Once there was a beautiful little boy who was sometimes naughty and often in big trouble. This Beautiful Boy had wavy golden brown hair, green eyes with long lashes and a dimple in one cheek. He lived in a little house in the city with his father the Sleeping Giant, his mother the Traffic Cop, and his three brothers Weepy, Not Normal and Baby. There were also several dogs, cats and lizards and for a short while a duck.
The Beautiful Boy loved the animals and the animals loved him back. They had a mutual understanding. His family however, did not understand him. They were puzzled by his disrespectful attitude towards elders, his hair-trigger temper and his fondness for playing with barbies.
There was often chaos in the little house with all of those boys and pets, and sometimes the Sleeping Giant would be disturbed. He would bellow out to the Traffic Cop, and she would then have to offer one of the boys as a sacrifice in order to appease him. For obvious reasons she could never choose Weepy, Not Normal or Baby, and so the Beautiful Boy would be shoved into the lair of the Sleeping Giant for a beating. The more this happened the more disrespectful, angry and fond of dolls the Beautiful Boy became.
One human who understood him was his cousin Girly Girl. When she visited, she would bring her dolls and play with the Beautiful Boy. She was only a little bit afraid of his hair-trigger temper, and knew how to watch for the sign. When the Beautiful Boy's eyes turned to shiny, black marbles she would run away from him as fast as she could. When they were green again she would come back to play. She didn't mind this interruption, because she understood about hair-trigger tempers and she loved to play with her cousin.
One evening, the Sleeping Giant was awake and animated and telling a story to the Traffic Cop while all the children gathered around them. A work holiday had allowed for this unusual event. Cousin Girly Girl was bored by the story. She looked over at the Beautiful Boy, expecting to exchange a meaningful eye roll. Instead she saw that he was positively enthralled by the Giant's story, eyes widened by every detail and laughing at every amusing aside. Girly Girl had a new understanding of her cousin that day. And she loved him all the more.
Another time, Girly Girl and Beautiful Boy were splashing in the pool and playing marco polo. Girly Girl kneed Beautiful Boy in his private parts, and then was cornered in the water as his eyes turned black. Girly Girl saw her cousin take a deep breath, leave the pool and refrain from beating her. And she loved him all the more.
Girly Girl and Beautiful Boy grew up and grew apart. Girly Girl went to college. Beautiful Boy got addicted to crack. Girly Girl found a meaningful career. Beautiful Boy found a wife and had lots of babies. Girly Girl stayed single and free. Beautiful Boy and his wife stayed hooked on crack.
Then one night, after many, many years of not seeing each other, Girly Girl had a dream about the Beautiful Boy. They were silently facing each other while on the roof of a very tall skyscraper. She noticed his golden hair, his green eyes, his dimple. Beautiful Boy was backing away, moving closer to the edge. He started to chant "I don't want to fall. I don't want to fall. I don't want to fall." And then he fell off of the very tall skyscraper.
Girly Girl woke from her dream and was told that day her cousin was dead. Most of his babies had grown up and moved away, but the Traffic Cop told her that one baby girl was left. She had golden brown hair, green eyes and a dimple in one cheek. Girly Girl jumped on a plane and went in search of her cousin's Baby Girl. After many months of searching, she finally found her, and then she brought her home and raised Baby Girl as if she was her very own. Girly Girl discovered that Baby Girl had a hair-trigger temper too, but she didn't mind because she understood about hair-trigger tempers and she loved Baby Girl very much.
One night, the Beautiful Boy again visited Girly Girl in her dreams. He gave her a very big hug. And she loved him all the more.
The End
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apache savage
Murder Of Crows
Maureen J Andrade
bonnie bernstein
familyonbikes
Jerry DeNuccio
Salon.com
Comments
And I must say, the great thing about putting yourself in a fairy tale is that you can come out of the story smelling like a rose!
Great storytelling. Love the names you picked for the family members, especially "Traffic Cop"
So true BEG & thank you.
Love that idea, owl!
Patty, thank you for the glowing words.
Thank you, sophie & kathy, I triple love specific feedback.
Trilogy, thank you. It seemed fitting to me too.
Thank you so much Scanner!
I appreciate your support, Joan.
Thank you Bleue. Tears are great!
lovingly told without manipulating the reader. very nice job. (r)
It's sublime. I'm not sure why it rips right through you - I mean, I know why...but this is transcendent. You must be proud.
"I don't want to fall." Ugh.
Beth & Wendy, the two women who inspired me to revisit this story. Transcendent & tears. There is no better compliment!
I came back to this today after a quick read last night. It was late and I needed to revisit before commenting. I very much like your use of the fairy tales to offer what feels like modern fables or parables. I think the length is just fine.
I think it is a beautiful tale and I'm very sorry that Beautiful Boy didn't get a chance. But then again, maybe he did, and the fact that his girl gets a new life is exactly what he needed.
r
Kisses,
Marcela
R.