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"The House of Pearly Beetle Island"
Stories by Jill Collins Nosse
Chapter 1
"The Girl on Pearly Beetle"
Once there was a girl who lived in a very large house on a very tiny island.  Her island was so small that she had no front or back yard.  The girl was named Edmona Burg, “Mona” for short.  Mona had large brown eyes and light brown hair.  Her skin was a wonderful maple color from being out in the sun all day.
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Her feet were bare because she never had to wear shoes or regular clothes; instead, she wore bathing suits.  Sometimes, in winter, she wore her mother’s old pea coat, which had to be rolled several times at her wrists and hung past her ankles.
One warm summer morning, Mona was already in the kitchen when she smelled the most familiar smell in the world and heard the clop step of her Nanny.  Mona’s parents had died, and so a middle-aged lady, with a salty smell, took care of her.  Mona had always called her Nanny and Nanny had always called her Mona.  Mona liked Nanny’s smell because it was the same smell as the open sea.  Nanny made Mona do chores; and eat things she didn’t like to eat; and sometimes learn arithmetic or reading; but Nanny also let Mona swim as often as she liked.  
Pearly Beetle Island and Its Surrounding Islands
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The House of Pearly Beetle Island
Nanny and Mona lived in a huge Victorian house.  They had many spare rooms, and the house was an inn, famous even in Mona’s grandparents’ time.  Mona and Nanny welcomed seafarers from around the world to their inn.  Some sailors were new to Pearly Beetle and others had come long before Mona was born, and continued to visit year after year.  Pearly Beetle was their only stationary home. 
Mona and Nanny grew attached to the guests who returned each year and anticipated their visits with pleasure.  Mr. Rowley, the current guest, had frequented Pearly Beetle even as a youth. When he was awake and in a good mood, he would sit Mona on his knee and tell her stories.
Mr. Rowley had gentle, small dark eyes and white grizzled hair.  He was very tall and had lots of hair, resembling a grizzly bear in every possible aspect without actually being one.  That is, if you can imagine a gaunt, old, brown-skinned man with white hair as a grizzly bear.  Like an old bear, his temper had sweetened in his old age.  A kind soul on the last leg of life, he slept out the rest of his days, so after breakfast, Mona and Nanny were happy to leave him in the quiet peace of
Pearly Beetle. 
They were ripe for blackberrying.