FATHER TIME synopsis

LOGLINE

Everything is made beautiful in its time, even if the Hours tries to steal your minutes.  

 

PITCH

It’s all about time at The O’Clock Shop in a renovated lighthouse, where Father Time tries to defeat the thieving Hours. With frequent visits from Mother Nature and other customers, he sells magical clocks that can redeem time in every way possible. When the clock customers are ready, they can challenge the transitory moments in their lives with the help of Father Time. 

 

SYNOPSIS

Time flies! In an abandoned lighthouse on the coast of Great Point in Nantucket, Massachusetts, an elderly bearded man opens the windows to a bright morning. Over time, he has converted the tower and its nearby buildings into The O’Clock Shop, where he makes and repairs clocks. His shop is filled with little clocks, big clocks, grandfather clocks, wrist watches, and pocket watches. Each of them tick-tock at once, causing most customers to feel dizzy with the noise, especially when he turns up an unknown radio station that only plays songs about time. 

 

As the beach waves crash against the shore, they create an ebb and flow rhythm almost like a clock. With each splash of water, a new timepiece comes alive as the clocksmith tinkers away, hoping he can help defeat the evil Hours, his nemesis who loves to steal time. From time to time, Mother Nature visits Father Time, bringing groups of tourists that are interested in his magical clocks. She lives up the coast in a small cottage overgrown with flowers, fruit trees, and stalk vegetables. Flowers intertwine with the golden locks of her hair, as if the daises and roses grow from her own scalp. 

 

Depending on which clocks the customers buy, Father Time shows his patrons how to turn back the Hours, turn forward the Hours, make the Hours stand still, and even extend the Hours. Most customers are confused at Father Time’s advice. The idea of what he says could happen is beyond their ability to believe. In most of his clocks, Father Time hides instructions in a back secret door, where customers can find the information when they are ready to confront the fleeting time in their lives. Although the Hours leaves Father Time threatening notes sometimes, he throws them out and keeps selling his clocks. 

When a large gust of wind rushes through The O’Clock Shop, the Hours appears outside standing in the high grass with his skeleton body covered in a black robe. A pale horse accompanies him. Father Time warns his clock customers that no one deserves to have even a minute stolen from them. The Hours is ruthless and has already taken so much from so many people, but not if Father Time has anything to say about it.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

THE POTTER'S HOUSE synopsis

LOGLINE

Being a willing vessel in the hands of the Potter can bring never-ending miracles. 

 

PITCH

An award-winning potter and mystical artist named Sage Conrad teaches a pottery class, giving her students life lessons while making earthen vessels. Her longtime friend, Alfred Odin, sits in the back of her class, skeptical of her spiritual advice and tries to make his clay form into a masterpiece anyhow. Despite Alfie’s sarcasm, he hides a cross in his pocket and has secretly been in love with Sage since they were teenagers. As Sage says, even if vessels have cracks, it gives light the ability to shine through them all the more. Miracles can happen when you are clay in the hands of the Potter as a willing vessel. 

 

SYNOPSIS

As legend has it, anyone who is a pottery student of Sage Conrad, a renowned potter in Charleston, South Carolina, is sure to experience a miracle, not like a hokey, made-up one, but a deep, mystical encounter that caused the person to change from the inside out. She is known for her studio called The Wheel. Like most mornings, her longtime friend Alfred Odin sits in the back of the studio while Sage teaches a class. He reshapes the clay on his wheel, unable to get the clay to do what he wants. He gives Sage a hard time for always trying to teach her students life lessons. 

 

Sage kisses Alfie on the cheek and chides him for hiding his rosary in his pocket. For someone who loves to curse God, she thinks he has a funny way of always carrying a cross in his pocket just in case God might be watching. Alfie is angry that Sage tells everyone his secrets. As his rosary sticks out of his pocket, he uses his fingers to open the clay. Since his bowl is a bit lopsided, he starts over again, kneading the clay like dough. 

 

“O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand,” Sage reads from the hand-carved sign at the front of her class, quoting Isaiah 64:8. She asks her students what they will allow God’s hands to make of their lives. She also asks them what they will make with their own hands. Alfie mumbles that he has heard her speech so many times that he could give it himself. Sage talks about being a willing vessel for the purposes of the Lord. She asks her students to stand up and sing praise. She leads them in singing “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Alfie wearily conducts from the back of the room.

