DO let us leave the children in charge...they shall be perfectly smashing at it!

My Beloved reader - I have a confession. What follows is one of the very first stories I have ever written. And it looks practically identical to how it looked after the first time I sat down to write it. 

It is fully and completely stuck. I have gone back to it a hundred times, asking the characters where they would like to go, what they would like to do. Unfortunately they have not spoken to me in quite a while. So, as a consequence for their actions, my characters are to be put on display - and thus begin my first mini-series. 

There is truly nothing more rewarding to this particuler writer (except perhaps when the 2 year old goes poop on the potty), then to get to introduce her beloved characters to none other then her beloved readers. And since I am just barely starting out (much like my potty training toddler?) - I am still learning much about myself and who I love to write to and about. So please read with an open mind, knowing this is an exercise on my part. I would LOVE feedback (posted on the blog if you can, it is always nice to have it all organized in the same place) But if it will not let you - I know it can often be stubborn, then please give feedback by any means that is most convenient to you. 

This is a learning exercise for me, to help further my writing by forcing deadlines on myself - and your thoughts on the story, (what you loved, what you hated and what you would love to see happen in the story, what type of characters you would love to see added/taken away) is my reward! My goal is to write more, even if it is just a small amount - once a week. 

And you all get to be a part of this journey with me! I cannot even tell you how happy that makes me.

I thank you all in advance for your time as well as your thoughts. This adventure/experiment/exercise truly excites me!  Happy Reading! 

LOTTY (Working title)

Story by Sarah Reynolds 

Now this story begins like lots of stories do - “Once Upon a Time” and all that. There are frogs in it, a prince, and at least one dragon. But all that comes later. The Once Upon a Time part starts now, so that is where we will begin.

Once Upon a Time...

I say Time because I am not entirely sure if this story has already happened, or whether or not this Time is yet to come. All I really know is that it happened during a time. And it only happened once.

This story starts with a puddle of water. It was a very quizzical puddle of water. Not calm and good natured as most puddles of water are. No, this puddle wanted very much to know how it had come to be, whether it would rain that night, and whether or not the little girl looking into it was going to pass along-side it, or jump right into its middle. Perhaps it was not such a very bad puddle, the girl had been looking into it for a very long time. I will admit that I myself have begun to wonder if in fact the girl will jump or whether she will be called into dinner first.

She has jumped! I knew she would. All little girls must, you know. The puddle seems alright, a little less full of himself, but this particular puddle could use a little humbling. So could the girl, of course. But that is a different story all-together. And today we are telling this one.
The girl's name was Dustia-Anne-Marie-Carlotta-Sussunatia-Lotteea-Notta (but let us call her Lotty for short). And she was a Princess.
 
Luckily no one but her mother called her by her full name, and that was only when she did such things as jump into mud puddles when she had her Royal crown on. (Which she did.) And that was only when she was caught jumping into mud puddles with her Royal crown on.
 
Lotty was the middle princess. There were three altogether. Her Poor Father the King would lament every night as he brushed their teeth that he was simply surrounded by ribbons and bows and that if it weren't for the Royal dog Bernard, he may as well hand the whole kingdom over to be run by small Princesses. Of course Lotty and her sisters thought this a splendid idea and said that the first new law would be no bedtimes and everyone had to eat chocolate cake for breakfast.
Lotty’s mother would simply shake her head and continue brushing out the baby's hair (which grew at an alarming rate) and tell him that he just wanted a break from ruling his kingdom, and that if she was not there to keep an eye on things he might just go off on an adventure without telling her. He assured her that if he ran off on any adventures he would take her with him and they could leave Bernard in charge of the baby.
 
The baby was named Penelepe-Lori-Anne-Elsa-Marie-Berrifico. She had the shortest name, probably because her parents were running out of things to name little girls, they had such a lot of them (names, not girls). But they all called her “Little Bear” because she roared when she got hungry and with all that hair she was by far the furriest.
 
The Eldest Princess was of course the wisest and most sophisticated of them all. She was named Jullianna-Beatrice-Marie-Belle-Autumn-Gold. They mostly called her Spark because she had hair the color of living fire and when she danced it looked just like sparks from a fire were circling her face. She loved to dance, and her mother secretly thought she was the very best dancer in the whole kingdom. I think that in this case, she might be right.
 
Lotty, though she couldn't dance or roar, had a very special talent of her own (and it had absolutely nothing to do with jumping in puddles). She was good at making things. The ladies in waiting would often come to clean up the nursery only to find that the curtains had been taken down and the candlesticks were missing. The crocket mallets had been taken apart and the bookshelf was in shambles. But a most exquisite miniature carnaval (complete with farris wheel), city, castle or pirate ship had been constructed from all these spare parts and so it sat for days and days, being added to and taken away from, simply because it was so elaborate that they could not bear to disassemble it.
 
Bernard the Dog, for he warrants an introduction as well. Was...well he was a dog. He had a tail and a nose and all the proper dog parts in-between. He didn't have very good table manners and he rarely brushed his teeth. But the girls all loved him just the same and told him so often.
 
I truly wish we could just leave our happy family exactly where they are now. Kids are just about to get out of their royal bubble baths and snuggle into beds. Couldn't they just wake up happily in the morning and go for a ride together in the meadow? They could collect wild-flowers and perhaps roll in a mud puddle or two. But of course, then we would have no story. Still, it is tempting. So let us take a moment and simply enjoy the peace of it all. For if we are to have a story, there has to be some excitement. And things are rarely so peaceful as this when they are also exciting.
 
I will however, make you a solemn promise. No matter how dangerous things may get, and how dire it all may seem, everything is alright in the end. The best stories always are, you know.
 
Our story becomes exciting very quickly. One moment the children are popped into their pajamas by their mom and dad, and the next moment the castle guards race into the room calling for the King and Queen. Something truly unexpected has happened. The city is under siege, the troops have been deployed. The King is needed to lead the army and the Queen is needed to tend to the sick. One place alone will be safe: the castle, so at the castle the princesses will stay. Every able bodied adult is needed if there is any chance of victory. 

I will not go into any detail of who exactly was attacking and why. Details like that don't really matter in battles such as these, at least not for those that have been left behind. The important thing is that The King and Queen have gone away. The castle is quiet, and in a matter of what seems like moments, the three princesses are standing together in their PJ's feeling quite bewildered and a little excited. They know their mother and father will return, there is no question of that. And in the meantime they have been given very specific instructions: “Make sure you run the castle until we return!”
 
“Well!” says Spark, “first things first. Who still needs to brush their teeth?”
 
“Lotty does,” Bear tattled.
 
“I do not,” Lotty glowered. “I brushed them very well this morning and I think now that I am in charge it need only be done once a day. Besides, we have far more important things to attend to now that mum and dad have gone.”
 
“I'm hungry. I want chocolate cake.” Bear gathered up her hair in her arms so as not to trip on it and peeked out the door.
 
“No chocolate cake, you have already brushed your teeth,” Spark said firmly. “Besides, I agree with Lotty, we need to form a plan of how things are going to be.
 
“We could talk WHILE we eat chocolate cake.”
 
“No!” Came the very loud, very firm answer from two older sisters at the same time.