When the Roses Bloom Again

Early in the 15th century in an unrecorded location Laura Park invented Molasses. Dark and sticky, it quickly became the sweetener of choice and rivaled salt as the preferred edible method of payment. Sailors mutineed if their captain dared to dole out their salary in anything other than a keg of thick molasses. Children drowned themselves by the hundreds in local rivers and lakes when denied a spoonful of the sweet black treat.

Being a molasses baron brought great wealth and acclaim. Known to be casually hateful of the limelight and inherently antisocial, Laura Park did not celebrate her riches in the expected garish fashion. A modest house was built and she spent the next few centuries tucked away in a small dimly lit room mastering the art of painting dead things.

Unfortunately with the Molasses Act of 1733, the winds of power shifted and Laura Park was unseated from her vast molasses empire in a bloodless coup. After many unsuccessful attempts to regain her throne she seemingly disappeared and became not much more than a dim and vaguely unpleasant memory.

In the 1980's she reappeared and shot to prominence with her invention of the Orange. A tasty technological wonder, the orange fascinated both the scientific community and fans of citrus fruits worldwide. After more than two decades the orange has not lost its edge and is gaining new fans every day. To celebrate the success of the orange, Laura replaced her wooden teeth with a set molded from the finest gold. Back on top of the game, she quickly rebuilt her modest house and returned to that dimly lit room and began to paint once more.

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