Lucinda Octavio, Deep Sea Milliner Magnet

Even as a small girl, Lucinda’s passion for millinery was immediately apparent. As a small tot, the lovely, quiet little girl put absolutely everything on her head and wore it about. Buckets, bowls, wastepaper baskets, lampshades – even pancakes were not safe from her deep need for headwear. Usually a rather solemn child, nothing brightened little Lucinda’s countenance like an unlikely object balanced precariously on her tiny head. As she grew, her efforts became more elaborate and she constructed origamically engineered masterpieces out of the New York Times and fanciful confections out of bits of lace, satin and felt. Her obsession with millinery was equalled only by her affection for all things aquatic, an affinity that became glaringly apparent when she perpetrated a swift kick in the shin against a distant but wealthy relative as he tucked in to an outsized lobster tail. Such all-consuming passions coupled with introversion can prove socially problematic even for strikingly attractive young ladies, but Lucinda seemed to bear it no mind. She simply tucked her sketchbook under her arm and decamped for the aquarium, where she whiled away endless hours designing headwear by the watery blue glow of the undersea exhibit. It was there that she happened to make the acquaintance of the dashing, handsome and equally odd Captain Lucien Octavio (see “Adventures of Capt. Octavio”). He wasn’t a captain yet, of course, but how could he help but be utterly smitten by a lovely young lady with a small coral reef artfully stitched to her cloche? He called for Lucinda as soon as he got his first ship, the Marinus Profundis, and they were wed on Octavio’s famous deep sea expedition to the Marianas Trench. The newlyweds each gained additional companionship on that trip, and Lucinda named hers Olive. Lucinda immediately set to work creating hats that would allow the Octavios’ cephalopodic companions to accompany them anywhere, and what magnificent chapeaux they were! Elaborate gauges and pumps ensured Olive’s moist comfort, and the octopus proved quite indispensable as a hat-making assistant. This original artwork and story are copyright Ramona Szczerba 2009. Copyright to this material is in no way transferable with the sale of this item. The buyer is not entitled to any reproduction rights – neither image nor story can be reproduced without my express written permission. Thanks!