Adventure Book:
Aunt Millicent, the Sculptress |
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Aunt Millicent was looking a little flat as Maggie had not yet stuffed her fully. She was generally full of energy and lounging about was not at all to her liking.
"What about this lady here?" said Papa Joe. "She looks a little peaked. Put some poly-fil® in her and liven her up!"
"You mean Aunt Millicent?" said Maggie. She smiled at Papa Joe and went to work.
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“Well,” said Millicent, “thank you very much. I must be on my way— so much to do, so much to do!”
Out she scrambled and headed toward a small creek near the house.
“Imagine, such a gifted woman.”
“Really?...” said Papa Joe “in what way?”
“Oh,” chirped Maggie. “She’s a sculptress.”
“Amazing,” mused Papa Joe. Maggie never failed to surprise him.
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“Well, well, well, well... such a day,
such a day,” muttered Aunt Millicent looking about.
“Ah,” she said. “This looks like a dancer... yes, a dancer leaping from the ground. A bite here... and a nip there. Magnificent!”
And indeed, Maggie could see the dancer too.
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And this log here— what a tower! With a stone or two at the base and I’ll take this twig and this pine cone here— mmm— ah! I shall call it ‘Bird perched while in thought.’ How calming.”
“You have to think a lot when you are an artist,” said Aunt Millicent, breathing heavily. “Let’s just sit here and look at the clouds. What can we see in them?”
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“We are exercising our imagination,” said Maggie. So they sat together on a rock listening to the creek until Aunt Millicent had another idea.
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“I am going to create a bridge across this stream so I can cross back and forth without getting my feet wet. First I must use my teeth to cut down these three small trees. I shall leave the stumps to lead the eye to the beauty of the bridge.”
This was light work for Aunt Millicent. She felled the trees in no time. She waddled up the creek and found several more trees. These she cut down, dragged to the river and floated to where she had begun the bridge.
Maggie thought to herself, “this is not going to be just any bridge.”
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"Why do you cut down trees?" asked Maggie.
"Well, number one— I use them for my work, and I must make my home you know... and of course I just love the wee branches and leaves for my supper. Marvelous things— trees."
"Yes they are," beamed Maggie, "and I do love to draw them too."
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"Aunt Millicent was very busy dragging trees, branches and rocks and digging mud. She hustled here and there, stacking branches and trees across the creek and packing mud and leaves into the construction. Maggie knew that soon this bridge would become a dam which would create a pond in the stream. Aunt Millicent said that the pond would have to be three feet deep so she could make her home in the middle of it. It would be a house with breathing space at the top.
What a marvelous creature the beaver is, thought Maggie. My Papa Joe is a lot like Aunt Millicent.
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“Well what do you think my dear? Isn't my house lovely? I shall have to work on it everyday to prevent it from drifting away. In the winter when the stream and the pond freeze I will be quite comfortable.
I do believe a home should be pleasing to the eye as well as practical.”
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“Now back to my sculpture. What do you think? Shall we make an ark like the one Noah built? I shall start with this log.”
“Oh, I love this ark. Remember the dove? I shall draw the dove who carried
the olive branch of peace and then cut it out. Then I'll take a stick and attach the dove to it so it can fly above the ark and tell us all that all will be well.” Maggie got
to work.
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“Well Maggie, here we are, two artists working together. I need a swim,” and she pushed herself into the water, using her lovely flat tail as a rudder and swam away. She was as graceful in the water as she was awkward on land. Maggie was so proud to know her. What a wonderful creature she was!
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"Now back to my sculpture. What do you think? Shall we make an ark like the one Noah built? I shall start with this log."
"Oh, I love this ark. Remember the dove? I shall draw the dove who carried
the olive branch of peace and then cut it out. Then I'll take a stick and attach the dove to it so it can fly above the ark and tell us all that all will be well." Maggie got
to work.
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| Written and illustrated by elinor peace bailey |