 

Then, Sage proceeds to teach the basics of making pottery on a wheel. Sage looks at Alfie’s latest creation with a critical eye. Then, Alfie insists that Sage has been in love with him since they were teenagers, but she could never admit it. Sage smiles, sitting down in front of a treadle wheel to teach the class her techniques firsthand. On the contrary, Alfie is so stubborn and hard-headed that sometimes he misses the blessing as a “crackpot,” she jokes. Despite the spat between Sage and Alfie, the students craft their clay jars with care. By the end of the day, the pupils have each made some sort of earthen vessel, ready for the first firing of the kiln, and then the glazing, and then firing their handiwork for the second time. Sage hopes that every time her students look at their finished creations, they can remember that they are willing vessels. There is no greater honor than to be clay in the hands of the Potter.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

THE MUFFIN MAN synopsis

LOGLINE

Get your muffins while they’re hot!

 

PITCH

The Muffin Man, a baker on Drury Lane in London’s West End, delivers fresh muffins to regular and new customers every dawn, including homeless patrons. His love interest Miss Olivia Davies gets extra-special muffins each morning along with a visit from his orangish cat named Ragamuffin. Despite a foolish knight, who threatens to duel The Muffin Man for the hand of Olivia, Drury Lane is quiet, simply home to many families and school children. Unimpressed by the false suitor, Olivia enjoys dinners by the fire with her Muffin Man, who regularly escapes his adversary. The Muffin Man is ready for the next batch of English muffins to be delivered. The neighborhood would not be the same without The Muffin Man!

 

SYNOPSIS

One rainy and cold March morning, The Muffin Man, a baker on Drury Lane near Covent Garden in London’s West End, sets out with his umbrella and a fresh batch of warm English muffins. He bops down the street with a spring in his step. His orangish cat Ragamuffin is soaked from the drizzle as he follows The Muffin Man. Each morning, the baker has regular customers who enjoy his warm English muffins with salted butter. He stops by each of their homes, delivering his customers a morning treat like no other. Knocking on their doors, he hands them fresh muffins wrapped in quilted cloth napkins. He always takes extra muffins with him to sell to new customers that he might meet along the way. Ragamuffin joins him for the company and helps advertise the muffin business as the mascot. 

 

Regular customers like Mrs. Esme Mason want to make sure that everyone knows The Muffin Man, asking, “Do you know The Muffin Man, who lives on Drury Lane?” Her children gather ‘round her for their morning tasty joy. Of course, the people on the street laugh, digging in their pockets for change, believing that everyone knows The Muffin Man. They take muffins from his basket and pet his cat. Like most mornings, The Muffin Man also has special souls to whom he gives muffins for free, including an impoverished homeless gent who lives on the corner of Drury Lane. Although most people know of the baker who travels door-to-door, some people are surprised to meet him for the first time, including young school children.

 

One very special woman loves to make his acquaintance each morning, a schoolteacher named Miss Olivia Davies, who always has a new book in hand. He gives her flowers with her muffins, and she kisses him on the cheek. The Muffin Man warns that he has been bribed again from a foolish knight for a duel in her honor. Olivia tells him to decline the fight. Instead, she agrees to a meat pie for dinner with a plum and apple cobbler for dessert and to play dancing games. As The Muffin Man leaves Olivia’s flat, a man dressed in a medieval armor with a sword appears from nowhere. He wants to fight to the death for the hand of Olivia Davies. The Muffin Man says the opponent has clearly lost his senses. The Muffin Man throws the remaining batch of muffins into the air, confusing his attacker. He grabs Ragamuffin and runs down Drury Lane in retreat, as it pours rain. As The Muffin Man hurries inside his bakery and shuts the door, the foolish knight disappears. The baker shoves a muffin in his mouth with relief. Despite all, Olivia and The Muffin Man enjoy dinner by the fire, and The Muffin Man is home early enough to start his new batch of English muffins for morning delivery, just like every other morning.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS synopsis

LOGLINE

Offering yourself as a gift just might bring love at Christmas! 

 

PITCH

When Christmas gifts from Father Christmas living in a magical castle in Edinburgh receive a request in the mail, asking them to help bring true love at Christmas, a partridge, along with turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, golden rings, geese, swans, maids, ladies, lords, pipers, and drummers, give themselves a second chance. Although the gifts gave up on thinking they could ever cause true love, they try again at offering themselves as romantic presents during the holidays for The Twelve Days of Christmas. 

