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Lulu
By
katfank
| Posted:
18 July 2011
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Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived a little girl, her parents and her pussycat Fluffy.
Her mother was an artist and her father was a writer and a philosopher, he often went away to bigger towns to lecture on his theory and ideas of the meaning of life. Her mother's art was often shown in art galleries around the country.
The cottage they lived in was surrounded by many hills covered with daisies and green grass. The trees had beautiful fruit such as apples, oranges and pears. The woods were full of woodland creatures. Every morning the little girl Lulu woke up to the chirping and sweet tunes of the variety of birds that lived in the trees. They would fly to her open window and together they would sing beautiful, magical tunes. Her voice was lovely and each note sweet. The villagers loved to hear her sing.
Lulu and her parents were happy and they all felt grateful for their wonderful lives. She thought that their happiness would last forever. However on one stormy afternoon tragedy struck and Lulu’s life changed forever.
It started out as a usual day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Her parents decided that they would take the day off from their busy schedules, and take Lulu to the zoo. Lulu loved going to the zoo, it was one of her favourite places to go. The trip was wonderful, Lulu enjoyed this time with her parents. Together they spotted the anmials and laughed at their antics. It was a fun day for all of them.
On the way home the weather suddenly turned horrible. There was a nasty storm. The wind was terrifying. The rain fell heavily. It was so thick the driver could not see the sign warning of danger ahead. Her father drove across the bridge and suddenly their car plunged into the rising water. The bridge had been washed away due to the flood. The car was immersed completely and the three of them were trapped inside.
Lulu woke in a hospital. She had no memory of what happened. She had suffered a head injury and had been in a coma for a week. She also suffered broken arms and legs. She started to cry for her parents – but they were unable to answer or wipe away her tears – for they had died in the accident.
Lulu had to spend a long time in the hospital. Altogether she had a three month stay. When it was time to leave the hospital, the staff worried about where she would go. Lulu's parents were dead, and she had no other close family. They thought about putting her in an orphange. They began to make arrangements until one day a man came and said that he was a distant cousin to Lulu and he would care for her.
The staff were doubtful to let her go with Bernie. He was unkempt and lived alone. They thought about the other option of orphanage, and decided that Lulu wouldn't get the one on one care in the orphange as she would with this untidy man. The hospital gave the care of Lulu to Bernie. Before she could travel Lulu needed to go home and get the things that she would need.. She noticed that the house looked different to what she remembered. Her mother’s arts and crafts were all packed away. Her father’s books and writing materials were put into folders. She went into her room, and got some clothes, a back pack and a few toys. She felt such sadness leaving all the wonderful memories behind.
She looked around for Fluffy her pussycat, who had been forgotten She found him hiding in a corner of her bedroom. He hadn’t eaten the whole time she had been in the hospital. She went into the kitchen and found a few cans of food thaat had been left behind. She put them in her back pack. She also found some cat meat, which Fluffy ate quickly and hungrily.Lulu then put Fluffy into the back pack with the rest of the things she had chosen. She was determined to take Fluffy with her "I will not go without my pussycat"
They set off on their journey. Bernie used all his money to hire a horse to carry Lulu. He placed Lulu up on the horse's back, and then took the lead and guided the horse and its rider through the village and into the woods towards the left of her home. They travelled half a day. On the way to Bernie's home they passed a village and went through the forrest. Finally Bernie said to Lulu "We are here. Welcome to my hone" He lifted Lulu off the horse. She had a look around. It was very small and Lulu noticed it looked untidy. There were unwashed clothes on the floor, and dirty dishes piled high at the sink. There was no carpet just an old dirty floor mat covering concrete floor. There was no phone or other items that Lulu was used to using. "Oh dear" she said to herself. "How will I survive this mess" she felt sick to her stomach and suddenly she fainted.
She did not know how long she had been unconscious for. When she woke up she could smell a pleasant refreshing smell - one of carrots, potatoes and other fresh garden vegetables. Bernie was so worried about his little charge that he made a soup. The soup reciepie was handed down through his family for at least three generations. It was used always when someone was ill or poorly and cooked in a black caldron on an open fire.
