Little Miss Lemondrop surveyed the room with a sniff. The usual boors. There was Cyril, with his odious cigar and penchant for dropping ash on the carpets. There was Forsythe. How many times had she slapped away his despicable, wandering hands?! Heinz and Wilhelm, heirs to the Oppenheim fortune, were off in the corner leering over a buxom Hollywood starlet.
It was not to be borne!
Who devised the particular instrument of torture known as high society?, wondered Little Miss Lemondrop, itching to clobber the culprit with a sturdy whalebone corset.
"Miss Lemondrop, I presume?"
Little Miss Lemondrop spun around and looked into the eyes of a tall, dark stranger. She swallowed hard. Still, she was not to be taken in so easily.
"Yes, you do presume," she replied, looking away as if boredom was her latest accessory, a new strand of pearls.
"Cut it out, my dear," said the stranger, moving closer and speaking in low tones, "I know a game girl when I see one. What if I were to tell you I have a raft tethered to the dock out back and I'm fixing to sail down the river as soon as I find myself a willing partner in crime?"
Little Miss Lemondrop's eyes grew very wide.
"But what about Cyril?," she stammered.
"Who's Cyril?," asked the stranger.
"My fiancé," she said, nodding toward the boorish chap who was, at that moment, guffawing at his own jokes and tapping ash all over kingdom come.
The stranger regarded Cyril for a moment, then turned to gaze into Miss Lemondrop's eyes.
"I don't know how to tell you, but this should be the easiest decision you ever have to make," he said.
And, to be sure, it was.
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Dear reader, I had every intention of hosting a giveaway for the holiday season...but then I opened the door and got trampled by a herd of cousins. And it has been a rodeo around here ever since (just kidding, it has been lovely...a very busy kind of lovely.)
Anyway, what better way to start the new year than to give away Little Miss Lemondrop? She is so spirited and full of adventure. Surely you will find you have heaps in common. Surely the two of you will cook up all kinds of mischief and throw caution to the wind on more than one occasion.
I am giving away the original painting, although I do expect to scan Little Miss Lemondrop and offer a print version in my shop, since I think she is so sweet. And she is wearing that particular shade of blue I can never truly part with.
If you would like to be considered for the contest, simply leave a comment below. I will draw and announce a winner on Friday.