Tilly's Tale

First you must go to http://inkonmyfingers.blogspot.com to see the pictures Susannah posted on her blog. They kept inspiring me so til I came up with my own story... I wound up using the same name Susannah used I guess because she made her so real. I tried Dottie because she reminded of an old neighbor named Dot but went back to Tilly.


Tilly's Tale

Her name is Dorothea "Tilly" Tillinghurst. She is the long lost cousin of my mother's neighbor Dorothy Jean Taylor Kelly and Dot's namesake. Tilly detests the name Dorothea with a purple passion and would legally change her it if she could, but such things were not done in her era. The only time a woman changed her name was her last name when she married. That was not in the picture at the moment. She prefers to be called Tilly by her friends.

Tilly loves dogs and has three of them. One is named Dorothy after Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz". The other two dogs are Dudley and Toto too. Tilly would be quite content just to live out the remainder of her days with her these three faithful companions. She is very comfortable in her own skin and knows her self intimately.

She can also be the life of the party. Always smiling and always charming. Her best friend is Esmerelda or Esme, who is quite the opposite of Tilly. Esmie is rather somber. Tilly is always trying to fix Esme up with some of her male friends, which she seems to have an abundant supply on hand. Most of the time Esme doesn't like the men Tilly sets her up with, but she keeps trying, hoping one day they will find the right man for both of them. They are not the least bit worried about being old maids yet because they feel as if they have their whole lives ahead of them.

They go out on the town with the likes of Jerry Lee Conway and Albert "Bertie" Bankstone. Jerry Lee dreams of being a singer someday only he cannot sing a note but they love him anyway. Bertie is not sure who he wants to be when he grows up. The four of them usually have a great time together at the club laughing and dancing. But they are all just friends. They would never dream of ruining their bond.

Esme can be moody sometimes, but Tilly never never lets that spoil her evenings. She is used to Esme's moods because she has known her since childhood. They come as a package deal. If you want to take Tilly out, you have to find a date or Esme or Tilly will not go. She is a true blue and faithful friend.

Tilly's first love had been Aldolfo who was an exchange student who came to her high school in the tenth grade. He was absolutely gorgeous. He also had an attractive girlfriend named Rebecca. She seemed much more mature in body build than the other girls at their school. Aldolfo always paid special attention to Tilly and made her feel special. Once he even asked her geometry if she woudl have an affair with him on a day when she was sick, thrown up that morning and just felt awful. Then he asked, "Well?" She told him emphatically "YES!" in a tone that she'd never heard from herself before. It even surprised her. She began to feel better immediately.

On that fateful day she never would have dreamed they would end up working part time in a department store chain and begin dating. It felt like a dream. Tilly just couldn't believe her luck when she was with him. If Esme had been there, she would have turned to her to aske her, "Are you believing this?" It was not like Tilly had low self esteem. Hardly.

Tilly and her family took Aldolfo with them on a convention in New Orleans a year after high school. It was one of the best times of her life. At first she could not eat around him but before the trip was over, she was able to eat. Her family loved Aldolfo as much as she did. That fall Aldolfo went off to college at the Universtity of Georgia. Tilly wrote him poetry every day. Some he just didn't know about. One she wished she had never sent to him. It was after that Aldolfo came to visit and ended their relationship because he did not feel the same way about her. It was one of the worst days of her life.

She was in shock after Aldolfo left early that afternoon. Her Aunt Voncil was visiting her mother that day. Even she could tell there was something not quite right with Tilly. So Tilly held it all in for a long time until she finally broke down one day out of the blue while listening to a song on the radio. He mother tried to comfort her. She told her to phone Aldolfo to see if they could have lunch. They did have lunch but it just wasn't the same. It was sad.

Much later Aldolfo would see her all dressed up for going out on a night on the town. Little did he know it ws to see a singer in a band whom she and Esme had huge crushes on. It was almost like an addition for them. Aldolfo began to look at them as they'd grown horns or turned in to lesbians. They were afraid they would miss something so they went to the nightclub every night to see the show in hopes Ralph, the lead singer would sing to them as he often did. Sometimes they all would go out for breakfast after the show with the rest of the band, staying up late talking, laughing and having the best time of their lives. Nothing else mattered. Not even Aldolfo now.

Even when Ralph chose Esme over her one night, it did not come between their friendship. They had vowed long ago that no man ever would come between them. They all remained friends for years after the band split up. The Christmas cards eventually stopped coming from Ralph.

Much later Tilly ws invited by yet another old beau name Roman to Italy to visit his family in Tuscany. Esme went with her hoping she might find the man of her dreams there, but her dreams were dashed when she got seasick from the voyage over and never got her land legs. So Esme had to remain in the hotel while Tilly went sight-seeing with Roman's family. Although Roman was one of THE most handsomest men they'd ever laid eyes on, he had several things against him in Tilly book of prerequisites in a husband. First, he was a momma's boy and that would never work. Second, she did not want to move to Tuscany even if she loved the beautiful countryside. All she had ever known was home and she was content there with her life. She would be too homesick here. Deep down she knew Roman was not the one for her. He would not want to live in the states any more than she wanted to live in Italy. He had a family vineyard to run but she learned later on that he became a priest. Did she drive him to that profession she often wondered? No, she also heard he married a local beauty queen. Not that she couldn't have entered a pageant or two herself. She was just not beauty pageant inclined.

Chapter 2

Tilly had a friend name Drew who was an excellent artist. He had a way with color. He attempted to paint a portrait of her early in his career, but Tilly felt like he never captured the "real" her. Esmie was always at the sitting sessions and Tilly thought Drew was sweet on Esme. In fact, she thought he captured Esme's serious nature on canvas in her image instead. Of course she would never say anything to hurt either of her friends' feelings. So she kept her thoughts to herself.

Drew did enter the portrait in a local artist contest and won fourth place for it. He won a hundred dollars also. At this contest an unknown man offered to buy the portrait for fifty dollars. Drew didn't like the idea at first because he hated to part with his art. He knew he'd always be able to see it at Tilly's home whenever he visited there which was frequently. Tilly encouraged Drew to take the stranger up on his offer. She told him he could always paint another one of her later. He was a starving artist after all and needed the money. That day seemed to be his lucky day. He might not get a chance like that again. So Drew took the man's money but did not seem thrilled about it.

Her curiosty got the better of Tilly. After their transaction was final and Drew had his money in hand, the man was walking away with her portrait wrapped in brown paper. She approached the man, lightly put her delicate hand upon his arm, "Excuse me," she said shyly even for her as he turned to her. "Why did you buy that painting out of all the ones shown today?"

He smiled a wicked smile and said, "I know a good thing when I see it." When he saw the look on her face, he laughed as he continued, "There was just something about it; There was something about the eyes... a sort of longing no one else sees. It made me just want to reach up and brush her cheek to reassure her that everything will be fine now. Sort of like this..." and he touched her own cheek the way she envisioned him touching her cheek in the portrait. Only this was better. Without even realizing it, Tilly leaned into his hand, closed her eyes, sighed and when she opened her them to look into his gorgeous green eyes, tears were forming in her's. She was not the sort to cry especially in front of a rank stranger. Yet he did not feel like a stranger. Already he'd brought out more emotions from her than anyone ever had before.

She knew in a instant at that exact moment that he was the man of her dreams with just a few words and a simple touch. He was the man she would love the rest of her days and beyond.

"Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me?" He asked.

To herself she thought, I could drink coffee with you for the rest of my life. "Only if my friends may come along too." She said to him.



There is more to come... please excuse the typos as I was typing fast.