 

SYNOPSIS 

Once upon a time, a partridge in a pear tree lives in a castle on the far side of Edinburgh with two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five golden rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming. A long time ago in a Christmas Eve winter snowstorm, the partridge had been delivered to the doorstep of the magical castle in Edinburgh as gifts to the Scottish people by Father Christmas. The castle is owned by Father Christmas, and he uses it as one of his many second homes when travelling throughout the world. As long as the gifts live in the castle, the partridge is under strict orders from Father Christmas to organize the troop every year to spread true love from December 25^th through January 6^th. Many of the locals learn of the assignment that Father Christmas gave them and show up on their doorstep when they have a romantic dilemma. 

 

After many years of attempting to orchestrate great love stories, the gifts had given up, or rather, the Scotts had given up on the twelve gifts and stopped writing them letters for help. With many failed attempts to bring everlasting love at Christmas, the partridge knows that Father Christmas has also lost faith in them. If they soon don’t have more successes, the partridge fears he will split them up and send them off to different owners as gifts. Then, the partridge would miss the beautiful castle and all her friends in Edinburgh. Despite her doubts, the partridge reads a letter from the post and wonders if she really has any ability to help bring true love at Christmas. She shares the letter with the other Christmas gifts. The bird knows that the last time she and her friends made attempts to spread romance at Christmas that it did not go very well. After thinking about it, the partridge decides to respond to Brodie Brown, the gentleman who wrote the letter, and say that she is willing to help him try win over his lady friend at Christmas. On the eve of Christmas Eve, the partridge and the gifts travel by train from Edinburgh to the home of Brodie in Inverness in the Highlands. They arrive at Brodie’s door ready for action. When Brodie’s special someone, Isla Campbell, arrives at ten o’clock on Christmas morning, the gifts present themselves.

 

When Brodie gets down on one knee and asks Isla to marry him, she says she needs some time to think about it and agrees to stay until Epiphany on January 6. Then, the gifts get down to work. The partridge hides love notes for Brodie and Isla underneath their pillows at night. In the morning, the calling birds wake the couple with songs and chirps. The geese deliver breakfast in bed with omelets from their own eggs. During the day, the turtle doves write romantic poetry for them. The gold rings insist they must be worn. Then, the French hens bake romantic meals like coq au vin and crème brûlée. After dinner, the swans take the couple ice-skating on a frozen Scottish loch. The maids make hot chocolate and ice cream for dessert each night. The ladies teach the couple how to waltz, while the lords insist on knightly gestures and deep conversation. At night, the pipers and drummers play their bagpipes and drums under the stars. 

 

By Epiphany, Isla agrees to marry Brodie. The partridge cries tears of joy. The gifts cheer in celebration. Within hours, the partridge is sure that the rest of the village will know of their success and mail will start pouring into the castle again. She catches a glimpse of Father Christmas in his sleigh with his reindeer out the window. He chuckles and flies off into the sky. The partridge thinks he is happy with the triumph of his gifts. As time goes on, the gifts become so famous that Father Christmas writes a song called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” about their romantic efforts. The partridge and the gifts find ongoing success with their adventures, and everyone in the world wants true love at Christmas.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

TOUCHDOWN synopsis

LOGLINE

Football—just like life—can be a beautiful game. 

 

PITCH

The greatest game you can win is won within! Nineteen-year-old Jenna Lake tutors 20-year-old quarterback Kevin Smith at Syracuse College in New York. Although Kevin is unsure of what he believes and takes the class to please his grandmother, he ends up finding more faith than he ever thought imaginable when he falls in love with Jenna, who quits as his tutor after she realizes that he cheats on a test. Only when Kevin apologizes in tears for cheating does Jenna trust him and permanently resigns as his tutor. The biggest touchdown that Kevin makes is when Jenna agrees to give him a real chance at love. 

 

SYNOPSIS

Practice winning every day! Jenna Lake, a 19-year-old sophomore at Syracuse College in New York, sits in the football wing of the college’s tutor department, trying to figure out how to help Kevin Smith, age 20, pass his Christianity class. She suggests that the first thing he needs is a Bible. She is paid $15 an hour, and there never seems to be enough time to teach the team’s quarterback everything he needs to know. Kevin grew up going to church because of his African American grandmother, and most of the time, he just goes along with religious talk. Unsure of what he actually believes, Kevin agrees to read the Bible to pass his class. He took the class to make his grandmother happy. So, if he skips church on Sunday, at least he can tell her that he took a class that had something to do with Jesus.

