A horrible accident happens right after the extravagant wedding of Susan and Mike Harwing. The event is the talk of New Orleans. Susan is the only child of millionaires Walter and Marion Gaston. She is their little Belle of the Ball; respectful, popular, and likable. What Susan wants, Susan gets. But, after the accident, Susan decides to go back home and stay in her childhood bedroom upstairs where she played in the attic behind the small door. Her parents never knew she played in the attic. The door was always locked because there is no key. Susan forgets the voice of her childhood playmate. But, Piddle Paddle Waddle, a child size mannequin, remembers Susan very well. Walter and Marion thought they knew everything about their beloved daughter, but they don’t. Oh, the burdens of an ungrateful child.
DRAMA/ SUSPENSE/THRILLER You will LOVE... Piddle Paddle Waddle ;)
“Hi. My name is Piddle Paddle Waddle. We’ll have so much fun playing together. We’ll be secret friends for life. We will be friends forever. I’m always nice to anyone who is nice to me. I am forever nice. If anyone is not nice to me or anyone else, I will be their worst nightmare.”
Susan was awake staring at the ceiling. She was always holding on tightly to Titus. Once again she heard the voice announcing her entrance… “Susan…it’s Piddle Paddle Waddle.”
“Piddle for the last time, leave me alone. I don’t remember you. Go back in the attic. I don’t remember you and I don’t want to play.”
“But we played so many times together when you were a small girl. Until you were the age of ten. Remember all of the party dresses we had? We’d dress up and have tea time and …
“I told you to get away from me!” Susan screamed at Piddle and then threw Titus against the small door.
“Not nice, Susan. That’s not nice at all.”
“Who are you anyway, huh? I still think I’m dreaming. Why are you living in the attic?”
“I’m the child mannequin in the attic you played with. I’m always ten years old. I was in the attic when you moved here. You would dress me up in party clothes. I have no clothes on now, because this is how you left me. All of the party dresses are in the attic. Now, do you remember?”
“NO! I don’t remember. Go back behind your small door. I’m not afraid of you.”
“Oh, but I think you DO remember me, or you would be afraid of me. You don’t have any fear at all, sweetheart.”
Excerpt
Uncle Harry, Aunt Velma, and Aunt Gladys arrived back home from the church about an hour later. Walter sent his limo driver back to the church to pick them up and bring them home.
An eerie feeling still ran through the veins of everyone who stayed at the house. They ate what the caterers brought over from The Hotel Monteleone. A second; one second… that’s all it took for a large group of happy people to turn immediately sad, and grieving so much that it felt like their bodies were smashed in between a vice. So much crying. The wedding happened, but the celebration didn’t, and now the day was ending with a death.
Everyone had gone home except Dr. Jenkins and the paramedic unit that stayed parked in the driveway all night. The house was quiet. Velma and Harry said they would sleep over along with Gladys to help with things in the house. The doctor was still talking to Walter and Marion about the accident, and he stayed a while longer to see if Susan would be okay.
All of a sudden they heard Susan screaming upstairs. Walter, Marion and Dr. Jenkins rushed upstairs. Velma and Gladys stayed downstairs praying and cleaning up the kitchen while Harry was answering an enormous amount of phone calls, thanking every caller for their condolences. That’s all that needed to be said.
When Marion opened the door, she saw Susan’s beautiful wedding dress tossed across the room, and she was sitting on her bridal veil, on the floor. She was wearing only her bridal slip. The blue garter on her leg was showing.
“Susan, talk to me! Look, Dr. Jenkins stopped over to see you.” Marion sat on the floor with her, holding Susan’s hands.
“Mike didn’t get in the limo, mom. He left me alone… and I don’t know where he is!” She was crying and shaking her head from side to side. Then she began speaking gibberish. No one understood. It made no sense at all. Words were coming out of her mouth that no one could understand. She wasn’t speaking in complete sentences. Just gibberish.
“Dr. Jenkins, why is she speaking this way? In the car she wasn’t doing this,” asked Marion.
