Stubbytail: A Timeline Review with Comments
Things can get complicated when writing a story. You must get your timeline straight and everything must fit in like it was meant to be there.
The timeline of ‘Stubbytail’ is complicated by time travel.
Relative Timeline
Johannes draws Stubbytail in Utrecht
The book signing event and flood
Stubbytail meets Dr. Cohen on the Kitty Express
Stubbytail has kittens
The story begins with Stubbytail meeting Dr. Cohen, and then, the ONLY OTHER CAT IN THE VICINITY, on the Kitty Express. They have some adventures; and a few months later Stubbytail has a litter of kittens.
Sometime before that is the book signing event. One evening Stubbytail goes with Stonewall, Stubbytail’s owner, and Stonewall’s twin brother, to a book signing event where Stubbytail “models” for a sketch by an artist who turns out to be Johannes Vermeer.
There is a storm and flooding later that evening. Stonewall almost drowns and is taken to the emergency room. Stubbytail disappears along with Stonewall’s backpack, during which time she time travels to seventeenth century Utrecht and models for a group of art apprentices; among them, Johannes Vermeer. She reappears a few hours later with the backpack and is taken by the Animal Shelter Rescue van to the Animal Shelter. Stonewall collects her and the backpack from there soon after. Stonewall has been given a week sick leave and spends it recuperating with Stubbytail.
Johannes Vermeer is in town, the week that Stonewall is on sick leave. He knows where they live because he followed them home from the Animal Shelter.
Johannes was at the book signing and disappeared after drawing Stubbytail. Later that night Stubbytail disappeared during the flood and Johannes drew her in the apprentice’s workshop in Ultrecht.
This is the first time that Johannes draws Stubbytail, so it happens sometime before the book signing event. If you remember, he comes to the he book signing event to draw her a second time.
At the studio in Utrecht, on leaving, Johannes forgets his sketchbook. When he returns to fetch it a few moments later; it has disappeared. He sees Stubbytail on the stone bench in the center of the courtyard in front of the studio, with a backpack, a moment before she, and the backpack, vanish.
He follows her through time in order to recover his sketchbook. He is desperate to get it back as it contains his best and latest drawings, and is a gift from his father; so he follows her though time; but because his attention is more on Stubbytail than his sketchbook, he lands farther in the future (on the day Stubbytail meets Dr. Cohen on the Kitty Express). It is later on that day, after Stubbytail has met THE ONLY OTHER CAT IN THE VICINITY and scarcely avoided an encounter with him. Stubbytail has also discovered she is a she, and is trying to deal with it. She falls asleep in the Public Garden and dreams.
Johannes lands in her dream. This is a technical time travel glitch and a correction is made. Now Johannes is next to her in the Public Garden; and he draws her before she wakes. Johannes makes a time travel correction himself, to find himself on the street corner a moment before Stubbytail is picked up and brought to the Animal Shelter. He hides in the back of the Animal Shelter Rescue wagon and follows her into the Animal Shelter.
At the Animal Shelter he sees Stonewall come and collect Stubbytail, and also finds accomodations for himself there in exchange for volunteering. He has decided to stick around for awhile to find a discreet way of getting his sketchbook back without upsetting the order of time travel; which Stubbytail has already upset by taking his sketchbook in the first place. Johannes decides switching a similar sketchbook for the original, will work, but will require some time and materials. How and where the switch will take place is still open to consideration. What is clear is that he needs to prepare a decoy sketchbook for the switch.
By this time word is getting out about the drawing of Stubbytail that Johannes drew at the book signing and gave to Stonewall. It is identical to the last drawing in a series of cat drawings attributed to Johannes Vermeer entitled ‘Cat without a Tail’. The Cat series is documented to have existed, but no trace of any of the drawings has ever been found…until now.
A reminder: this is fiction.
Stonewall sells the drawing ‘Cat without a Tail’ to Christie’s; mainly to get back to anonymity. He puts Johannes sketchbook away and forgets about it.
That is how ‘Stubbytail’ ends.
‘Stubbytail 2’ so far, is mostly from Johannes Vermeer’s perspective. He sleeps his first night in the guest accomodations at the Animal Shelter, wakes in the next morning and checks out the river behind the Animal Shelter. There’s lots going on, swinging bridges to cross, swans to see, beavers to draw, trees to climb, a boat trip…
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