A Lady in Waiting
Chapter 1
[something I should’ve written long ago]
I don’t know about you, but I think that some, if not all of us, want to be someone else.
Especially in the realm of fantasy, where anyone could be as powerful as they could be.
But in this case, a fellow is about to discover a secret that few have been offered.
Probably because she grown tired of all of the rejection. Whoops.
Chapter 1
“What a day.”
“I really want to buy something to eat”
“But I already ate, so why do I feel like buying snacks?”
“I traveled through whole crowds to get a limited edition Bakugan. That was the whole reason why I came here all this way for nothin, was to buy a special toy.”
The complainer over here is Brendon Rivera.
A college student, aged 22.
He often complained about stuff that happened to him.
Like the time he dropped a card onto a puddle of water.
[NOOOOO]
Or the time that he has to help out at work despite having no classes over the weekend.
[maaaaaaannnnnn]
Or the time that two buses passed by him.
[you absolute {beep-beep}, pieces of {beep}, {beep-beep}, I swear to lord I will {beep} {beep} {beeeeeep}.]
I’ll give him a pass for that. The bus system is a total mess.
Anyways, Brendon is walking around town moping about losing a toy that he didn’t need.
Until…he noticed a sign.
“Huh. That wasn’t there before.”
He takes a moment to read the sign.
Garage sale today. From 4/7 to 4/12.
Over on Gallon Road.
“Huh. A garage sale. Wonder if they have anything.”
This is where it began…ok maybe not.
It took Brendon five minutes to get there, mainly because he took his time walking.
But when he reached Gallon Road, he noticed a bunch of boxes, a couch, a few TVs, tables with several shirts, old big toys, shiny objects and oddly shaped objects.
“Huh.”
When he got closer, he saw a collection of toy cars, remote control cars, gold chain necklaces, even more shirts of different colors.
He also found lamps, vases, plates, a dark green couch with a patch of worn out red, a brown coat rack behind a pile of boxes and paintings.
“Oh dang.”
Then one object in particular caught his attention.
Two necklaces.
A pearl necklace fit for a lady.
And a necklace with a strange looking design, holding an egg-shaped white gem surrounded by six red gems.
Brendon found himself drawn to the large pearl.
He was bending over to get a closer look.
He developed an urge to buy them.
So he looked up and said,
“How much for these two?”
An elderly woman came over and told him,
“$120.34”
“Oh.”
[I mean…I was going to blow $250 on a limited edition Bakugan…]
“Ok”
[Welp, at least mom might like the pearl necklace.]
Brendon handed over 6 $20 bills, a quarter, and a dime, where he received a penny in return.
[I still have some money left over…but I better save it]
“Thanks!” Said Brendon.
“No problem!” The elderly woman chimed.
Brendon walked away with two pretty necklaces. An action that would change his life forever.
Now it begins.
It was a relatively uneventful evening at home.
After Brendon showed his mother the two necklaces, she was awestruck by the fancy necklaces and thanked him for the pearl necklace. As for the necklace that she que
Brendon helped with his sister’s homeworks (reluctantly I might add).
The family ate their dinner, took showers, and generally went to bed. However, Brendon decided to stay up a bit longer to check up on his necklace.
“Ok, let’s take a closer look.”
He picked up his necklace and studied it.
“Hmmm…oh dang…the white egg pearl is pretty big.”
“Like almost bigger than my thumb…”
“The shape of the gold looks like a fire fighter sign. There are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 rubies.”
“They’re also egg shaped.”
“It’s pretty heavy for a necklace, so I probably shouldn’t run with this.”
Brendon put on the necklace and looked into the mirror.
“Hmmmm….”
“Mmm…”
“I guess it’s nice.”
“…mmmm”
“I uh…”
“Umm”
Brendon doesn’t have any idea of what he bought.
Seriously, he has no fashion sense.
“I’ll keep it on for now. I might have an idea later on”
“Such as a plan for pumpkin spice latte.”
“Like how much pumpkin sauce should you use to keep it sweet but not too sweet.”
“There’s a coffee shop down the road, but it’s pretty expensive. But they do have croissants and pan dulce.”
“Man I could go for some pan dulce, maybe I can get some when I come back or such.”
“But I really don’t want to bump into Renaldo.”
“He’s rude.”
“Like the time that he sprayed me with water and I then slipped and fell from trying to catch him.”
“Or the time that he bumped me while I was dribbling the ball. Making me fall down.”
“Or the time that he put gum in my hair and I got in trouble for punching him.”
“Just unfair.”
That was years ago, Brendon.
“Like I’m just still mad over this.”
“Like I just don’t like him.”
“I hate him, honestly.”
“I hate his little goofy face.”
“I hate how he gets attention from everyone.”
“I hate how he gets away with shit.”
“I just don’t. Want. To. See. Him.”
He covers his mouth. And looks around.
“Oh shoot. I must’ve been pretty loud.”
“Sorry guys.”
He walks into the kitchen and looks at himself in the mirror.
“I honestly don’t like how I look like. I mean I’m messy. I stink. I’m generally the face of gross things…I wish I looked pretty. Like a dragon lady, with sexy clothes, a long tail, beautiful wings, and a voice that everyone goes ’Mama Mia’…”
Brendon snickers to himself.
“hehehe”
Then he takes a deep breath.
“Besides, I’m always the “quiet one.” Like I have stuff I want to say as well. Like for example, I like leotards….shit no…anything except for what I draw.”
“Never mind, I’ll probably just never mention that at all.”
“I sound like a pervert.”
“Ignore the part about the dragon lady stuff…”
Brendon sighs.
Then he went to the kitchen to clean the table to make space to draw his character.
