Afternoon Thimbleweed

"A long time ago, Miss Afternoon had been living in the cottage, though it was not as bright and cheery back then. Never the less she had been quite happy and would sing and sing and knit and knit. She was a ray of sunshine and all the woodland creatures thought so. But, as time went on, she grew more and more alone. She longed for ... a child of her own to care for and love. For ages she wished and wished and wished. After a lifetime of wishing, she took up her knitting needles one day and made a little woolen baby. It was as lifelike as a real baby and it made her wish harder than ever. In that moment, the light of an evening star, bright as the moon and cold as silver, shone down on Miss Thimbleweed and the baby. ... The old woman was overjoyed and found that her baby had been given the breath of the living. ... the old woman and her son lived happily together. Soon she discovered she too had been given a gift. She found that when she knitted, some of her life would brush off onto her wool and it would be filled with it. Giving life to everything that she made."
--Project Oran
Afternoon (or Noonie) Thimbleweed has been a resident of the Thicket since the beginning. She is wiser and older than even some of the other legends. I remember I had thought her up after reading a children's story when I was younger (so original I am).
She has a very special gift and from that gift has come dozens and dozens of little woolly creatures. She lives in a little cottage filled with yarn. Most everything was made by that woman's knitting needles, even the drapes, leaving the whole place magical and full of wonderment. The table clothes clear the table, the drapes can open and close themselves, and the rugs can beat themselves. And that is not taking into account the dozens of little creations she has made, all taking different shapes and sizes.
No one knows how old she is, but Noonie is quite ageless. She looks just as she did when Basil took his first breath. She has become subject of legend and since she has, she will live on as long as her name is in the mouths and memories of the Thicket Folk.
--Briar Blake

Related Plots

• Project Oran: synopsis and story structuring