Lulu appreciated Bernies kindness and hungrily ate all the soup. "Delicious Bernie. Thank you.". Bernie (who didn't say very much) just nodded his head and gave her a beautiful, sparkling smile. The rest of his apperance was unkempt, however he really looked after his teeth "Its the carrots". he was often heard saying. Bernie took her by the hand and said "Come I show you something" and he led her outside. There she saw that Bernie had a gartden full of rows and rows of vegetables of every kind. "This is beautiful" Lulu told her cousin. She admired the garden and was glad that Bernie showed her. It reminded her of the garden that she had at her house. She felt a little more at home after seeing the garden.
Lulu began her life with her distant cousin. It took a while for her to adjust to living an underprivileged life, as she was use to having an abundant life. However she did not complain and she knew that Bernie would take care of her the best that he could. Bernie chopped down the trees in his part of the forrest to sell as firewood. Lulu started going to the market with him to sell the firewood to the villiagers. There were days when they sold very little or nothing, which meant that they would have stale bread and vegetable soup many days in a row. When they had a good day, they were able to buy a little meat, which was cooked on a spit over an open fire and lasted for a couple of days. Lulu looked forward to the time when they were able to buy meat, because it reminded her of the food her mother used to prepare for her family. She loved the soups that Bernie boiled, how ever she did crave for pot roast, corn beef and roast chicken - three of her favourite meals.
For many months Lulu had the same dream over and over again. In the dream she was in the car with her parents and then there was alot of water and the car was sinking, that is when she woke up screaming, and then Bernie would rock her back to sleep.This nightly routine lasted for almost a year until one night she sleeped through without any disturburing dreams.
To help Lulu feel more relaxed and help her injured muscles etc become strong, he showed her how to ride his bike, and to do exercies. The thing that Linda loved the most was when he taught her how to sketch and paint. He loved teaching her,and she was a willing student. He would take her into the woods to pick berries and show her how to make them into paints. She would sit for hours sketching and painting the woodland animals and birds. When she did the exercies the woodland animals would come and gather around her and join in, this would cause both Lulu and Bernie to laugh because they were really funny.
... In the villaage there lived a lonely old woman called Minnie. She had magical powers. She was able to disguise herself to be able to fit in to whereever she was...She was kind, generous and loved watching the children. She never had any of her own however she watched over thousands of them. When they were in trouble she found a way to help them.
Lulu was one of those children. The night that Lulu and her parents car crashed into the river, Minnie magically appeared to save Lulu from drowning. She was also the one that put the idea that Bernie should be the one to look after Lulu. Minnie knew what was in Bernie's heart...
Lulu loved the time that she was able to spend learning to create different types of art. The anmials gathered around her and let her sketch them, doing cute little poses Her cat fluffly would chase the woodland creatures. This made Lulu giggle .The woodland creatures loved Lulu because she always gave them crumbs of food, even when there was hardly any food for herself and Bernie she would still feed the animals. She often took vegetables from the garden and fed carrots and lettuce to the rabbits and other animals.
The community officals and the villagers kept pressing Bernie that he must send Lulu to school afterall she was 8 years old. Lulu did very well at school. As she attended school she made many friends. There was also many of the children that made fun of the clothes she wore the scars that she had. The girls in particular were jealous of her looks and teased her every day. Even though Lulu had scars and other injuries from the accident. she was beautiful. Lulu never stopped caring for others, and showed kindness to all the students. Many of the school children were poor, or came from broken homes too. There were also very rich children, some of these children were the ones that teased and bullied the other children.
One of the boys that she befriended was named Tony. He could not walk without the aide of crutches. He was bullied by the boys(both rich and poor) most days. One day Lulu saw the boys picking on Tony. They were tripping him up and causing him to fall. Showing tenderness towards Tony, and finding courage she went up to the boys and quietly told them, that they werre mean and bullies. She told them they needed to say sorry to Tony, and give back his crutches otherwise she would not dance with any of them at the up and coming school dance. The boys respected and liked Lulu and the thought of not dancing with the prettiest girl at the school, lead to them doing as she requested. They said "Sorry Tony" and gave him back his crutchers. It was at that moment Tony fell in love with Lulu. He knew in his heart that when they were no longer children that they would marry. From that day they were inseparable and did everything together. The weeks turned into months. Seasons came and went.
