Mogette Miniature, or MnM to her friends, is a small-scale
identical twin of Mogette La Deux-Chevaux Coquette.
In a later episode, dear reader, you will discover where, when and how
MnM was born. This will help you to understand MnM’s Secret Spécial…
MnM, unlike Grande Mogette, can sometimes be grumpy. And
she swears a lot if she thinks she can get away with it. This also has
something to do with where and how she was born…
Her owner, Proprio, tries not to let her get away with the
swearing or with the grumpiness too often.
She lives in Proprio’s Sac Magique, which is orange, and
which his kids bought for him as a Christmas gift from Décathlon some years
ago. Proprio knows it cost two Euros fifty, but he loves his kids anyway.
 |
| ...two Euros bloody fifty... |
And here is MnM’s Special Secret: even when she is in her pochette
orange, even though she lost both her headlamps during her trip to
Provence, even though she has never read Harry Potter…
… she can see around corners in Time and Space.
Now read on…
Proprio turns left at the top of the stone escalier, and
continues uphill, past the monument aux morts, then under the
stone archway.
“What a view”
he utters out loud, as he
walks past the church doorway.
“Ok for you to say that. All I can see is orange…”
Comes the reply from MnM, the Muse in the Musette.
"Try not to be so grumpy, ma petite. You will be able to get some fresh air at the Coup de Bleu"
"C'est quoi, ça?"
"A sort of open-air apéritif, where all Lursiens, old an new, get to see each other after a year of vie normale. Some people have been coming here each year since the 1950's"
"Sounds a bit bloody spaced-out if you ask me. And what’s a
Lursien? Sounds like something from another bloody planet"
"Quiet, MnM, and stop swearing. I’ll explain about Lursiens
later. You might be right about the spaced-out bit; this year's theme is "CONSTELLATIONS". Come on, here’s La Chancellerie.”
MnM considers making a cynical joke along the lines of "OK Proprio, you're the interpreter, so how do you say CONSTELLATIONS in French? Then, perhaps in fear of being confined in to her orange quarters for longer than necessary, she switches instead into see-around-corner mode, saying:
“Our friend Céline will be in there, preparing name-badges, a tray of pissaladière and some melons”
“Don’t be a smarty-pants MnM”
Says Proprio, trying to hide a smile.
Sure enough, MnM has managed to see into the future, and five
minutes later Céline, Proprio and MnM are walking uphill again, along the
ancient paving-stones of Le Chemin des Evêques.
“Fifty-seven people around the next corner, including Thierry, a lady with a little dog and a table full of
Pastis and olives”
Says a muffled voice.
“Did somebody just mention Pastis?”
Asks Céline.
“Probably”
Says Proprio, as they turn the stone-wall corner, and gaze towards
the hill-top chapel and the Coup de Bleu…
Stay tuned dear reader; in the next episode MnM predicts a
remarkable coincidence, and Proprio narrowly avoids a diplomatic incident when
he steps on a Yorkshire Terrier.
