Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Days of Wine and Wordzzle


Finola’s story is back this week. I worked with this week’s words and the words I missed last week. The list is at the bottom – who wants to scroll through all that.

Please stop by RAVEN’S NEST and read all the other great Wordzzle stories.

Finola – Part 15

Ireland and Ray sat on the back deck of the main house at Waterloo. Ireland was stringing crescent beads together. Ray was fascinated with how fast she worked. He kept blinking and each time he looked again it seemed a whole section was strung. Ireland snipped the ends with a small pair of purple scissors and set her work aside. “Are you making something special?” Ray asked. Ireland shook her head and laughed. “I’m never sure what I’m making until it’s made. This one could become a necklace or a wind chime.” Ray looked impressed and interested. “You sell these?” Again Ireland laughed. “Oh I don’t think they’re that good, not good enough for a person to spend money on. They’re my therapy; they keep my head calm when it’s full of static”. She laughed more, longer and louder. “I used to make these silly favors for Sweet 16 parties. Colored bottles, blue mostly, full of multi-colored sand. I tried selling those. Lovee called it ‘BlueBottle Boondoggle Novelties’”. Ireland could see she had lost Ray. She felt for him, he always looked so lost. Lovee had far less tolerance. “He’s a moronic misanthrope” he had insisted. Ireland laughed at her husband; he loved throwing big words around. She told Lovee the boy was just suffering from a case of puppy love but Lovee wasn’t buying it. “Don’t be such an erudite asshat my love” Ireland said in her sweet voice. “Ray may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he's clearly mourning a lost love. Stop judging so harshly. You sound like a disapproving father”.

Truth was Lovee did feel a bit like a father, Finola’s father. He had been shocked when Finola ran away; her disappearance had been the catalyst for the trip that eventually brought them to Waterloo. After experiencing nothing but apathy from the authorities Lovee had become livid with rage and decided he would find Finola on his own. He and Ireland were certain Finola’s story about her mother’s broken down car was a fable and they were both worried that she was running from more than she could handle.

On their way north Lovee and Ireland has stopped at a large marketplace. It was the kind of place that sold everything; most people spent the entire day there. After stocking up on all the supplies they needed Ireland suggested a little R&R. Lovee agreed and they decided to just wander along the outskirts of the market. Ireland was wearing a large floppy hat and munching on a cinnamon bun when she stopped short and grabbed Lovee’s arm. “Isn’t that the gentleman we saw at the restaurant last night? The one the waitress said was some mysterious tycoon” Lovee snorted “A tycoon eh? Just happens to be wandering the roadside haunts of the RV crowd. I love you sweetie but you believe too easily and too quickly. That waitress had the brain of a parakeet and the common sense of a hockey puck”. Ireland squeezed her husband’s hand. He always sounded so much more severe than he really was. All bark, no bite – just nuzzling. “You’ll never win Miss Congeniality dear. But if there’s ever a totalitarian state looking for a leader you’re it”. Pavarotti had come up beside them by now He was enthralled with Ireland’s sweet melodic laugh and she was fascinated by his larger than life persona. Lovee thought he looked like a gigantic penguin but if his wife was happy he was happy. They had lunch together and Pavarotti told them about his self made town. They parted ways with Pavarotti extending an open invitation to Waterloo.

Finola’s trail was ice cold and Lovee was becoming increasingly frustrated. After leaving the marketplace they spent the next few days stopping at every small town off the Interstate. Not a single lead. Lovee was so out of sorts that he decided to by-pass a crowded truck stop and drive straight through. Ireland had convinced him that Pavarotti might have connections that could help them find Finola.

“We’re about a half hour out of Waterloo babe”. Lovee didn’t get an answer. “Ireland honey?” “I’ll be ready, I’m just trying to decide which bathing suit hides the cellulite” Lovee knew better than to tell his wife how ship-shape she was. He also knew better than to ask why she was trying on bathing suits. Lovee glanced back into the RV and shook his head. “I heard that” Ireland called out. They were still laughing as they pulled into the strange but delightful town of Waterloo.

