Reading Rainbow Superdraft Poll

True! Material, very, very dreadfully material I had been and am; but why would you say I am mad? My experiences had sharpened my priorities- not destroyed- not scattered them. Above all was my sense of reality acute. I knew all things to be either nonsense or the truth. I had traveled through both. How then, am I mad? Hearken, and observe how rationally, how reasonably I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Narnia? There was none! Magic, there was none. I loved the old lion. He had never wronged me. When he took my siblings he kindly let me behind. For his power I had no desire. I think it was his holiness. He had the aura unnatural, a goodness of spirituality that could not, should not exist. Whenever it fell upon me, my shame at my selfishness rose; and so, by degrees- very gradually- I made up my mind to take the life of the old lion, and thus free myself of his holiness forever and purge all such spiritual twaddle by arrow most solid. It was the 'gentle' thing to do.

-Excerpt From Susan's Diary

***

THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so callous. Blood was her Avator and carnage her seal -- the redness and the horror of blood spilled to match her hair. There were sharp blows, and sudden breaking of bone, and then profuse bleeding at the brutal wounds, with dismemberment. The scarlet stains upon the girl and especially upon her smiling face came from her victim, who was little more than a pest to to the god child who had long lost any sympathy for her fellow-men. And the wholesale slaughter, the progress of her might and corruption of her soul were the price of her increasing power.

But the government was optimistic and dauntless and sagacious. Though Sweden was half depopulated, the officials summoned a thousand hale and well influenced friends with armed escorts of the finest sort, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of the government secure zone. It was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the eccentric and yet august engineers. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates stronger than iron. The officials, having entered, brought supplies aplenty to seal the gate further still. It was resolved to leave neither means of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of a frenzied ginger cataclysm. The fortress was amply provisioned. With such precautions the officials might bid defiance to the monster. The external world and remaining army could take care of the she-beast. In the mean time it was follly to grieve or think. The government had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were comedians, there poets, there were dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these, and security within. Without was the "Red Death."

A "Red Death" by name of Pippi, and the gates would not hold against this most unwelcome guest.

***

Lo! 'Umbrella flight

As has been through the years!

An Angel's face, hair coiffed tight

Under hat stern eyes so clear

Where children behave pitifully

She can teach them fear!

Manners, are set of priorities high

Toys put into a row,

And hither and thither fly-

clothing into dresser shelves go

At bidding of a nanny who knows no king

Whose magic flows to and fro,

If you're lucky she might just sing,

Really quite a show.

That childish drama- oh, be sure

It shall not be forgot!

Know that Poppins has it's cure

Tantrums tolerated? Not.

Time's a circle that ever produces em'

Brats that must be taught,

And much of manners brings less of sin,

Better Children now, Spit spot!

But see, the dangers rise

As girls of might so rude

Seek to spread carnage about

with anti witching feuds

They rise, they rise- like serpents teeth

ungrateful and un-subdued

A nanny is called for our relief

to save all from girls imbued

Out- out with the frights- out all!

and brought down from bloody din,

Alice, Susan, Pippi, Dorothy Gale,

must be defeated by umbrella on wind

Else the world suffer more from maidens of pain

Bloody, mad, unforgiving, grim!

If falls the hope of this tragedy!

Mary Poppins, our heroine?

***

Heaven save me! The crisis,

the danger, is past

For chance at three wishes

is over at last-

And the damage it has done,

to another fool be passed.

Now I do know

that fate has greater might

than any wish I make

as I writhe under Destiny's sight,

I cannot undo- I know

Once the paw has closed tight

***

Gaily bedight,

A 'familiar' sight,

From story and from saga,

Had journeyed in boots,

Along vengeance's route,

In search of Baba Yaga.

His witch was dead now cold—
This cat so bold—
Loss cut him like a dagger—
Still not he found
No track on the ground
That led to Baba Yaga.

And, as his ire

burned into too hot a fire,

He had a drink in a plaza—

‘Bartender,’ asked he,

‘Where can she be—

The witch called Baba Yaga?’

