FROM THE DESK OF
DONA PENZA TATTLE, ESQ.
AND
ASSOCIATE WRYE
BALDERDASH
Greetings,
Tattle and Wrye exchange boxes of
chocolates, though ‘tis the month of hearts and flowers, neither box is shaped
like a heart, just simply huge!
"You shouldn't have," notes
Tattle, recognizing her box is slightly bigger, and then frowns as she
realizes, upon opening it, that all confectionaries have nuts. "Is there a subliminal message in
this?"
Wrye suppresses a sheepish
grin. "Nuts for a nut, you
mean?" He holds up a staying hand
before she can react. "No messages,
m'sweetoholic muncher. I just know candy with nuts is your
fav."
Mollified, she leads the way to this
month's Love of Literature Leap.
"I'm taking mine along for a snack."
"Good idea!" He leaves his on his office desk and whispers
to Jamie, one of the office dogs, "Nuts for a nut, good one, eh?"
The gossipy duet appear in the first
chapter of Elizabeth Fountain’s YOU,
JANE a Burst Books Sci-Fi/Fantasy
“Do you see that?” whispers Tattle,
opening her chocolates, and snagging two.
“The comfy sofa? I wouldn’t mind taking a nap.” Wrye spreads his invisible self on the couch,
but when Tattle isn’t watching he helps himself to a sweet and pops it into his
mouth.
“Ahhh!”
“No, silly-snoozer. Jane Margaret Blake’s old papers. The old box she just found in her
closet. A box she hid away many, many,
many years ago. All of them have once upon a time written on them.”
Wrye finds a pillow and stuffs it
behind his head, then holds up three fingers.
“That’s a lot of manys.”
“And a lot of years. She always adored writing stories and each
one started with those words.”
“Well, it is a great way to start a fairy
tale.” Wrye grabs a blanket and tosses
it over himself and chews on another pilfered chocolate.
“She called them fables, and she
wrote them as if she were in a trance, sometimes they were long and sometimes
short but they all had something in common.”
Wrye snaps his fingers and a
steaming cup of hot chocolate appears in his hand. “And that is?”
Pacing, Tattle’s brow furrows. “They came true.”
One of Wrye’s bushy brows arches. “What?”
Tattle pauses, settles tensely on
the arm of the couch. “Not only that,
the story’s reality caused her all sorts of problems in her life.” Tattle indicates the opposite end of the
couch where Jane curled up with her box and her stories, sorting through a
variety of cards and college news clippings and those stories on brittle,
fading papers. “She is getting lost in
her past.”
Wrye settles into the cozy cushions,
but suddenly comes alert. “But what harm
can that do? All of us enjoy a little
nostalgia.” He mutters, taking another
helping, “And candy.”
“Only, her nostalgia can come back
to haunt her.”
Wrye pops up. “Ut oh!”
“You said it, one very big ut oh!”
“Sooo, let’s stick around and see
what happens.” With a yawn, he cuddles
back into the sofa, reaching for the candy box.
“Oh no you don’t,” gives Wyre a
naughty-boy finger waggle. “Besides,
we’re off on another leap!”
“Oooh, he’s cute!”
“He’s an actor, albeit, soon to be a
crash and burn actor. Our hero from the
contemporary CBG book A FALLING STAR by Linda Rettstatt had a fling and got
the sting. Y’ouch!” Holds up a finger as if having just gotten
stung by a bee.
“Are you feeling ok?” Tattle touches Wrye’s forehead with the back
of her hand.
Butterfly bats her hand
away. “I was demonstrating.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind!” Wrye straightens his tie, tugs at his jacket, and
then points to the book. “Your cutie is
Spence Parker who heads home to Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A. hiding out until the
poop that hit the fan no longer stinks.”
Grins his proud grin. “Good one,
eh?”
Tattle winces at the bad pun, ignores
his puffery, but offers him a handkerchief to clean the chocolate off his lower
lip. “But he left a different sort of
stink in his hometown, which is now in financial turmoil. His abrupt departure for tinsel town had left
broken relationships and a particularly achy heart.”
“Now, that’s a cutie!” Wrye interjects, pointing to Valerie
Marks. “Spence’s high school flame who
now runs her grandfather’s newspaper.”
“And is a proud single mom of
a nine-year-old daughter, who she has every intention of protecting.” As if the word protection alerts Tattle to
Wrye helping himself to another snack, she waves her hand and sends her
half-eaten box of delights back to the office.
“Val also intends to protect her own heart. Spencer left her once and there is every
indication that the bright lights will draw him right back. She is not being swayed by his involvement in
helping in the revival of his hometown or of his self-awareness to become a
better person.”
“But then there is that heat
and heart-tug between them. I
wonder….” Wrye’s words fades as he
realizes Tattle is no longer about.
In a flash, Wrye returns to
the office and finds her nibbling away at the contents of his box of chocolates.
We so enjoyed our little
venture into CBG books, hope you have as well.
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Dona
Penza Rutabaga Tattle, Esq. and Associate Wrye Balderdash
of
Blather City, Wannachat
Created
and written by
Angelica Hart and Zi
Books by
Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER
DOLLS ~ SNAKE DANCE ~
CHASING
YESTERDAY ~ CHRISTMAS EVE...VIL
With Grace held at Hammel, it’s down to her lover Benedict Thomas and the other “abnormals” he and Grace rescued to return the favour.
