A Lake Koshkonong Tale
a novel I am embellishing – soon to be released out into the world.
What sparked the idea?
We were looking to buy a new home ten years ago and discovered a brick ranch on Lake Koshkonong in Fort Atkinson, WI. We were told it was built on land once known as Indian Land.
Two sentences jerked me to attention:
Should you find bones, arrowheads, or relics in the yard, you have to report it to the DNR (Department of Natural Resources and the yard will be cordoned off by yellow KEEP OUT tape, and a crew will come in to do a ‘dig’ for more relics.
When I asked if there were any ghosts present in the house, the answer:
Why, yes, and we love every one of them. Because of them and the history in this house, we pay no property tax.
I stared out the window at the green of the grass, the steep wooden stairway down to the lake, and the horizon where the water met the sky. The house didn’t intrigue me –
THE STORY DID.
Occasionally, I still drive by that house on the lake – it always makes me smile. But there is no need to go inside. Every inch of the inside of that house belongs to me and my story. I can create little nooks and crannies that never actually existed there.
In my visualization, I have spent so much time studying the floor plan and layout of the house, yard, and neighborhood that I feel like I’ve lived there with
Eric Redfeather –the handsome Native American man or
Jenna Taylor — the lovely Minister of the Lake Koshkonong Methodist Church.
(Hero and heroine of my story.)
If while reading this you smile, remembering a time when you saw a story come to life, click on reply and tell about it.
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