Say Hello to Nora Lee

My Dear Readers–

It’s finally the day you’ve been waiting for! You get to meet a feisty little three-year-old (along with her mother, Annie, for your own protection). Ha!

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Nora Lee–affectionately known as Nora-Bora by the Lee family–is a tiny bundle of energy, wit, and scary intuition, with a no-holds-barred talent for saying what no one else will. I say scary because she is often able, even at her tender age, to sift through what others are trying to hide from each other and bust the conversation wide open . . .

. . . from her high chair. 🙂

She’s particularly homed in on her mother, who is troubled by her past and lives her life waiting for the other shoe to drop. Annie is schedule-driven, freakishly enslaved to making sure the boundaries around herself and her family are secure–and that all seven of them, including Max the family dog, are where they should be all the time.

Of course, at age three, Nora cannot articulate this–but she knows her mother is afraid.

And, one day on a crisp, sunny afternoon play date with Nora in the neighborhood park, Annie’s fears take on a life of their own and threaten to send her into a familiar abyss.

No more spoilers . . .

Here we go–hang on for dear life, everyone.

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Annie, are you and Nora on?

 

Yes–no–yes, here she is, the little scamp. Nora, Miss Deb is on the line to talk to you. Remember, I told you it was today. Where were you? It’s rude to keep Miss Deb and all her friends waiting.

I was waking Mr. Bear up, Mommy. He wanted to be here–don’t you remember I told you that?

Oh, of course. Why don’t you introduce Mr. Bear to Miss Deb and her friends.

But, Mommy, they can’t see him.

That’s okay, honey, you can tell them what he looks like.

Well, he’s brown and furly–

Furry–

Oh, that’s right. Sissy told me today . . . He’s furry, not furly.

That’s right, honey. Now, what else can you say about him?

He knows things, Miss Deb.

 

That sounds interesting, Nora. What kind of things does Mr. Bear know?

 

Mommy, can I tell? (Sounds of whispering . . .)

But, Mommy–you said always tell the truf–and we did hear you crying. (More whispering . . .)

Okay, Mommy. Miss Deb, I’m not s’posed to say we heard Mommy crying. Mr. Bear knows why. He told me it’s because Mommy’s afraid that something will happen to me, like–

Nora–

Oops. I’m sorry, Mommy, I forgot. Miss Deb, Mr. Bear knows that two plus two is four. He told me . . . and Sissy helped him.

 

That’s awesome, Nora. What else does Mr. Bear know? Let’s see . . .

Does he know why your Mommy likes butterflies so much?

 

I don’t know . . . Mr. Bear, why does Mommy like butterflies? Is it because she–

Deb, I think we’re done. Nora needs to eat some lunch now and take her nap. I’m behind in my schedule by almost thirteen minutes.

Mommy! Thirteen minutes? ‘Bye, Miss Deb . . . (Sound of bare feet slapping the floor.) Mr. Bear, come on, we have to go to the kitchen and eat lunch, or Mommy . . . (Voice trails away.)

 

But–wait . . .

 

Sorry, Deb. She’s a scamp for sure. Of all of them, she needs the most reining in, I swear. I hope you and your readers enjoyed meeting Nora. 

 

Oh, Annie, we did. I hope I didn’t make her say too much–

 

No worries. I’ll have to have another talk with her about her very vivid imagination. Maybe she can be a writer some day, right? Like you–

 

Oh, for sure. Enjoyed talking to her–and you–of course. I’ll let you go now so you can catch up on that thirteen minutes. ‘Bye!

 

‘Bye! Nora, honey, come on, let’s eat some lunch . . . where’d you go? (Voice clicks off.)

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Well, that was fun! What a lively bunch Annie has. Good thing she and Roger are young. Way too much liveliness for me, that’s for sure.

Readers, what do you think?

Interesting, huh? Sounds like Miss Nora knows some things . . . or was it Mr. Bear?

I certainly hope this little chat fired up your curiosity about just what goes on in the Lee household.

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If you’re curious about other No Tomorrows Character Interviews, you can click on the following links:

Roger Lee

Mayra, Hank, and Kimmie Lee

Jake Gruber

Ellen Jarvis

Annie Lee