“She’s still in shock.”
“Should we take her to the ER? Everyone was just so horrified to see this happen. I guess we panicked and wanted to come home. Susan never got out of the limo. Everything happened so fast.” Marion was trying to hold Susan, but she kept swaying back and forth.
“Let me check her vital signs and we’ll go from there.” Oddly enough her blood pressure was not elevated and her heart rate was normal. “Get her back into her bed. Walter and I will wait in the hallway while you get her dressed.”
“Okay. I’ll get her a pair of pajamas.” Marion got Susan into her bed.
“Don’t talk about what happened. Just let her keep talking gibberish.”
“Okay, Dr. Jenkins. I’ll just let here talk.” Marion closed the bedroom door. “Sweetheart, let’s take your slip off and put your pajamas on so you will be more comfortable. Okay?”
“Why mom? I was waiting for Mike to get in the limo, but he walked off. He never came into the car. Why did he walk away?”
Susan eyes were fixed on her mom’s face. She suddenly stopped crying. Marion was astounded by her sudden change of emotions. There were no gibberish words coming out of her mouth as she began taking off her long bridal slip. Susan was offering no assistance, but she didn’t resist.
“Sweetheart, do you remember the wedding and how beautiful everything went? Not one thing went wrong. Do you remember that?”
“Yes mom, but Mike didn’t get in the car. All I saw was him running away from the car. Why did he do that?”
“Well… I’ll tell you why, if you can just help me get your pajamas on. Can you help me do that? Dr. Jenkins wants to talk to you. Okay sweetheart?”
“Yes, but where’s Mike?” Susan began crying again. All of a sudden, she got hysterical that Mike didn’t want to get into the car with her.
Marion opened the door quickly when she had Susan dressed in her pajamas. “She stopped talking gibberish, but now she’s hysterical about Mike not wanting to get into the limo.”
“She’s obviously confused,” said Dr. Jenkins. “Did she actually see everything that happened?”
“I don’t know how she could’ve missed it,” said Walter. “Marion and I saw what happened along with the entire bridal party and most of the family and friends who were outside in front of the church. The limo driver saw it.”
“Maybe she’s trying to block the event out of her mind.”
“Is this a good thing?” asked Marion.
“Actually, no it’s not good. At some point in time she will remember what happened. I hope this is temporary. If her wedding day was an event she was looking forward to with great expectations, and it was special to her in an intense way, she may not want to remember what she saw.”
Marion turned around and saw that Susan was asleep again holding onto Titus, her big white bear. Taking Dr. Jenkins by the arm and away from Susan’s bed, she said, “Special? Oh, Dr. Jenkins, you have no idea. Her wedding day meant everything to her. She wore white party dresses for playtime ever since she saw her first bridal gown in our boutique. I guess about the age of three. The more fluff they had in the dress, the more she wanted to play what she called “bride and groom”, but there was never a groom”.
“Then it makes sense to me that she wants to block out what she saw at her wedding. She had the wedding, but she missed the reception. Her very special day was interrupted, but she hasn’t grasped that Mike is gone.”
“It was horrible. Marion and I nearly passed out to see Mike being pushed to the front of the car like that. Just horrible.”
“Was she worried about anything going wrong before she left for the church?”
“Not at all, Dr. Jenkins. She was as happy as I’ve ever seen her. Susan is a down to earth person and everyone gets along with her. She was a cheerleader in high school and college, and in so many clubs. I can’t name them all now.” Marion rubbed her hands together. Then she crossed her fingers, intertwined as if she were in prayer. “Everyone loved Susan.” Then, she began pacing the floor.
“I have no doubt about the character of Susan. She has an outgoing personality and could have won Miss Congeniality in any beauty contest, but what I’m worried about now is her state of mind.”
“She graduated from college with top honors and received a well-endowed scholarship.” Walter was pacing with Marion.
