The Queen of Calamity

When Calamity Kim finishes a project she often feels just like a Queen!

It's almost as if she has been locked in a tower, high above the castle.

She is able to look out and see the sky and the birds and the people far  below going about their daily routine.

While she sits at her sewing machine high above them, sewing day and night...night and day to try and create some new and enchanting apron to wear, the crowds  are unaware that she is so hard at work.

If they knew I'm sure they would come to her with treats of sweet honey and cake and perhaps a bit of ginger tea to quench her  parched throat.

I once was told that a wicked old witch had been so emerald with envy of Calamity Kim's sewing skillz that she had put a spell on her which can only be broken by finding the rare and exotic flower of  a certain type of orchid that only grows in the far away Gardens of Babylon and creating a poultice from the crushed flower and placing that on the tip of her longest finger on her right hand.
The finger that is covered with callus from sewing without her thimble.
But that may be just a rumor and not true, even though it is often whispered and wondered about here in the servants quarters.

They also whisper that she can sometimes be seen in the royal garden walking about, stopping to smell the newly opened rose blossoms or sitting on a cement bench while gazing up at the moon so blue and circled with silver rings, as it sometimes appears.

No one knows who keeps the keys to her tower.

Once I was allowed to carry up the tray with her morning meal and I could only hear the sewing machine as it ran at top speed through her  fabrics.

I stood at her door and listened for a moment and then passed the tray through the opening and set it on the table just on the other side of the door.

I caught a glimpse of her just as she startled at the sound and her cheeks were so flushed and her eyes so bright I thought perhaps she might have a fever.
Perhaps the rumors of a spell were true!
I heard that she was quite  adventurous and wild in her youth and would often celebrate into the wee hours of dawn with merriment and laughter.

But I have never witnessed that and I am sure I would have if it were true, for I have lived here all my life at the castle and served the Calamity Queen all my days.

I do think about her quite a bit as I go about my daily chores.

Her sewing is quite legendary all through the country! Why, I even heard of a lady from France once bought one of her aprons!

She had it shipped all the way over there  and I heard she dances around the Eiffel tower with it on!

Isn't that something to believe?!!

It's what makes me so happy to serve her! She is a sweet and simple woman really, not like those other stuffy, stuck up Queens from other counties!

She used to hop on her horse and ride all over, visiting the people on their farms and giving them small quilts and pincushions and sometimes dolls and hats that she made.

I think that this is one of the reasons that the wicked old witch cast her spell (if it is true at all) because she couldn't stand it that Calamity Kim gave away the very things that she spent so much time and devotion creating. That wicked old witch never gave anybody anything except a headache and she'd cross your eyes if she caught you looking at her sideways!

The King's Guard had taught Calamity to shoot a long rifle when she was still just the princess and she could rope and ride like nobody's business!

I remember back when I was just a small girl myself, and I would  sit on the split rail fence and watch as she rode her prize Appaloosa named Crazy Quilt (because she had spots that looked like one) and my heart would almost burst with pride for our beloved Princess.
Once I even got to go to the beach with her because none of the other servants had finished their chores.

  I will never forget that day as the sun sparkled on the water like a million diamonds but still didn't get near the shine of her eyes as she spoke to me of her love of sewing and how she had dreams for making many things.

Why, she said that she laid awake many nights just thinking about how to do a certain stitch or the best way to embroider a flower.

I knew right then that she was a regular girl at heart, just like me. Except she one day would wear a crown while I would never have more than this simple kerchief.

So, I think I might just get me a ticket on one of those mighty iron horses they call trains and see if I can travel to the Gardens of Babylon in search of the mysterious exotic flower to break her spell.

Then we could go and play by the shore and she could stop being such a slave to her heartless sewing machine and be joyful and carefree as she once was.

I will keep you informed of my progress as I am taking one of the royal carrier pigeons with me.

It will be a long and arduous task but our Queen is worth whatever trials I must bear to get her release. Tally Ho for now, my friends and I shall be back before the chicks grow to lay their own sweet eggs.
Wish me luck upon my journey and when you see a flower, think of me and my quest.

Pictures in this story were borrowed from Nyctreeman at Flickr.

Working on pictures of another finished smock now...hope you liked the story... Love & Stitches, Calamity Kim

Comments

[Karen from A`Musements]

All Hail The Queen! Long Live The Queen!
Queen of Calamity, Queen of Stitches, Queen of Stories and Journeys of the Mind...
Blog away, you blanket stitch maven! Love your way with words, how you hold court with a needle, your regal use of the Pfaff... Happy trails!
xoxo
K

[karen]

Your stories are amazing!! You should write a novel. I find it hard stringing three words together, never mind aspiring to your narrations.

[Jeannie]

I bow to you My Queen. I wish that you would publish your words and work so that we lowly servants might one day aspire to create as freely as you.

[calamity kim]

I can only publish them here, my dears. So enjoy it while you can! You could always print them out and staple them together.

[RJ]

Wonderful Story! Great choice of pictures.

[Magpie Sue]

I bow before thee, O Queen! Congratulations on your latest creation!!

[Sara Shalom]

Proverbs 14:32...
"When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge."

What a Queen indeed! ;)