Flunkies?
Me: I remember when my
brother Paul and me used to make flunkies.
The Hubby: Flunkies, what do
you mean you used to make flunkies? Do you mean a person who performs
relatively menial tasks for someone else, especially obsequiously? Like a
minion, a lackey, a subordinate, or an underling?
Me: Yes, exactly, and by the
way, when did you become a dictionary?
The Hubby: Never mind that. You
can’t just turn people into flunkies.
Me: No, no, you don’t
understand. Flunkies aren’t people. Flunky is the name we gave to the clay
figures we molded to act out the scenarios we made up.
The Hubby: Wait a minute. Is
this another one of your writing journey blog posts?
Me: Why yes it is. How did
you ever guess?
The Hubby: All right then,
is this the part where I ask you to tell me your story?
Me: I thought you’d never
ask. And please don’t roll your eyes at me. First of all, let me say that it wasn’t
me, but Paul who invented flunkies. Their shape was generally the same as Spook
from Wizard of Id comic strip. If you aren’t of a certain age or perhaps a
comic junkie you probably don’t know what Spook looks like. That’s why I’ve
included a picture. That’s generally what flunkies looked like; only they
weren’t covered with hair.
Paul and I formed the clay
into these capsule shaped figures and snapped toothpicks in half for their arms
and legs. After we finished making the flunkies they took on a life of their
own.
A few flunkies realized they
were musically talented and decided to form a band. They heard about another
flunky who could sing. The lead guitarist flunky asked Paul to make them some
instruments. Paul knew a lot about instruments back then. As a matter of fact,
he still does. He tediously formed the clay into tiny guitars, drums, keyboard,
microphones and amplifiers. He even made cords for everything using yo-yo
string. There were a couple flunkies left. And while they loved music, they
didn’t have any musical talent. They became flunky roadies.
The flunky band was amazing!
They produced covers of songs by such bands as The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel
and The Rolling Stones. Their whirlwind Texas tour went on for probably three
whole days before Mom told us to stay out of the toothpicks and to get our clay
band off the kitchen table.
The Hubby: Okay so you made
these flunkies…they formed a band…they went on tour then they ended up at the
back of your closet. What does any of this have to do with your writing
journey?
Me: Can’t you see the
amazing story world we created? This simple exercise might have been child’s
play back then, but now I see it was a precursor to my love of story and my
love of writing.
The Hubby: Oh. I can see how
you came to that assessment. But…
Me: But what?
The Hubby: Well, do you
think maybe you and your brother just might have an affinity with clay?
Me: You just don’t get it…
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