Ahh. Hella Goode, or as occasionally known as Ella Goode to my group with my writing group. I was turning my voices into a book. In writing, two many names with the same letter can confuse the reader. I changed Hella to Ella. I’m changing it back now that the novel is (probably) never happening. The teacher of the class told me I had no plot. That isn’t a dig. It’s true. I had a settting of Waukesha (my hometown) and just so many people. Writing Hey, Joey Journal, I had to combine so many characters. I didn’t talk to them the way I talk to The Goddamn Unicorn Universe. The only one from HJJ I spoke with was a character named Eliot Buxton. He didn’t like the way he was portrayed. I was giving him his own novel. Logan Fields (another HJJ character) and Eliot went to France after Rosie paired them up as travel buddies. Is it canon? No. HJJ is different than my schizophrenic universe- The Goddamn Unicorn Universe. One day, I want my own solo show of just characters from HJJ and one of my GUU characters going on superhero adventures. Both would be a blessing.
So who is Hella Goode?
She is an enigma. Sometimes she’s white, the next she’s black or mixed. Fat, skinny, tall, short. I’ve seen her all different ways. It’s like she couldn’t decide what she wanted to be. I sat down to paint Dottie, her mother. When it was all on the canvas, aside from the paint pen marks, I saw her. I saw Hella. Earlier in the year, I tried to paint her on a different, bigger canvas. It was awful, but turned into a solid floral/squeegee hybrid.
It captured her soul, but it didn’t make the cut. The one we put n this show captured her even more. Hella was the nicest voice and stuck around the longest. She didn’t know why she didn’t want to be on the big canvas. She was too humble.
Hella is shy and very disappointed that her graphic novel didn’t do well. She illustrated what her best friend wrote. While visiting Corny in the hospital, she is granted the ability to give powers to people. She doesn’t know that the power was actually given to her, though. Corny is her best friend.
Here’s an excerpt. She is talking to her therapist.
Ella said, “I have this idea for a superhero book, with Corny. I started reading it on the way over. This girl has the power to grant powers. She interviews people from her treehouse in an abandoned woods and finds the best powers for the people.”
She smiles softly and then gets faster.
“She puts them through entertaining and humiliating tests to figure out these powers, all while wearing a Beetlejuice costume. Then she grants them. That’s all she has. The power to grant powers. She gives all these superheroes amazing abilities.”
She spoke super fast and pressed her fingers to her temples as though she was practicing telekinesis. Anna is rapidly taking notes. “Super speed, flying, regenerative healing, invisibility, cyclone spinning, fog generation, sonic scream, aquatic respiration, supernatural flexibility, telekinesis, super strength, teleportation, weather manipulation, laser vision. You name it and she can grant it. We call her Tree Bitch.”
Anna smiled and said, “Hmmm. Interesting. Tree Bitch. Why?”
Silence. Ella’s mouth hung open and she stared into space. She shook her head. Smiled big. Then frowned again. Hope and despair flirted with each other. “I hate to ask this, but why do you take so many notes?”
Anna blinked slowly and yawned. “To keep track.”
“Um, yeah. I don’t know. I ran into a tree in middle school. During a track meeting at Horning Middle School— one of the three middle schools in Waukesha. I went to Les Paul— formerly known as Central. All the boys in Waukesha called me Tree Bitch for years, Anna.”
Anna had a pensive look on her face for a moment. She’s not sure what to say. Finally, she found words. “That’s a perfect name for a girl who grants powers. It reminds me of The Giving Tree.”
Hella said, “I remember that book. It was for kids. I think women have all of the strength, but none of the power. Mom says that.”
Anna blew her nose. “Your Mom is a smart woman.”
I couldn’t focus on art and writing at the same time, as lovely as my time was with my writing group. I know some people have two disciplines. I can write an occasional poem, but the task of writing a novel is too hard for me. I wrote the best book I could possibly write and after that, the voices played into my desires to write something just as great. I had to focus on art to make sure I got the art done. Leave a comment if you know the feeling. I’ve tried writing Hella as a graphic novel. I tried to make her a screenplay. This is as good as I’ll ever get to seeing her. This is only the beginning of the visual adventures of The Goddamn Unicorn Universe.
I’m seeing my future portraits in my head. It’s wild. I am home.
To buy Hella or one of her friends, visit the link
https://arts-for-all-wi.square.site/shop/zelda-bean/CZA4XFAFXCAOYUNXSXIWU5WI
While you’re there, check out art by Zelda’s real friends.