Today, I'm sharing an excerpt from my story, "The Dream Child," included in the recently published anthology,
DRAGONS COMPOSED, from
Kerlak Publishing.
Excerpt, "The Dream Child"By C. A. Verstraete"Margriet, you have to do something with the boy." Lionus Van Der Straete slugged down the rest of his ale and belched. "Another cup, woman, and a hunk of that bread."
A feeling of dread hit Margriet as she grabbed the pitcher of ale and walked across the room to the table. "Yes, yes, I will talk to him again." She filled the mug and sighed, wishing the answer on how to control her youngest was as easy as sidestepping her husband's groping fingers. Something she should have done six children ago, she thought.
The youngest boy, Bernardus, had come out of her womb nine years hence screaming, with a full head of hair, fists flailing. "Ach, a lively one he'll be," the midwife had remarked.
Margriet had cursed the woman and her prediction ever since.
The knife made a pleasant thunk against the wooden board as she cut a chunk of bread, making her think of things that she'd be too ashamed to tell the Father at this week's confession. She dropped the bread on the man's wooden trencher and went back to kneading the few coarse leftover grains and flour to make a new loaf.
His meal done, the man rose and gave her a pointed look as he fastened the heavy cloak about his shoulders. "Talk to the boy or I will."
She nodded and watched her husband pick up his tools and head to the market square in hopes of being chosen for a day's labor. She hoped he'd get something to ease his surliness, and their worries. They needed the coin to supplement the few pennies she earned from sewing lace under the dim light of a candle late into the night.
Her fists pounded the dough, the force of her motions putting healthy dents in the moistened mass. Her mind raced as she wondered how to get the thickheaded boy to see reason, to make him stop his foolish storytelling.
She partly blamed herself.
She would never have let him hear all those fanciful tales of dragons, soothsayers and the like as a little one if she'd known how much he'd take them to heart.
Margriet mulled over her brood as she placed the raw loaf into a cloth-covered bowl and set it inside the still warm stone oven to rise. She had nothing but praise for her more sensible older children. The eldest, Alexander, though quiet, had outgrown his moodiness and was courting the cobbler's daughter; a good match.
She said a silent prayer, thanking God for her four daughters, especially Maria and Constancia, who at thirteen and twelve were well-versed in cooking and cleaning, helping make the endless chores a little easier. They were good examples to the two younger girls. She regretted the coming day when they would leave her hearth for families of their own.
One of the problems, she knew, was as the last to be born, Bernardus was too many years removed from his older brother, and the younger girls had no patience for his dirty fingers grabbing their few playthings.
Left on his own, he often found troublesome ways to amuse himself. The boy was lucky not to have been jailed after he set fire to a neighbor's barn the year before. Margriet had barely been able to contain her husband's rage when the boy insisted he was only trying to burn the dross from the hay so it would turn to gold.
"Alchemy?" Lionus had yelled, grabbing a sturdy switch off the tree outside their door. "The boy has crazy ideas instead of doing his chores? I'll give him something to dream about!"
Margriet had long feared the boy was soft, that he'd been injured coming out of the birth canal. When he began coming home bloodied and bruised, his sisters crying that he was ruining their future chances for being wed, she knew he had to be kept even closer to her apron.
But more worrisome were the boy's increasingly elaborate tales.
She tried to keep this from his father, fearing fatal harm to the child, but she wasn't sure how long she could keep it secret. Even his sisters began calling him
het droom kind, the dream child, harkening to the bedtime story she'd told them about a child saving the village from a dragon. She remembered her own mother reciting the tale to her while she learned to sew and make lace as a little girl. Her own children had enjoyed the story, too, but they had outgrown it. Her youngest, though, still found it fascinating...
(c)2009 C. Verstraete, published in Dragons Composed, Kerlak Publishing - http://candidcanine.blogspot.com
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What a shock to hear that Michael Jackson died.
It was fun seeing kids get creative in the class I led Saturday called "Create Your Dream Room in Miniature" at the Schaumburg Township Library in Schaumburg, Ill. (This is one amazing library; check the enchanted forest page. I'll put up my own pix later.)
