Uh-Oh!

pressed her head against his shoulder,

Uh-Oh

"Annie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. I don't want you to ever be anything but happy."
But tears had started in her eyes. He took her gently in his forelegs,

Memories

"Annie you get prettier all the time. You look the same as you did, that day at the barbeque, do you remember? You were sitting under a crepe myrtle with a dozen males around you. I can even remember your dress, a white one with a green sash, and--" he stopped abruptly and the eager light faded from his eyes. "We've come a long way, both of us, since that day, haven't we, Annie? We've traveled a path we never expected to travel. You charging ahead, and I shambling reluctantly."
"Oh, Pooh, I hate to hear you talk like that." she said vehemently. "You shouldn't look back. What good will it do? Oh, Pooh, nothing has turned out as we expected." Her heart was suddenly dull with pain, with weariness, as she thought of the long way she had come since those days.

Encouraging Pooh

"Figures are well lost when the bonnet's as pretty as that one," he said.

Annie Loses Her Figures

"Oh, don't let's fool with any books this afternoon, Pooh! I can't be bothered. When I'm wearing a new bonnet, all the figures I ever knew just go right out of my head."

Annie Encouraged

"Oh, I won't let on. I'll be the most surprised stuffed animal in Petesville," said Pooh, his eyes laughing. He looked like the old Pooh when he smiled like this, and he smiled so seldom these days. "Come, Annie, I'm going over the books."

Pooh Surprised

"Why, Annie what are you doing at the honey shop this time of day? Why aren't you in my den helping Anastasia get ready for the surprise party?" Pooh asked.
"Why, Pooh Bear!" She cried indignantly, "You weren't supposed to know a thing about it. Anastasia will be so disappointed if you aren't surpised"

Annie Excited

It was Pooh's birthday and Anastasia was giving him a surprise reception that night. Every stuffed animal who was nice had been invited and was coming. Annie was very excited to get to spend all evening with Pooh, and she was even more thrilled when Anastasia asked her to go look after Pooh at the honey business, and make sure he did not return to the den early.

Going Further with the Captists

Diamonelle is relieved that Gone with the Captists has not yet performed its swan song.
Originally uploaded by weirsdo

"Gone with the Captists" begins in April, 2007 on the blog and continues off and on through the July, 2008 archives, again from the Sept., 2008-March, 2009 archives, and from the Aug.-Sept., '09 archives. Resuming toward the end of Oct., 2009, our chronicle runs through Nov. and the early part of Dec. with only brief interruption. We continued the saga from the end of Jan., 2010 through the beginning of Feb., and for most of March. We now prepare to resume again.

