The Adventures of Zada Jane: A Tomboy Beauty Queen

By Mari A. Potter

When Zada Jane brought her prized possession for show-and-tell, no one imagined the chaos that would ensue. That was typically how things unfolded around Zada Jane—one seemingly innocent act turning everything upside down. She wasn’t a bad child; quite the opposite. But her spiritedness and obliviousness to consequences often snowballed into surprising situations. You never knew what she might do next!

Some of her escapades involved fires, snakes, bears, biking wrecks, search parties, and even vampires! Trouble never went looking for her, yet it always managed to arrive at her door. Perhaps it was due to her curiosity and carefree nature, but even dull days might end extraordinarily if you were in Zada Jane’s orbit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jun 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035848973

Mari A. Potter

Mari A. Potter was born in Savannah, GA, and spent her early childhood years in the Lowcountry of South Carolina seeking out adventure. It was during these early years that she developed a deep love for the southern coastal area and its unique culture. Mari lives in Western N.Y. with her loving husband, Tim, and is a proud mother and grandmother. She still has many close relatives and ties to the South and visits often.

Book preview

About the author

Mari A. Potter was born in Savannah, GA, and spent her early childhood years in the Lowcountry of South Carolina seeking out adventure. It was during these early years that she developed a deep love for the southern coastal area and its unique culture. Mari lives in Western N.Y. with her loving husband, Tim, and is a proud mother and grandmother. She still has many close relatives and ties to the South and visits often.

Dedication

This book was written to share stories of my childhood with my children. They were my first fans and they remain my biggest fans. Jared, Victoria, Benjamin, Micah and Mitchell, this is for you…thank you for believing in me.

Love,

Mom.

Copyright Information ©

Mari A. Potter 2024

The right of Mari A. Potter to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035848966 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035848973 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Chapter 1

The Tonsils

It was late May and I was just finishing up the second grade when it happened. I had had one tonsil infection after another and Dr. Kalonoski, who reminded me of television’s Mr. Rogers because of his sweaters and friendly manner, had hoped that I wouldn’t have any more trouble after winter had passed. However, the problems had continued right through to the end of spring and finally, the decision was made that my tonsils had to come out.

Never having stayed in a hospital before, I thought this was a great idea. I had been inside one once to visit my sick grandmother but I had never been a patient. I was so excited to be going into the hospital that I packed my pink vinyl Scooby-Doo suitcase just as soon as we had gotten home. All of my experienced friends had told me that I would be served all of the ice cream that I could hold and now all my dreams were filled with visions of bowl after bowl of chocolate ice cream being brought to me in bed.

The big day came just two days later, on a Friday. I was in the car with my suitcase in hand ten minutes before my parents even made it to the door. I was eager to begin my adventure. The hospital in Gopher Hill didn’t perform operations so we had to travel to a larger town, Hampton, where my doctor had his practice. At the hospital, Dr. Kalonoski came into my room and explained to me exactly what he was going to do. It all sounded rather routine until he asked me a question that just about knocked me right out of my bed.

‘So, Zada, after I remove your tonsils, would you like to keep them?’

Did I hear him right? Were my ears as bad as my tonsils? I had never heard of anyone being able to keep their tonsils! This was going to be even better than I had imagined! Briefly, I scanned the faces of my smiling parents and then promptly answered with an enthusiastic.

‘Yes, Sir!’

Laughing at my reaction, the doctor then went on to tell me and my parents that once he removed my tonsils, he would preserve them for me in a jar. When I woke up from surgery, they would be waiting for me on the table by my bed.

Lying on the narrow bed in the operating room, a funny looking man slipped a mask over my nose and mouth and asked me to count backwards from ten. I wanted to inhale the sleeping gas as fast as I could. I figured that the sooner I went to sleep, the sooner I would wake up, and the sooner I would get to see my tonsils. ‘Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,’ I said eagerly but I never made it to the end.

The next thing that I was even remotely aware of was the fact that I was throwing up in the bed. Even though I wasn’t fully awake yet, I was alert enough to be glad that my parents were right there beside me. They were always there for me, I thought, as I was overtaken with sleep again.

Someone must have cleaned me while I was sleeping because as I awoke, I noticed that my sheets were crisp and white and my gown and face were clean. There was even a clean smell to the air and I was glad. My daddy spoke to me first asking how I was feeling and stroked my forehead, pushing my hair back from my face. I wasn’t sure, just yet, but thought I was fine. Then I remembered the tonsils!

‘Where are they?’ I tried to say.

But the words just came out in a hoarse whisper, which surprised me. I didn’t sound like myself at all but more like Frogger from the Little Rascals. I wondered if my voice would stay like that! That would be great. Oh well, I thought, I’ll enjoy my new voice later, right now all I wanted was to see my tonsils. Searching past my daddy, I looked for the jar. He shuffled to the side as I gave him a push with a hand that was a weak as pond water. And low and behold, there they were, in all of their glory!

They were absolutely beautiful! Well, maybe not beautiful, but they were the most spectacular thing I had ever seen. My eyes stretched wide in disbelief. I had no preconceived notion of what they might look like and now, staring at them, I thought they looked like some tiny alien creatures. They consisted of two pinkish-tan balls that had little bits of stringy fleshy stuff floating around the edges. Suddenly, my chest filled with excitement as I remembered that there was one last show-and-tell of the year at school next week and my tonsils and me would be there for it!

The weekend passed quickly and I had never been so eager to go to school. It was Monday morning and my turn for show-and-tell. As I brought my jar of tonsils out of the paper sack that I had brought them in and announced what they were, I heard everyone in the classroom gasp. The boys in my second-grade class were completely mesmerized by them. I could tell how much they liked them by the way they elbowed each other around the