X is for...

Click HERE for a list of all
the participants!

For this, my 5th year doing the Challenge, it's the

A to Z of Anansi the spider.

X is for Xcerpt

As in: "a short extract from a film, broadcast, piece of music or writing." Okay, so I cheated a bit, but so what? 

Here's an Xcerpt from "Miss Ophelia's Daughter," which happens to be one of my favorite stories from, Anansi and Company. Plus I am sharing with you, one of the five fabulous illustrations by Adrienne Saldivar that are in the book.

Don't you just love how Anansi is watching
 from beneath the floorboards? 

In a poor but neat little house on the edge of town lived Miss Ophelia and her daughter. Miss Ophelia was a strange old woman. No one could ever remember Miss Ophelia calling her daughter by her name. It was always, "Daughter," or "Sweetheart," or "Child."

In time people began to suspect that Miss Ophelia's daughter had no name at all. They tsked, tsked and whispered amongst themselves whenever Miss Ophelia or her daughter came to market. Rumors began to spread. In time, people came to believe Miss Ophelia was a witch and that her daughter wasn't really her daughter at all, but an enchanted spirit-helper.

Eventually, the rumors so annoyed Miss Ophelia, she decided to do something about it. One Saturday morning at the busy market, she got up on the steps leading to the stalls and called for everyone's attention.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell all of you I ain't no witch and that my daughter ain't enchanted. It seem to me all o' of should know better. Particularly you, Miss Agatha, since you was there at my bedside when my daughter was born. To end all this talk, I am offering  up a challenge. I will give one hundred dollars to anyone who can guess my daughter name."