Book One – Darla the Roller Derby Queen
Yes, my listeners, Grace and Henry witnessed DareYa’s horrible accident. Darla rarely had noticed her MaMa in the bleachers anymore, and she had not seen her DahDee since two months before her fifth birthday, the day she received her first pair of roller skates.
However, you recall in our story, as she blew out her birthday candles she wished to skate pretty for her DahDee to see.
And, as we learned earlier in the story, when you make a wish that strong and the wish fits with the stamped instructions, the creative session finds a way for that wish to happen!
Okay, the pieces may take a while to all fall together. Also, the event that brings about your wish may not look quite as pretty as you think it might or should look, such as a shattered leg. But the strong wish will be granted.
Now, as you might expect, MaMa and DahDee sit together by Darla’s hospital bedside for days holding hands. They look at each other as often as they look at Darla, now encased in a body cast from her waist down.
At the moment they both screamed Darla’s name, each for a brief moment remembered part of the instructions that came with their characters. MaMa and DahDee each remembered to provide a safe haven where Darla can skate.
Perhaps you may consider how unnecessary was DahDee’s absence. Maybe you find it very unfair for Darla to break her leg in three places in order for her parents to remember their instructions. You probably think Darla would have enjoyed the creative life much more if her parents had just held hands all the time and watched her skate.
But, don’t you see? Would she have stormed out of the house to skate in the park if she had the new skates to go to the rink with her friends? Would she ever have slammed into the recruiting coach at the park? If the story had not played out the way it has, she might now find herself at Disney World dressed as a giant, goofy dog on skates instead of shaking fists at the fans as a Devil Doll. Endless possibilities, but the creative sessions lead us to the right choice, at least eventually.
I know I make quite an odd picture with my short waitress skirt, my old wrinkled legs, my gray hair and my vintage roller skates. And yes, I know people laugh at me. I am aware they call me “The Roller Derby Queen” behind my back as I skate through this park each day, sometimes pushing my shopping cart of groceries or picking up odds and ends on my way home. If only they knew how right they are!
You can tell I’ve told this story for many, many years now. I never know why someone wants or needs to hear Darla’s story, but each one hears something. Maybe it is just a phrase or a portion of the story that makes the gears turn in the head. But that person leaves with a solution or a new way to see a situation in his or her life.
Ah, and I see that familiar gleam in your eye. I see you found something in this story that causes you to hear some special message.
Book Two – Darla- Life After Eight
A hand on her shoulder causes both Charlie and Devin to turn around. “Hey, Charlene, who is this?” asks the slim, young man behind her.
“Oh, Randall. This is Devin, the friend from my hometown I told you about. Devin, meet Randall, my associate and boyfriend.”
“In that order?” asks Randall with a slight sarcasm. “Devin. An unusual name,” he continues, looking closely.
“Short for Devereau, but I don’t spread that around much,” laughs Devin, looking Randall straight in the eye.
“Devin just won a pool tournament and is here celebrating tonight. What a great coincidence,” says Charlie.
“Oh, yes. I remember Charlene talking about you. You must be the Darlite who supposedly taught her to dance.”
Devin looks at Charlie for an explanation. “Darlite?”
“Oh come on, Randall,” says Charlie, frowning at Randall. “I never said he was a Darlite.”
“You said his father taught him a trick he learned from a ‘lady in the park’, if I remember correctly.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s a Darlite,” Charlie answers testily.
“Wait, wait,” Devin interrupts the conversation. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Charlie takes a deep breath. “It’s a story making the rounds in New York. An urban legend. Supposedly somewhere there is this lady who comes up to people in the park. Nobody is really sure which park or what city, but this lady gives people great insight. They say her name is Darla, so people who claim to have seen her and found wisdom are referred to as Darlites.”
“Doesn’t sound like a compliment,” Devin observes, looking sideways at Randall.
Randall inserts, “Well, depending on who you talk to, she is either a nut case or the next messiah. Personally, I lean toward the first. Sounds like your father passed that nutball story on to you.”
Charlie is quiet for a moment, then asks, “Devin, what did Elena mean, about twins, or whatever she said when I met her?”
“Oh, twin souls? Her organic way of describing a pretty common theme all through mythology and old religions, mostly. It’s like a soul mate, but more. Mostly it means two people, or two souls if you will, are meant to do something together, something bigger than either could do alone.
“These twins, Elena says, can’t be separated, even if they don’t see each other all the time,” he continues. “It’s our ‘8’s’, Charlie. I told her about the 8’s. And the girls understand. That’s why they couldn’t wait to meet you.”
“Well, assuming that is true, Elena doesn’t mind?” asks Charlie, still confused. “I mean, she is your wife.”
“Does Elena mind?” repeats Devin. “No, it is part of her upbringing, her culture. She is excited.”
“But, Devin. The 8’s, twins…if that is true, what are we meant to do?” asks Charlie, shaking her head a bit.
“I don’t know, maybe we are…”
A bright light shines on them and stops the conversation as a somewhat frantic newsman sticks a microphone near Charlie’s face.
“Reggie McIntyre,“ says the newsman in a melodious tone, “with ‘A Spin on the News’. Here to speak to Darla. Darla, is this where you advise your followers? What advice will you give this confused man?”
“What?” says Charlie, blinking in the bright light from the camera perched on the shoulder of the cameraman next to the reporter.
“You are Darla, correct?” persists the reporter. “People want to know where to find you these days! In an ice cream parlor? Are you the real one? We are looking for the real Darla.”
“Not me,” says Charlie, holding her hand up to block the bright light. “I can’t even stand up on these skates, much less advise this lovely man, who by the way, doesn’t need any advice.”
“Hey,” adds Devin, standing up from the table. “It’s a costume, guy. And so is hers. There are plenty of other Darlas out tonight to interview.”
The cameraman lowers the equipment from his shoulder and turns off the light.
“Hey, Reggie. It’s not her. She doesn’t fit. Let’s go try another Darla.”
Book Three – A Spin on the News
Joe and Reggie watch as the young girl dressed in a roller derby uniform rises and skates to the wall behind the table. She dims the overhead lights and pulls back a set of curtains to reveal a recess in the wall. On the recessed shelf, a number of items surround a filament lamp with long, flowing strands that fan out like peacock feathers.
Pearl presses a switch and bright, twinkling lights begin to flash. The filaments on the lamp come alive with tiny, multi-colored lights that chase each other up and down the strands.
“Ahh.h.h.h…” The group of followers let out a collective sigh and nod to each other.
The woman at the head of the table announces, “And now we will recite Darla’s Mantra. Visitors may use their handouts to join us, if you need to.”
The group stands and all hold hands in a circle, reciting from memory. Reggie and Joe awkwardly hold hands with each other and read out loud from the handout.
“ May the trail illuminate to show us the way.
May we listen closely to the Voice in whatever form it appears to us.
Our undergarments are pure and we close our doors gently.
Guide us, Darla, as we SKATE ON!”
On the last two words, the group releases their hands and each strikes a fist in the air. Reggie and Joe follow with a tentative air punch, looking sheepishly at each other.
The man who greeted Joe and Reggie at the door places a large bag of curly fries on the table as the group sits down again.
Joe whispers to Reggie as they sit, “Where is my camera when I need it most?”