One summer morning, two little girls were playing outside on the lush green grass covered with clover, while bees buzzed all around, and they said to one another, "Let us go to town."
Downtown Sheffield was within walking distance for the two girls, for they had walked to town many times with their parents, but on this special day, they felt they could do it without them.
So, the two little girls (ages six and seven)washed their faces, combed their long curly red and yellow hair, pulled their hair back into a ponytail, dressed in their new red and white short sets, and put their shoes on their feet because the streets would be too hot for bare feet.
It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day when the two little girls began walking up SW 13th Street. They crossed West Montgomery onto Shop Pike, where they could walk along the sidewalks that lined the streets.
The two girls played a game," step on a crack, break your mother's back," as they tried to avoid the lines, cracks, and the humps on the sidewalk.
When the sidewalks were laid, many years before, the trees were small; as they grew, so did their roots, causing the sidewalks to bulge and crack.
Shop Pike ran into North Montgomery Avenue, which leads into downtown Sheffield. Before the girls could enter downtown, they had to cross the Southern railroad tracks running east-west along West Montgomery Avenue.
The girls looked both ways before crossing the train tracks because they became swamped when freight trains carrying freight cars came barreling down.
Sometimes trains would come from both the east and the west at the same time.
When a train came across the tracks that led into town, it took at least twenty to thirty minutes.
When our family would drive into town, we would wait patiently in the car for the train to pass, and when we saw the red caboose, we knew it was the end of the train, and we would begin to sing:
"Little Red Caboose, Little Red Caboose, behind the train, the train.
Smokestack on its back, going down the track.
Little Red Caboose behind the train.
Woo-woo-woo!"
The two little girls were excited as they walked down North Montgomery Street without their parents tagging along.
They felt all grown up as they walked into their first store, which was a furniture store.
The two girls started looking around and even walked upstairs to the second level, pretending they were shopping.
A salesman came up to the two little girls and said, Where are your parents and the two little girls said ever so boldly They are shopping. The salesman gave both the little girls a bright yellow pencil as they were leaving the store.
Down the street, the little girls skipped, ever so excited to be shopping, without their parents saying You cannot have that.
They went from store to store, and they stopped at Western Auto to look at the baby dolls wrapped in pink and blue blankets.
At Abrom's, they saw dresses hanging on racks in shades of brown, with pleats, covered in tan lace, and large sashes attached to the backs. They saw red-checked dresses that buttoned down the front, and blue-and-white striped sailor dresses that would be ever so cute to wear to school to show off to the other students.
Oh, how they wished they had the money to buy one of those dresses, but they were penniless.
Abrom's was THE store; everyone with money came here to shop.
Abrom's had two levels, with a staircase leading to the upper level. It had tub carriers, a machine much like the banks use today at their drive-through windows, where they would send their tickets up and downstairs, which was fun to watch.
At the five-and-dime, the girls spent a long time looking, because there were many shelves filled with trinkets of all shapes and sizes that you could purchase for just ten cents.
The stomachs of the two little girls began to growl, so they stopped at the Liberty Super Market for an ice cream sandwich and a box of cookies.
The girls had now completely walked through every store in Sheffield, but the day was still young, and they were not ready to return home.
The two little girls continued walking north on Montgomery Avenue, then turned left onto Alabama Avenue and kept walking until they reached the Tennessee River.
The older little girl's family owned a boat that they had docked at Riverfront Park many times.
The Tennessee River has many dangerous drop-offs from the water's edge, which these two little girls knew, so they stayed close to the edge as they waded into the water to cool their feet, making sure they did not get their clothes wet.
The streetlight guided the girls as they began their journey home.
On their trip into town, the girls were given yellow pencils by the salesman at the furniture store.
The girls thought the yellow pencils were ugly, so they swapped them for bright purple, pink, and white pencils.
The girls also put small girls' slips into a shoebox at the five-and-dime.
The sun was shining brightly that day, so they each put on a pair of sunglasses.
Before the girls reached home, they buried the sunglasses, and the little girls slipped at the end of the street where their grandparents lived.
They began walking to their grandparents' house, only to be greeted by two heartbroken parents.
The two little girls told a lie; they said they had spent the day at a friend's house, but their parents knew differently because they had made a mistake. They had stopped at an aunt's house to visit before they walked to the Tennessee River.
Both girls received a whipping and were taken home.
Weeks later, the girls claimed to discover the items they had taken at the end of the street.
Their parents never knew the difference until years later, when the older girl told her mother the story of their trip to town, their visits to the many stores, and their taking all the items they had found at the end of the street.
