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Fifteen minutes of Stardom
The Third Somerset Adventure
By Susan Waterflower Bell

Sunflower took a deep breath as she slipped on her sailor style blouse and lifted her pleated navy blue skirt up and fasten it around her waist. Releasing the breath she peered into her bedroom mirror as she reached down and picked up a old wooden brush, without giving it a second thought she started to run the teeth of the brush through her shoulder length unruly golden, blonde hair.

“Foolish girl.” She said taking a deep breath as she broke a few dozen knots that had formed in the course of the day, the humid spring weather had made her hair frizzle and made styling it into the perfect long flowing waterfall darn near impossible. “You had to let them see you blush, you had to let that  slave driver see you blush in the presents of that boy.” She said shaking her head as she placed her brush down, pulled open a wooden drawer and fished out a small ponytail holder.

Gathering up her strands of lose blonde hair she folded the ponytail around the collection of hair and with all she skill she could muster she styled her hair into a high ponytail. Even now her mind was starting to become clouded with thoughts of the events about to unfold. Soon her high cheek bones where glowing with a light pastel pink blush.

“I mean its not like I like him or anything.” Said Sunflower taking a deep breath as she smoothed out her blouse and her skirt as she walked over to a near by chair, her bottom quickly found itself resting in the bottom of the chair, one she was seated she reached over and picked up a pair of stocking, quickly she unrolled the stocking and with the gentle  care she slipped her foot into them and started to roll them up.

“I mean, I do like him, he was nice to me at the Poppy Fete, he even held me a little after mum’s spanking.” She mused a bit as she finished with one stocking and started with the other one. Soon that stocking was rolled into place. Her choice of shoes for the evening was a pair of sneakers, Once she was finished dressing she stood up and once more soothed out her outfit.

Still musing she strolled across her room. Soon her favorite wallet, a cute pink hello kitty one, a gift from her grandmother and one of her prized positions was pocketed.  The wallet had been brought from one of the boutiques that lined the high street in down town Somerset.  Her phone soon joined the wallet in her pockets. And so with all needed items in hand she turned toward her bedroom door.  She was just about to reach out and turn the old brass knob when a sudden knock filled the air.

Sunflower blinked and blinked again as she raised a eyebrow and stepped back, a few minutes passed before the wooden door slowly swung open and in the doorway stood her mother, wearing a nice pleated flora print skirt and white blouse. The older women was holding a bundle of roses from the local green grocer.  A deep blush colored her face as she raised her hand up to hide her japing mouth.

“I thought, since my daughter has been working so hard on memorizing her lines and getting everything down pack, that its only right I should reward the little starlet with a gift of roses.” She said smiling as she held the roses out to the girl. “And a promise to take my little princess out to eat soon.” She said winking a little as she waltzed into her daughters bedroom.

Isabella had over the weeks noticed a change taking place in her daughter, she was slowly maturing from a little girl to a fine young women, she was starting to take pride in the way she dressed and in the way she styled her hair. Her room too was starting to change, it was slowly becoming a room for a mature women and not just a play room for a little girl. Indeed the puppy love she displayed at the Poppy Fete had been more than enough for her to understand her little girl was no longer a little girl.

Sunflower could not help by crack a smile as she moved toward her mother, quickly she took the roses from her hand and still wearing the same blush from before she lifted them to her nose and took a deep breath of there fragrant scent. A chill ran down her spine as she inhaled the sweet flowery smell.

“Thank you mommy.” She said smiling sweetly up at her mother. For a minute the thoughts of the play, the fact her young crush was playing one of the key parts and quagmire of other things that often entangles the mind where put to rest.  And the pure, sweet love shared between a mother and daughter was the only thing the young girl could feel.

“And now, since your playing the little heroin of the Gold in the Hills. I think its only right you have a little piece of  Mad Tom of Bedlam hidden treasure.” Her mother said smiling a little as she reached into her wool lined pockets of her dress. Within a blink of a eye a golden locket hanging from a golden chain had been fished out of her pocket. Still smiling she moved toward her little starlet, with nimble fingers she removed the clasp and placed the chain around her daughters neck.

“Perfect.” Her mother said smiling softy as she closed the clasp and stepped back, and for the first time she noticed something special about her daughter, she noticed she was a blend of her and her father. She could see her eyes, her soft hair and her high cheekbones. She could see her fathers keens in her eyes and at times she displayed his temper, something only a long session with the brush and paddle could cure when it reared its festered head.

Sunflower felt a fresh blush coloring her cheeks as she her ears soaked in her mothers praise, offering her a small smile she walked over to her dresser drawer and placed the roses down upon the freshly dusked surface, the dark oak wood seemed to glow in the faint twilight that broke through the currents. Once the roses where at rest she turned once more toward her mother.

“So I’ll see you there?” She asked, and she waited for her question to answered with baited breath.

“Front row, your father has to close to night but he sends his love.” Isabella said smiling as she moved toward her daughter and then she blessed her with a kiss to the forehead. “And break a leg.”

