creative writing portfolio
Emily’s Errands
short story for the about page of Emily’s Errands website
History of Soapies Supplies
tongue in cheek fairy tale detailing the beginnings of Soapies Supplies and the owner, Princess Kelley
written in August 1986
Once there lived a very vain young woman, Romy. Romy was quite beautiful with long black hair, a flawless heart-shaped face, and vibrant blue eyes. She spent hours every day preening in front of her massive, ornate mirror. This mirror stood nearly 8 feet tall and was framed by golden and brass scrollwork. In Romy’s mind, there was never a more beautiful creature than the face she saw reflected there.
One day while slowly combing her hair in front of the mirror, she heard the doorbell ring. Figuring that her husband would get it, she ignored the sound and continued to brush her hair. But the bell kept ringing and ringing and eventually, she stood up with a sigh, picked up a hand mirror from her dressing table and began to walk out of her room. With her gaze firmly fixed in the small mirror, she dreamily floated down the hallway and to the top of the stairs where she failed to see a slipper that was lying in her path. Before she knew what was happening, she had tripped over the slipper and was tumbling headlong down the stairs where she landed in a lifeless heap at the bottom.
The lesson in this tragic tale? Pride comes before a fall.
written in October 1987
I saw the sun set
On a beautiful ocean shore
The heavens glowed with colors
That stretched from shore to shore
The ocean was painted in red
Purple, orange, and blue
The waves were gently lapping the shore
As the moon in brilliance grew
The land was an artist’s dream
All bathed in the silver light
That shown from the fullest moon
That painted the darkness bright
The suddenly, it was gone!
The sun quick sank into the waves
The shadows came out from hiding
And played their silent games
The wind began to gently blow
The ocean danced in glee
As I marveled at the beauty
That I was able to see!
December 1990
We all wear clown’s faces
Smiling to hide the pain inside
Words like swords pierce our souls
Agony inside – smiling faces out
Broken hearts and shattered dream
– no one must know
We must keep smiling
for the world to see
Bitter crying in closed room
– keep our emotions to ourselves
slowly dying inside
Yet we tell not a one.
Clown’s faces painted on
while inside
Desperate, aching loneliness
Such overwhelming loneliness
– keep smiling
Once upon a time, a little girl with golden blonde hair was born. Under normal circumstances, this tiny tot with her piercing brown eyes and delicate pale hair would be considered a beauty. Unfortunately for her, she was born into a truly whack-a-doo town where black or very dark brown were the only acceptable colors of hair.
As the new mother and father awed over their firstborn, neither dared to speak of her hair. What would they do? What *could* they do? Hair of this color was forbidden. In fact, any person (or newborn child, for that matter) with hair color that was not on the approved shade list was scarificed to the raging waterfall that bordered the north side of the town. The townspeople were convinced that a troll lived under the river there and the scarifices were necessary to ensure the safety of the entire town.
It was a terrible place to live and an even more horrifying place to be born. And our little heroine was oblivious to the fact that as she lay cooing and chortling in her mother’s arms, the local peacekeepers were already on their way to ascertain the color of the newborn’s hair. This could not possibly end well and her parents were seized with indecision and terror as the sounds of the guards grew closer.
With a loud crash they rudely flung open the door and rushed into the one-room home. The leader immediately spotted the blonde hair of the baby and with a triumphant cry, rushed forward to seize her. There had been a shortage of blonde hair in recent times and his paycheck was in need of a bonus.
Her parents began to scream and the father jumped up from his position next to the bed, determined to fight for his daughter. But alas, they were easily overcome and before many moments had passed, the peacekeepers had left the house with their prize, leaving the parents locked in behind them, their cries and screams growing faint as the guards marched away.
The baby looked around as the sound of the river and waterfall began to grow. For a newborn, she was actually quite aware of her surroundings. Had the guards been paying more attention, they would have noticed that something odd was happening to her hair. It was changing color…within a few short moments it had become jet black and her brown eyes an intense blue. She turned up her lip as if to smirk and then grew still and watchful as they reached the riverbank.
As the guards approached, the mayor and other town leaders stood watching. The head guard stepped out from behind the other guards and the town leaders gasped as one. His hair was a glowing white blonde color and his eyes were no longer blue but instead were chocolate brown. Quickly realizing that they did not want any part of this, the other guards rapidly stepped back from their leader and after verifying with each other that their hair was still black, all eyes focused on the guard and he began to squirm under their cruel gaze, unclear as to why he seemed to be the center of attention.
After a brief consult, the black-haired baby was removed from the guard and set on a bench and the guard was restrained and then thrown into the river, screaming in terror as he was swept away over the waterfall. Everyone then looked back to the child who had returned to her normal state and was once again sporting brown eyes and blonde hair. For a few moments no one moved. Then the mayor barked out that the next in command should pick up the child and throw her into the river. After a moment of hesitation, the guard gathered the baby into his arms. His hair immediately lost all color and once again, the little girl had a head full of dark brown hair. The mayor uttered the order and the baby was set down and the guard flung into the river.
Unbelieveably, this happened another 3 times before the townsfolk finally grew to realize what was clear from the beginning – the baby was doing this. They were utterly baffled and after excited discussions, it was determined that the child would be returned home and no further action would be taken. After all, they were not a cruel people and throwing a dark-haired baby into the river, well, that was just downright thoughtless and cold.
And so, the baby was returned home where she grew into a beautiful young woman. Her hair slowly changed into a light brown but by that time, a new mayor had been elected and it was decreed that no more people would be sacrificed. As time went on, other colors began to appear in the town – reds, auburn, chocolate brown, golden blonde. And before too long, memories of the terrible times of sacrifice were forgotten. The entire town rejoiced…
Including our formerly blonde baby. Now the mayor herself, she was responsible for pointing out the utter impossibility for a troll to be living anywhere, much less under their river. The whack-a-doo town became a place of refuge and peace and they all lived happily ever after.
The end.