The Christmas season soon came to the village. The children's excitement grew every day that bought them closer to Christmas Eve. They were going to have a school dance in the town hall. The girls rushed around to the clothing store, which was also the drug store and it was where the villagers did their grocery shopping. The girls were busy with trying to find the best and prettiest dress. the boys had playful fights teasing each other about which of the pretty girls they would ask to the dance. They all wanted to ask Lulu, as she was the lovelist, kindest of all the village girls. There was only one boy that Lulu wanted to go to the dance with. She knew that Tony would be to shy to ask her, so she asked him.
Lulu didn't really know what she was going to wear because she didn't have any that would be right for a wonderful event such as the Christmas Eve dance and she knew that Bernie did not have the money to buy a new dress. She finally decided on a plain white dress that had blue ribbions. She had worn it to school many times, but it was the best she had, and she thought about adding things to it to make it a little different.
Bernie decided that because Lulu was such a good, kind hearted loving girl, who never complained or asked for anything, he would give her a beautiful surprise. As her Christams present he took the plain white dress and painted some beautiful animal and plant figures. The woodland creatures and Fluffy helped by dipping their paws into the paint and leaving paw and anmial marks on the dress. It was elegant. Bernie knew that Lulu would love it, and couldn't wait until Christmas Eve when she would receive it.
Christmas Eve finally arrived. The school dance was to be held in the town hall. There were decorations and Christmas lights. The Christmas tree stood at the back of the hall. It was maginficent. The decorations and Christmas lights on the tree made it look magestic. Under the tree, the children were to put their presents for their secret friend as they arrived to the dance. Earlier in the week each child was given the name of another child and were asked to bring a gift for that child.
After Lulu had finished all her chores, and put the final touches on to the present she made, she began to get ready for the Christmas dance. When she went to put the white dress on she noticed that there was a card attached to the dress.It read "To our beloved Lulu. Enjoy your Christmas Dance. Love from Bernie, Fluffy and your animal friends.She saw her reflection in the mirror. She looked attractive. The dress was lovely. She could see more clearly the painting and animal prints and her eyes filled with tears because she was so happy.
The town hall was lively with music.The dance was in full swing when Lulu and Tony arrived at the dance. As they made their entranace every one stopped dancing. They were all amazed at how breath taking they both looked.. Lulu was the most beautiful girl at the dance. Tony had an old tuxdeo which his mother mended and adjusted to fit him perfectly, making him look handsome. The music once again began to play. Lulu and Tony danced together. He was able to dance without the crutch that he usually relied on. He had been pracitising for weeks dancing without the crutch. He did fall forward a little but he was supported by Lulu, so they were able to dance a few dances. After their fifth dance, they both felt a little tired so Lulu led him to a chair, and went to get some punch to drink.
As she went to fetch the drinks a few of the rich girls began to call her names. They teased and called her names. "Look at Miss Perfect - in her home made dress, dancing with a cripple. You are nothing but Tralier trash, and no pretty dress is going to change that" Then they did the unthinkable, and grabbed the punch bowl and threw the contents of it all over Lulu and her dress, then to add even more insult they tore the dress, leaving Lulu soaked to the skin showing her underwear which barely covered her. She began to cry.
They heard an angry voice "Leave her alone" Bernie shouted to the girls as he pushed through the crowd. He came beside Lulu and lifted her in his arms comforting her by his gentle loving words "Its okay sweetheart. I will take you home". Then addressing the villagers he told them This is why we live where we live, because people like these girls,are full of hate and scorn those who are different".
Tony had seen what had happened but was to afriad to step in and help. Then he had a flashback, a memory of the time when she had stood up against the bullies who were hurting him. He felt ashamed and then with a courage he never thought he had he turned to the girls "Betsy, Ruth and Carol you are three selfish spolited rich girls who have no idea how beautiful Lulu really is" "Her beauty is more than skin deep, her beauty comes from within. Your beauty is on the outside, but your hearts are as cold and solid as ice, and black and hard as coal. One day you will find out that your outside beauty will fade, and you wuill be left with no friends expect your gold and diamonds". The girls went to protrest that, that is all they needed but Tony shushed them by saying "Lulu is beauitul in every way. Because of her unconditional love and kindness her beauty is the type that gold, silver and diamonds can never buy".
Then he turned and left the hall following after Bernie and Lulu. She turned around to Tony. "Thank you Tony that was a lovely thing to say" Then she planted a kiss on his cheek and gave him one of her pretty smiles. She took one of his hands with her left hand and took Bernie's hand in her right and then the three of them walked back home. They sat around the very small Christmas tree which was decorated with things found in the forest, and drank some Christmas drink and sang Christmas carols. Their singing was magnicficent. The three voices blended well. They waited for the clock to strike midnight then they welcomed in Christmas morning....