“Thank you.” She said blushing once again at the kiss, and so with her blessing done she slipped past her mother, guided her way down the steps and slipped out of the front door. Down the brick paved walkway she skipped till she found herself standing under the wooden roof of ‘Grand Avenue Flag stop’ before long other people had joined her and soon the faint ringing of the trams bell could be heard.

A minute passed before the bright headlamp of the small box like steam powered locomotive. A faint hiss filled the air as it came to a rolling stop, the tram was pulling two small railroad carriages. Taking a deep breath, Sunflower reached into her pocket and pulled out her coin purse, and with a smile she handed him half a crown the required fare for where she was going.

Night had overtaken twilight when last person had finally board the train, the streetlamps that line the streets where starting to glow now, casting halo’s of light upon the ground. Sunflower took a deep breath as she peered down at her watch, she still had a good hour or so before the deadline. Leasing her breath she settled into her seat, soon the old beast hunched, a second later the wheels started to turn and soon they where on there way.

The tram speed onward, passing the stately Victorian and Edwardian manner houses that Grand Avenue, a sharp turn marked the entrance onto Cannel Street, pressing her nose to the window she could see the bottling plant was in full swing. A dozen or so minutes passed before another sharp turn was taken. Taking a deep breath, Sunflower rose up from her seat and gave the line running above her head a good hard tug.

Somewhere in the back a bell chimed and the driver slowly started to slow down a little. Quickly crossing herself for luck, Sunflower picked up her purse and made her way toward the front door, counting to three she jumped out of the trolley and smiled as she safety touched down on cobblestones.
“Bloody hell I’m going to be late.” She said looking up and quickly skipping across the street, soon she found herself standing toward the imposing brick school house, the building use to house the old middle school, back then it was called ‘Main Street School’ but not now the building housed a community civic center that included a dance studio and a small theater on the bottom floor, the upper floor served as office space for the Great Western Railroad.

Quickly her feet left the brown cobblestones and skipped onto flagstone paved sidewalk, from the sidewalk she skipped toward the massive concrete steps that lead up to the double doors of the old school house. A dozen or so people where milling about, some of them white collar workers, just leaving there office, some where office ladies dressed in there form fitting white blouses and pencil black skirts.  There hair no matter the color, length was uniformly tied back in the classic bun.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly slipped passed them, and before one could shake a cows tail she found herself standing in the hallway of the old school house. The long hallway was filled with the chatter of a dozen or so students drawn from all walks of life. Some had been drawn from the local private school, others had been drawn from the public schools a few had even been taken from a local church school that was to her understand a collection of home schooled peeps.

 “Hey Sunny!” Came a teasing voice behind her. The voice belonged to a young women around her age, the young women had the appearance of a tomboy, her long coco brown hair was tied back in a nice neat ponytail. “Finally read your note, seems the cute guy you danced with at the Poppy Fete is going to be the one to give you that spanking during that scene.” She quickly said, a sly grin now graced her face.

Sunflower blinked and blinked again as she felt a sudden explosion of color upon her cheeks. Quickly she spun around upon her heel and soon she was peering the grinning face of Rachel. Her blush only grew deeper at the mentioning of the note. Silently she cursed herself for being so free with the pen.

“I know.. And you don’t have to bring that up again,” Sunflower paused before she added, “And you don’t have to be a brat about it.” She said taking a deep breath and putting on a cute little pout as she folded her arms across her chest and cocked her eyes toward the girl standing before her.

Rachel smiled a little as she say the cute blush and pout Sunflower was sporting. Still smiling she walked over to Sunflower, placed her arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a tight one arm hug. Releasing a wild giggle she lifted her hands up and gently poked her blushing cheek bones. Her friend was so cute when she was pouting, it was one of the reasons why she took any and all chances to tease her and to make her blush.

“Anyway,” Said Sunflower smiling a little as she felt her friends arm resting upon her shoulder. “I think we needed to have a cup of coffee or something one day, and we still need to have that sleep over.” She nipping playfully at the poking finger. Rachel was like her sister from another mother, even though Sunflower had a older sister who was away at Collage and a older brother who was commission officer in the Royal Navy. She did not enjoy a close relationship with the two. She was youngest child, and the second girl. But do the there ages, it was like she was the only child.

‘I know right, I was thinking about this weekend, we gotta hang out too, I mean schools about to let out for spring break and confirmation class’s are about to start.  Between those two I guess we can find some time to hang.” Said Rachel smiling as she guided Sunflower down the hallways. Rachel enjoyed a special bond with Sunflower. The two had been close since the earliest days there formal education.


“Man I don’ want to think about confirmation class’s, those are going to be a big ol’ pain in the neck, and then we gotta do that whole acolyte training course too over spring break, man you know Holly really lays it down thick.” Said Sunflower signing as she followed along with Rachel.