 

Each Tuesday night, Jenna rides the campus bus to the football fieldhouse for tutoring. Rain, sleet, snow, or hail—and there is lots of snow in the winter—she shows up with a smile. At least she is showing school spirit, she thinks, even if she is a tiny white girl who knows nothing about football. At the next tutor session, Kevin shows up late, asking if Jenna has a boyfriend, hoping that she does not study all the time. As Jenna takes a seat, she straightens her long dirty-blond hair and adjusts her glasses. Although she doesn’t wear a lot of makeup or trendy clothes, underneath her simple appearance, she is what her mother called a classic beauty. She tells him that he probably thinks she is a nerd. Kevin insists that she is pretty, and Jenna thinks that the Kevin is only flattering her. Now, all of a sudden, Kevin insists that he is a Christian, and his grandmother would like Jenna. He asks her to study over dinner tomorrow night. Then, he can take her back to her dorm. Jenna is stunned, asking him if this is a date. Kevin says that she needs to have more fun. Concerned that she could get fired from being a tutor, she tells him that his professor expects him to get an A on the next test, and if he fails the mid-term that his football coach will not let him play football. Kevin plans to pick her up at 7 o’clock outside the student center, and he will not be late. 

 

When the next evening rolls around, Kevin picks Jenna up in his Range Rover. Thinking that she had given it her best to save Kevin’s grades, Jenna gives up. As the evening goes on, Kevin is not the only one who has forgotten about the exam. Jenna has so much fun that she wishes she could quit being Kevin’s tutor, so she did not have to be responsible for his failing grades. She plays one song after another on the jukebox and makes him dance with her until late into the night. At the end of the night, Kevin pulls up to the dorm, kissing her on the cheek goodnight. Next week at the tutor session, Kevin walks into the football wing with an “A plus” on his mid-term exam from Christianity. One of Kevin’s teammates walks past, saying that Kevin cheated by studying from last year’s exam. Jenna is so angry that she quits as Kevin’s tutor. When Jenna does not show up for tutoring for two weeks in a row, Kevin arrives at her dorm room unannounced. After she hears a knock on the door, she opens it to find Kevin standing in the hall in tears, promising to never cheat again. Kevin says that he prayed with his grandmother on the phone to have a brand-new start, and he has a tattoo of Philippians 4:13 to prove it. Jenna forgives him, and Kevin insists that they should never study together again. He says that she is beautiful and just wants to take her on a real date. He kisses her in the hall. Throughout all of Saturday’s football game, Jenna yells “Touchdown!” every time Kevin scores, which was several times in a row, including when he kisses her in front of the coach at the end of the beautiful game.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

Mandy Dandie's Pink Lemonade: The Story of a Secret Recipe

“Sherwood Neighborhood is coming apart at the seams,” yelped 10-year-old Mandy Dandie as she passed her neighbors on the street. They did not even nod at her, much less say hello. As she rode her pink bike up her driveway, she rang her bell several times in disgust.

“Nobody talks to each other,” she mumbled to herself. “If anyone talks to me, all they want to do is pick a fight.”

“Don’t worry about the neighbors, Mandy,” Mr. Dandie told her, coming out from the garage. “A lot of them have lost their jobs and are having a hard time finding new ones. The economy has been really tough for a lot of people. We just all need to help each other right now.”

“If you say so, Dad,” Mandy agreed, hugging her widowed father. Mrs. Dandie passed away when Mandy was an infant, and she had no recollection of her mother. “Why does everyone have to be so mean?”

“I don’t know, honey,” Mr. Dandie replied, picking up the newspaper from the driveway and opening it. “Ruben Gruff of Gruff Construction offers to buy the backyards of homeowners in Sherwood Neighborhood,” he read aloud the front-page headline. “Oh no! The developers are going to try to build extra houses in the neighborhood. It will be like living in an ice cube tray of cookie cutter homes!”

“How can we stop it, Dad?” Mandy asked. “I’ll have to think of something!”

“Sherwood Neighborhood homeowners would earn an extra lump of much-needed cash,” Mr. Dandie continued reading aloud. “Everyone must realize that Ruben will destroy the charm of our lovely neighborhood,” he stated, looking right at Mandy. 

“Does this mean that he would tear down the trees?” Mandy wondered. 

“Oh, Ruben will tear down trees and flower gardens for his new homes, built so close together that no one will be able to enjoy a picnic or pool party,” her dad explained, scratching his head.  

“I don’t want to lose the old oak trees that I love to climb!” Mandy cried. “Maybe if I had a lemonade stand then I could make money and give it to our neighbors. Then, they might not take Ruben’s money.” 

