8 Mini Stories

Hello readers. I hope you are well on this rainy, haily (if that's not a word now it is :-P), dark, autumn day here in Belgium. I feel like some creative writing challenge, so I'm going to challenge myself and write tiny mini stories based on pictures I found on pinterest. Stories don't have to be long; you can often fit a whole story in just a few words. They're stories. Mini stories. Hope you like them.

Mini Story 1

Her name was Millie and she was my sister. She died when I was seven; she was seventeen. She died falling off her motorbike when she was on holiday with her boyfriend and his sister. She died wearing her favourite summer frock; the white one Mama didn't like her to wear because it was see through if the sun shone from behind her. Mama cried when she died; Daddy sobbed and sobbed. My brother ran away from home for a week because he didn't want me to see him cry. I went to Millie's bedroom and I hugged her pillowcase. It was green with purple flowers. I took it to my bedroom and slept with it.

Mini Story 2

"Why, Sarah, why," Jonie asked. Only, she didn't really ask it. She said it, like she wasn't expecting a solid answer.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to sit down and eat with me? Why did you buy me food? I literally took your boyfriend away from you."

"I didn't own him," Sarah said. "And it's just chips."

Jonie smiled her beautiful smile. "Chips are good, though."

"And so is Jonathan," Sarah nodded. "I am not blaming you for wanting him. Besides, he prefers you. That is not your fault either."

Suddenly Jonie hated Jonathan for leaving this sweet girl to be with her.

Mini Story 3

Mama always told me I shouldn't pass notes to people in school, but when someone passes you a note, what else can you do but except it? Especially when it's specially written for you. It's not every day that you get a note written for you. The teacher was explaining about African tribes and Christopher Columbus but I stopped listening to her to open the note. 

You're stupid and ugly, it said.

It was the first time someone had written it instead of saying it. Now it was written down, it became a fact.

Mini Story 4

Dear Diary, 

We are married. We got married in the mountains; it was just us two, and Bets and Dorian, and the pastor. Bets took pictures, Dorian played guitar, the pastor married us. Joe and I, we just smiled and smiled. Our cheeks hurt from happiness. Maybe when our parents see how happy we are, they will give in. Maybe they will be okay with us being husband and wife. Maybe one day. But even if they never do, we have each other. And we have these mountains and we have Michael Jackson cd's and a Bible. We will be okay. I am so happy my heart could burst. I must leave; my husband awaits. 

Yours truly, a wife.

Mini Story 5

When you have a crush on your brothers' roommate, you visit your brother often.

"Oh, hey sis," my brother would say.

"Oh, hey bro," I would say, but I would look over his shoulder and look at him. He was always at his desk, writing. Poems, books, pieces of future classic literature. He had a cup of coffee next to him and the radio played orchestral music he couldn't hear because he was so absorbed into his writing. Oh, but he looked so good in his brown waistcoat and messy hair. I was sure I could stare at him for ages.

"You're too obvious," my brother whispered.

"Apparently not," I whispered back. He didn't even look up when I came in anymore.

My brothers' roommate put his pen down and looked at me. "Yes, you are," he said. He was smiling.

Mini Story 6

Where there are large families, there are messy halls. Where there are messy halls, there are plenty of shoes. Where there are halls with plenty of shoes, there are large families. Or, of course, a single lady with an unhealthy obsession with buying shoes.

But when such a single lady comes to live with a large family; then, and only then, things get offhand. If you think your house contains too many shoes, you have not visited the Pickfords. The Pickfords' house was ninety percent shoes, ten percent other. The Pickfords had nine children, their two parents, and now, their jolly aunt Priscilla Pickford. She had two hundred and thirty two pairs of shoes and counting, and Mr Pickford felt suicidal whenever he looked at any single one of them. So one evening, when Priscilla Pickford went out to buy another pair, he held a huge bonfire in the garden with his children. 

They couldn't find any wood for the bonfire, so they elaborated with two hundred and thirty two objects they found lying around in the house. Objects they didn't think they really needed.

