I see my mind as a tapestry woven through with memories, dreams and thoughts.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Sunday Snippet



'The road out of the city web site is quite smooth - like rolled out pastry. There are funny shaped hills in the background and fluffy pink clouds in the sky. The fields are very green.
“I like this,” says Pansy Soup.
Larry’s Lorry is leaving tyre tracks on the road.
“Just like pastry crust,” thinks Violet Jelly. She sniffs the air. “I smell food,” she says and opens a gate at the side of the road.
“There’s no fence belonging to the gate,” remarks Pansy Soup.
“Well I never!” says Larry. “A gate without a fence.”
They all go through the gate, because it is fun. No one wants to go round it.
“Ah! A slope,” says Violet Jelly.
And there is - a slope going down into a tunnel. The tunnel goes underneath the field.



“Come on then!” says Violet Jelly. “The food is this way.”
The tunnel leads to a big kitchen which is very clean and has white tiled walls. There is a large oven along one wall and every shape of pot and pan hanging or standing around. Violet Jelly notices that some food has been cooked, but it does not look very interesting or appetising. There are ingredients lying around.
“What are you doing lying around?” Violet Jelly asks them.
“What!” A bag of rice jumps up, rattling a bit, because it is not a full bag.
“Ooops!” says the salt, which is leaning against a wall.
“What a way to leave a kitchen!” exclaims Violet Jelly.
“Well,” says a jar of spice haughtily. “We are so bored with our recipe that we just gave up.”
“Look at us,” rattles the rice. “Do we look happy? Would you want us in your recipe?”
“I most certainly would,” says Violet Jelly. “Get yourselves together and let’s make something of you.”
Violet Jelly puts down her bag, washes her hands and orders, “Clean the work tops. We’re going to cook!”
Everyone joins in. Violet Jelly finds what she needs from her bag and begins to make a meal.



“Do you need 6 of anything?” asks 6.
“That’s called half a dozen,” says Pansy Soup to 6.
“I’ve got two names,” confides 6 to 5 and -2, “6 and half a dozen.”
“Well, we can’t have -2 of anything,” jokes Larry.
-2 looks tearful. Larry realises his mistake. He is sorry that he has upset -2.'

from 'Violet Jelly' by Ann Sharples ('look inside' on amazon.com)

Hope you enjoy this extract.

Have fun!

9 comments:

steven said...

aguja can you imagine as the author of this excerpt has, if the entire world was alive like this?! oh wow. steven

Joyfulsister said...

I enjoyed reading your post, Thank you for sharing this.

Aloha Lorie

My Castle in Spain said...

oh i wish i could command a reluctant bag of rice to transform itself into risotto illico presto! Love that story! :-)

ps : and me too...i keep my poufs until they drop dead!

Olga said...

Thank you for the Sunday Snippet. I have really enjoyed it. Violet Jelly seems very interesting.

Melissa Sarno said...

I love the gate with no fence. "They all go through the gate, because it is fun. No one wants to go round it."
You capture innocence and playtime so well here.

Style, She Wrote said...

Violet Jelly -- what a cute name! xo style, she wrote

tinajo said...

I love it, snippets are great! :-)

K said...

I love this extract from 'Violet Jelly'. It's so full of fun and vibrancy, apart from the bit where -2 is upset....awww

aguja said...

What fantastic comments! Thank you so much for the encouragement. Do look at my web site - www.annsharples.com
to see more of the characters. Also, look inside the book on amazon.com to read more. There are two versions (illustrated and unillustrated) so, if you know any children, or adults, who might enjoy reading the book, please tell them to look.
I know that this sounds like a sales pitch, but it is really that I would like to know that 'Violet Jelly' is being read more widely ... but only if people want to read it.

There is a sequel to come ... and a third book to make a trilogy, which finishes it off and shows the origin of the characters.