Creative Nudge #4 and My Response to the Last One

Oops - I never got around to posting my response to the photo-nudge from two weeks ago! Sorry guys - I've been sick and it's been kicking my tail. Slowly getting back to normal though. Here's the picture as a refresher (don't forget you can buy a print here!)

"Don't touch the presents under the tree or the evil Christmas Tree Squid will come and clamp on your face while your asleep AND you won't get any presents this year!"

A mouthful, I know. That's my mom for you. Full of warnings and, um, an overactive imagination. The funny thing is we believed her when we were little. I never touched so much as a single present before Christmas morning. It was torture. So many tantalizing packages in red, green, gold, and silver, so many strange shapes, and I couldn't so much as poke them let alone shake them!

I was in middle school before I started realizing that my Mom's stories might be a bit strange. I clearly remember telling little Bobby Walker in our art class about the little children living on the other side of the moon who wouldn't have any teeth if we didn't stick the one's we lost under our pillow for the tooth astronaut to take, and his look of complete confusion. At first I thought his tale of a tooth fairy was really weird, but then we started talking, and I found out about all those little stories most children grow up with, and I had never heard.

Still, it wasn't until I was in highschool that I conquered my fear of the evil Christmas Tree Squid. I had my boy friend to thank for that. We were talking about my weird Mom and he asked me why I had never drawn any of the strange creatures she had told us about. Took me totally by surprise, but I guess he had a good point. I mean, at that point I was drawing everything I could, on everything I could, so why not that?

The first version of the Christmas Tree Squid was drawn on a paper napkin that had grease stains from what the cafeteria called pizza, but soon I had drawn him over and over again. Now I'm a world famous children's author, and most of my stories are based on the tales I heard as a child. My Mom is incredibly proud of me, and she has co-written a few of the stories with me, but I've also learned that I have her talent for the absurd, just look at my story about the Ninja Goldfish!

Thanks Mom. Merry Christmas.

******

Note: that story is a complete fabrication! While I DO have a very active imagination (obviously) I can't draw. Oh well. 

Creative Nudge #4: "Leather." That's right - one word. Simple and sweet. What are you going to do with that one word? 

Once you write a response don't forget to come back and leave a link in the linky tool below! I've included a link for the last Creative Nudge.

~ Ruthie ~