Blog Schedule

I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Monday, April 28, 2014

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."

25 comments:

  1. I LOVE the excerpt! Will anyone guess the name? What will it be? Awesome. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a great illustration. Good excerpt. :-)

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great excerpt!! And the illustration is perfect :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Bish - I love the excerpt and you're right about the illustration ... It's just right and Anansi peering out from the floor boards ...would amuse so many kids and me!!

    I think her name is Mystery?

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Xcerpt is not cheating especially with such a fine story to tell.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great story, lovely illustration. Another riddle?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great xcerpt Bish. We all have cheated for the alphabet X ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great story. And X definitely is one to cheat on.

    ReplyDelete
  9. How intriguing! will check out your book.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great illustration. The size of that mosquito scares me!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gossip is such a funny thing - it takes on a life of its own, and before we know it, we've made villains of some of the nicest people. Thanks for sharing this story.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think everyone had to cheat a little for X. It's a hard letter!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Super way to handle gossip and back stabbing. Confront them en-mass and put an end to their nastiness.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The woman was right to berate the people, espcially the woman who saw the birth of the child. The story was nice to read. http://www.writer-way.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice! I'm going to have to look up this book to see who wins the challenge (if anyone does). Thanks for sharing. :-) We're almost there-- "Z" is just around the corner. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Gotta agree, the illustration is wonderful. Almost at the end of the challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I remember this one!!
    I just love Adrienne's illustrations, too!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hey Bish,

    What's on your mind? LOL

    An Xceptional Xcerpt!

    Gary

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nice pic - Anansi is a cutie :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Someone will name her for the money.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Nice cheat! My students love Anansi stories.

    ReplyDelete

Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!