Saturday, November 8, 2008

Wordzzle Time!


Check out all the Wordzzle stories at Raven’s Place

Panorama stood outside the Humane Society. Their main headquarters was housed in an old building, Pan remembered it from her childhood; her Mother once worked in this building. As a girl Panorama had been fascinated by the play of light and shadow created by the building’s angles. Everyone had said she had an artist’s eye and that her parents had short-changed her by refusing to allow her to go to art school. Panorama shook her head to dismiss the memories and pulled her coat tighter around her. She hoped it was the cold weather that was causing this chill. All week she had been ambivalent about this meeting but had tried to focus on the positive. Now, in the quiet of a cold Sunday morning, she wondered if she was doing the right thing.

Panorama was just about to light a cigarette when the yellow jacket caught her eye. Life after 50 had been good to Pickles. She was slim and fit and decked out like a Vice-Presidential candidate. She wore her usual 3 inch heels and strutted like a teenaged girl. Flashes of competing with her Mother for attention created a dull ache in Pan’s head and once more she shook them free. “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes, she’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes, she’ll be comin’ round the mountain and I’ll drown her in Buckingham Fountain …”

“You’re singing under your breath, you always did that when you were nervous” Pickles grabbed Panorama and hugged her tight. “Are you nervous? Can’t see why you would be”. Panorama ignored the question and pulled away to look directly into her Mother’s green eyes. Pickles met her gaze. “We have the exact same eyes” she said as she too pulled back a bit. “Just that yours always look angry. So, let’s get brunch and catch up”

And off they went. Panorama struggled to keep up with Pickles. Gotta stop smoking she thought to herself and chuckled. “I’m sorry, am I going too fast?” Pickles stopped. “We’re here anyway. I read about this place on the plane. All the rave right now, some blend of good old meat and potatoes and international cuisine. Sounded interesting.” Panorama looked up. ‘Backhoe Bistro’ was emblazoned across wood carvings of farms and what looked to be Swiss chalets. Trust Pickles to find a place annoying and pretentious. Down home, small town pretentious no less.

Inside was no better. Long family style dining tables were intermingled with tiny bistro style tables. Panorama could not believe her eyes, or her ears. The sound of children singing ‘Happy Birthday Sarah Jane’ came from the back. Panorama peeked around the column. A dozen or so children, dressed as Martians, were gathered around a giant cake. Pickles was in deep discussion with the maitre d’ – or was he a short order cook? Probably both. “The party is coming to a close” she told Panorama as she took her arm and led her to one of the small tables by the window. Panorama wanted to ask who the hell had a children’s birthday at a place like this on a Sunday morning but thought better of it. Pickles had an answer for everything anyway.

They settled in and Panorama held her menu in front of her face to give herself a moment. Something about this street seemed so familiar. “I love this view” Pickles sighed. “Remember when we came here to watch them blow up the balloons for the Thanksgiving Day Parade? We would walk back and forth. You loved to hold onto the ropes and watch the men working. You always said it was better than the parade itself. Then we’d stop at your favorite bakery and get pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving Day. I always wanted to spend the holidays in France but you and your Father insisted …”

“Please shut up” Panorama couldn’t catch the words in time. “Please just shut the hell up. You said we needed to discuss Finola. There are no happy memories, just days not as terrible as the others. So stop. Stop being a caricature of a Mother or a Grandmother. Tell me what is going on and what I need to do.”

Pickles sat up straight and took a deep breath. “You need to be a Mother. You need to take responsibility for your child. Perhaps I wasn’t a very good role model but I always kept you safe and you owe Finola the same.” “Fine” Panorama said startled. “Fine. What do we, I, need to do?”

Pickles pulled a folder out of her bag. “I’ve had a private investigator working on this since the school called. We need to go to a place called Waterloo.”

France
Cold weather
Backhoe
Light and shadow
Humane society
Ambivalent
Happy Birthday Sarah Jane
Martians
Thanksgiving Day Parade
Green eyes

She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes
Pumpkin pie
Yellow jacket
Short changed
Life after 50

28 comments:

Richard said...

Dianne: There seems to be a certain amount of dysfunction in the maternal relationships here, just a smidgen. Looking forward to Finola and Pan's reunion.

Rich

Linda said...

How appropriate that someone with the name of Pickles has green eyes!

bobbie said...

Ah ha! Waterloo! Now we're moving along.


"...like a vice-presidential candidate"? Can't let it go, can you? '

Good one.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Wait. She's all decked out like Al Biden? Sexy. :p

Dr.John said...

Your ongoing story is so good. I enjoyed the interplay between Pandora and her mother. It made you want to know more. So many questions raised in the readers mind.
The Vice Presidential candidate remark was priceless, dare I call it snarky.
What you did with that darn song was also great " drown her in Buckingham Fountain.." very creative.
Well onward to Waterloo.

Travis Cody said...

This is good. I really got a sense of the two characters here. And in getting that sense of them, you shed more light on Finola and why she does the things she does.

