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| MAGPIE TALES Willow's Mag 32 |
She came round to the pungent odour of ammonia. Desperately she turned her head from side to side, but the smell followed her; somebody was holding a bottle of smelling salts to her nose.
Slowly she regained her faculties and remembered where she was; she opened her eyes to see several concerned faces bent over her. Her sister was there, as was Mrs. Brownlow, their chaperone, and her best friend Melanie. Raising her eyes, she saw HIS face, towering over the women. looking down on her with anxious eyes. She shivered a little, HE was here, looking down at her. Dimly, she wondered, why were they looking down on her? All she remembered was being whirled about the room by HIM in a sensuous waltz, getting giddier and giddier with the excitement of it all. So why was she lying on the chaiselongue now?
Her eyes found those of her sister. Her sister came closer.
“What happened?”, she whispered.
“You fainted during the waltz”, her sister whispered back.
“How did I come to lie on the sofa, who carried me here?”
“HE did, he carried you in his arms. He carried you here, then he laid you on the sofa. I saw him put both his hands around your waist to adjust your skirts, but then Mrs. Brownlow stepped in and made him leave you”.
She shivered again. A delicious feeling came over her. It had all been worth it!
The time her sister and Melanie had spent pulling on her corset strings, pulling them tighter and tighter, until she could barely breathe, had been time and effort well spent. No matter that she had almost passed out on her way to the Ball, no matter that her ribcage hurt abominably, HE had noticed her tiny waist, HE had measured it with his hands, HE had carried her perfect hourglass figure.
Hmmph! Two minutes in front of me on LInky and that's my only good idea of the week gone for nothing. But I like the story . . .
ReplyDeleteGood story...I'm glad I didn't have to wear such nonsense to "get a man"...whew nowadays the less you wear the better!
ReplyDeleteNice Magpie.
Corsets came to mind as soon as I saw the hourglass.
ReplyDeleteI loved your story and realised that I was holding my breath as I read it.
Thank goodness that we can dress comfortably these days. I feel constrained now if I have to look smart and put on a pair of heels.
I too, was holding my breath. Reminds me that I need a good 'breathless book' to drop into right now.
ReplyDeleteI think it's kind of funny that I've always loved all things Victorian. I love the lace, the art, the wierd music, the literature. Of course I identified with the "tom girl" in everything, Jo in Little Women, etc., but wanted to be Amy! And there is no way in hell that I wear heels, though I love how they look!
Ah. Contradictions.
Friko - loved your story again. Fashion and passion!
ReplyDeletePerfect period piece! I can't even IMAGINE how awful a corset would be -- still shudder at the memory of panty girdles - worn, not because one was fat (and one wasn't, not back then) but to prevent unseemly jiggling.
ReplyDeleteLove what you did with the prompt. Fiction has never come easy for me and I envy those who do it and make it seem so very easy. Like yourself,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Good thing the smelling salts brought her around or her time would have been up.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully done--so evocative of its time--and every chaperone should have a name like Mrs. Brownlow!
ReplyDeletePerhaps that tiny waist got Scarlett what she wanted but what good did it do her? In the end, Brett just didn't "give a damn!"
ReplyDeleteGood story.
Well done - what a fun read this is!
ReplyDeleteMy granny had a 16" waist at the age of 16 with her mother's shoe against her butt to tighten the strings before she went out and met my grandfather who was 36.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your story Friko.
Now about those smelling salts, they would induce one to cough, but worse encourage a gallon of snot to drip off one's face afterwards. MOST unattractive, ne'st pas?
XO
WWW
You succeeded yet again, dear Friko,
ReplyDeletetook the Willow challenge and came up
with a corker of a yarn; putting us all into
that terrible corset; my cheeks are still blue.
These short stories of yours are delicious,
and what a compliment to the Magpie
challenge. Tess is so great about letting
us go whatever direction suits us.
But you always seem to find your own way,
and the results are boffo!
Had thought of corsetts, however, could not come up with the tale to follow the thought.... Did a fashion show eons ago, wearing a turn of the century wedding dress... even that short time made me appreciative of being past time for them.
ReplyDeleteYet, your tale brings a smile to my face! Well done once again.
"..HE had carried her perfect hourglass figure."
ReplyDeleteSounds as though she carried it pretty well, too.
Of course this brought to mind Atlanta's most famous hour glass figure: Scarlett herself.
ReplyDeleteOh thank goodness we don't have to endure that anymore!
ReplyDeleteLovely take on the prompt
Having just gotten out of a back support garment, I can relate a bit. I was really impressed with how my waist looked but sure wouldn't want to dance in one.
ReplyDeleteYour story made me smile as I remembered my mother who always said "vanity suffers no pain".
Seems as if Mr.Darcy's been at it again!! Lots of romantic fun..thanks!
ReplyDeletelovely story.. loved that perfect hourglass figure
ReplyDeleteI don't know how those women breathed in those tight corsets, much less danced! I guess that's why they had so many fainting couches.
ReplyDeleteBrought back time for me, memories of poor Mum, squeezing into boned and laced corsets. Back then, women seemed doomed to never get back to a slim figure after childbirth.
ReplyDeleteOf course, your heroine did not have the option Cher took to remove a couple of ribs!
Love the interpretation. And there's a strange hint of Brothers Grimm to this. I dig it.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant take on Willow's photo - a great read.
ReplyDeleteWhat women sometimes go thru 2 b noticed by men!
ReplyDeletethis has such a fairy tale feeling to it...nice write...kinda glad ladies dont abuse themselves thea way any more...nice magpie.
ReplyDeleteOh, Friko. I have come to depend on you and your writings. I was there. I was the one in a dead faint....I was enjoying myself til I heard that "he" had "carried" me to the sofa. *sigh* Not possible....unless he's also a weight lifter.
ReplyDeleteHeheh, lesson number one in the art of being a woman! :D
ReplyDeleteWahnsinn..! So spannend und einfallsreich sind Deine "storys" allemal.
ReplyDeletecurse you - you are such a damn good writer. Grrr. Seriously - excellent story
ReplyDeleteThe things people do for love! Nicely told.
ReplyDeleteDeliciously wonderful. Reminds me of Mammy lacing Scarlet in "Gone With The Wind". Very nice!
ReplyDeleteFriko this is a wonderful take on the prompt! I love it! :-)
ReplyDeleteamazingly good. I was a little worried at first, glad it ended well. Measuring her waist with his hands, ha, so incredible that men could actually fit their hands around a woman's waist back then. Though i am grateful to live in a time when i dont have to wear a corset, i wish i could have the teeny waist.
ReplyDeleteWomen were so much smaller really. I was in an antique store in Savannah and saw some ladies’ boots; they looked like boots for a child. I also saw a pretty laced blouse, it would have fit my daughter when she was 10. I went to a historic cemetery and some of the adult graves were not big either, we have grown a lot.
ReplyDelete