Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Hannah and Joe

Hannah started out a Karki, the oldest child then of eight,
A hardworking Finnish youngster who always pulled her weight.
Things were tough in 1920’s, the Great Depression soon began,
Minnesota soil wasn’t fertile, jobs were hard to find and then
Hannah met a likely Maki boy who went by name of Joe,
And she saw her chance to make a life and took it don’t ya know.

Joe was wild and he was handsome and she loved him from the start,
They made their vows and married, though some said it wasn’t smart.
They were happy when together though they sometimes had a fight,
Mostly ‘bout Joe’s drinking and his gambling late at night.
Still they loved each other deeply and it soon began to show,
When daughter Beatrice was born setting happy hearts aglow.

Joe took work as a miner up near frontier Ely way,
And the family they were happy (for a while anyway),
Until a tragedy occurred that changed it in a day.

It Happened One Night in Winton

It happened one night in Winton, when Joe Maki came to town
A carousing, drinking Finn man who’d let no one laugh him down.
He strolled into a Winton bar and he ordered up a brew,
And as he sipped his gaze roamed round for something fun to do.

A man was playing piano, a loud and jumpy ragtime tune,
While another man stirred coffee with a rusty worn out spoon.
Some fellows smoking cigarettes spoke loudly from a haze,
At a table in the back a stranger dealing cards looked up and met Joe’s gaze.

The stranger he was Swedish, or maybe he was Dutch,
It was kind of hard to tell and, anyway, Joe didn’t care too much.
As it happened, like all good Finns, Joe loved to gamble too,
So he joined the stranger at the back and cut the deck in two.

Joe watched closely as the stranger began to shuffle and deal the cards
The game began, the table shook as each thumped down his discards.
“I’ll take two.” Said Joe Maki, and the stranger doled them out,
Joe looked rather disappointed and his lips began to pout.

The stranger kind of smiled and he shifted in his seat,
With three Jacks and two Aces he just knew he had Joe beat.
But Joe Maki he was shifty and as he laid down his hand
It was clear four Queens beat three Jacks, and that pout had all been planned.

The stranger he was furious and he leapt up to his feet,
All heads turned in their direction as the stranger shouted “Cheat!”
The man playing at the piano stopped so he could listen in,
Nobody spoke and it was clear a fight would soon begin.

Joe Maki hadn’t cheated, and even if he had,
He couldn’t back down now because the stranger made him mad.
“I’m not a cheat!” Joe Maki cried as he reached for his gun,
But the stranger he was quicker and he would not be outdone.

A shot rang out and people stared, both men were still upright!
Joe Maki stared down at his shirt, now red, no longer white.
He toppled over backwards to lie stretched out on the floor,
As the stranger stared down shocked at the sight of all the gore.

The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife,
Then the music started up again as the bar returned to life.

I couldn't say what happened next, I wasn't there you see,
but this story really happened, and that's a garuntee.

The Story of Valentine Karki

My great grandpa Val Karki, plus one more great than that,
a Finn boy from Minnestoa who lived near a mining camp,
a tall and handsome young man, could make the ladies swoon
and hardly had to buy a drink when he went to the saloon.

One day he met a girl there, a pretty little thing
and I guess he didn't notice that pretty little ring.
It might not have even mattered but she was the Judge's wife
and when the Judge found out he swore that he would have Val's life

The Judge he was a powerful man, the law was on his side,
The only thing for Val to do was steal a horse and ride.
Of course it was the Judge's horse, the fastest one in town,
which came in mighty handy for covering lots of ground.

He rode all the way to Tocson, where he joined the calvary
and he became a rough rider who rode with 'ol Teddy.
But he never got to San Juan Hill, he drew the short straw you see,
and got stuck watching the horses, a prestigious job in the calvary.
It came with lots of benefits, like not getting all shot up,
although with all those horses there was a lot to be cleaned up.

When the war was finally over Val decided to go home.
Turns out that judge had moved away and it was safe to roam.
So back to Minnesota and the Northwoods way of life,
which was a lot less stressful without the Judge's wife.

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