selfish, and unloving towards people and was not known for good character. But still many of the girls strived to be like Amelia in their day to day life. Amelia was not an extremely intelligent girl, but she was very talented in art. And desired to be a successful artist when she grew up!

   The Civil war changed many people’s lives, and Amelia Redstone’s life would be changed forever!  Amelia will soon understand the true value of character, kindness, and true beauty. And this is her story.

                                             ~

“NO!” shouted Amelia, “You are not leaving me! You can’t do that to me, you might get killed! All for what? This is a dumb war, who cares about the slaves? Why would you go to war just to try to free them?” 

  Amelia was sitting in the back yard with her older brother Thomas who had just informed her that he was going off to war in three days.

“Amelia, I am fighting for my family and for my state! I think it is horrible that we have to go to war over slavery, but slavery is wrong. All men were created equal!” replied Thomas.

“Well I hate the slaves!” said Amelia, “if they are the ones making you go away!”

“AMELIA!” yelled Thomas, “it is not the slaves’ fault we are in a war!”

“Hump,” snorted Amelia.

  Amelia glared at her brother and tears came to her eyes. Her brother was her best friend, the only one who had always loved and cared for her! He could not leave, he just couldn’t!

  Three days later Thomas headed off for the war. Amelia stood at the train stop and watched her brother take off in his brand new war uniform waving from the window.

“Don’t leave me,” Amelia whispered quietly, “don’t leave me! But in a few moments her brother was out of sight.

He had gone to war!

                                ~

Amelia lay in her bead that night and cried into her pillow. How could this have happened? Her brother was gone and it was all the black slaves fault! Andria swore to get back at the people who she blamed for taking her brother away.

A few Months later….

   Ring! Ding! Ding!

The doorbell rang.

“I will get it!” hollered Amelia as she flew down the stairs to the front door.

Maybe it is a letter from Thomas! Andria thought wishfully.

When Amelia opened the door, she saw a man in uniform standing at the door.

Amalia's heart sunk, she was disappointed that it was not the mailman.

“What is it?” asked Amelia in a haughty tone.

“I have a letter for you.” The man said sadly, “are your parents here?”

“No,” said Amelia lying, she knew her parents were upstairs in their room.

“Just give it to me.” Said Amelia
“Yes ma'am,” said the man and handed the letter to Amelia. “Please do not open it until your parents get here!” he said with sad eyes, and then he walked off.

Amelia closed the door, and ripped the letter open.

It read:

            Mr. and Mrs. Redstone,

                                          We are very sorry to inform you that your son- Thomas E. Redstone was captured by an enemy base, where he is being held as prisoner. He risked his life to safe a fellow comrade. We are sorry to inform you that a rescue was attempted but to no avail. I am afraid to tell you that there is no way to free him from this prison so we will entitle your son- Missing in Action until further investigation. It is more than likely that he will not survive his imprisonment.

                              With much regard for your family,

                                        Department of defense

Amelia sat silent and still for a few moments anger boiled up inside of her.

“This cannot be true!” she screamed, “NO!”

Amelia crumbled into a ball on the floor and started crying.

Amelia’s parents came running down the stairs.

“What’s wrong darling?” asked her father.

“Thom..as… he…”

Mrs. Redstone gasped in panic and quickly reached for the letter. Her eyes skimmed the paper quickly and then she collapsed in a chair and stared in disbelief.
“Oh, God please keep him alive!”  

Storyteller's part: 

Andria couldn't believe that this was happening. Her brother couldn't be missing. And then the thought struck her--I must get him back. She glanced up towards her parents room. She could hear them softly talking. And that's when she made her decision.

That night...

Andria eyes flipped open at the sound of the grandfather clock in the hallway striking twelve. She threw off her covers, revealing that she was wearing baggy boy's clothes to conceal that she was a girl. She quickly grabbed an old cap of her brother's and tucked her hair into it. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She was still too pretty, but it'd have to do.
    She quickly got a survival pack together, grabbing food from the kitchen and boy's clothes from her brother's room, and then set about leaving a note for her parents. With that behind her, she went out the door.
    I'm going to find my brother if it's the last thing I do, she thought to herself as she closed the door. If it's the last thing I do.

A month later...

"Get down!" somebody jumped on her just as an explosion hit right where she'd been standing a few moments before. They rolled and hit the side of the dirt wall.
     Andria pushed herself off the person and quickly pushed her wavy black hair underneath the cap. The boy looked up at her angrily.
    "What on earth were you doing?!" he cried. "Trying to get yourself killed!?" He looked at me. "Uh.... you're a girl, aren't you?"
     "How dare you..." Andria started to say.
      He laughed. "Your voice reveals everything." He frowned, his tone suddenly harsh. "What on earth are you doing here?! There's a war going on! How did you even get here!?"
      Andria put her nose in the air. "I snuck into your camp earlier this morning! I need to get into that fortress!" she pointed to the fort just a little off in the distance, cannons booming.
      "Why?" glared the boy.
      "My brother's stuck in there!" she cried in exasperation.
        Just then, there was silence. The boy's eyes grew big, and he quickly pulled Andria farther along the ditch.
      "What's going on?!" she demanded.
      "We just lost the fight," he hissed. "Be quiet!"
       After a few moments of investigation, he came back and reported that all of the soldiers on the Northern side were being towed off to the enemy fortress. Just like Thomas, though Andria bitterly.
      "I've got to get inside," pressed Andria.
       He paused. "OK. There might be away."
       He explained his plan to her. There was a cart coming full of dead bodies. Andria would have to climb in and pretend to be dead, too. When she got inside of the fortress, she'd have to go and rescue everybody and get out of there.
     It sounded easy enough.
     Until she landed among the dead bodies and nearly threw up on them. As it was, she gagged. She managed to hold her breathe and bear it.
     Andria heard the cart rumble into the fortress and almost couldn't believe her luck. She was almost there. The cart stopped and she looked around cautiously. Then she quickly got out, ducking into one of the doorways. It led down a hallway and then down some steps, which she took eagerly.
    She went on for what seemed like forever. She finally came to an iron door guarded by an ugly, stinky, sleeping man with a huge stomach. Andria carefully pried the keys from his chubby hands and opened the door. She was faced with a row of cells.
     Andria quickly set to setting everybody free. But when she got to the last cell, she still didn't see Thomas. Instead, there was a young drummer boy around Andria's age in the last cell. She opened the door, regretting that it wasn't meeting Thomas.
     Seeing as he was too sick to stand, Andria supported him, not even reaching for her cap as he knocked it off.
    "Have you seen a boy?" she questioned him as they walked down the cellway. "He was about this tall. His name was Thomas Redstone."
     The boy looked at her with war-haunted eyes. "Tommy?"
      Andria nodded eagerly.
     "I'm sorry to say that he's past on." The boy shuddered. But then he looked up, and his eyes shone with a light that Andria had rarely seen before. "But you'll be glad to know that he died protecting a sinner."
    "What?" Andria was astounded.
    "Tommy was a true Christian," the boy continued, not paying heed to her. "He saved Jack because he knew he wasn't saved. He gave up his life for another."
    Andria couldn't believe his words.
  
Epilogue

The prisoners launched a battle on their guards and all of them managed to escape, including Andria. Hit by her brother's amazing Christ-like action, she herself was compelled to be a Christian. She married the drummer boy that she rescued from the cell and they had ten children, all who became Christians themselves. She passed away saving her children a fire. Her children all lived. And they knew that she did, too, in eternity forever with Jesus Christ our Lord.

hope you enjoyed the story!