15-Day Challenge: Day One: Favorite Character

Well, I have resisted the urge to dive into this blog event since I hadn't even heard of it till it was already well underway. But when I saw that Katie was beginning today I thought, "Why not make it a duo and at least I won't be alone in my tardiness?"
So today I begin Lerowen's 15-day Writing Challenge! :)

Day One: Your Favorite Character You've Written

This is going to be rather a difficult question for me, as I've never been able to efficiently pick favorites of anything- Animals, colors, books, movies....characters. I stand there making things difficult by actually thinking about the question, and I end up with a long list and nothing definitive. But I have to say that I constantly come back to the black-sheep characters. The people who are contrary, difficult, untidy, and utterly lovable. Of course I love my good characters. My leads and the characters one is supposed to love.

But no matter how hard I try to make them my favorite characters, often they aren't. That being said, I must choose one favorite character from my stories teeming with people. My choice? The character that holds a special place in my heart and is unforgettable, even after their story is edited to pieces?

Dill Vervain Octavius Seasoning

One cannot help loving this fellow, the fourth child in the family of A Mother for the Seasonings. He's bluff and cheery. He's the middle child. He's wonderfully frank and loves a good meal. He's roguish, he has a dimple (or two) and brown eyes. There is a refreshingly preposterous side, yet he's desperately loyal to his father and family....most of the time. Dill is the perfect mixture of man and boy. He doesn't fit in the typical Victorian-era qualifications for the perfect child. He's always coming out with something unexpected, and he uses slang. I enjoyed writing Dill so much that I was rather sad to see him go. I had to worst possible time trying to pick *one* scene with Dill at his best...but it had to be done. Witness this moment as Basil, the eldest, is watching his siblings get ready for one of the outings in their mother-hunt. :)

“Why in the blue blazes do we have to wear our best?” Dill glared at Rosemary as she took his “special occasion” suit from the bureau.

“Because Dill, we must look ship-shape for Miss Watkins today.” Rosemary unbuttoned his nightshirt and helped him wriggle into the tight suit.

“I look like a mushroom.” He frowned and gazed with a fierce eye upon his reflection in the mirror on the bureau door.

I resisted the urge to laugh. The comparison, though odd, fit Dill to a “t”. His cream-colored knickers, buttoned tightly down to his knees, were met by white stockings. A pair of suspenders suppressed his belly, strangled in a starched white shirtfront and collar edged with lace.

I smoothed my own dark suit with a complacent smile. Boy, was I glad to have graduated from those nonsensical clothes.

“Well, if you do look like a mushroom, it certainly isn’t anyone’s fault.” Rosemary pulled Dill towards her. “Let me brush your hair.”

“Must you?” Dill moaned and flopped in a chair.

Rosemary brushed and pulled Dill’s rakish curls, coaxing them into a dubious state of tidiness. His appearance gave me the fleeting impression that he looked like a lopsided dandy.

“There. You look fine.” Rosemary dampened her fingers in the basin and tried to flatten the last stubborn curl.

Dill raised his eyebrow and sighed.

I leaned against the bureau. “Truly, Dill. Miss Watkins will have no heart to refuse us after she sees you.” Whether Miss Watkins would accept the proposal out of sheer admiration for Dill’s appearance was doubtful in my opinion.

“Don’ forget your hat, Dill.” Fennel skipped up to him and placed a white sailor with long blue streamers in his hands.

Dill groaned as Rosemary clapped it on his head.

“That’s it. I look like a hideous mash of Tom Sawyer and Little Lord Fauntleroy. I can’t go visiting in this.”

Ah. That's my Dill. Gotta love him. :) ~Rachel