Princess Babloosh & the Hexed Hallux
-A 36 days of type tale
Every summer, artists the world over prepare for 36 Days of Type — an annual social media open call that encourages the creative exploration of letterforms. This year, we decided to take things to a new level by writing and illustrating a 36-line fairytale about a Princess named Babloosh. Through the medieval artistic style of drop caps, each new line of the story began with the alphabet of the day, while the numbers sang the history of Babloosh’s kingdom. The alphabets and numbers were thematically visualised to match the plot and elevated the storyline with finely detailed illustrations.
A long time ago in the kingdom of Edificia, lived a beautiful princess named Babloosh.
Babloosh loved absolutely everything about her life, everything except the big toe on her left foot.
Cursed at birth by an old sea hag, Babloosh’s toe was bumpy, bulging, blistered and much bigger than any average-sized attachments, even the ones on her other foot!
Doctors and surgeons from near and far were called to diminish the devilish digit, but none could succeed.
Even wizards, warlocks and witches tried to treat the terrible toe but their magic made no difference.
Frustrated by her failures, Babloosh turned to her subjects.
“Good people of Edificia, help me get rid of this hideous hallux and be handsomely rewarded.”
Her kingdom responded with great frenzy.
In each and every corner, a new solution was born.
“Just brew her a stew of a rat born in two!”
“Kill the bunion with the juice of an onion!”
“Let the little piggy be run over by a buggy!”
Many more attempts were made, but none of them had any effect on Babloosh’s big toe.
Now you must understand that Babloosh didn’t like the idea of giving up, but it seemed as though she had no other choice.
On the next day, a strange new visitor appeared in her court.
“Princess Babloosh,” the cloaked man said, “you are not alone!”
Questions arose by the hundreds in Babloosh’s mind.
“Really? There are other people with distorted dactyls like mine?”
Slowly, the stranger hoisted the hem of his cloak, revealing a toe just like Babloosh’s.
“There are so many more like you and me, Princess. I, too, believed that something was wrong with me.”
“Until I realised that ugliness is just a matter of what you perceive. All you need is a new point of view and people that look like you to see that there’s more to life than a bumpy big toe.”
Voila! Eureka! Ding! Clarity struck, and Babloosh realised her bumpy big toe wasn’t so bad after all.
Why, she wondered, had she spent so much time being so repulsed by something about herself?
Xcitedly, she decided this called for a grand celebration and declared that the 2nd of every February would be Toesday, a day to remember to treat every part of you with love and affection.
You know, dear reader, that there’s a motto in all this.
Zero flaws is a lie, and self-love is true bliss.
The Modern History of Edificia
0 - From nought to
1 - One hundred, and growing every day,
2 - Two houses joined together to pave a brighter way.
3 - Three wise elders, did the decision take,
4 - Four and fifty days later, Edificia they did make.
5 - Five thousand acres of fields, hills and streams
6 - For six thousand people, it’s the home of their dreams.
7 - Seven long centuries, this kingdom has remained,
8 - And its eight proud rulers have had a happy reign.
9 - Ninth is none other than our very own Babloosh,
who’ll be the first princess to have a royal pooch!
Story: Diya Philipose
Illustration: Udisha Madan
Art Direction: Shubhangi Goel
