The Return of the King, 22, 620 words
I agree with Sammy. Sometimes these days, the only thing that keeps me going is the inclusion of Martha Stewart references into my novel. Today, Seth returned to Toronto and was surprised at how excited she was to be home. It was an emotional day for her and she is still confused about how she actually feels about everyone. Today's segment ended with her about to have a conversation with Fernando again... we'll see what happens with that.
Today's excerpt:
By the time Seth had blinked away the quick tears and set her face back to its bland, emotionless typical expression, Miss Pettigrew had bundled off to the kitchen to scramble a few eggs and pour the tea. Seth hopped upstairs to do as she had planned, to hang her carpetbag up in her room and to unpack her few belongings. In her room, she encountered a second surprise. Laid out on the pillow, she saw a few bars of soap, with a note: “I created extra sets of these pretty soaps to have on hand for unexpected guests. –Miss P.” Seth pondered the significance of the note. Was Miss P implying that Seth was an unexpected guest? Was ‘unexpected’ really a code for ‘unwelcome’? Seth found tears pricking her eyes again, and again was surprised. She was not unused to crying, but she hadn’t expected two bouts of tears within minutes of arriving back in Toronto.
She quickly wiped her tears and pasted a bright smile on her face as Miss Pettigrew bustled into the room a moment later. “I brought you a fresh towel, love, for your wash-up.” Her eyes landed on the note in Seth’s hand, and she chirped, “I see you found your soaps! Aren’t they pretty? I thought you could keep them in your room so if you ever get unexpected guests here, you can make them welcome. My friend Martha showed me how to make them and I think they’re ever so posh, don’t you?”
Seth relaxed, relieved, and assured Miss Pettigrew that the soaps were really very posh and just the thing to keep around the house. Very practical. Miss P rattled down the stairs to finish with the eggs and urged Seth to come down for her snack before it got cold.
While Seth and Miss Pettigrew sat companionably in the kitchen, Miss Pettigrew painstakingly pasting Japanese-motif prints onto bars of soap, and Seth alternating between bites of scramble and bites of hot, buttery toast, Scrap came up the stairs from her basement lair. When she saw Seth, she grinned hugely and winked.
“I knew you’d be back!” she said. “Did you get your messages?” Seth swallowed her bite and shrugged.
“Messages?”
“There’s a stack of them on the message board in the hall. Didn’t you notice? Fernando came by three times while you were away, and Olga came by once. Then, Dee was here once, too, not to mention the letters that came in the post. I think they were all from The Duchess, but I can’t be sure. I wanted to open them, just in case you weren’t coming back so we could make sure nothing urgent was in them, but Miss P wouldn’t let me.”
Today's excerpt:
By the time Seth had blinked away the quick tears and set her face back to its bland, emotionless typical expression, Miss Pettigrew had bundled off to the kitchen to scramble a few eggs and pour the tea. Seth hopped upstairs to do as she had planned, to hang her carpetbag up in her room and to unpack her few belongings. In her room, she encountered a second surprise. Laid out on the pillow, she saw a few bars of soap, with a note: “I created extra sets of these pretty soaps to have on hand for unexpected guests. –Miss P.” Seth pondered the significance of the note. Was Miss P implying that Seth was an unexpected guest? Was ‘unexpected’ really a code for ‘unwelcome’? Seth found tears pricking her eyes again, and again was surprised. She was not unused to crying, but she hadn’t expected two bouts of tears within minutes of arriving back in Toronto.
She quickly wiped her tears and pasted a bright smile on her face as Miss Pettigrew bustled into the room a moment later. “I brought you a fresh towel, love, for your wash-up.” Her eyes landed on the note in Seth’s hand, and she chirped, “I see you found your soaps! Aren’t they pretty? I thought you could keep them in your room so if you ever get unexpected guests here, you can make them welcome. My friend Martha showed me how to make them and I think they’re ever so posh, don’t you?”
Seth relaxed, relieved, and assured Miss Pettigrew that the soaps were really very posh and just the thing to keep around the house. Very practical. Miss P rattled down the stairs to finish with the eggs and urged Seth to come down for her snack before it got cold.
While Seth and Miss Pettigrew sat companionably in the kitchen, Miss Pettigrew painstakingly pasting Japanese-motif prints onto bars of soap, and Seth alternating between bites of scramble and bites of hot, buttery toast, Scrap came up the stairs from her basement lair. When she saw Seth, she grinned hugely and winked.
“I knew you’d be back!” she said. “Did you get your messages?” Seth swallowed her bite and shrugged.
“Messages?”
“There’s a stack of them on the message board in the hall. Didn’t you notice? Fernando came by three times while you were away, and Olga came by once. Then, Dee was here once, too, not to mention the letters that came in the post. I think they were all from The Duchess, but I can’t be sure. I wanted to open them, just in case you weren’t coming back so we could make sure nothing urgent was in them, but Miss P wouldn’t let me.”
Love Miss Pettigrew! Seth must be feeling very badly if she would misinterpret that note.
ReplyDelete"Ever so posh"?! Hilarious Martha Stewart tie-ins and wierd British sounding phrasing.
Miss Pettigrew is the perfect character to tie in Martha Stewart Crafts! Excellent idea.
ReplyDeleteJackie: Every once in a while I remember that my novel is set in the 1920's and throw in some weird slang. The problem is that most of the novels I'm reading lately, that are set in the 20's, are about the British aristocracy. :(
ReplyDeleteAh Japanese motif soaps. I wonder how many books will have this craft included in it. Wonder what Fernando and Olga want...Maybe they got married!
ReplyDelete