the spotless bicycle

by rhoda penmarq

with a bow to the shade of mr edward gorey

iphelia lived in a big house in a swamp with an imposing collection of aunts, uncles and cousins who spent their days on a wide verandah in rocking chairs exuding despair iphelia was a cheerful child, and never relented in her efforts to brighten the moods of her unhappy relatives with ever diminishing results only cousin chalmers showed even a flicker of energy but even he did not care so much for little girls iphelia's best friends were a cormorant named charisse and a bear named beaufort together they searched the swamp for interesting objects, to try to strike the fancy and allay the torpor of the house's inhabitants the three friends did not always see eye to eye on what constituted "interesting" beaufort liked artifacts from galactic empires that had fallen from the sky iphelia preferred objects that emerged from the primal ooze after being submerged for billions of years while charisse only considered charm and taste regardless of age or origin one day they found a curiously spotless bicycle they approached it with some trepidation chapter 2: an excellent concoction