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Ewetopia, A Land Far From Normal - Chapter 7
By Marie Ellen Pacha
The next day was Thursday, and the town meeting had been called for 9 a.m. Sisy took a break from his construction supervisory duties, Shepherd marched Lamby and Herman to the town square where they met up with Mumm, Eddie, Prev, Jack and Bob and the rest of the hamlet. Shepherd moved to the bandstand and addressed the crowd.
"It has come to our attention that our credit card company requires our little hamlet to have a name, or they will not send our purchases. And Lamby's wish list has grown to fill an entire notebook. "
At that the crowd laughed, but Shepherd knew that Lamby's list had grown to considerably more than one sheet of paper. Considering that she had arrived in the hamlet with nothing more than the fleece on her back, and since he knew a number of the items she wanted to buy were gifts for her friends, he had seen no reason to put a limit on her purchases.
He continued, "We have called this meeting to nominate names for the hamlet. Our town crier (that's me) will print up a ballot and we will vote Saturday if that meets with everyone's approval. Eddie, Mumm and Lamby have offered to write up the list of names for the ballot."
And at that...the residents began calling out names in rapid fire succession.
"Utopia," said Sisy.
"Hamlet,' said Prev being rather practical.
"Mootown," added Eddie
"New Town," was a recommendation made by someone else.
And Shangra La was also suggested and duly recorded by Lamby who was assisted in spelling by Eddie. Mumm had been called away with a rush order from the school which needed an extremely large order of cookies for kindergarten graduation.
Unfortunately none of us realized at the time that Lamby's formal education was limited. And we had grown used to the charming accent Eddie spoke with, a trace of some Hispanic language lingered there. But we had no idea that she tended to spell phonetically as a result. When the list appeared for me to print, I did not proofread it...and it read as follows.
Ewetopia
Hamlet
Mootown
Newtown
Shang Gra La
Shepherd rolled his eyes when he saw the names. But he knew as did we all that just having a name would not change our hamlet. And there was no time to call another meeting before the votes would be cast on Saturday. So the list stood as it was written.
But I am getting ahead of myself here.
Just as the last nomination was made and the list turned over to me I heard Lamby. (I must admit, her voice has a certain rare ability to carry itself.)
"SHEPHERD!" she called.
"What is it Lamby," he answered, trying to explain a dozen things to at least as many people.
"Shepherd, Sir, I have NOT had my breakfast yet!" she said, with a definite touch of indignation. "And I am standing here right outside Jack's restaurant and I can SEE everyone else eating!" and she added a stomp of her hoof for emphasis. Herman who didn't speak much (probably because he couldn't get a word in) was nodding his head in agreement.
"We did leave without breakfast, didn't we? But I have noticed that you appeared to be getting just a teeny bit plump Lamby," Shepherd said this quietly, not intending to offend her in front of everyone.
"PLUMP! ME!! HMMMPH!!!" Lamby exclaimed, snorted and bleated all at the same time. "I dare to say I have barely gained an ounce. My fleece is simply fluffier because of the baths."
"Uh huh," Shepherd rolled his eyes (he was getting quite good at that gesture). "Let's get something to eat then, shall we?"
At that, Lamby followed closely by Herman made a mad dash for the nearest table in Jack's restaurant. By the time Shepherd reached the table she had already placed an order, which Shepherd reduced by half.
"I really think Lamby, that 4 waffles with syrup are more than enough for you and Herman to share," he finished the sentence under his breath, "and it will take the better part of the day to get the syrup off the ceiling fan."
Lamby would have answered him had she heard that but she was already slurping down a bowl of milk, and she was almost as noisy as she was messy. Herman who had crept up on the table to share from her bowl looked as if he had taken a milk bath.
By the time Lamby had devoured her meal, and gotten most of the syrup off her fleece, most of our other residents had headed home as well. Shepherd was tempted to put Lamby and Herman in the dishwasher before taking them home, but remembered something Sisy had told him, and thought he would surprise Lamby. He did seem unusually eager to get back and check the progress that had been made in their absence.