Pavarotti was a gracious but distracted host. As best as Lovee could figure out Pavarotti was concerned about one of the young women who lived in the town. Lovee was a very straight forward guy so it was difficult for him to relate to someone as lyrical as Pav. The only other person they had met so far was a young man named Ray. Lovee was not impressed. “We’re stuck here with a guy who talks in haiku and a kid who makes my idiot cousin Mel the Meat Packer seem like a genius. And where are all the people?” Ireland tried to calm Lovee. “Let’s just look around and give it all a chance. Why don’t you try to spend some time with Pavarotti and I’ll talk to Ray”.

Ireland picked up her beading and started a new strand. “So Ray what do you do here?” “I’m just visiting” Ray explained. “I met a girl and we were going on to the big city when I thought it might be fun to stop here. Now I’m sorry we did”. “Why sorry?” asked Ireland. “Well she disappeared. Here I was thinking we were going to have a torrential love affair and she just leaves. Took Pav’s car too”. “Torrid” Ireland said. “Torrid?” Ray repeated. “You said you and this girl were having a torrential … Never mind honey, continue”. “She’s a great girl. Her name is Posh and everything about her is like magic. She …”

“Ireland! I think we found Finola”. Lovee was shouting from inside the house as he and Pavarotti made their way to the deck. “Finola?” Ray asked. “There’s another girl missing?” Lovee glared in Ray’s direction. “Go make a list of homonyms and put them in alphabetical order” he snapped at poor confused Ray. Lovee went to sit beside Ireland. “This girl Posh. She’s Finola. Everything matches”. Ray was afraid to speak and looked to Pavarotti for guidance.

Pavarotti took a deep breath. He really didn’t like all this chaos but he had to take charge. “I think we should assume she’s headed towards the big city. And she’s driving my car so I know what we’re looking for. We’ll leave in the morning”. Ray asked to come along. Lovee whispered to Pavarotti “We leave the insipid idiot here”. Ireland jumped up and took Ray’s hand “Come on sweetie, you and I will hold down the fort here and wait for Finola to be found”.

Ray was glad to have Ireland on his side. “But what about Posh?”


Bluebottle
Floppy hat
Livid
Misanthrope
Torrid
Apathy
Erudite
Catalyst
Hockey puck
Parakeet

Totalitarian
Moronic
Boondoggle
Tycoon
Insipid

Blinking
Cellulite
Crescent
Ship-shape
Homonym
Suffering
Packer
Wind chime
Scissors
Necklace

Static
Puppy love
Penguin
Cinnamon
Alphabetical

23 comments:

Raven said...

I just love this. I am awed by your capacity to get all the words from two weeks in with such smooth ease, especially since I barely coughed out three coherent paragraphs with just one week's words. I do love this story. Your characters all have such live and personality and there's a goodness to all of them that makes them endearing. I think you have a book here.

Sylvia K said...

Great story! I'm going to have to play around with this site. Thanks for tickling the brain cells, they need it a lot more frequently than they did twenty years ago.

Dianne said...

raven - your stories were great! especially the cat decorators lol
and thanks so much for such high praise. I do love my characters and want them to be good lol
I am thinking Finola would be a great character for a book. thanks!!

sylvia - I have written more and betterer lol since I started doing the wordzzle exercises plus I find it very relaxing. You write beautiful, interesting, well researched posts so I bet Wordzzle would be enjoyable for you. I do hope you join us :)

Cherie said...

Poor Ray. He's destined to heartbreak as far as Posh is concerned I think.

And whatever will Finola do with three caring loving adults on her tail? I'm not sure that she's equiped to deal with people who care about her.

Tune in next week...

Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. ;)

Akelamalu said...

I'm amazed at what you did Dianne. I struggled last week with the words then again this week so how you managed to combine the two lots is just phenomenal!

Richard said...

What has Finola got that causes so many to seek her? Loved the continuing adventure.

Rich

Dianne said...

cherie - not being able to accept caretakers!! hmmmm - interesting!
I think Ray will eventually be OK. He's dumb as a doorknob but sweet. Maybe Ireland will find him a girl lol

akelamalu - thanks!! nothing you write ever seems like you struggled :)

rich - I think it's her mystery and her twisted ways and --- deep down she's a good girl :)
glad you continue to enjoy.

Dr.John said...

Now that was a good continuing story. One even forgets the "words" are there.

Reb said...