“That’s a nice thought, Mandy,” her dad admitted. “Maybe the neighbors would rally round and help each other without resorting to Ruben’s destructive building project.” 

Mandy set to work at building and painting a lemonade stand and opened it within the week at the end of her father’s driveway. Despite Mandy’s “secret recipe” of more sugar than water and bits of lemon rind, her lemonade hardly sold, especially once the neighbors tasted it. 

“This is awful!” the neighbors complained. “It tastes nothing like lemonade.” 

At the end of a hard week, Mandy counted her coins and headed to the neighborhood grocery store on her bike. 

“At least, I’ll get some candy,” she decided. “I deserve it after all this effort.”

As she passed a plant nursery, the owner rid himself of an odd pink lemon tree. When Mandy saw the lemon tree, it sparkled, and she knew there was something special about it.

“It looks magic!” Mandy insisted. “Please let me have it!” she begged the owner, emptying her pockets of all her coins. “It’s a business investment!”

“A business investment?” he questioned. “This ugly thing?”

“I need your pink lemon tree for my lemonade stand,” she told him. “Business has been bad, but your tree will make it a lot better. Everyone drinks regular lemonade, but pink lemonade will be original!”

The next day Mandy set out her lemonade stand with her new pink beverage. She set the pink lemon tree on her stand for advertising. Her sign said: “Pink Lemonade! 50 cents a cup.”

“I think my pink lemonade has magic in it,” she told her dad. “Who has ever heard of pink lemons?”

“Uh-huh,” Mr. Dandie agreed, shrugging his shoulders, overseeing her morning business deals at the lemonade stand. “Don’t let the customers stiff you for your lemonade, honey.” 

“Wow! This is so tasty,” one lady quipped, putting change into the cash jar. “Can I have some more, please?” 

Then, Mandy’s customers started singing and dancing in the street. 

“I hate my job!” the lady serenaded. “I think I’ll quit in a few days.”

“Maybe your pink lemonade is magic after all?” her father considered. “Everyone who drinks it starts singing their secrets! Business is booming!”

“I told you there was something special about that pink lemon tree!” she whispered. 

Surprised, Mandy listened to her singing customers without giving any advice, mostly because she was not sure what to say. What magic was in her pink lemonade that made the neighbors express their truths in song, feel better, and then forget they even said those things? 

“I’m so glad that you like my pink lemonade,” Mandy cheered, shocked at how much the neighborhood customers enjoyed her new beverage. 

“This recipe is going over much, much better than that last one,” her father pondered, humming. “I even feel like singing a love song.” 

Later that afternoon, Ruben Gruff strode down the street in a blue pin-striped suit with his clipboard. He saw Mandy’s stand, slung two quarters in her jar, and downed a cup of pink lemonade. 

“My secret plan is to run a four-lane highway through the neighborhood,” he belted out in song as Mandy listened. “As soon as I get the neighbors to sign their properties away, I’ll take the contracts to a judge and argue that I own most of the neighborhood so I should be able to build whatever I want on the land, including a highway. All the neighbors will lose their homes, and I will be a millionaire.”

Mandy sat in silence until every last word of Ruben’s song had finished. “His song would have been easier to enjoy if it had rhymed,” she whispered to herself, rubbing her ears. She felt sick to her stomach, realizing Ruben’s devious plot to destroy her home and community. 

“Come back again soon,” Mandy fibbed to Ruben as he left. She posted her “Be Back in Ten Minutes” sign at her lemonade stand and ran to tell her dad the strange news. 

“Dad, Ruben started singing his secret plan to take over the neighborhood,” she explained to her father, weaving in all the details that no one ever wanted her to know. 

“I have no idea what to say,” Mr. Dandie sighed. “Just don’t tell anyone for now, until we see what happens . . . so we can figure out what to do.”

Later that week at the city council meeting, Ruben handed out contracts for those neighbors who wanted to sign away parts of their land. Mandy and her father sat at the meeting in trepidation that they might not be able to stop Ruben’s horrid plan.

“Hi Mandy,” Ruben greeted her with a fake smile and handshake. “So glad your pink lemonade business is booming!” 

“Because of your magic pink lemonade, Ruben doesn’t remember telling you his plan,” Mr. Dandie whispered to his daughter. “Play dumb for now.”

Instead of playing dumb, Mandy decided to take the situation into her own hands. In an attempt to expose him, Mandy stood up on her front row chair and pulled a bullhorn from her backpack. 

