Once upon a time there was a young girl who lived in the town of Boredom. Trapped and alone she was locked away from the world by her evil, jealous mother. So jealous of the girl was the mother that she placed the dreaded dark monster known as the Marquis de Prussian as the guard to the girl's door.
Then one day as the gray skies once again enveloped the girls' view from her tower window, a far off sound drifted to her. Looking off to the west the girl realized the beautiful sounds were coming from Pumpkinland. As the quiet sounds of jangling guitars and mournful lyrics disarmed her she felt a smile slide across her face like a rocket. A small ray of sunshine beamed down on her as a little bird landed on her windowsill. "What is that beautiful sound," she asked.
"That is the Great Pumpkins," chirped the little bird.
"Ahh they are so wise and knowing. They understand what SHE does and that the evil, hideous Marquis de Prussian has trapped me here."
"Yes," said the little bird, "what a siamese dream."
Giving a little chirping noise as it flew away, the girl gave a small confuse laugh, "silly little bird."
Suddenly there was pounding at the door. Darkness seeped through the cracks around the door and walls as it made its slow ominous crawl toward the frightened girl by the window. "What is this here?" rumbled a foreboding voice. "Do I see a ray of sunshine on you? Is that a smile upon your lips? THIS CANNOT BE TOLERATED!" And with that the hideous Marquis revealed himself to the girl; grabbed hold of her and squeezed her soul until she cried for mercy. As she wept into her arm, the Marquis stood back and swirled the darkness around the room. "There shall be no more joy, no more happiness for you. I command it: from now on your window shall be closed to sound." And with that command silence descended upon the room and the Marquis swept back out the door. The heavy sound of the bolt falling back into place echoed above the sound of her tears, the girl looked about the room as the dull gray settled into her. But then the little bird returned to the window with a shiny disc in its beak. Passing the disc to the girl she saw that it said 'Siamese Dream'. "But I can't hear the Great Pumpkins anymore, my window is closed to sound." As the girl looked at the bird she saw its beak move but that was all. "See I can't even hear you," she cried, tears falling rapidly from her eyes. Swooping into the room the little bird chirped again and this time she was heard. "Hold your siamese dream to your ear m'lady and the Pumpkins can be yours forever." As she held it up she did hear it, but then the sudden smile was wiped from her face. "Oh no I can't allow anyone to see my joy or I shall lose my one true joy. Quickly now my little friend away with you before the Marquis finds you here and destroys you."
For the next few years the girl sat alone in her room, others came and went through the doors past the Marquis de Prussian but only if he approved and only if they aided his cuase. Unbeknownst to the Marquis, her mother and their cronies though the girl harbored her secret of the pleasure the Great Pumpkins gave her.
Until one day the little bird returned and this time she carried 2 new shiny disks in her beak. "Here m'lady, these are the new utterings of the Great Pumpkins. It appears that they have discovered new sides of pain to share with you. Perhaps even a way to defeat the evil Marquis."
"Oh thank you little bird," the girl exclaimed grabbing the discs and listening intently. She heard the cries of bodies and the tales of scorched earths and sighed. Yes they still knew, they still understood. And then she stumbled onto the anger, the rage and felt it, cherished it. "This is my key, I shall use this to fight the Marquis and win!"
With that cry, the battle ensued between them. There were heavy losses and a great causality, for as they battled the girl discovered that the Marquis was tearing at her realm of soft delusions, cupid could not forgive and galapogos was drifting away from her. With one last blow she was pushed from Luna and set adrift on the open sea of dispair. As darkness engulfed her she felt herself slipping away.
Then came a sound, a small little chirp desperately trying to reach her in the darkness. "I'm here," she cried,"please help me." She could no longer see, but she could hear. "It's me," chirped the little bird, "Lily. I'm here m'lady."
"Lily, where are you? I can't see."
"Don't worry, relax, m'lady. I'll help you."
And then Lily told the girl that shortly she would be entering a new land, and that she had managed to elude the Marquis by falling into the arms of sleep. Lily told her that she was coming to the land of listessa, which was ruled by the great, wise and benevolent King Karl. There the girl would find others who like herself loved the Great Pumpkins. But that she must be careful for the Marquis had eyes and ears everywhere, so she must hide herself lest he find her. "So then I shall call myself 'the watcher'," she said, "for that has been my life and now so shall it be my name." And with that a great beam of light blinded the girl and her ears filled with the radiant sound of the Great Pumpkins.
"Welcome, welcome," said King Karl as she stepped off the sea and onto the internet. "We have but a few rules here that we ask everyone to follow: 1.) Read the FAQ; 2) that you only post once a day; and 3) be tolerant to others. Should you not follw these rules then we will akd you to leave. Well then what is your name?"
"I'm the watcher," she said hesitantly.
"welcome watcher. If you have any questions please feel free to look toward Luna, who is goverened by Prince Eric. Or if you should desire to see the Great Pumpkins then Prince Josh can help you with the dates. Otherwise make yourself at home and get to know the other Listessans."
And so the watcher wandered listessa reading and learning from the many citizens. The wonderful images of the video ieas from Mr. Tim; the great stories of the Super Pumpkins from LaDolly Vita; the wonderful clinics formerly held by Dr. Catfish. All of these brought great joy to the watcher. However, the threat of the Marquis was growing ever closer and soon she could feel that he was among the citizens, waiting for her to slip up and show herself. But in the meantime the watcher had made a new friend. He was Lord Mark of the Top5 Countdown. For sometime now the watcher had been sending little notes to him about her love of music until one day they began to develop a nice friendship. On that day the watcher decided to tell him who she really was. But fearful of others finding out she asked him to keep her secret, he agreed. And with that pact they began to develop a nice friendship until one day when the Marquis spotted her in the crowd and chased her down.
When he caughter her, he took hold of her and wrapped his cloak of darkness around her tight. Fearing for her friend she stopped writing, and hidden away from everyone by the Marquis cloak she felt her grasp on life slipping away. Wandering blindly through listessa the pain, despair and anguish grew in the watcher blotting out the music and the wisdom of the Great Pumpkins. As she bumped into citizens she heard thier thoughts on the Great Pumpkins and sighed in despair as she thought they won't understand me, they won't help me. No one can help me. The Marquis' grip grew tighter with each person she passed until by chance she bmped into another listessan in even more pain thena her- Lady Wristy, Minster of Information.
ŠJuly 8, 1997 Brooke Mayfair
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