Well done Dianne! I just love Finola so much and feel so sorry for Ray!

Melli said...

Ohhhhhhhh good GRIEF woman! Well... I finally had to just bite the bullet and go READ all the chapters I had missed! I can NOT believe that all these weeks I've been thinking Finola was the SANE one and that Pavarotti was a bit weird - Ray is certainly a dork, but that never hurt anybody - and I suspected that Lovee was prone to Satanic worship or something!!! NOW I find out that Finola is the bipolar dingbat! BOY does that put a new light on things!!! ROFL! Your stories are shear genius - and I'm really starting to feel waaaaaay outta my league around here!

Unknown said...

Have you lived in a neighborhood with a Totalitarian freak? Me neither. But some have been pretty
Moronic. So much so that any normal thinking person would shake their head and say, "What a Boondoggle this place is!" Now, when it comes to Tycoon, I think about Donald Trump. Is he a quiet neighbor in the Trump Towers? Hmmm? I always found Marla Maples cute. But his idea of love and marriage seems, at the very least Insipid to me! :D)

You are FUN Dianne!!!

Have a blast this weekend doing something cool that makes you laugh! That's my wish for you! ;)

Tycoon
Insipid

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I don't know how you do this, I swear...! I honestly don't think I could fill the assigment and have any of it make sense...lol...But, you do it and get in ALL the words and keep our interest, too!
That is quite a feat, my dear, I swear....!
Such interesting and varied characters.....I'm not sure I like them all, but, who says I have to, right? This is GREAT!

Lu' said...

Good continuation. I wish They would leave Finola alone but then I wish they would find her and help her make things right.

Daryl said...

Now that was really well done, Dianne ... you are a very involving writing .. I want more!

:-Daryl

maryt/theteach said...

Dianne, you are a great fiction writer! It's so hard to fit in the words smoothly without having them seem forced!

BTW I sympathize with what you are going through with people who don't listen, and yell epithets that are inflammatory. Stick with it! We'll win, I'm sure of it! :)

bobbie said...

You are just amazing! This is all getting very exciting. I can't wait to find out how it turns out.

Dianne said...

dr. john - that's a cool thing to say - forgetting the words were even there - thanks!!

reb - thanks. I pretty much feel the same way about Finola and Ray - wish I had more control over poor Ray's future but it's up to Finola ;)

melli - there is no league to be out of!! we're all creative and that equals the field :)
thank you for going back and reading all those earlier stuff!! Wow!
your observations have given me new things to consider :)

michael - well YOU made me laugh so that's a start!!

oldoldlady of the hills - having feelings about the characters period is what counts - that way I know they're "real" ;)
I'd be interested to know who you don't like and why.
and thank you for always leaving such supportive comments

lu' - Finola has a lot of secrets and carries a lot of unanswered questions about her childhood. I think her mysterious yet outrageous aura just pulls people to her.

daryl - I love that you feel involved in my story! thank you so much!!

teach - I remain hopeful :) people like you make that easier.

bobbie - me too!! LOL

Travis Cody said...

This really should be a book.

bettygram said...

Sorry I am late with my comments. I am too looking now for Posh for Ray. I am so late reading this story but will come back to find the conclusion.

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Dianne! The plot thickens. Lovee seems a bit obsessed with Finola. An unnatural obsession.

Poor Ray is so misunderstood. He may be clueless, but he has a good heart.

This was a great installment. How you can think up a story using the words from the past two weeks is amazing. You missed you calling. Contact newspapers, magazines or a book publisher.

You have a best seller in you. And I will be saying I knew Dianne when....

Have a good one. Lisa

tt said...

I'm always wondering how this story would evolve w/o the word challenge....b/c i too, forget about the words....they fit so well and everything seems to flow so effortlessly.
I hear it's like that for genius type people...........
and Lovee...what a character..I actually do know someone who's alot like him...interesting:)
xoxoxoxoxo

Dianne said...

travis - why thank you!!

bettygram - never too late, we're open all night ;)
again -welcome to Wordzzle, I enjoyed your stories

lisa - I love you!! If Finola ever became a book you would get a spot on the dedication page

tt - ya know - genius and insanity run on the same very fine line
Lovee is a cool character but I really adore his wife.

tt said...

;)