Until yesterday. Yesterday morning G asked about a strange step looking thing he found in one of the red Christmas totes in the basement. "Do we have a menorah?" he asked.
Which, we're not Jewish, so that would have been odd. But I knew instinctively what he'd seen that made him ask that question. It is a prop that went with this story in its original version.
So I started to wonder if I could find the story. And sure enough, in a different red Christmas tote, I found it - or at least the beginning of it. And of all things, without even looking, I ran across the 5 little toy symbols that go along with the other stair step looking prop - in a bag of pillar candles of all things - completely separate from the story or the quasi-menorah like looking thing.
From not thinking about this story in about 10 years to having most of it come together in one day. I couldn't find the ending, so I'm having to rewrite the ending. And given that the art of writing is rewriting, I've been art-ing all day long with the beginning of the story, too. I need a battle scene, but I'm not sure I can write a good battle scene, but that's not until Chapters 4 or 5, and who knows? Maybe we won't even get there, especially if people shoot down Chapters 1 - 3, but I figure why not put it out there and see if anyone enjoys it. It probably won't appeal to all, and it's really a story as old as time, but it might appeal to some. It's a bit of an allegory (a $3.50 word there) and somewhat childlike, but well...enough of the backstory. Here goes...
Chapter 1
This is a story
about King Nascious. He was a great king;
he was kind, loving and fun. King
Nascious had a great imagination and could turn anything that he imagined into
reality.
King Nascious
lived in a wonderful palace. This palace
had lots and lots of rooms to do all kinds of things. There was a music room with guitars and drums
and keyboards and amps and microphones and speakers that you could play as loud
as you wanted. He had an art room with
paint and chalk and clay to draw and form all sorts of animals or people or
flowers or cars. There was a gym full of
balls and bats and gloves and nets and boards.
And just beyond the gym was an ice skating rink that was always fresh
like a Zamboni machine had just glazed the surface. King Nascious’ palace even had two swimming
pools, one inside and one outside.
The King had a
library that was at least 3 stories high, filled with books and globes and big
cushy chairs and fireplaces. King
Nascious had the most fun designing those cool sliding ladders to reach any
book. Or even just ride around on the
track without ever getting into trouble by a shushy librarian!
The King’s
kitchen was full of wonderful smells like fresh baked bread and fresh picked berries
and smoked bacon and summertime watermelon.
And his freezer was always full of any flavor ice cream you could ever
want to try plus a sundae bar stocked with sprinkles and chocolate sauce and
whipped cream – the fun kind from the can that squirts everywhere, including
straight into your mouth!
The views from
King Nascious’ palace were extraordinary.
Snow-covered mountains and clear, bubbling streams, hills and trees with
hiking trails, and lush meadows with wildflowers were visible as far as you
could see, each just waiting to be climbed or fished or explored.
King Nascious
lived in this palace with his son, Prince Reed.
Oh the adventures they had! From
climbing mountains one day to swimming the next to hiking the next to playing
basketball the next day to writing music the next day – and then writing all
about it to add to the library so they could always remember their adventures
and share them with others.
King Nascious
and Prince Reed decided that they wanted others to live in their wonderful
palace. So they brought Iain and Ofelia
to come live with them and have adventures, too. The king and his son gave Iain and Ofelia
full run of the palace. They could go
anywhere they wanted to around the palace without ever having to ask.
King Nascious
and Prince Reed even designed special bedrooms for each of them. Ofelia really liked thick comforters and
books and fireplaces so her room had all of these to make her feel at
home. Iain didn’t ever like to go to
bed, so his room was a place filled with his own, personal,
never-have-to-be-shared toys and a secret slide in the closet that he could
make land directly into any other room in the palace. Talk about a boys’ dream!
King Nascious
had one rule for Iain and Ofelia. It was
only one rule, but it was important.
“You can go in
any room in this entire palace except one.
It’s the only dangerous room in the palace, and if you go in, you won’t
get to live here any longer. It will, in
fact, hurt you so badly that you will die.
The door has a sign on it to remind you not to enter,” King Nascious
told them.
That seemed like
an odd rule, but ok. Why would they want
to go in there when there were so many other places to go and fun things to do?
No comments:
Post a Comment