Character Study: The Amazing Madame Violet

This is the fourth in a series of character introductions associated with my book, My New-Found Land.

Viona Haddler had all the answers from a very early age. That no one at the orphanage paid her any mind was a mere detail. Not only did she know what she wanted, but she had something none of the other orphanage kids had-- a silver trumpet in a leather case lined with purple velvet. It had belonged to her father, and although her teachers told her she had a tin ear, Viona knew better and would learn to play the darn thing if it took her a lifetime to do it!

At eighteen she was turned out into the world with nothing but the clothes on her back and the trumpet. Viona renamed herself Violet (which surely was the name she should've had-- the orphange must've read the papers wrong) and set out to earn her living as a musician.

Sadly, what little she could squeak out of the silver horn didn't appeal to paying audiences and Violet found herself playing on street corners for handouts from passersby. But her cute figure and bright red hair garnered attention and soon she had a boyfriend. The boyfriend had a band that played the local dives for food and tips. Violet wasn't allowed to play with them, but the food was nice and the sex was nicer.

Violet tried her best to manage the band's gigs, but for some reason they weren't interested in her suggestions. And when the baby came along, her boyfriend not only refused to marry her but wouldn't follow her advice about guarding his own safety and was picked up off the street by "recruiters" and sent to fight in the resource wars. If only he had listened to her!

Alone with her boy Aaron and her trumpet, Violet sought some means of support, finally happening upon a traveling carnival that thought her music was just fine. It wasn't a very good carnival-- even with her limited experience in such things, Violet could see that. But she would whip them into shape, oh yes she would!

She billed herself as The Amazing Madame Violet, and over the years she improved her act, adding a parrot and eventually a bicycle. She watched with pride as Aaron grew up and became an expert in running sideshow games. She suspected he might be cheating the customers, but their steadily growing nest egg quieted any concerns she might otherwise have had. Aaron wanted to buy her a house!

Someday soon, she would have the last laugh on all those people who dismissed her trumpet-playing and thought badly of her for having a son and no husband. She would sit on her front porch in a home of her very own and smile as she thought of all those smug people who once thought she would amount to nothing.

But in the meantime the show must go on. Now if only she could keep up with that damn parrot!

REMINDER: My New-Found Land is available in print or download at my Lulu Storefront. If you buy in September, let me know so I can enter you in a drawing for promotional giveaways!