He set the sketchbook down, opened up to a blank page and picked up his pencil.
He then put on his headphones to listen to his playlist of random songs that he liked.
“Ok, time to draw Madeline.”
Brendon proceeded to draw his character.
He drew the figure (body), he drew an overall leotard shape, he marked where the gloves and thigh highs would end, then he hurriedly drew a tail with fins.
Brendon stopped for a moment…
He started thinking…
Then he made quick shapes for wings, then sketched the fingers, the horns, the hair…
Along the way, he made a few mistakes.
Then he erased them.
Then he drew them again, made a mistake and erased.
This was how he usually draws…
He sketches the long skirt. Gotta have cover, I suppose.
He sketches the top part…
A…boob window…and a choker…
Oh boy.
The gloves…they’re baggy around the shoulders and tight around the wrist…
And he gave her a…rose…on the waist…
And…oh my…he’s drawing a vine pattern around the skirt…
how…complicated…
Anyways, Brendon’s eyes began to grow heavy. He stood up from his seat and began to yawn and stretch.
His piece remains as a sketch…
Smudges, furry lines, an overly simple face on top of a detailed body.
A front facing figure, hands that may not remain the same, multiple fabric folds.
Need I go on?
“Alright, that’s enough…” Brendon muttered.
He packed up his sketchbook.
Packed it into his backpack.
Brushed his teeth and tongue.
He hates the taste.
Then he went to bed.
OK…Now it begins.
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Welcome to the great donkey contest of 2024
I must confess that I, once again, forgot the date of the yearly donkey contest, so I had to leave early (I had a restaurant reservation in another town) and have no idea what was the jury's verdict on each of these donkeys. Therefore, you are the jury. It will be heartbreaking, but I will ask you to vote at the end of the post, setting aside the known fact that all donkeys are the best donkey.
There were Poitou donkeys, Berry donkeys, Bourbonnais donkeys, Provence donkeys, Andalusian donkeys, and common donkeys who seemed to have no distinguishing features other than being acceptably donkey-shaped. I can't possibly post all my photos, so I have chosen 4 noteworthy contestants (or 3 and half, one is very small) for you to vote on. I'll add that I only stayed long enough to watch 2 donkeys demonstrate their skills, so in a spirit of fairness I will not mention anyone's job. You won't be voting based on how good they are doing their specific donkey job but on how good they are at being a donkey.
Donkey #1 — CHEWBACCA.
Chewbacca is big, and he has ears. These are his most salient characteristics. Each one of his ears looks like a separate fluffy ferret-sized mammal attached to his head, gently twitching or napping. Chewbacca's hooves are the diameter of a medium pizza and he looks very formidable but he is extremely kind. I know the most pressing question is "Can I scritch Chewbacca's ears?" and the answer is yes, but then he will immediately appoint you ear-scritcher in chief and will look very sad when you walk away to meet other donkeys.
Chewbacca's ears on their own could be enough to let him win Hairiest Donkey in any contest—but he is mixed breed, and there were purebred baudets du Poitou in attendance. Their entire identity is "the hairy one", and giving the Hairiest trophy to another donkey would result in massive spread of existentialism among Poitou donkeys.
(He is not a contestant, as I didn't have time to get a good aperçu of his personality.)
(Same for this shiny black donkey, pictured here canoodling with a Poitou lady—unfortunately I don't have photos of him in motion, but believe me when I say he was the glossiest donkey I've ever seen. When walking or trotting he shone in the sun like a freshly-polished dress shoe.)
Back to our contest.
Donkey #2 — UGOLIN.
Ugolin (who seems to go by "Glin") is a shaggy, gangly teenage boy whose main characteristic is being utterly love-starved. Left unattended, Ugolin would wander about the donkey contest, stopping in front of every child or adult he encountered, hoping someone would love him.
I was initially the only human Ugolin did not want cuddles from, because he was scared of Pandolf and seemed to think of me as his minion. Then I tied Pandolf to a tree and crouched down a few metres away from Glin, unsure if I had a chance now—and after hesitating for about 2 seconds he came over to kiss my forehead. My friend was so touched by this moment that she (somehow) got her phone to turn her photo into an impressionist painting.
"Can I scritch Glin's ears?" Yes. He is desperate for someone to pet his ears.
Donkey #3
—no, sorry, it's Ugolin again. It's very hard to get rid of him.
Donkey #3 — THE BABY.
The baby has no name. The baby has no skills. The baby is not good at anything other than being tiny enough to walk under her mum's belly. In the absence of any other qualifications she was happy to show off what is possibly the most low-effort limbo dance in the world.
"Can I scritch the baby's ears?" No. Big point against her, here. She will, however, come over if you say "awww le petit ânon <3" and let you pet her tiny nose. (More nose photos in this post if you missed it)
Donkey #ah no wait here's Ugolin again
He actually overcame his intense fear of Pandolf to come trap us in his forcefield of infinite neediness! I'm proud of him.
Donkey #4 — MYRTILLE.
Myrtille is in her mid-thirties, and did not come to the donkey fair to demonstrate any particular skills or be admired by us, but because she likes to meet new donkeys. She was not tethered to the rope and yet did not wander around to mingle with humans like other untied donkeys did; she shuffled from one end of the rope to the other like a friendly pensioner at a continental breakfast buffet, making small talk with everyone. It was hard to approach Myrtille (as a human) without feeling like a third wheel.
I don't mean to gossip, but she spent quite a while flirting with the glossy black donkey.
I love her. She's my favourite. I was not able to pet her or take a good close-up photo of her but that's okay. Myrtille is like a tempting rollercoaster at an amusement park that you are barred from by the sign that says "You must have ears THIS long to go any farther." I wish her only good things.
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