“Okay, both of you need to listen to me. I’m not worried about how smart she is. I’m worried about her mental state of mind. She’s talking like she didn’t see the accident the way it happened. What she heard about Mike dying, she’s blocking that out. She keeps saying he didn’t come into the car, like he would have stood her up at the altar…... like he just ran away. See what I’m saying? There will be a funeral for Mike in a few days, and if she doesn’t remember that he’s dead, instead of “he didn’t come in the limo”, I don’t think she should attend the funeral.
“Oh my God. Walter, I didn’t even think that far ahead to Mike’s funeral. We’ve been planning a wedding all year, and she will be going to her husband’s funeral. I can’t bear this right now. I can’t.”
Dr. Jenkins called the paramedics and asked them to come inside and check on Marion. They gave her a few pills to carry her over for a few days.
“Walter are you okay?”
“Doc, under the circumstances, I’m holding up okay. Just leave enough pills here for the both of us until after the funeral.”
===================
Thank you for your reviews.
Thank you, Terry, for your honest review of “The Voice Behind the Small Attic Door”. You did a great job of reading my book. I send my appreciation. The story is closer to reality than you can ever imagine. Sometimes well-meaning parents who love deeply are foolish and never see their child the way they really are for decades because they are their little Belle of the Ball, a prized possession, and anything short of that may show a flaw in themselves. Of course, this isn't true, but with Susan's parents, it happened just about like that. Minus Piddle Paddle Waddle. That's the twilight zone fantasy part. They are forever the little girl who played with their dolls. The wedding photo of only Susan stayed on the wall. She was their only child. They mourn her nonexistence still today.
Thanks again,
Mary Lynn Plaisance
==========
Professional Reviews The Voice Behind The Small Attic Door
Thank you, Lindsey Hicky!! I appreciate you taking the time to read my book. I like this, "You will be surprised and the twist and turns this book takes you on. Mary Lynn Plaisance doe bring the storyline together and leaves you wondering what Piddle Paddle Waddle will do? Will Susan learn her lesson or will she not? You will find out by reading the book." Thanks
Thank you
Thank you Lori Jacobs for your delightful review. Everyone will see the story of the Voice differently. I appreciate you taking the time to read my work.
Thank you,
Mary Lynn Plaisance
Reviews for "The Voice Behind the Small Attic Door"
Reviewed by Teddy Plaisance (Reader)
Reviewed on November 12, 2018
. Piddle paddle waddle lives with us Be good to her and she’ll be good to you. Freaky story but I like it. Keep writing.
Reviewed by Brittany Dalton (Reader)
Reviewed on June 7, 2018
This book was really great. I shared it with my mom and she also enjoyed it as well will be looking for more books by this author.
Reviewed by Jeanette Cook (Reader)
Reviewed on March 11, 2018
Mary Lynn Plaisance's book titled, The Voice Behind the Small Attic Door is an intriguing read so akin to a short story in the overall structure and in conveying a specific message to her reader through her individual characters and their behavior patterns. This writer uses a specific theme and builds on it throughout this unfolding story while incorporating symbolism related to her subject matter. Her purpose and her defined meanings are thrust upon the reader as her characters' intentions are unfolding to reveal the central theme. Small indicators, in the beginning, steer the reader towards the mapped meaning until it peaks and the innermost family unit splits and crumbles to form a different defined scope. The main character's inner compass has switched to a dangerous direction causing tension and her defined boundaries are broken.
The ungrateful child and the mourning parents of that child are present inside this cameo volume's pages. Losing a child that lives but is estranged can be worse than a death because it is not the final blow. With a death, there is a healing process that eventually leads to some closure. However, losing a living child because of personality transformations, changes in beliefs or severe kinship differences weighs on the parents deeply and it produces severe stress that weakens the family unit.
Some of the cast of characters seem a bit underdeveloped to me and often the details are not apparent in the scenes; however, they are implied. Many short stories are often crafted in this manner because the theme is not focused on the complexity of the details that we look for in our real world. Instead, the scenes are sketched out and the characters individual roles are narrowed down like a cameo role in a film. The writer uses symbolism as clues and other unique approaches to convey the subject that the whole storyline is based on. This writer has used this technique as a method to create an element of suspense before concluding her story.