Sisy came running up as they neared the palace and exclaimed, "It's ready Shepherd, and it looks QUITE nice, if I say so myself."
"Let's go take a look then, shall we? And you and Herman should come along Lamby," Shepherd said with a big grin, and they moved in the direction of the pond...or at least where the pond used to be.
In its place was a swimming pool (the flamingos insisted on calling it a cement pond still). The pool began with a gentle slope at one end, shallow enough for even little Herman to splash in, and progressed out to the deeper area. There was a large expanse about 2 -3 feet deep for the flamingoes to wade in, and then a much deeper area for Shepherd, Mumm and other serious swimmers. There was even a diving board and a water slide at the deep end, and Lamby stood still, eyes open wide.
"Oh Shepherd, oh my, why it's wonderful," she said ever so softly, never having seen anything that looked like nearly so much fun. "Please Shepherd; may I go down the slide?"
He nodded yes, after checking with Sisy and determining that the water was heated. (He didn't want to hear her scream as she landed in ice cold water.) He knew that if she couldn't swim he could get to her in seconds, but he also suspected that if plump meant buoyant she would float for quite some time. And with that nod, she was off. She clambered to the top of the slide, stood surveying the pool and all beneath and went headfirst down the slide.....She went under water, sputtered as she surfaced and did a perfect lamb paddle to the sloped edge of the pool.
Her grin as she frolicked out of the pool was all he needed to see. And she was a blur as she scampered past and back down the slide. Herman by this time was splashing gaily in the shallow end.
Note from the Town Crier:
Shepherd and Sisy had planned well. They needed something to keep Lamby occupied (safely) while the construction was finished and while Shepherd made arrangements for his departure. Shepherd had a few more surprises up his sleeves, but then again...Lamby had a few under that fleece of hers as well. But enough chat for now, I have a ballot to prepare. The election is Saturday and the results will be posted later that evening. I suspect Lamby is chomping at whatever she can nibble on to be able to order from the catalog.
As Shepherd had planned, the cement pond kept Lamby and Herman well occupied for the rest of the day. She could barely be coerced away by food. It also provided enough activity that she slept that night barely twitching and the lumps that had appeared on Shepherd's head began to fade away. He needed a clear head to plan the activities of the next two weeks.
He had decided that in order to make his departure not quite so traumatic for Lamby, they would fill it with fun and so he, Mumm, Eddie, Sisy, Jack, Bob and Prev (with me taking prodigious notes) began planning the first ever hamlet Olympics. There will be MUCH more about that later, but for now just let me say the world has never, nor will it ever see another sight quite like it. The opening ceremonies would be coordinated by Mumm and Eddie, with entertainment being provided by Eddie's cows and the flamingoes, and I believe the bats planned a fireworks display from the belfry.
In the meantime, Sisy and his crew had commenced the massive renovations of the palace itself, with the first addition being Lamby's new room. Shepherd wanted to be sure that she was comfortable with her surroundings before he left. And Lamby had requested a couple of additions to the blueprints. She wanted a balcony which faced in the direction of Normal and a sconce for an eternal flame. Shepherd was a little concerned about Lamby being in the vicinity of anything flammable, but Mumm and Eddie overruled him on this matter. They knew, as only women can, that Lamby was leaving a light lit for her Shepherd, so that he would always be able to find his way home.
Updates came frequently from Whimsey about the progress of General Wolff. The flock of refugee sheep was temporarily housed in a stable with some unicorns, but were somewhat terrified by the dragons that flew surveillance there. The General would not attack Whimsey; he was no match for their power. He was camped on the other side of that town apparently deciding on his next maneuver.
Friday came and went with its regular progression and it was finally time for the election. Lamby, Shepherd and Herman joined most of the hamlet's residents at Jack's restaurant for breakfast. Each and every resident had a ballot delivered to their homes on Friday and our little group had taken theirs with them to complete and return (to me) by noon.
Continue to Chapter 8
This article is © copyrighted by Marie Ellen Pacha. Any use of this article, in full or in part, is strictly prohibited without written permission from Marie Ellen Pacha.
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