“Ruben is going to run a highway through our neighborhood and push all of us out after we sign over our backyards to him!” Mandy exposed him. “Don’t fall for it! Don’t give him your backyards for a little cash.”

“She’s not on the agenda,” Ruben argued, looking irate. “Sit down, little girl!”

“Mandy, you are not allowed to speak,” the city council leader insisted. “This meeting is for adults only. Please keep her quiet, Mr. Dandie. I need order!”

“Sorry, ma'am,” Mr. Dandie mumbled. “Mandy, we should go . . .”  

As the meeting started, Mandy burst into tears. She watched the neighbors take Ruben’s deceptive contracts with instructions to return the forms at next week’s meeting. 

“I’m coming back to next week’s city council meeting,” Mandy advised her father. “I’m setting up my pink lemonade stand, and I’m going to force everyone to tell the truth.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” her father admitted. “We might not be able to do anything to stop Ruben. It’s a bigger problem than I originally imagined.”

“I have to try to do something,” Mandy decided. “I found the magic of the pink lemon tree at just the right time.”

“Okay, but I don’t think I’ll be able to help you this time,” Mr. Dandie explained. “We might get in less trouble if I don’t show up, but you could just sell your lemonade outside the meeting.”

The next week, Mandy set out on her bike with her pink lemonade tree in its front basket, trailing her lemonade stand on a skateboard. Several times she almost killed her pink lemon tree when it dumped out of her bike’s basket. 

“Come on, little pink lemon tree,” Mandy spoke to it, dusting it off from the gravel in the street. “You just took a couple falls. You can’t die on me now!”

When Mandy reached the city council meeting, she set up shop, and people crowded around for the refreshing beverage.

“Mandy Dandie’s Pink Lemonade for sale!” she announced. “Come and get it for 50 cents a cup!” 

“What an interesting tree!” the neighbors admired, marveling at the odd pink lemon tree, dropping their change into the cash jar.

After a couple sips of Mandy’s pink lemonade, everyone sang out the truth and neighbors all sympathized and encouraged each other. 

“I don’t want to sell Ruben my land . . .” neighbors sang with different melodies.

“I need my backyard for my dog to run and play!” another neighbor pleaded in song. 

“I’d rather be broke than have anything to do with Ruben,” a group of people harmonized. 

Only a few minutes later, Ruben showed up, observing the strange communication through song. Ruben smirked listening to all the secrets being revealed.

Without knowing it, Ruben drank his own large cup of Mandy’s pink lemonade, finally revealing his own devious secrets. 

“I’m going to own Sherwood Neighborhood,” Ruben sang so loud that he was almost shouting. “These people are so stupid, and I’m stealing everything from them!”

“Did you hear him say that?” Mandy pointed out, recording his admission of guilt on her handy battery-operated tape recorder. “I can play it back for you.”

Mandy played Ruben’s singing on repeat for every single neighbor attending the city council meeting as they enjoyed her pink lemonade. 

The more she played the tape, the angrier Ruben became, burning with rage, and trying to grab the recorder from Mandy. 

“I didn’t say those things!” Ruben lied with his beet red face. “She’s a fraud!”

“Ruben, if you go anywhere near my daughter, I will have you arrested for attempted assault,” Mandy’s father threatened, deciding to show up to the council meeting after all. “This is enough. You’re a rotten, horrible human being. Get out of our neighborhood once and for all.”

As the city council meeting took place, the neighbors banded together and rejected Gruff Construction’s plan. Not one neighbor submitted a signed contract to Ruben. 

“Pink Lemonade saved Sherwood Neighborhood!” Mandy called to all the neighbors as they left the meeting in triumph. “I’m going to develop my lemonade into a franchise! Everyone needs a little pink lemonade now and then.”

Mr. Dandie kissed Mandy on the cheek, proud of his daughter who saw magic in everything, even a lonely pink lemon tree that most people would have overlooked. 

 

Copyright 2023 Jennifer Waters

https://soundcloud.com/jen-waters/mandy-dandies-pink-lemonade

The Dilemmas of Daisy Dimple: The Story of Crazy Daisy Dimple & Lil’ Boy Buster

“My name is Daisy Dimple,” announced the 10-year-old girl, who turned parking lots and sidewalks into gardens in the small town of Primrose. She loved the fragrance and beauty of flowers so much that all she could do was smile. “I make flowers and smiles spring up in the most unusual places.” 

