A long, long time ago, on a page long since torn from our history books, there lived twin sisters who, despite being identical- were actually quite opposite in every way.

Concinnate, the eldest was a vision of femininity. Everything about her sang the harmonies of elegance and grace. Perfect in her countenance and brilliantly well behaved she endeared herself to everyone she met. 

Peripeteia, the younger however, was born at rife with the world. Hostile to her own mother’s milk, she subsisted on a watery mix of powdered wheat and honey. Unfortunately, the relief her parents felt at finally having stumbled upon something the child would willingly ingest, came not without a catch. Once ingested, the concoction reeked havoc with the small child’s entrails, giving way to abundant flatulence which very literally threatened to drown all who approached her, in the odoriferous scent of soiled baby diapers.

This disparity between Cinny and Petjia, as they came to be called, caused a fissure to develop between them early on, which only widened as Petjia’s incongruity with life prevailed throughout her childhood, her constant care requiring the lion’s share of her parents time and attentions and leaving Cinny, to subsist on Petjia’s leavings. 

Petjia’s never ending rash of infirmities consigned her to a life spent in doors, thus she was seldom allowed to run and play with the other children. Which suited Cinny just fine, as her sisters gastrointestinal issues had not ended with her weaning and Petjia had become somewhat of a pariah amongst the neighborhood children, which needless to say, caused Cinny much embarrassment.

One warm afternoon, Petjia was feeling exceptionally fit,  so their mother suggested they go out into the fields together and fill a vase with Posies to scent the air and grace the evening table. 

Although she had been warned time and time again to stay out of the woods as it was thought to be the home to much unspeakable evil, Cinny suggested they cut through the woods on their way to the Posy field thus avoiding the awkwardly diverted gazes of the neighborhood children as she preferred to take her chances with whatever evil she may encounter rather than suffer the humiliation of being ignored by her friends.

The path through the woods proved longer and more arduous than Cinny had ever imagined, and it wasn’t long before the two were hopelessly lost. No longer sure from whence they came or in what direction they should continue, Cinny suggested they stop for a moment and rest, which met with Petjia’s immediate approval as she was by this time near exhaustion herself.

The two must have slept for quite some time, as when they awoke the woods were shrouded in darkness and several pairs of evil green glowing eyes were trained upon them. 

Well, this scared the wind right out of the frail Petjia, which in this instance was a wonderful thing. It not only kept the leering green eyes at bay and thus the two safe from harm, but also made finding the sisters a breeze- as all their doting parents had to do- was follow their nose.

It did not take long for the story of the sisters near deadly walk through the woods to circulate among the townspeople. Petjia was forever after lauded a celebrity, and quickly became a most sought after companion. 

The entire town felt that a lifetime spent breathing through their mouths was a small price to pay in exchange for the company of the town’s most heralded hero, and thus passed the tradition of mouth breathing on with great pride to generations infinite who have traversed the globe and are now found in crowded check out lines the world over.

This tale is the result of me trying to use all twelve of the words in this weeks MLMM’s Wordle #161. The words were:

1. Vase
2. Watery
3. Catch
4. Door
5. Hostile
6. Concinnate- verb (used with object)to arrange or blend together skillfully, as parts or elements; put together in a harmonious, precisely appropriate, or elegant manner.

7. Peripeteia- (n))a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, especially in a literary work.)
8. Page
9. Fissure
10. Run
11. Drown
12. Long