Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
Where We All Belong
by Curt Iles
Introduction
You cannot make up a story better than the truth.
Mowata rice farmer Jimmy Loewer shared the following story:
In the 1960’s a car drove up to his family farm and a well-dressed middle-aged couple stepped out. The man pointed at the farm’s windmill. Jimmy’s visitors were a German couple visiting America. The man had returned to this spot to show his wife where he worked as a POW during the War.
He turned to Jimmy and in passable English said, “I remember the windmill and this house. We worked during the rice harvest that year, and the American couple at this house treated us well.
The German rubbed his head. “It was in 1944 and the wife of the house was pregnant.”
Jimmy Loewer smiled. “That woman was my mother and she was pregnant with me.”
As I said, you cannot make up a story better than the truth.
As you read Where We All Belong, you’ll find a woven tapestry of stories like Jimmy’s woven into this historical novel. It’s set against a remarkable time in Louisiana.
As the reader, you are welcome to separate the facts from fiction.
As for me, I choose to believe it all happened.
Curt Iles
Fall 2023
Dry Creek, Louisiana
Alexandria, Louisiana
Visit www.creekbank.net to read chapters, back cover copy, and series ideas.