“Oh, you’re just Crazy Daisy,” bullied her 13-year-old brother Billy. He was jealous of her daisies and her magic “hypnotizing” dimple that caused people to do what she wanted when she smiled. “I hate your daisies,” Billy threatened, smashing her latest batch of flourishing flowers that grew through cracks in the ground. The white petals floated to the concrete sidewalk in bits. 

“You’re the crazy one, Lil’ Boy Buster!” Daisy replied, scattering more flower seeds in the trail around her neighborhood. “You stick your finger in electric wall sockets for the thrill of the little buzz, and then you try to shock people! You’re going to electrocute yourself and hurt someone else!”

With that, Lil’ Boy Buster ran himself into Daisy, slinging her onto his shoulders. He had enough electricity in his body from his latest wall socket charging that Daisy’s hair frizzed. 

“Beating me up is very small of you!” Daisy yelled as her bangs crackled. 

“I’m using you for tackling practice,” Buster joked, throwing Daisy to the grassy ground. She always had bruises from his bullying, but he claimed it was her fault because her flowers made him sneeze. “Achoo! I’m allergic to you and your petals!” he taunted. 

Laying in pain on the ground, Daisy wished she had enough courage to stand up to him once and for all—but Daisy was too nice to people and always tried to help them with their problems. Lil’ Boy haughtily ran into her family garage, laughing to himself, and slamming the side the door. 

Days later, after seeing all Daisy’s bruises, Grandpa Blum came up with a plan to help her look good to the neighborhood friends, who could keep Buster from attacking her again. 

            “Could you build me a garden for my Fourth of July party?” Grandpa Blum asked her with a daisy sticking from his ear. “Your flowers are so beautiful, and I need a garden for my party. I’ll pay you a bunch for it!”

            “I would love to build you a great and grand garden!” Daisy cheered, shining her glorious dimple at Grandpa Blum. “My earnings can go toward the end-of-summer class field trip. It’s a day at the beach! So, I can get away from Buster.”

The next morning, Daisy started by planting flowers along the fence in Grandpa Blum’s backyard. At first, Daisy was unsure that she could complete such a large task.

“This might be a bigger job than I thought!” Daisy sighed, looking at the rest of the empty space that needed flowers. 

“I am confident that you can finish the garden in time!” Grandpa encouraged her. “I secretly want to prove Lil’ Boy Buster wrong. You are definitely not crazy, Daisy.”

While landscaping Grandpa Blum’s yard, Daisy branched out beyond daisies with many different flowers, such as roses, irises, orchids, tulips, daffodils, buttercups, sunflowers, carnations, and poppies.

“I’m almost done,” Daisy collapsed in the garden next to a tulip. “I’m going to have to work through the night.” Finally, two days before the party, she finished the garden.  

“Oh, you think you’re so savvy,” Lil’ Boy Buster hollered, jumping over the backyard fence out of nowhere. “Crazy Daisy went crazy again planting more flowers than she knows how to keep alive!”

“Get out of here, Buster!” Daisy wailed. “Grandpa is going to find out if you cause any problems!”

Despite Buster’s threats, Daisy was so happy with the garden. “I think I’d like to live here!” Daisy delighted, watching Buster run away. 

“See you for the garden party on Saturday, Daisy!” Grandpa reminded, kissing her on the cheek. He walked out of the garage as Buster disappeared. 

“I’m so proud of all your hard work. Give these to your mother,” Grandpa heartened, handing her a bouquet of flowers. 

Daisy walked down the sidewalk, scattering seeds as she made her way back home for the evening. 

“I’m gonna get her!” Buster threatened, looping back around Grandpa Blum’s house. “You might as well say I’m a bulldozer.”

Overnight, Buster found the garden hose and stretched it into the middle of Daisy’s flower haven. He turned the hose on high and let the water run until a large pond took over the garden. Then, Buster unleashed a cage of rodents to eat any leftover flowers. 

“Go get ‘em!” Lil’ Boy whispered, opening the cage door into the garden. 

For a finishing touch, Buster sent an electric shock wave through the soil, sure to kill the roots of the flowers. “Take that!” the brat cried, as he zapped the entire garden with electricity.

In the morning, Grandpa Blum stood in shock at what had happened to his beautiful garden. “It looks like there was a bad storm!” he lamented, but then gazed at the neighbors’ backyards, realizing that their gardens were intact. 

“Only Lil’ Boy Buster would do this to Daisy!” he concluded, noticing the muddy footprints the size of Lil’ Boy Buster’s on the patio. “How do you prove it was Buster?” 