‘Over the Mountains

Of the Rus,

Into the forest of the Magi,

Stride, boldly stride,’

The man replied,—

‘If you seek out Baba Yaga!’

L. Marcus · March 23, 2020

I've tried my hand at a bit of fiction and have posted it back in the Drafty Thread. Please follow this Finely Crafted Link to find it.

Old Man · March 23, 2020

I'm going to have a really hard time picking only three of these.

L. Marcus · March 23, 2020

As long as you pick me, I'm good.

Cancer · March 23, 2020

Haha! Dead last is MINE!

Old Man · March 23, 2020

Wrongo, moosebreath!

Pariah · March 24, 2020

A brief synopsis of Matchmaking at Manderley Estate:

With Jane Austen as the author, this story is essentially a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. Katniss takes the Lizzie Bennett role as chief protagonist: clever, pretty, strong-willed, and not inclined to take crap from anybody. It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you screw with Katniss, you're going to end up with an arrow up your...or perhaps in your throat.

Miri is Jane. Older, gentler, more inclined to compromise and less to confrontation. She and Katniss are close, both favored of their father and estranged from their idiot mother.

Bella fills the role of the three youngest daughters, exhibiting the worst traits of all of them: Lydia's remarkable lack of judgments, Kitty's aimless drifting through life, and Mary's delusions of adequacy. Her mother adores her and dotes on her, her older sisters show her kindness that she rarely reciprocates, and her father will occasionally acknowledge her existence.

Mr. Goldman, of course, is the analog of Mr. Bennett. Married too young and for the wrong reasons, he patiently spends his days waiting for the end to come. He tries to do right by his daughters--at least Katniss and Miri--and make sure that his family is taken care of. With three daughters he fears losing his modest estate, he secretly hopes that either Miri or Katniss will marry and bear a son that he can designate his heir.

Daisy is Mrs. Bennett. She is vain and vacuous, the living embodiment of style over substance. She lives to promote her daughters to any eligible young man who stumbles into range. She favors Bella, finding Katniss (and to a lesser degree, Miri) completely incomprehensible.

The first young suitor to try for the hand of Katniss (and/or Miri) is Drago Malfoy. Son of an established and wealthy family, he offers the girls a life of child-bearing luxury in his family's mansion. Miri tells him that she could never bring him the happiness the one of his station deserves. Katniss, in essence, tells him to get out before he gets shot. Eventually, having alienated most of the other eligible young ladies in the neighborhood, Draco wins the eye of Bella (and her mother, who preferred him all along) and they are married. They live...wealthily ever after. Draco represents a combination of Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham.

Peter and Edmund move into the neighborhood shortly thereafter. They immediately take a liking to the two sisters. Peter, the older brother and heir to a large fortune, is the more serious and responsible of the two. Edmund, the second son, and consequently the one who made his own living, is more experienced and adventurous. Sadly, any chance the sisters held to for the company of the brothers is jeopardized by the meddling of the brothers' contrary aunt and guardian, the Dowager Dolores Umbridge (in the role of Lady Catherine).

After several initial missteps and confused encounters, Miri and Peter declare their affections for one another. This is much to the joy of Katniss and Edmund, who found in each other kindred spirits. They celebrate with a double wedding. Months later, the two sisters discover they are with child: Miri has a daughter, and Katniss bears a son. Mr. Goldman declares the grandson his heir, and Katniss and Edmund take possession of Manderly Estate--her childhood home-- when her parents retire to the sea.

Pariah · March 28, 2020

Bump?

L. Marcus · March 28, 2020

Indeed.

Hermit · March 28, 2020

Verily

Old Man · March 28, 2020

I have voted.

Cygnia · March 31, 2020

ETA; wrong thread

Cancer · March 31, 2020

Boo! Vote! Vote!

Old Man · March 31, 2020

Yes, vote! I'm still losing!

L. Marcus · March 31, 2020

Yes, more cowbell!

Uh ...

Reading Rainbow Superdraft Poll

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