A Story. . .

Mr. Bun-Bun and his sister Tulip

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
Today, I bring you a very special treat!  I am posting a story I wrote, which was inspired by someone I admire very much!  

Recently, I began to follow on Twitter and Instagram the wonderful writer/illustrator/creator of lovely books and animated movies, William Joyce and to my surprise and delight, he has followed me back!  I have admired his work for such a long time and so it just reminds me what a wonderful thing the Internet and social media can be for helping you to get to tell some of your favorite artists how much you love their work!  A couple of weeks ago, I had commented on one of William Joyce's Instagram posts that his new book "Ollie's Odyssey"(which will be published next year) reminds me of how I came to adopt Mr. Bun-Bun, a member of our lovely Doll and Animal Family. I rescued him on a rainy night, off the sidewalk in front of our apartment in Washington, DC (in a wonderful time before The Tearoom was packed up and moved lock, stock and vintage teacups, off to Maine, where it is now located).  I wrote an Instagram post in response, to which he responded, telling me that he would like to know more of the story of Mr. Bun-Bun.  As always, I have so many projects going on at once, but was beyond pleased to be inspired to write more, encouraged by him!

And so, please make yourself comfortable, get snuggled into bed with a favorite friend (human or toy), if you wish, as I re-count to you what has been told to me by Mr. Bun-Bun about his past life before he came to live with us...and if you would like to read the first part of the story, please click here.

Mr. Bun-Bun - More About His Life

I have spoken to Mr. Bun-Bun and he tells me that he is very happy here, but he does remember a time before he lived with us.

He remembers The City as being loud, but warm like a big hug.  In the winters, he was taken for walks in the stroller, bundled up close to The Baby.  She was always warm and smelled like the clouds of sweet-smelling powder that The Mommy sprinkled on her.  In the summer, his place was in the stroller next to The Baby, but now it was the summertime which made him warm.  Some days were sunny, some were cloudy and sometimes The Rain would visit with its cousins The Thunder and The Lightning.  They never stayed too long, but they made you wish they would have left sooner.

Mr. Bun-Bun lived with his family in a beautiful building, with many friendly neighbors, on a pretty street lined with trees, a small garden out front.  The garden was full of flowers, but his favorites were the alliums, which looked to him like large, round purple lollipops.  He often wondered what they would taste like, but was never got close enough to actually taste one.  He admired them all the same and kept a look out for more in the gardens of Other People.

Being driven around in a stroller, with The Mommy as chauffeur was pleasant and allowed  him to see many beautiful sights.  There were houses as beautiful as his own, enormous marble statues, small shops where The Mommy bought beautiful things to eat and drink and books to read.  But his favorite sights were the flowers.  In the summer, there were the bright red hibiscus, the cannas (the flame-colored were his favorites), the large heart-shaped taro leaves, the giant white magnolias and of course, the beautiful round lolly-pop shaped purple alliums.  In the fall and winter, he loved to see the pansies, in their beautiful colors, still braving the cold, snuggled next to the purple and white ornamental kale in the flower pots and gardens.  Many times at night, snuggled next to The Baby, who was already deep in Dreamland, he could close his eyes and see all of the colors of the flowers, just before his train left for Dreamland as well.

Many days, The Mommy would take The Baby and Mr. Bun-Bun to that tea room close to their house.  She would buy the Shortbread Cookie Trio and an Iced Assam Tea.  She would give the chocolate and vanilla shortbread cookies to The Baby and have the matcha tea cookie herself, along with her iced tea.  The Baby would drop cookie crumbs, which Mr. Bun-Bun would happily munch on and the three of them would sit next to the cannas, on the stone bench in the tiny front yard of the tearoom in the warm and friendly sunshine.

Mr. Bun-Bun does remember the rainy night when, in her hurry to get home, The Mommy hit a bump on the sidewalk with the stroller and he was bounced out onto the sidewalk.  He tried to cry out, but he knew that the only one who could hear him was The Baby and already, she was being wheeled up the street quickly before the storm got worse.  Many people walked past him lying there and some stopped to look at him.  He was too soggy to get up and wasn’t at all sure what would become of him.  He started to cry, but no one could tell because he was already so wet.  Someone stopped and propped him up next to a tree in a planter, which was much bigger than he was, but was still much smaller than The People.   He asked the tree how it came to have such an unusual shape and the tree told him that it had had a special tree haircut called “topiary” by The Gardening People.  It didn’t hurt and seemed to amuse them, so he didn’t really mind if they did it. 

The Rain began to come down harder and now The Rain’s rowdy siblings The Thunder and The Lightning arrived as well.  In the flashing light and crashing noise he sat.  He was very surprised when one of The People, A Lady, appeared before him, picked him up and took him inside of a building.  He was grateful to be out of the rain and it was already warmer than it had been outside.  The Lady took him into her apartment and brought him into the bathroom, where she ran some warm water in the sink and added some soap.  He wondered what she was doing!  Wasn’t he already wet enough?  But as soon as she lowered him into the warm,soapy water, he was grateful.  Oh my, that felt much nicer than sitting in the rain (and truthfully, he did need a washing since The Baby had spilled juice on him one day recently and he still had sticky bits in his fur)!  After drying him with a fluffy towel, The Lady placed him on the radiator, which sizzled and ticked in the most comforting way.

He tells me he is most happy in his new home with The Rescue Mommy and The Rescue Daddy (as he came to think of them).  He has joined a large family of dolls and toys, many of them rescues such as himself.  His beautiful new sisters Tulip and Thursday and his brother, the friendly and fluffy Mr. Bear were all adopted from a flea market.  His new brother Teddy is the venerable veteran of the family, having been the companion of The Rescue Mommy since she was born.  Mr. Mookie and Baby Hoobert were adopted from Etsy.  And Baby Adin, Bebé Agnès, Bebé Noisette, Petunia and the twins Canelle and Clafouti once belonged to The Mommy of The Rescue Mommy. What an interesting family they are and they have many stories to tell each other, most of which are unknown by their Rescue Parents.

Many times, mostly late at Night, Mr. Bun-Bun thinks of The Baby and her Mommy and wonders if they miss him.  Honestly, The Baby could be quite absent-minded at times (as babies sometimes are) and so he isn’t sure if she even remembers him.  But he remembers her and hopes that there is a place where toys and their original owners see each other once again.

In the meanwhile, he does love his new life, living in the room with the periwinkle walls and late at night, when their People are asleep, they quietly tell each other stories of their past lives before they came to live together.  Mr. Bun-Bun tells the others of the red hibiscus, flame-colored callas, the huge white giant magnolias, the purple pansies and ornamental kale and of course, he has never forgotten his favorites, the purple alliums, like giant lollipops!  As he tells his family about his favorite flowers, their eyes light up like they are watching fireworks and he knows that for a moment, they are all together, snuggled up to The Baby, riding past the summer gardens of the City, with the cicadas singing them a song.  Closing their eyes, they see all of the colors of the flowers, just before their train leaves for Dreamland...

The End

 

Mr. Bun-Bun finishing his

hot chocolate on a rainy morning.

And so, our story for today ends.  But if you would like to see more from The Doll and Animal Family, you are in luck!  One of the projects I am working on includes them and they can't wait to see you at the opening of Le Musée de Divan Rouge, an ornate gallery they will visit soon!  And, I will be reporting on every crumb of cake, every spot of tea and everything they see and do, here on the blog!  So, please check back soon for the festivities!