crayon sugarsweet: the beginning

when our daughter was a toddler, i invented a character that was like her in many ways, but exaggerated. i named her crayon sugarsweet because it sounded like polly pocket or one of the other dolls that our daughter liked, and i made up crazy adventures for her and gave her a friend named benji bean.

i made up these stories on the spot, usually during long drives or at bedtime. crayon and benji had a rogue's gallery of enemies that included the tango bees, the swamp witch (who became an important part of benji's story, especially his family life) and her mudmen, and the cue balls.

i always meant to write them down, but there never seemed to be time between working full time, working on our first house, spending time with our daughter and my wife while planning the next addition to our family and looking for a new day job.

i was always kind of disappointed that the first crayon sugarsweet story i wrote and published was a horror story (crayon sugarsweet and the spooky thing) that creeps me out to this day.

i did start to write them down, though, more than 20 years ago. here's what made it to the page:

The Adventures of Crayon Sugarsweet

    Benji Bean's mother was a goat. This made life rather awkward (for example, at parent-teacher conferences), but on the plus side it meant that Benji's macaroni and cheese always included fresh feta cheese, which he loved.

    This is yet another example of how the universe tends to work itself out.
    Presumably his mother had not always been a goat. Benji’s father never said, and beyond that it was probably best not to inquire. She kept the house picked up (mostly by eating anything left lying around, including dirty socks), his father kept a roof over their heads, and little Benji beat the snot out of anyone who had anything else to say about it.
    Benji's best friend lived next door. Her name was Crayon Sugarsweet. With a name like that, there were only two possible courses life could take: Overcome, or be the butt of every bully's joke until the bus hit you.
    Crayon Sugarsweet scared the daylights out of bullies. Teachers, large dogs, and strangers, too. This was because she had the unnerving habit of staring them straight in the eye. When she did that, it was very clear that what she saw was not very much, and that it had better get out of her way if it knew what was good for it.
    Crayon and Benji thrived because they had been taught by their parents to behave, and to expect the world and everyone in it to behave, too. And because they would tolerate no argument, the world eventually gave up and did.