Really Weird, Twenty-Four-Year-Old Artwork

In case you were curious about what inspired the anonymous toy back-story that I posted at the Vinyl Toy Freaks forum, here it is. I can't post it there, because the contest doesn't allow artwork, only writing. It's a crazy piece that combines a rubbing from the bathroom tile of my parents' house with a felt-tip pen drawing. I saw a couple of characters in the tile patterns, and rather than have them start talking to me, I decided to draw them. I'll post the other one soon, which I think is a marginally better drawing.

Vinyl Toy Freaks Writing Contest

The Vinyl Toy Freaks forum is starting a bi-weekly contest where you can win cool toy prizes! Unlike most, though, this one requires you to do something for judging, rather than just posting a reply for a rafffle-type drawing. The first VTF competition asks you to write a background story for an imaginary toy, a small paragraph with a minimum of four hundred characters (including spaces). Here's mine:

Rufus J. Cirrus is a big orange cat who lives in an abandoned cliff dwelling. He's been in the high desert ever since he was orphaned as a kitten, taught how to survive by his aged friend and mentor, the Right Honorable Rev. Chompington, a Gila Monster (Rufus calls him R.C., even though technically that works for both of them). Rufus walks on his hind legs because no one told him he wasn't supposed to. He and R.C. live together, R.C. sunning himself on the window ledges, and Rufus curled up in the shade. It's not the best place for a longhair cat, but the Reverend knows where all the hidden springs and streams are. R.C. doesn't really have a congregation, so he and Rufus have long philosophical discussions together. Sometimes, Rufus will go out when the sun is down and scavenge the bits and pieces that the wind blows in (that's how he found his battered top hat). Some of it, he uses to decorate the house, the rest goes toward perfecting his backpack glider. That's the other reason Rufus likes the strong updrafts in the cliffs. He's a bit natty-looking these days from past mishaps, but these days the wings work fine - it's more a matter of refinement now. One of these days, he maintains, those desert birds are going to be in for a surprise! Then they'll eat like kings. R.C. listens patiently and gets the salve and bandages.

I wrote this based on a goofy old drawing I did over twenty years ago - a character drawn over a rubbing I did of the texture on our bathroom floor tiles (I'll try to scan and post it at some point).

You have to have a minimum of ten posts on the forum to be eligible, which I don't have yet (the contest goes until the end of Janaury, though, so I guess I can fix that). We'll see what happens. Regardless, it was fun!