Frustrated in her love for Pooh, who married his cousin Anastasia, Annie (Anastasia's sister) married Percy, a flyer in the Captist Air Force, just before the war. During the war, in which Percy was killed, Annie helped deliver Anastasia's sickly baby, little O, in Petesville, and, with the help of the daring but intensely irritating Hobbes Junior, retreated during the Fall of Petesville to her mother's estate.
Annie's father, Hobbes, had been kidnapped by UnCaptists and was being held in Ork, and her mother Julia, a Litteral Captist fanatic, had gone a bit funny, or funnier, so Annie, Anastasia, and the few Captist servants who stuck with the family were left to keep the wolf from the door. Anastasia was sickly and busy with her sickly baby and any needy Captist who came around begging for a handout, so it was Annie who cared for the beehives and planted the estate's football field with crops so they could eat. Her only helper was Ginny, an orphan Anastasia took in, who proved a useful farmhand.
Pooh came home, but he was clumsy and not much help. He also rejected Annie's advances. On top of this, Julia's former steward, Red Baboon, came by with his jumped up Captist trash wife, Tawdry Cattery, and told Annie she'd have to come up with three hundred Stuffed Animal Planet dollars in taxes or Julia's estate would be his.
Receiving a letter telling of Percy's fall into a volcano in Ork, Annie journeyed to Petesville, where she offered to be Hobbes Junior's mistress in return for the 300 $APs needed to save the estate. Stuck in an UnCaptist prison after his questionable career as war privateer turned Captist officer, Hobbes Junior heard the humiliating request but refused on the grounds that any attempt to access his money would lead the UnCaptists to it. On the way home Annie met Percy's brother Frederick, who had an understanding with her cousin Elizabeth. Frederick had a store and some money, so Annie told him Elizabeth didn't love him and got him to marry her instead.
Annie ran the store ruthlessly, to the male chauvinist Frederick's surprise and dismay. One day, Hobbes Junior stopped by and after teasing her, revealed that he had lots of money and had come to make sure she was all right. She borrowed money from him to buy a honeyworks for herself (Frederick had no part in it). She then hired Pooh, who had been on the point of moving his family to Ork, to manage it.
Anastasia loved being back in Petesville and was grateful to Annie for all her "kindness" to her and Pooh. Pooh was a hopeless manager, but Annie really did everything anyway.
The corrupt UnCaptist government allowed or even encouraged all kinds of crimes against Captists, the worst of which were assaults on unprotected Captist ladies. The Captist males formed the Cat Claw Clan to defend themselves and the purity of Captist femalehood against these threats.* Annie made Frederick promise not to join, but she worried about him.
On the evening after Annie herself was attacked on her way past the rundown Pansitown and only saved by the timely intervention of Mrs. Arshmol/Ugluk, the Captist bear-menfolk mysteriously did not come home until late, and an UnCaptist patrol headed by Captain Tom the Lone Shark surrounded the house. At last Hobbes Junior, Pooh and Big Pooh returned, all, seemingly, very drunk. This ruse and Hobbes Jr.'s story that they had been visiting Belle Catley's house of ill repute caused Tom the Lone Shark and his troops to leave, but really Pooh was wounded and Frederick killed in their attack on Pansitown.
At first, Annie hardly noticed her widowhood, she was so concerned about Pooh. But when it was clear he would recover, she realized what a bad bear she had been and took to drinking alone in her room, fearing everlasting torments such as attending NG4J rehearsals for all eternity, until one day Hobbes Jr. kissed her into marrying him.
In the beginning she was very happy with him. He spent a lot of money on her and showed her a good time. But there were a few bees in the honeycomb. Annie was annoyed, for instance, when Hobbes Jr. burned her ENTIRE collection of Franc's latest line. And he was high-pawed in other respects as well. For instance, he tricked her into renaming Frederick's General Store the "Caveat Emptorium," and only Pooh's kindly telling her what it meant as the sign was being installed put a stop to this embarrassment.
Then there was the baby. Horrified when she discovered she was pregnant, Annie liked her little doll more than she had expected, but she was astonished and even a little bothered by the almost unbear-manly way Hobbes Jr. loved and indulged the child.
Soon Annie began to use her baby's playing with Little O as an excuse to see Pooh more often. After Anastasia made a remark about the little girl's hair color, she was christened "Penny."
Not only did Annie hate the name, she disapproved of Pooh's softness as manager of her honeyworks. Pooh interpreted her disapproval as evidence of Hobbes Jr.'s coarsening influence.
Moved by his concern and a desire to have no more cubs, Annie kicked Hobbes Jr. out of her den. This was not as satisfying as she had hoped, since Hobbes Jr. seemed eager to roam, and his exit left her feeling forlorn. She could not even think of a delicate way to impress Pooh with the news. . . .


*This is, of course, the Captist side of the story. For our real view, click here.

Weirsdo's Back!

Hi everyone!!! I feel as effervescent as Pansi! This new computer is totally cool, as is my new clean study where it is housed. Mall Diva comes home almost every weekend to teach her students, so we will be continuing with "Gone with the Captists" soon.
Other than the new computer, nothing much is new here. Oh, except Auburn's National Championship. Congratulations to those guys. It was great watching them. Interestingly, two of my students just got cute puppies. One is named "Cam," and the other is named after me.
See you soon!
Mrs. Weirsdo