In this story, the villain or the characteristics of a villain can be experienced through her character’s personality and the character’s actions. Who is the real villain of this story? This is what keeps the reader flipping the pages because the author must reveal this person or thing as the suspense builds in the story along with the rising conflict between the characters. I wanted to reach this portion of her text where the story reveals this plot-driving device. Plaisance conducts it carefully with her rising conflict being methodically paced. Her small cast of characters indicate certain habits and they create a pattern of unique behaviors to signify her main objective and the purpose of her storytelling. The tragedy is the opening leading to the calamity, the heartbreak, and the misfortune of certain characters that reside in New Orleans. Bold drama with a pinch of fantasy season the created atmosphere.
One note: I was carrying this thin book with me in the lunch line, and the cashier was intrigued by the cover and mostly the title of the book. She asked me what the book was like and if I was enjoying it. She told me that she asked because of the cover and the title.
This story takes place shortly after a woman wants to be a bride and have her dream wedding. There a mystery that unfolds as soon as the bride and groom are to leave the church. Why and how does Mike Harwing die and why?
There seems to be a someone that knows and Susan also knows but why? The parent of Susan want to help their daughter but do not know how.
We are pulled in and wondering what happen. Why is Susan acting the way she is. Susan hears a Voice named Piddle Paddle Waddle. No one can hear this person other than Susan. She comes into Susan room. Though her parents cannot see or hear this voice from the small Attic Door.
You will be surprised and the twist and turns this book takes you on. Does Susan have a personality disorder or not? Her parents do find some really strange emails but do not know what to do about them. They seem to find out how evil their daughter is but they love her a lot to want to get her help.
Mary Lynn Plaisance doe bring the story line together and leave you wondering what Piddle Paddle Waddle will do? Will Susan learn her lesson or will she not? You will see find out by reading the book.
The Voice Behind The Small Attic Door
This story blends the world of fantasy with the real lives of people. The author has a vivid imagination.
A daughter of 25 years, suffers from a split personality, unknown by the parents . A Shocking double life reveals polar opposite real life actions.
In my opinion all plot scenarios within a book of some fantasy mixed with real living activities, must present the latter in believable dialogue to the reader. This will allow the reader to feel a part of the scenes, and actually empathize (or sympathize) with the book’s characters. For Susan’s parents not to suspect even the slightest personality disorders in their 25 year old daughter, might seem unbelievable to readers. Also, after learning their heretofore loving daughter was truly an evil person, and in fact led the street life of a hooker before her wedding, hung a picture of the wedding couple in their home. This would not be normal behavior in my view.
Also the parents secretly discovered the e-mail proof of their daughter’s double life, and subsequently leaving the documents (by “accident”) for their daughter to find, was clearly an unbelievable act, and one not made by loving parents trying to figure out how to help.
There are other instances that, in this reviewer’s opinion, just made the plot fall out of the realistic mode…e.g. the act of staging the death of the new husband was not presented well.
The author’s story idea is a good one, and could make a top seller if more attention was paid to the details of real human activity. I suspect the author has the ability to create a best seller if they had more professional input for their writing ideas.
While one or two content typos are common, the 14 I found in this 135 page book was excessive. There were also many grammatical errors in sentence structures. All authors need to understand that professional editing of content is mandatory.
I tell myself that if I were to read other books by this author (total of 11), I might form a different opinion.
I have to give this book a review rating of “2” out of “10.”
This book was really good. I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it that I shared it with my mother who has gone searching for more books by Mary Lynn Plaisance to share with me. It was a pleasure to read and I look forward to reading her next novel.
Willa Goodheart, honest and hard-working white collar worker finds herself connected to a police investigation for a serial killer; and she hasn't a clue why - that is, until she begins digging.
