Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Write in the HUMOR genre (04/12/07)
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TITLE: Tuneless Noella | Previous Challenge Entry
By Misti Chancellor
04/13/07 -
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Noella’s statement about not being able to carry a tune in a bucket was more than just a cliché; it was a quite literal statement of fact. You see, it happened this way:
One day when Noella was young, her class at school was selected to put on a play for the county fair. The teacher quite appropriately chose a play about a county fair in a small town. As the class began to read through the play, Noella read the words to one of the songs and fell head over heals in love with it. After all, the entire song dealt with the utterly ridiculous, and everyone knew that she LOVED the utterly ridiculous. Before she could stop herself, she had entered the audition for the part.
One by one, each of the students auditioning for the part went forward and gave their best rendition of the song. Soon it was Noella’s turn. As soon as she let forth the first screech (her attempt at a note, which to her ears sounded most beautifully ridiculous) all her classmates poked their fingers deep into their ears and ran from the room. Her teacher stopped her before she could reach the second note. “I have an idea. Perhaps, instead of singing the song, you could help to illustrate the ridiculous aspects of the song in the background. I’ll think of something. For now, I need your help. Since no one else is here to audition, can you help me carry these copies of the music back to the music room? Oh, and grab that bucket over there. It needs to go back, too.” Noella, of course, gladly agreed.
Noella, being the efficient child that she was, dropped the music into the bucket and followed her teacher down the hallway as fast as her little legs could carry her. She paid scant attention to the slight swishing sound she heard behind her as she went. Arriving at the room, she reached into the bucket to retrieve the music from it, only to find that all but one solitary page, containing only one note, was left in the bucket. An odd look raced across her small features, as she turned to look behind her. The hallway was littered with pages and pages of music! It had drifted out of the bucket as Noella walked.
Noella’s mind quickly seized on the utterly ridiculous aspect of the situation and soon she was rolling on the floor cackling hysterically. Her teacher took in the scene and wasn’t long in joining her in her merriment. At length, the two recovered sufficiently to walk the length of the hallway gathering up the scattered pages, Noella handing them to her teacher as she picked them up. In this way, Noella was in no danger of the music escaping from her again.
In Noella’s defense, no one had told her that the bucket was a prop for the play and designed as a trick bucket. As she had traveled the length of the hallway, swinging the bucket, the hinged bottom of the bucket flapped open allowing the music to trickle out.
But to this day, when asked why she so enjoys the utterly ridiculous, she always gives the same response, and cackles hysterically as she remembers the day when she truly could not carry a tune in a bucket.
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"Heals" in paragraph 3 should be "heels."
Great descriptions! My favorite phrase: "slight swishing sound." I could hear this and enjoyed the alliteration.
The title also grabbed me--as I'm curious about any title that contains a personal name. Good job!
Consider eliminating one or two of the "you see"s in the first 2 paragraphs.
This had the feel of a fable, very entertaining.