Well done.

DivaJood said...

I need to get back into this. Fionola is having a real life here.

Melli said...

ROFL! LOVE your version of the song! This story just keeps getting better! I'm so glad we're going to get back to Waterloo though! I really WONDER what Finola has been up to all this time! Or maybe it just seeeeems like a long time to me, the dear reader, who has to keep waiting and waiting and waiting for you & Rich to write your next chapters! You guys are killin' me!

Shelly said...

Snickered all the way through this weeks version. So...did you make up that song today or is that how you sang it as a kid?
The V.P. reference was a hoot.

Akelamalu said...

I'm looking forward to the Pan and Finola meet up. :)

tt said...

Uh-o!!! Sh*t's gonna hit the fan pretty soon I think! lol
i giggled whenever I picked up on your references to the past election....too funny...and very creative.
xo

Raven said...

Wonderful as always. I love the relationship between these two, strained as it is. Looking forward to the next installment. Pickles and Pandora in Waterloo. Should be interesting.

Dianne said...

rich - they say to write what you know!! LOL

linda - that didn't even occur to me! you're clever :)

bobbie - I thought of you when I decided to move them all to Waterloo. Lord knows the dialog I'm going to have to come up with LOL
I'll let it go when she goes away - hehehehehe

mrs c - LOLOLOL!!!! technically Al is VP Elect so I guess I meant Sarah.

dr john - I just hope I can decide how to start answering all the questions, I have so many options clogging up the noodle.
and yes!! snarky is good - a fine compliment.

travis - thank you so much, I have been reading articles on character development so I guess it's working

jood - it's all on the sidebar if you ever really have the time to catch up. I hope things are calmer for you this weekend - hugs Lady

melli - I figured since they're in Chicago I would pay homage to their famous fountain and get rid of an impossible required word at the same time.
I promise the action will continue to heat up. new characters, the PI will be around - and Pavorotti's character takes a whole new turn - as the weeks unfold LOL
thanks for being so interested, I love that!!

shelly - just made it up as I thought of Chicago. I LOVE that fountain.
glad you were entertained, makes me feel good :)

akelamalu - so am I LOL

tt - as Bobbie said, I just can't let it go ;)
and yes I think that poop is gonna start flying

Dianne said...

raven - thanks!! I hope Waterloo is ready for them ;)

bettygram said...

Waiting for Waterloo.

San said...

The way you set the scene and establish the characters is great. I've missed out on many of your episodes, having come to your Wordzzle saga as it was in progress. Even so, I get a very clear picture of Pan and Pickles and their relationship.

Jeff B said...

Reading. . . smiling. . . enjoying. . .

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Dianne! It is getting really interesting. I can't wait until they get to Waterloo. I hope Ray has been resting up. Pickles and Pan with just eat him up. Lisa

jaycoles@gmail.com said...

Is that Waterloo, Iowa where they are headed. As always wonderful job. Hope you are feeling better.

Dianne said...

betty - that sounds like a title right there ;)
I hope I don't disappoint

san - what a great compliment, thank you

jeff - cool, that's what I like to hear. you did a bang up job this week - those title were fantastic!!

Lisa - poor Ray, stuck in the middle of a bunch of smart, quick, angry women!! OY :)

jay - it can be if you would like it to be. at one point I felt we were in the NW, now I think we're in the middle. I hate making geographic committments, it limits the scenery ;)
I am walking longer with less pain - thanks for asking.

Bobkat said...

I very much enjoyed this. Dysfuntional relationships is a central theme here and you capture it in the chrarcters thoughts so well. You are obviously a great observer of people. Looking forward to seeing what happens when they go to Waterloo!

Dianne said...

bob-kat - I have had so many dysfuntional people to observe over the years ;)

Unknown said...

Afternoon, dianne! I just isited Raven after a long absence with so much happening in my life. But I applaud your love of animals. My late Cousin gave me this gift as a tot when I was growing up. lol!!!:)

Lauren said...

I'm new, so what's Wordzzle?

Lu' said...

I can so picture that restaurant. I think I've eaten there ha! Nice job Dianne. I posted a mega and also a vanity.

Dianne said...

michael - I know you've been juggling a lot at once - I'm glad you stopped by here and Raven :)

lauren - every week there's a list of words to compose a story from, then we post them every Saturday. If you click on the link to Raven's Place in this post you'll find her story and from there and you can find the link to the rules (there really aren't many) - more like instructions.

lu' - we may have been there together LOL

Kimmie said...

Hey Dianne!
Just wanted you to know I have re-started my blog. I had to add a number to my old link...

http://prettyamazinggrace-kimmie2.blogspot.com

I will be back to catch up. I did comment on Tuesdays post though. I can't wait to see what Finola's been up to!!! LOL!
Hugs,
Kimmie

Dianne said...

Hey Kimmie!! Welcome back :)
Finola has been wondering where you were!! ;)
I'll be over soon.