The ungrateful child and the mourning parents of that child are present inside this cameo volume's pages. Losing a child that lives but is estranged can be worse than a death because it is not the final blow. With a death, there is a healing process that eventually leads to some closure. However, losing a living child because of personality transformations, changes in beliefs or severe kinship differences weighs on the parents deeply and it produces severe stress that weakens the family unit.
Some of the cast of characters seem a bit underdeveloped to me and often the details are not apparent in the scenes; however, they are implied. Many short stories are often crafted in this manner because the theme is not focused on the complexity of the details that we look for in our real world. Instead, the scenes are sketched out and the characters individual roles are narrowed down like a cameo role in a film. The writer uses symbolism as clues and other unique approaches to convey the subject that the whole storyline is based on. This writer has used this technique as a method to create an element of suspense before concluding her story.
In this story, the villain or the characteristics of a villain can be experienced through her character’s personality and the character’s actions. Who is the real villain of this story? This is what keeps the reader flipping the pages because the author must reveal this person or thing as the suspense builds in the story along with the rising conflict between the characters. I wanted to reach this portion of her text where the story reveals this plot-driving device. Plaisance conducts it carefully with her rising conflict being methodically paced. Her small cast of characters indicate certain habits and they create a pattern of unique behaviors to signify her main objective and the purpose of her storytelling. The tragedy is the opening leading to the calamity, the heartbreak, and the misfortune of certain characters that reside in New Orleans. Bold drama with a pinch of fantasy season the created atmosphere.
One note: I was carrying this thin book with me in the lunch line, and the cashier was intrigued by the cover and mostly the title of the book. She asked me what the book was like and if I was enjoying it. She told me that she asked because of the cover and the title.
There seems to be a someone that knows and Susan also knows but why? The parent of Susan want to help their daughter but do not know how.
We are pulled in and wondering what happen. Why is Susan acting the way she is. Susan hears a Voice named Piddle Paddle Waddle. No one can hear this person other than Susan. She comes into Susan room. Though her parents cannot see or hear this voice from the small Attic Door.
You will be surprised and the twist and turns this book takes you on. Does Susan have a personality disorder or not? Her parents do find some really strange emails but do not know what to do about them. They seem to find out how evil their daughter is but they love her a lot to want to get her help.
Mary Lynn Plaisance doe bring the story line together and leave you wondering what Piddle Paddle Waddle will do? Will Susan learn her lesson or will she not? You will see find out by reading the book.
This story blends the world of fantasy with the real lives of people. The author has a vivid imagination.
A daughter of 25 years, suffers from a split personality, unknown by the parents . A Shocking double life reveals polar opposite real life actions.
In my opinion all plot scenarios within a book of some fantasy mixed with real living activities, must present the latter in believable dialogue to the reader. This will allow the reader to feel a part of the scenes, and actually empathize (or sympathize) with the book’s characters. For Susan’s parents not to suspect even the slightest personality disorders in their 25 year old daughter, might seem unbelievable to readers. Also, after learning their heretofore loving daughter was truly an evil person, and in fact led the street life of a hooker before her wedding, hung a picture of the wedding couple in their home. This would not be normal behavior in my view.
Also the parents secretly discovered the e-mail proof of their daughter’s double life, and subsequently leaving the documents (by “accident”) for their daughter to find, was clearly an unbelievable act, and one not made by loving parents trying to figure out how to help.
There are other instances that, in this reviewer’s opinion, just made the plot fall out of the realistic mode…e.g. the act of staging the death of the new husband was not presented well.
The author’s story idea is a good one, and could make a top seller if more attention was paid to the details of real human activity. I suspect the author has the ability to create a best seller if they had more professional input for their writing ideas.
While one or two content typos are common, the 14 I found in this 135 page book was excessive. There were also many grammatical errors in sentence structures. All authors need to understand that professional editing of content is mandatory.
I tell myself that if I were to read other books by this author (total of 11), I might form a different opinion.
I have to give this book a review rating of “2” out of “10.”