Skip to main content

July Chatterbox: Foreign Relations

     "Did you see the ambassador from Arandia?" Chauncey asked as he swung open the door and entered the kitchen with a light step.  He balanced a silver tray on one hand as the door shut behind him with a bang.
     Grimm looked up from his papers and glared at Chauncey for his irritatingly light-hearted tone of voice.  "Why wouldn't I have seen him?"
     Chauncey laughed lightly as though Grimm had made a good joke.  "True -- he would have been hard to miss," Chauncey admitted cheerily as he set his tray down and transferred its load into a wash basin.  "Such brilliant colors!  I've never seen anyone wear so bold a combination of yellows and oranges, purples and blues, greens and reds!  And with gold edging on everything!"
     "Ridiculous outfit," Grimm snorted, rattling his papers in disgust
     "The colors were so cheerful...I don't see how anyone can be glum around them," Chauncey said, polishing his tray with the quick buffing action of his rag.  "And his garments were long and flowing -- very different from anything we wear around here."
     "Thank goodness," Grimm murmured, burying his nose in his papers once again and hoping Chauncey would go away.
     "I could hardly keep my eye on my tray -- he was such a fascinating spectacle!" Chauncey continued.  He pulled a set of clean glasses from a cupboard and arranged them on his silver tray while he talked.
     "It's not your place to gawk at the guests," Grimm said severely, without looking up from his papers.
     "Oh, he didn't seem to mind.  I gave him a nod and smile when he looked up at me, and I think it did him good.  He looked rather sad, at first, for a man in such bright garments," Chauncey observed thoughtfully, as he filled the glasses on his tray with cool beverages.
     "Chauncey!" Grimm stared at him aghast, his papers falling unheeded onto his lap.  "Do you want to lose your head?"
     Chauncey lifted his chin and his silver tray at the same time.  "Take a deep breath and exhale, my friend.  Such a thing as extending common courtesy to a man who is far away from his own home is not likely to endanger my life."
     Grimm had nothing to say to such incredible optimism, and he silently watched Chauncey disappear through the doorway with his tray for the guests.
     But the door swung open again and Chauncey popped his head back into the room, his face full of the excitement of a sudden thought.  "Imagine, Grimm, if we were to go to Arandia some day!  A whole country full of those colorful, flowing garments!" he enthused.  He grinned broadly at Grimm and then retreated, the door swinging shut behind him.
      In spite of himself, Grimm's mind instantly pictured himself lost in the company of hundreds of outlandish outfits.  He shuddered and buried himself once more in his papers.

Comments

  1. Haha! That was very enjoyable. And that last paragraph made it even better.

    the writeress @ barefoot in the snow

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you liked it, Jessy!!!
    Grimm and Chauncey are side characters from BB (just like Willie).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sense a big Kuroshitsuji vibe going on in this post! I like it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I have never heard that word before so you are expanding my vocabulary! :D But, without knowing what it means yet, I thank you for commenting and for liking my post. :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Short Story Break

via Pinterest     It has been a while since I penned a short story.  Usually it takes something like a "short story contest" to inspire me.  But I have noticed my writing skills improve with each contest so there is something to be said for writing short stories.      I say all this to lead into the fact that I am going to try another short story.  There is no contest looming on the horizon, but it has been so long that I think I am due to write a short piece.  Life cannot be entirely devoted to novel-length plots...      I am rolling around different ideas in my head.  There is no one to give me the first three words or a picture to base my story on.  There are no restrictions, no props, and no judges.      Methinks I will try something that is both epic and ordinary...something I have seen before.  After all, personal experience, great things, and the expression of the...

More Snippets from Snow White Rose Red

    One of the shadows moved.   “Were you just going to chuck it in there with no thought for the poor folks on the other side?”   Flip’s voice drawled out.   It was a deep voice and it made my heart skip a beat.      He moved away from the trees and came to stand in front of me.   “Some hard-working fellow is plowing his field and then – whop!   Out of nowhere, a poisoned apple flies out and hits him upside the head.”   He clucked his tongue reproachfully.

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?