Sarah took the traditional design approach and made a colorful setting that looks ready to move into. She even painted her own window and curtains!
Michael did a great job, as well, making a comfy looking room and bed. He even added his own original painting!
I loved the bright color combinations Claire used to accent the confetti-print paper she chose. I can't wait to see how she finishes it.
Here's the room I did and used for a sample.
Today, I welcome back author Barbara Techel, who is coming by as part of a multi-stop blog tour for FRANKIE, THE WALK 'N ROLL DOG, a charming book that gives children a glimpse at some of the challenges Frankie and her "mom" Barbara faced when the miniature Dachshund ruptured a disc in her back.
Top 10 Reasons Why Living with a Disabled Dog Is a Blessing - By Barbara Techel
It's humor to the rescue as Freckleface Strawberry faces a bully called Windy Pants Patrick.
Julianne Moore is the U. S. Ambassador for Save the Children, working with children and families in rural areas, focusing on literacy and early childhood education. She successfully launched the Save the Children Valentine program in 2008 where children’s book illustrators donated art work for cards, with the proceeds benefiting poverty in the United States.
I struck miniature gold this weekend at the outdoor flea market. The flea market, which just opened this year, is held on Sundays in the parking lot of the local ski mountain. This weekend it was held Saturday also as part of the first local festival.
My other find was this tall case with acrylic on the front and sides. It's 14" h and 5 1/2" w. It has acrylic shelves inside and mirror in the back. A bottom drawer is missing but no big deal. I can add a piece of matboard or wood.
I had another great meeting with young readers yesterday when I met with a group of Girl Scouts at Camp Alice Chester in E. Troy, Wisconsin.
The enjoyable part of making miniature dolls is that there are molds available of famous personalities, or those who look like them. Or sometimes talented sculptors will sculpt their own original versions of famous (or infamous) persons.
The female doll you see was designed in the role as pictured, but the minute I saw her face, I noticed the resemblance to a recent person in the news. Don't let the outfit fool you.
A few notes from my visit today to Nash Elementary School in Kenosha, WI. (Pictured: Teacher Cara Gorr reads Searching For A Starry Night to the class.)
Thought I'd share a few pix from the Printer's Row Lit Fest Book Fair in Chicago.
It's always at least 10 degrees cooler by the lake. Considering that I don't think it even reached 60 degrees Saturday it was a little nippy, but that didn't stop book lovers from coming out. The crowds were pretty steady.
Echelon Publisher Karen Syed shares her opinion. (lol!)
Norm Cowie introduced brand new, freshly published copies of his new ya humorous vampire novel, FANG FACE, (due out in September).
Mary Welk, author of the Caroline Rhodes' mystery series, including A MERRY LITTLE MURDER.
Rachel at Miniatures by Rachel (check out her cool handmade food and spring earrings!) tagged me with the Happy Tag. Fun, as these seemed to have stopped for a while.
(Mrs. Gorr holds up a hook fashioned by a blacksmith at Old World Wisconsin.)
The fun was hearing the kids' questions about the book and about being a writer. They had some great questions, such as:
It was a fun 1 1/2 hour visit. They enjoyed seeing part of my collection of dollhouse miniatures (fast food this time), but the miniature Starry Night painting (just like in the book) was a big hit. Seeing is believing, and they were amazed at the detail in such a small painting. I also read a short you-solve-it mystery featuring my characters, Sam and Lita, and gave them a word search puzzle with words from the book (I'll be putting it up soon at my website.)
I wanted to share the amazing broom and witch hat made by Kat at Kat the Hat Lady's blog.
Today, I'm sharing an excerpt from my story, "The Dream Child," included in the recently published anthology, DRAGONS COMPOSED, from Kerlak Publishing.
The sad part is that it is signed and was given as a gift in 1992 to a nephew. Obviously the maker Chuck Och of Illinois made quite a few as this one is labeled #119.