Mini Story 7

It had been six years ago since I'd seen her. She had put me out of the house when I was sixteen. "You don't need me to feed ya anymore," she had said. I had asked her, what do I do on my own, and she had said, go find your father. And she had closed the door in my face. I went to my Grandma. My mother didn't even know who my father was; how would I know? I was now both fatherless and motherless. Both didn't want to know me; and that was how it stayed for six long years.

But here she was. I saw her, she was standing at the side of the music floor, looking at the ground in deep thought. I stared at her through all the couples slow dancing between us. My heart beat wild and fast. It was her. The same curly hair. The same thin, white arms. The same dark eyes. Only, she was older; she was sadder. She looked weary.

"Jesus." I prayed. "Jesus, you forgave me. I am going to go to my mum and forgive her."

Mini Story 8

"You know grandma, I've always loved your fridge," Annie smiled.

"You mean all the magnets?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, they're cool. I mean, it looks cool."

"When I was a young girl," Phoebe said, her old hands wrapped around her cup of coffee. "I once made a long journey around the world. I was hopelessly in love with this guy, but because I thought I would never have a chance with him, I went on this journey to try to forget him. Well, every country I was in, some stranger randomly came up to me and gave me a magnet. When I came back home the next year, it turned out he had given them all to me."

"That is so cute,"Annie gushed.

"It was the sweetest thing someone ever did to me."

"Did you date him?"

"Darling, he's grandpa."

Which Mini Story is your favourite?

(For the record this is so much fun to do. My favourite is 5, because he looks like Gilbert Blythe and you can't go wrong there.)

PS MINNIE AND ALFIE IN LARK RISE ARE THE CUTEST COUPLE EVER

Why I love Period Drama so much.

{Many pictures are grabbed from this wonderful place.}

{Warning: There are a toooon of pictures in this post, because it's a post about Period Dramas, and you all know I get rather nuts when I come to this particular topic. So if your Internet is in a bad mood (*cough*  What am I saying, it always is) I'm sorry if all the pictures don't load properly. Come back later, because you'll want to see them all. This is a post very pleasant to the eyes, even if I do say so myself.}

An explanation of this post: WHY I LOVE PERIOD DRAMAS SO FREAKING MUCH. Here are the reasons, the explanations and futher gushing, appreciation and love-showing towards these wonderful shows and movies.

1. The fascination of another era.

I love watching stories and characters in other eras. I don't enjoy modern-set movies; I just don't like them as much. This isn't just because of the eye-candy (you know, zee frills and co, which I will talk about very very soon) it's also because it's the past and that's just fascinating to see carried out on stage. It gives us scents and whiffs of what it was like, and it sends us to a whole new realm; a whole new sphere. When I watch Emma, I'm not in 2016, I'm in the Regency Era, wearing a muslin gown and buying bonnets in Meryton, or whatever. When I'm watching Call the Midwife I'm dipped into a slice of 1956, and I live there for a minute.

And that is wonderful. I'm fascinated, and I always want to learn more about the way they lived, acted and dressed, etc.

{Period Dramas that especially dip me into another era: Call the Midwife / War Horse / Anne of Green Gables / Pride and Prejudice 1995 / Little Dorrit.}

2. THE COSTUMES.

REALLY THOUGH. I cannot even START.

The frills and the silk and the SWISHES. I LOVE THEM. I would watch any terrible movie if the costumes were good. (Well. Maybe not, but really. I just so enjoy watching actors and actresses in Period Costumes. They just all look so terribly gorgeous and beautiful and fantastical and majestic. Especially the rich ones, and there are always plenty of rich ones.)

{Period Dramas with especially good costumes: Belle 2014 / Downton Abbey (SERIOUSLY)/ Emma 2009 (again, just... wow)/ Cinderella / The Young Victoria}

3. This obviously includes the hairstyles and the hats.

No explanation needed, really. We just need to sit down together and appreciate the amazing wigs and hair designers and curling irons and ribbons and hats and bows. Because they're wonderful. (And a Period Drama without HATS? Is that possible? NO. LIFE WOULD BE A BLANK TO ME.)