.....In the meantime....
The kind old woman, Minnie, with magical powers had watched what had happened at the Christmas Eve dance. She heard the ugly, unkind words of Betsy, Ruth and Carol she knew that they were selfish, spoilt rich girls whose hearts were cold as ice and black and hard as coal. She had also had seen the bullies at the school who tormented not only Tony but other children who were "different" and called "trailer trash" by children who had hearts as cold as ice and as black as coal. She knew that the words that Bernie had accused the villagers were true, and knew exactly why he chose to live in the poorest and blackest part of the forrest.
She decided it was time for her to reward Tony, Lulu and Bernie for their good lives. There were some good people who lived in the village, however some of them were afraid to act on things because their fear that the cruel, selfish, rich and powerful villagers would get angry. She knew that those who had hard, black and cold hearts needed to be taught lessons, and she set about to teach them that cruelty and bullying were wrong. It was Christmas Eve, she knew that Father Christmas was due to come and give presents to the children of the village and knew that this was the perfect time to reward and punish for good or bad behaviour. She knew that the lessons and reward needed to be fair and justified....
....The dance continued on. Among those who remained there were villagers boith adults and children who did have some compassion and kindness in their hearts, however their fear of riducle from the "popular" powerful cold hearted town folk, they usually remained silent, impartial and indifferent to the bullying and cruelty that the mean kids and their parents afflicted on to the "innocent" villagers. After seeing the courage that Bernie, Tony showed to protect Lulu, they suddenly found the courage that they needed to stand up to the bullies. "We have had enough" they cried. "You have to stop been bullies." came the voice of Tony's mum and then another shouted "Things have to change." The voices kept coming "We are all part of this village and we all have the same rights". More and more of the villiagers began to show courage and adding theirt voices" Its Christmas Eve, a time for forgiveness, love, harmony and peace"." Let us have those things, even if only for one day" . Then one by one, they turned around and left the Christmas Eve dance leaving the cold hearted villagers with open mouths and wide eyes in disbelief...
...Minnie watched with amusement. She set her plan in motion. Father Christmas arrived at the village to deliever the presents and coal depending on behaviour of child. Tonight unbeknown to the jolly kind giver of gifts there was a sprinkle of extra magic involved with the gifts. Minnie added extra magic to Father Christmas's load. He did his rounds, and then went on his way to the next village.
In the morning there were crys of happiness, laughter and joy coming from homes of the villagers who showed courage, compassion and kindness. They recieved an abundance of beautiful things that they lacked. Some of the poorer families recieved food such as turkey, christmas puddings etc. Things that only the rich villagers usually were able to afford. Crys of disbelief, anger and disappointment could be heard from the bullies, unkind and selfish children who woke up to find that they had received nothing but black hard cold. All their presents and food that had been prepared the day before had magically disappeared.
Bernie, Tony and Lulu and their friends felt nothing but symapthy for the villagers who had received only coal, so they all decided to share the their feast. They went from door to door inviting all the villagers to join them for a Christmas Day Feast. Minnie felt pleased with the situation. The children who had black and hard hearts, received no material possessions, however the lesson that they learnt was that compassion and love makes a person more beautiful than any riches.
My dear young readers it is ok to want money, and possessions, however its the way we use them, and how we treat others that is important. The children in the story especially the three girls that ripped Lulu's dress continued to be selfish, and hard of the heart, however their heart of ice melted a little bit towards her. They were ashamed of themselves and acknowledged that what they did was spiteful and cruel. "We are sorry, for tearing your dress and for calling you trailer trash." they all said one at a time.
Lulu was altered the most that Christmas. Her dreams about her parents stopped. She was at the place of forgivness, peace and harmony within herself. She was able to finally let go. She received the greatest present of all. Bernie and Lulu were able to move to a little cottage in the village. The authorities were able to sell her parents's cottage, and she received the money from that sale. This money was used to buy the cottage that the kind magical Minnie lived in. She moved on to the next village where a little boy needed her.....
The end
All articles on this website by
katfank are copyright ©katfank and should not be reproduced
without the author's prior written consent. All opinions are the opinions of their
respective authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Writers' Circle.
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Kudos
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