“Tell me about it.” Said Rachel rolling her eyes as she pair stopped what appeared to be a dressing room of shorts, the words ‘Sunflowers Dressing Room.” Had been marked upon a piece of paper, the paper was had then been taped to the door. A crayon doodle of a sunflower had placed at the end of her name.  “Here you go princess, your own dressing room, see you in a bit.” Said Rachel smirking as she quickly brought her hand down and delivered a good sound smack to her friends skirt seat.

Sunflower jumped with surprise as she felt the hand coming into contact with her bottom, sending a sharp sting of pain rolling into her round bottom cheeks, quickly she turned around and gave Rachel a little pout as she started to rub her bottom in a tender manner. But it was no use, her friend had long since melted into the shadows. With the pout still upon her lips she reached down and unlocked the door that lead to her dressing room. And to her amusement her costume had already been laid out.

The costume though still made her blush, it was a simple thing, not one of the weighty ones worn by the adults during the Autumn’s Shakespearian Season. When plays like Romano and Juliet, Cesar and A Midsummer’s  Night Dream. Would be put into production. And how could forget about Macbeth, Halloween would not be Halloween without the play of madness and murder of that classic piece of drama.

And before she could catch herself, Sunflower found herself falling into a word of daydreams. Smiling a little she started to spin around the cramp confines of her dressing room, as fleeting visions of her girlhood dream of becoming a famous actress seemed to be close at hand. Signing happy she folded her hands across her chest as she pictured all of Somerset buzzing about her heart thumping performance this evening.

Alas her daydreaming only lasted a minute or three before a harsh knocking upon the wooden door forced her to come back down to earth.

“Fifteen minutes brat.” Came the voice from behind the door. “And be sure to put your hair in pigtails. You’re a big girl and big girls know how to style there hair.” She voice added with a hint of smugness. The voice belonged to the director of the play. A middle age blonde women by the name of Jill. Jill had been born and reared in the Capital, and though she married to the local Anglican priest, and by that fact along she was suppose to display a certain amount of Christian charity, the haughtiness of her more urban upbringing often crept into her voice and was often hinted in her actions.

Sunflower blinked and blinked again as she turned her eyes toward the wooden door. A deep blush started to color her cheeks as she shifted her blue eyes toward the dress hanging upon the hook of the door, funny she just now noticing how girlish the dress was.

The dress reminded her of a old communion gowns she had seen in the ol’ black and white framed photo’s that lined the hallway of her grandmothers house in Brookshire. A small hamlet located deep within the Mutton Mountain rang, the village was located in a small valley. Brookshire was a halfway point that connected Somerset with the parish capital of Londinium.

Another wave of blushing colored her cheeks as she reached up and started to rub the rough cotton fabric between her thump and forefinger. Fighting through her blushing she reached up and removed the gown from the hanger it was resting on. Steeling her heart she reached up and removed her blouse and then her pleated skirt and with one quickly move of the hand she fitted the dress over her head and with a little force tugged it down around her waist.

“Good god..” She said taking a deep breath as she felt the rough fabric conform to her frame. “This this is tighter than..” A deep ugly blush colored her cheeks, she dare not completed the phase unless somebody be eavesdropping behind her dressing room door. But to speak the truth the dress was indeed quite tight.

“Six minutes.” The voice came again, this time the voice was softer and might belong to one of the stage hands.


“I’m coming,” Bellowed Sunflower taking a deep breath as she walked over to one of the mirrors. Quickly she removed her ponytail holder and started to brush out her long blond locks of hair. Once she was finished a mess of lose hairs now filled the teeth of her brush, but the bush that had been her hair had been tamed and combed back into something nice a neat, and now to butch it by trying to tie two pigtails in. Running her thump through the bristles of the brush she removed a good many of the lose hairs, then taking a deep breath she picked up two more ponytail holders and once more prepared to go into battle.

The battle this time was not the uphill struggle it had been before she left home, the ponytail holders went in effortlessly and soon she was sporting two blond pigtails. Taking a quick peek into the mirror she smiled and did a little twirl. Everything seemed in character, everything seemed right, and so the only thing left was for her to join her fellow actors and actress upon the stage.

“Looks like the little starlet finally decided to grace us with her presents.” Said Jill with a little smirk as Sunflower joined the group behind the heavy black curtain that divided the back area from the main stage. Behind Jill, Sunflower could see a dozen or so of her peers moving around. Each one trying to remain in character as best they could.

The unfolding scene was set in the cobblestone paved town square of Thornton Landing, a small collection of houses and shops that overlooked the river mystic from the tall bluffs that the first settlers that had chosen to built the first homesteads when the land was given up to settlement by the Royal Commissioner.

The towns folks all had gathered around a small fountain, all where dressed in there Sunday best, the small towns Methodist church could be seen in the back ground. The group was divided into three groups, one was a group of ladies who had gathered toward the far side of the stage, the group was exchanging village news and picking apart the latest news from abroad. The third group of children who where playing by the fountain. And the last group was a group of village men who where talking about the weather, the crops and the latest news from the Franco-Prussian War. It seemed Paris was surrounded as was near defeat.