{Period Dramas with particularly good hairstyles and hats: Wives and Daughters (some of the hairstyles are ridiculous, but MAN they are impressive!) / Amazing Grace / Again, Downton Abbey (the hats in there - *swoon*) / Emma 2009 / Pride and Prejudice 1995}

4. Everything is epic.

Seriously though. When I walk on the beach - is it epic? Is it even slightly epic? No, um, no sir. When step up the stairs? Is it epic? Nope. But whenever someone in a Period Drama even walks in his own HALL, it is epic. The shadows fall on the right places, and the sun shines in the right places, and gahhh... HOW. Sometimes it looks cheesy, but most times it looks EPIC and they wear these swishy things and the right kind of hats and ohh, I get chills.

{Especially epic movies: Horatio Hornblower / Gone with the Wind / War Horse / Testament of Youth / North and South}

5. Focus on Period Details.

THIS MAKES MY HEART HAPPY. I don't know why. But all zee details. All the shots and glances at those authentic Period pieces; whether it be a paintbrush, a close-up of a gown, a typewriter, or a wine-glass... I love it.

{Some Period Dramas that make me happy with a lot of details: Downton Abbey (I mention this a lot, haha, but there's a reason for this) / Belle / Saving Mr Banks / Sense and Sensibility (both versions, actually.)}

6. Scenery

I love that Period Dramas focus a lot on beautiful natural surroundings. People in the past did spend a lot of time outside, and especially those ones who lived in this mansion in the middle of no-where. I always love some excellent, soaring, rollicking green scenery. (Green really is a beautiful, flawless colour. Never tire of it.) (Imagine if we were sick of the colour green! That would be rather problematic, wouldn't it?)

{Period Dramas with especially breath-taking scenery: Sense and Sensibility 2008 / War Horse / Pride and Prejudice (okay okay, both versions) / Bright Star / Far From the Madding Crowd and Poldark (judging from screencaps) / The Sound of Music.}

7. The colours are just... GAH.

SO many period dramas are just VIVID with colour. Especially if they feature rich people. (Yeah, Dickens Movies might not be too colourful. Although, still, there's that marvellous ridiculously pink room in Little Dorrit, right?)

{Some especially colourful movies: Belle / Brooklyn and A Royal Night Out (judging from screencaps!) / The Paradise / Pride and Prejudice 1995 / Emma 2009 / Northanger Abbey / Sense and Sensibility / Anne of Green Gables / Saving Mr Banks.}

8. THEY BREAK MY HEART.

They do. Sooo many Period Dramas (specifically looking at you, cruel and heartless BBC) just crumple me and kill me a bit on the inside. I love it when I cry and cry and cry while watching a movie; it fills me while yet making me feel terrible and useless. It is ridiculous and wonderful and HEARTBREAKING.

(Seriously though, that gif of Testament of Youth up there almost made me cry. Just by LOOKING at it. Pathetic.)

{Particularly heartbreaking Period Dramas: Testament of Youth (wins the prize, fursure) / Call the Midwife episodes / Downton Abbey / Miss Potter / Finding Neveland / The Book Thief / Little Women.}

9. The houses.

They're just fascinating and spark up all my imagination and dreams. We have the lavish in-and-exteriors of the Crawley Family, and the marvellous grounds of Pemberly. We have darling cottages with honeysuckle gardens, and pink-patterned bedrooms. Period Dramas are filled with detail, especially with the houses. The architecture, the windows, the carpets, the way they make everything look perfect... love it. :-)

{Period Dramas with particularly good exterior and interior eye-candy: Downton Abbey / The Great Gatsby and Marie Antoinette (judging from screecaps, they are really amazing in that department) / The Paradise / Lark Rise to Candleford and Cranford (for cute-houses)}

10. Zee HUMOUR

If you know me, you know I always appreciate a good laugh. Yes, I love crying while watching movies, but Oh I LOVE the humour soooo many Period Dramas offer! All the humorous characters, all the witty one-liners, famous facial expressions and funny scenes. Some simple examples right off the top of my head? Mr Collins and his proposal. Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife and the way she sets Chummy and Peter off on a date. The conversations between the Palmers: "I wish the rain would stop"- "I wish YOU would stop."