“What in the world happened!” Daisy cried, looking at the mess and throwing a handful of flower seeds into the air. Even her “magic” dimple was not enough to fix the mess. 

“We could still rebuild in time for the party!” Daisy insisted, as rodents scurried past her feet with flowers in their mouths. “Buster did this! He is the worst brother in the whole world. What is wrong with him?”

“I’ll help you go to the local garden store for new flowers,” Grandpa Blum said, grabbing his jacket and hat from the garage. He started up his green truck, and he and Daisy set off for more flowers. “This is just one more life lesson that we didn’t know we needed!” 

“A lesson in how to plant as many flowers as possible,” Daisy quipped, almost remembering the power of her dimple. 

Upon returning with more flowers to plant, Daisy set traps for the rodents and leveled the ground with new fertilizer. One by one, she planted the new flowers in the garden. 

As the stars came out for the night, Daisy stayed up until the morning, planting flowers and keeping watch over the backyard, hoping to catch Lil’ Boy Buster—but he never returned.

“If you want to sleep out here, it’s fine with me,” Grandpa Blum said, “but at least use a sleeping bag.” He unrolled a blue comfy bag with a flashlight tucked into it. 

The next morning, Daisy planted more flowers right up until the party, but she still wasn’t done.

“Could you help me plant these flowers?” Daisy asked each of the neighbors as they arrived until the garden was finished.  Her magic dimple made each of them say: “Yes.” 

“Maybe we could hire you to plant a garden for us?” the neighbors asked, wanting to hire Daisy to build them masterpieces of their own.

Then, without warning, Daisy spotted Lil’ Boy Buster with a water gun strapped around his body and the garden hose in his hands. 

“Don’t even think about it!” Daisy yelped, wrestling him to the ground and planting a flower on his head before he could shock her with an electric bolt.

As Daisy flashed her dimple, the flower took root, and Buster could not pull it out of his head. “That will teach you!” Daisy snapped. 

“Aaaah!” he screamed, running from his sister in fear. “What happened to my head? Someone, pull this flower out of my head!”

Despite Buster’s effort to remove the flower from his head, he could not expel it. 

“It’s going to cause me brain damage!” Buster screeched. “I can feel its roots!”

Later, when Daisy’s parents saw the wonderful garden in Grandpa Blum’s backyard, they were upset at Lil’ Boy Buster’s tirade.

“Buster didn’t get away with his bad behavior this time!” Mr. Dimple chided. “I saw the flower Daisy planted in his head. Oh, well, he can’t browbeat her anymore. I guess the flower will stay there until the seasons change.”

“I’m not sure what to do about the flower!” Mrs. Dimple commented. “Daisy, how long do you think the flower will stay in his head?

“I’m not sure, Mom,” Daisy answered. “I just planted it like everything else.”

“Can you make our backyard into a beautiful paradise as well?” her dad asked. 

“Sure, Dad, I’ll start tomorrow,” Daisy agreed, shining her famous dimple at him. 

“Lil’ Boy Buster can no longer call Daisy ‘crazy,’” Grandpa urged, looking at both of Daisy’s parents. “It’s not nice to call people nasty names.” 

“Daisy has never been crazy,” her father agreed. 

“She’s just enthusiastic about planting flowers!” her mom reassured. 

“Maybe Buster can replant the flower from his head in Grandpa’s garden instead of destroying it,” Daisy wondered, not knowing that Buster heard her, as he hid behind the shrubs in the backyard.  

Having a momentary change of heart toward Daisy, where he felt electric tingles everywhere, Lil’ Boy Buster removed the growth from his head and planted the awkward flower in Grandpa Blum’s garden. 

“I’m free of her stupid flower!” Buster groaned. 

Roots and all, the flower stood tall in his grandfather’s soil, and Buster slumped off in defeat. However, his momentary remorse did not last for long. “I’m gonna get back at Crazy Daisy for what she did to me! She planted a flower in my head, and it still hurts,” he vowed. 

“I’m so glad that I finally stood up to Buster!” Daisy relished in victory. “He is only my little bitty brother. He’s not going to torment me anymore.” 

“The garden party is a huge success,” Grandpa Blum triumphed.  

“I’ll have more than enough money for my class field trip,” Daisy told her grandfather with gratitude. “I’m going to donate the rest of the money to planting a garden at the local Community Center. Flowers need to take over the world!” 

 

Copyright 2023 Jennifer Waters

https://soundcloud.com/jen-waters/the-dilemmas-of-daisy-dimple