The following is the Tall Tale speech I delivered and won at
the Area level Toastsmasters International competition. Enjoy!!
Jerome McCormick is an inventor who lives in a town a
stone’s throw from Bliss ID. His latest invention is a powerful laser that will
write messages on the moon. He will market it to companies that want to
advertise on a global scale. When this invention was in prototype mode, he
asked his friend, Billy Gleam, to help him test it. Billy promptly wrote, “Will
you marry me, Denise?” on the surface of the moon. Denise, his girlfriend of,
was so taken by this grand gesture that she immediately said yes. After they married, this message is still on
the moon, so each full moon, Billy shuts down the one main street to reenact
his proposal to Denise.
Jerome wishes he could be this grand with the love of his
life, Elizabeth Sooner. What’s not to
love about Elizabeth? She is the kindest, gentlest person in the town. Even the
animal kingdom knew this. Why else would a runaway rhinoceros from the circus go
to her front door, knowing that she would hug it and give it a good home!
Jerome decides to take a chance and use his inventive skills
to catch Elizabeth’s eye. In the
wintertime, he used his hydroponic portable farm to spread daisies, her
favorite flower, 4 feet along her lawn. In the springtime, when Elizabeth went to the
corner store, she was stunned to see the chocolate cupcakes’ wrapper have the
words “the sweetest cake for the sweetest person, Elizabeth” on it. Unfortunately, Jerome didn't sign his name to any of these feats.
In the fall, Jerome decided he had to be bold or forget the
whole thing. That night it was a full moon and he knew what he had to do. He
positioned his laser writer on the word Denise on the full moon. He began to
laser out her name and when that was done, he was going to replace it with
Elizabeth.
Of course, he had previously spoken with Billy and Denise
that morning of his plans. They were in agreement since they were on their way
to the hospital because Denise was in labor with quintuplets. They would have no
more time to close down the town for any more proposal reenactments.
As Denise’s name was completely removed, Jerome was about to
write Elizabeth’s name, when he heard a gentle voice saying to him, “I am so
glad you did this!” He turned around and there stood Elizabeth.
“I have always
thought that message on the moon was an eyesore!” Elizabeth confessed. “Do you
know how many times I've been late to the soup kitchen because Main Street was
closed down because of this moon sign? You have made it so that anyone who is
tongue-tied can point to the moon to ask the one they love for their hand in
marriage. Now, why don’t you read me this message on the moon?”
The next time there is a full moon, and if you look just
right, you just might be able to see the Proposal Moon.
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