There is so much excellent humour in Period Dramas and I love it because I dearly love to laugh. :-)

{Period Dramas with particularly good humour: Saving Mr Banks / Pride and Prejudice 1995 / Jeeves and Wooster (DUHH) / Sense and Sensibility 1995}

11. The romance.

BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL SO BEAUTIFUL. And epic and I shiiiiiip.

I mean, NEED I SAY MORE. JUST WATCH P&P AND EMMA AND DOWNTON. (*calms down*) Seriously though, Tom and Sybil, Elinor and Edward, Emma and Knightley, Minnie and Alfie, Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette - SO MANY DARLINGS. I don't think my heart can stop bursting just thinking about these adorable, good, wonderful, real romances. I love them all so much... they fill my heart with joy. (This is my inner Mrs Jennings coming out here.)

{Period Dramas with my favourite romances: All the Jane Austen movies, but especially S&S and Emma and P&P / Downton Abbey / Lark Rise to Candleford / Call the Midwife / Little Dorrit / Wives and Daughters / Miss Potter}

12. The Quotes and the Accents

 Let us not forget the gift of Period Drama quotes that we have so graciously received in our lives. And let us also likewise not forget those lovely accents that we hear with those quotes. THANK YOU. Thank you. We owe you a lot, Period Dramas. <3

{Period Dramas I constantly quote: Little Dorrit / Pride and Prejudice / The Scarlet Pimpernel / Downton Abbey / My Fair Lady / Cranford ("I have a headache of phenomenal dimension")}
{Period Dramas with fun accents: Our Zoo (DEFINITELY Our Zoo!), Downton Abbey (especially Tom's accent), Lark Rise to Candleford ('You must unbu'un.'), My Fair Lady (of course, garn!)}

13. Dance.

I always love a good ball-room scene, or a romantic dance... and well, Period Dramas DEFINITELY have a lot of those. Matthew and Mary had the swooniest dance till Lavinia came, Beatrix Potter had the CUTEST dance in her bedroom, Emma and Knightley were the adorablest couple in the ballroom, and Lizzy demonstrated real levels of sass as she danced with Mr Darcy at Netherfield. I love them all. :-)

{Period Dramas with my favourite dance scenes in 'em: Pride and Prejudice ("Mary, play Grimstock!") / Emma 2009 / DA / Miss Potter / Northanger Abbey / And very well, very well, Becoming Jane.}

14. Zee Music

Music matters so much, and Period Dramas always go for the sweepy and SWOONY kind of music which just finishes the perfectness of it all. I love that each Period Drama has their own theme song, which one just recognises IMMEDIATELY. There's the Lark Rise song, the epic Downton Abbey song, the goooorgeous Call the Midwife theme song, and the galopping beloved Pride and Prejudice 95 theme song... <3

{Period Dramas with particularly good music: The Young Victoria / Finding Neveland / Belle / Sense and Sensibility 1995 / The Book Thief / Little Women / A Royal Night Out.}

15. THE ENDINGS.

I know, I know, not all Period Dramas have good endings (cough, The Book Thief and Testament of Youth and Downton Abbey Christmas Special no.2, cough) but ohhh, MOST OF THEM DO AND... and... I cry. :-)

I do, really. I mean, just look at the happiness - the joy - look at that gif of Amy and Arthur hugging as if their lives depend on it. I've been watching that gif over and over. :-) And those endings... so often so happy and so EMOTIONAL. I so often cry when a movie ends; sometimes because they're so happy and they deserve it SO much; sometimes because I'm sad it's over; sometimes because they look back at the death of someone in the end; and mostly because of all three reasons.

{Period Dramas with excellent endings that MAKE ME CRY because of happiness: Emma 2009 / LITTLE DORRIT / Belle / Lark Rise to Candleford / Downton Abbey (I've not yet seen the last episodes, but I KNOW 100% sure that I'm going to weep for weeks.)}



This post took AAAAGES to write, but I had so much fun and I experienced so many feels while searching all the pictures. Gah, I love Period Dramas. I'm glad I live in 2016, so I can enjoy them. ;-)

(Warning for the foreseeable future: Now I've saved millions of Period Drama pictures into my laptop, a new header might pop up. I'm sick of the one I have now; it's boring, just with one picture.)