This is a fictional story, begun many years ago, left on the shelf to ripen, and now is the object of my utmost curiosity and pleasure.
The story has unfolded over time in what feels like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle, living comfortably in my Great-Aunt Glenna Millikin’s vintage hat box. Weaving and threading storylines, character development, and scenes, I am letting it speak to me and guide my hand.
Alice the Moth lives in an apple tree in a garden on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. One would think the story is All About Alice, but it isn’t. She wasn’t even one of the original characters! Nonetheless, she is the only character so far who has found her way into visual form.
Alice watches over her friend, Simon the Spider, and has endeared herself to an orphan named Lucy, washed ashore from her island in the middle of the bay during a storm.
Together they live in the old servant’s quarters at the back of an inn, owned by Missus Magnolia Poppybucket and her husband, Merle.
But this is only one small chapter in a much larger story.
Excerpt:
One windy Monday, she went up to check on Lucy and was dismayed by the spider webs overhead. “Lawdy, Lawdy, what in the world is all this mess up above? I don’t want a heap of spiders in my bonnet! Duckyluv, come up here quick!” she howled. But Mister was down at the docks setting sail in his fishing boat for the day, so she had to take matters into her own hands. Moments later her long-handled whisk broom was firmly in hand, and with a quick sweep sweep, sweep above her head, collected the webs into its bristles. Marching towards the window in no uncertain terms, she flung it open and with a determined whack whack whack against the frame dislodged them, sending them spinning out into the garden.
Lucy and Alice were close enough in the alley to hear all of the commotion. “What is that terrible noise?” Alice exclaimed, with worry in her voice. “It sounds like a broomstick!”
They rushed back to the inn as Missus was slamming the back porch door and rounding the corner away from them. Lucy galloped up the back steps two and a time and Alice grabbed one of Lucy’s braids for the ride. The wooden door was open. They could see all the way to the roof through the rafters. Not one strand of silk web was left.
Tears welled up in Lucy’s eyes. “Jeepers, Alice, the spiders and the webs are gone.”
“Lucy, we must find Simon! Right away!”
