Goths and Bachelors

[MarianT]

GOTHS AND BACHELORS

1. A Story for Robert

   While they were waiting for the shuttle to Lunar Lakes, Bella decided to work on a project, a story for her nephew, Robert, illustrated with pictures. It seemed like a long time had gone by since she’d done any kind of art work. She sat down at the computer and in a few days produced something she didn’t mind sharing.



The Prince and the Dragon

Once upon a time in a land far, far away…
There lived a young prince named Robert. His parents were King Michael and Queen River. (“Hey, I got a promotion!” said Michael.)


    One snowy day, Prince Robert went out for a walk.


Suddenly, he saw a dragon. “Rawr!” said the dragon. “I’ll give you three tries to guess my riddle. If you can’t, then I’ll broil you with my flames and eat you!” (“That looks like a dinosaur to me,” said Robert. “Ssh,” said River. “I think that’s the rincepay,” said Michael. “Double ssh,” said River.)


Prince Robert was very scared, but he asked what the riddle was.

“What do you have more of each time you give it?” asked the dragon.

Prince Robert had no idea, so he asked his mother.


“You spread measles and other sicknesses when you give them to other people,” she said. "Sickness must be the answer."

Prince Robert ran back to the dragon with this answer.

“NO!” roared the dragon. “Try again.”


This time Prince Robert asked his father. “Parties,” he said. “When you give a party, then everyone you invite to your party invites you to theirs.”


Again, Prince Robert returned to the dragon. “Closer,” he said, “but still not right.”

Prince Robert felt very sad. He couldn’t begin to think of the right answer, and he had only one guess left. “Please, Mr. Dragon,” he said. “Could you wait a few years before you eat me? Because my parents love me very much, and they would miss me if I was broiled and eaten.”

“Did I hear the word ‘love?’” said the dragon. “That’s the right answer. I guess I’ll have to go to some other kingdom to find a meal.”


And they all lived happily ever after, including the dragon.

“I bet it was a girl dragon,” Robert said afterwards. “A boy dragon wouldn’t care about love.”

“He would if he were older,” said Michael.

“Both of you shush,” said River. “And Robert, be sure to thank Aunt Bella for the story.”

A little while later, Robert came back to Michael with a question. “Does that mean I should have lots of girlfriends?”

“No,” he said. “You can have one girlfriend whom you love very much.”

A little while later, Bella discovered that she had a second, larger project that she was working on.



Meanwhile, Mortimer was trying to get a job as a Game Button Tester. At least that was what he said he was doing. It looked to everyone as if he was playing computer games.



But apparently his strategy paid off, because he got a phone call a few hours later. Lunar Lakes Video Games had heard he was available and wanted to offer him a job.

[RaiaDraconis]

The story continues!

That little tale for Robert was adorable. I can't wait to see Morty and Bella's nooboo!

[Swirl-Girl]

Aww, that was an adorable story!

[Magz from Oz]

Ooooh I love this sequel to a sequel.  I particulalry liked the cartoon.    Bookmarked!

[Gogowars329]

I'm really enjoying this series of stories you're writing Marian!

[Eldridge]

I really love your story, Marian! I'm enjoying this like the previous story that I read before.
Very well-written!

[chetanhaobijam]

Great start and beautiful story. I love to read all stories about goths and bachelors. Can't wait for  next update.
Chetan.

[ve1ocity]

What a great start! Micheal+River==that's adorable!

And how did you get the cartoons! Its fantastic!

All the best and hope to read a great story!

[MarianT]

2. Big News

   Have you ever noticed that when people don’t have much news, they write long, flowery letters, but when they have real news, they’re terse and laconic?

   Mortimer has received several promotions from Lunar Lakes Video Games. He says it’s worth looking dorky when he goes to work.



   Robert aged up the other day.



He is now a teen and looks so much like his mother, it’s hard to believe.



   Okay, now it’s a toss-up between which is the bigger piece of news. I guess I’ll go with my personal bit first – I gave birth last night.



   You might notice in the background that the furnishings are different. That’s because before I gave birth, I had a talk with Michael. We both agreed that keeping our two families together wasn’t going to work. Not because we didn’t get along, but because the house was just too big to be manageable.



   So Mortimer and I moved to a house preparatory to leaving for Lunar Lakes. And we were soon joined by Cassandra.



   But Michael, River, and Robert are planning to leave Sunset Valley too. We all knew Robert wanted to be a doctor, but apparently he also wants to run a sanatorium for people recuperating from Llama Tail. And since Michael wants to take up scuba diving, and River has always wanted a sailboat, they’re taking off for Isla Paradiso. I’m a little envious, but mostly I’m really excited for them. They’ve promised to send lots of pictures, and want pictures of Cassandra and Lunar Lakes in return. We’ll see how it goes.

[MarianT]

3. Sunday in Paradise

Dear Bel,

   Congrats on young Cassandra! Give her a big hug from her Uncle Michael, Aunt River, and Cousin Robert.

        I hope that you and Morimer have as easy a move as we did. All our furniture was packed up, and River and I both had jobs waiting for us here. Although the idea of a houseboat was intriguing, we decided to stay landlubbers for a while, at least while we’re working and Robert is in school. Here’s our house:



And here’s the living-room:



   The safari coffee table that River’s mom gave us actually looks not too bad in here. It never fit in Sunset Valley.

   Once we moved, River headed for the dresser to get into some cooler clothing.





   I followed close behind.



   And Robert decided to go native.





   That’s not his formal outfit; it’s his swimsuit. But I have a feeling we’re all going to get more use out of our swimsuits here.

   I myself headed over to the swimming pool to practice snorkeling.



   Robert was supposed to go to the library, to study logic preparatory to going to med school.



Instead, he left the library and went wind-surfing.



   River went over to the art gallery, or rather, the Nautical Museum. She met one of the townies, a Ms. Manzano.



She discovered some ancient ruins upstairs – Simec, she thinks, and now she wants to explore the outlying islands to see if she can find some in situ.



   Say hi to Mortimer for us. River says we want lots of pictures of Cassandra. Your loving bro, Michael

[chetanhaobijam]

Yay, the very first island paradise story update(i can't keep myself from cheering and exciting). Also the story of Bella and others. I will be loving this story and so, ofcourse BOOKMARKED! I also like your pics. Can't wait for next update(there is no rush).