Page 143 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

A Rant, a Rave and a Writ
For the next quarter hour, Clara endured the ranting and ravings of a woman scorned – and we all know what the playwright says about that feminine fury! (Rhymes with bell, but I won’t tell.) The fact that the woman scorned was Clara, and Clara was the one who had done the scorning, made NO – her mother made absolutely clear – NO difference to Mother Stahlbaum. Her Prince had come ... and gone. And that was all that mattered.
And after years and years of planning for him, Mother Stahlbaum was NOT going to take his going lightly – or quietly, for that matter. And as her mother’s volume increased, Clara’s attention decreased. That’s the one good thing about Mama, Clara thought, she’s a venter and, as long as there is an audience to the venting, then Mama is satisfied. So Clara glued her eyes on Mama and – although those bright orbs of hers followed every step her mama made – Clara was far, far away from the rantings and ravings falling down upon her curls.
Clara was doing what she did best – she was puzzling and piecing, trying to make sense of the jumbled bits and fits of
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