love isn't all a woman is fit for

three- our little life

Jo starts awake - she looks around the room: she's all alone, everyone is truly gone. She lights a candle. She goes to the drawer where she keeps her writing, and pulls out the stack.She feeds a published story into the fire. Then she burns more stories, printed, unpublished, half-finished, she burns them all. It is a potlatch, a total burning down of everything she has made up until this point.She finds one last piece, and is about to give it over to the fire, when she reads on top: "For Beth." She stops.Jo makes her way up to the attic, and sits in her old writing chair, looking at the story. She takes a fresh sheet of paper and starts writing.She writes all night, and into the next day, piling up page after page. She spreads them out in the attic, like a quilt ,building outwards. Candles are lit and re-lit, the sun rises and sets.  Marmee brings her some food and then leaves her alone.Jo nods off for a second then keeps writing. She revises, she scratches out, she changes orders. She falls asleep on her blanket of papers.  She's re-connected with her childhood, and out of the depths of despair has found hope and inspiration.Jo finishes and carefully ties up the first few chapters of this experiment and writes a letter to Mr. Dashwood:

Dear Mr. Dashwood: Enclosed are the first few chapters of a piece I've only begun working on. It could suit as a story for young people ,but I think it is probably quite boring. However, I'm sending it to you just in case it has something of value, though I doubt it.

Once Jo mails the letter she remembers another letter she remembers the letter she wrote to Laurie.  I can't believe he didn't confront me about it yet.  Maybe he hasn't read it yet.  Oh silly of me, why would he check an old mailbox.  All these thoughts raced through Jo's head, when Meg came into the attic with some news.

*scene changes to aunt marches home*

 "I thought she hated me," Jo tells her sisters.

  "She could still hate you and leave you the house!" Amy reassures her.  Jo and Meg laugh while walking through the empty rooms. 

Aunt March had died a few weeks before, so Amy decided to stay a bit longer.  The funeral was quite simple, but with old money to spend, there were a few extravagant pieces.

"What about you and John?" Jo asks Meg.

 "No, I don't need a grand estate." Meg looks satisfied, and she is, deeply.

 Suddenly, Jo lets out a WHOOP and runs through the house.

"For heaven's sake Jo!" Meg Laughs

 "What are you doing?" Amy asks while laughing as well.

Jo looks around at the big empty house.  "I should sell it, but I'd love todo something that would really makeAunt March turn in her grave."

"I wouldn't mind that" Meg tells her.

Jo looks to Amy.  "Amy, what about you?"

"I wish I could stay, truly," Amy says placing a hand on Jo's shoulder.

"What will you do?" Meg asks. 

Jo thinks for half a second, but she already knows.  "I'd like to open a school. We never had a proper school, and now there are women's colleges opening -there should be a school. ForDaisy."

  "And what will Demi do?" Amy asks again.

 "I'll open a school for boys and girls, both"

 Amy takes her sister's arm on one side, while Meg is on the other side. They walk and talk confidentially. 

"What about writing?"  Amy asks Jo.

 Jo turns bright red. "What about it?"

 "What are you working on?" Meg asks softly.

 "I started something... but I don't think it's very good," Jo tells them.

"Everyone likes what you write" Amy states.

Jo laughs.  "No, they do not."

"Well I do," Says Meg.

Jo shakes her head.  "It's just about our little life.  Who will be interested in a story of domestic struggles and joys? It doesn't have any real importance."

"Maybe we don't see those things as important because people don't write about them," Amy tells her.

 "No, writing doesn't confer importance, it reflects it."

 "I'm not sure. Perhaps writing will make them more important."

Jo looks at Amy, quite amused. "When did you become so wise?"

 "I always have been, you were just too busy noticing my faults."

"Which weren't there, of course," Meg says.

They all laugh. They lean their heads together and stroll through the house.

authors note: this is mostly just a filler chapter, we'll get more into Laurie and Jo soon.