The Stories I Never Tell, Part 23

I am, again, crushed by deadlines, and in lieu of new content, thought I could share something that has languished in my “Maybe one day, if it’s good” files for more than two years, now. These are – despite appearances otherwise – quick notes to myself that I wrote after thinking about children’s fiction and trying to write a children’s graphic novel to pitch to a particular publisher. I never finished my thoughts -and, later, got very bogged down in process and format – and never pitched the project, but this idea still pops up in my mind, every now and again, reminding me that somewhere or another, there’s a story worth telling in here if I can manage to get to it.

RUMBLESTILTSKIN

Our heroine is Amy Guess: an 8-year-old girl, the daughter of two super-smart doctors (and sister of an annoying younger brother, who she’s sure is her parents’ favorite. But isn’t that always the way?), who always feels like she’s a disappointment. Her parents tell her that they love her, but why couldn’t she spend more time on her studies? Her friends at school talk about America’s Next Top Model and their new popstar crushes, but she can’t join in because her mom and dad don’t let her watch anything except for PBS or listen to anything other than NPR these days. One Christmas, while all her friends talk about what Santa is going to bring them, she’s forced at admit the truth: Her mom and dad told her as soon as she was young enough to understand that there is no Santa Claus. “Magic isn’t real,” they always tell her. “That’s why you should study hard and try to do well in school, so you can learn how everything really works.”

Then, on Christmas morning, she woke up and found that her house was empty, apart from her bed. No furniture. No family. Nothing, except for her and her bed.

And Rumblestiltskin.

“Don’t you mean Rumplestiltskin?” she asks him. Her parents made sure that she spent her fourth year reading old fairy tales and studying up on their origins and societal effects.

No, he says. Rumblestiltskin. Rumple is his brother, and he was dumb anyway. Rumble is a much better munchkin; he only tries to show people that magic is real. He’d been watching her family for awhile now, and had gotten mad by repeatedly hearing that they didn’t believe in magic, so he’s gotten rid of them. He’s stolen them all away and made it seem as if they didn’t exist, ever. The only reason he kept the 8-year-old girl around is because she at least seemed to think that maybe magic was possible.

Well, that, and one other reason.

If she wants, she can have her family back. She just needs to beat Rumble to do so. One game per family member.

I have far too many of these “90% complete in my head” graphic novel ideas; ask me about the one about the magician and the discovered diary one day.

Publishers, start your bidding, says he for cheap comic effect.