Sunday 12 January 2020

Daphne



The squiggly presentation was the hallmark of Daphne’s chirography, unmistakable to him; his heart skipped a beat and then thumped on his chest wall as if begging him to read the beauty and wisdom of her words now!   Of course he did.

She was a difficult one and getting her to put pen to paper was more than a little velitation, more so full battle requiring he and his lab assistants to goad her relentlessly (he was surprised at his ready ability to be cruel) and once enraged the words would eruct from her like some volcano simmering below the surface, suddenly spewing forth its matter in a violent torrent.

Her work was a strange masterpiece indeed for not only was she the subject of his research, clever little thing that she was, she was actually writing his research paper too.   He could visualise it being poured over, scrutinised by his peers and then the acclaim, the acclaim, the acclaim!

He felt a smug smile crease his face, he sniggered; he had taken literally the challenge of the idiom "that a half-dozen monkeys provided with typewriters would, in a few eternities, produce all the books in the British Museum."   It was not that he expected her to scribe a full library, rather a single tome of exquisite beauty, bursting at the seams with infinite wisdom.

Only difference was, he had given her a cheap biro and no other monkeys or eternities needed thank you very much – just regular shocks from a cattle prod, until painfully defeated, she came up (screeching) with the goods.

Anna :o]

Shared with the good folk at Poets & Storytellers United hosted by the lovely Magaly, cheers Magaly!



Image:  Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Author:  New York Zoological Society

19 comments:

Jae Rose said...

What a touching and involving story

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Now I want the next chapter, where she turns on him! Heck, I want the whole novel; I'm totally engaged.

C. Sandlin said...

Echoing the above comments--I'm ready for Daphne to turn the tables.

Lori said...

He better watch it or she might write the truth.

Magaly Guerrero said...

You know that now we won't stop wondering about Daphne's writings, right? I wonder if she is going to write specific things about his research. It would be great and interesting to read her opinions of the him. Also, I just love the way you took a well known idiom and turned it into something new. I always appreciate that kind of magic.

Helen said...

All hail Daphne!!

brudberg said...

I feel for her, may she get her revenge. There is something of Daphne here that reminds me of a twisted Pygmalion story.

Myrna R. said...

Clearly, we're all cheering for Daphne. Hope you keep writing about her.

Rommy said...

I hope Daphne discovers reading as well as writing so she can best plot out a way towards liberty (and possibly revenge).

ZQ said...

Great story. Thanks.

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

Well this was fun! Hope to see Daphne again!

Susie Clevenger said...

Oh yes, may Daphne return. Love the story!

Jim said...

Hi Anna, this was getting my attention big time as I e always liked the monkeys at the typewriters bit. But I was shocked when the cattle prod use jumped in. I suppose it had been before but we weren't privileged to know about that.
Best wishes with your writing. Best selller? We will hope.
..

tonispencer said...

Go go Daphne! Get revenge and give us more of the story.

Thotpurge said...

I'm with everyone else here...rooting for the revenge sequel!

Joel (@Stranded Tree) said...

Love the simple reveal in the end. What's in store next, Anna?

H. Hennenburg said...

Could be a good metaphor for our treatment of nature...not to mention our experimentation on primates and other animals. Wonder what goods would arise were Daphne given a true place of honour? So much potential here.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. A little of both, I think. Laughter at Daphne's success. Tears because, well, humanity...

Martin said...

Somewhere in the background of this story I'm hearing Roald Dahl clumping ...