Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts

Thursday, 11 May 2017

The Sun and the Moon - Part 2 of 2


Continuing on from Part 1...


'It sounds like a good idea,' said the Sun.

So the Sun plodded ever so slowly over to the West and laid its head down to rest. And the Moon shone proudly and watched over the people as they slept.

On one clear night the Moon noticed a small child pointing in its direction. The Moon was over itself with delight. 

It had been spotted! 

It almost went and woke up the Sun with utter excitement. To the Moon's amazement the child wasn't finished, for then it yelled, 

'Mum! Dad! Come and look at the Moon! Look how big and bright it is!'

The Moon puffed itself up and lit up the night sky, like never before. It was full of itself (this is where the term Full Moon originally comes from).

People couldn't help but notice.

Poems were written about it.

Songs were Sung.

Paintings were painted.

The seas and lakes chose to reflect on it.

The tides began to listen to it.

People would take late night walks and thank it for its guidance along their path.

'I no longer envy the Sun,' uttered the Moon, one night as it sat reflecting. 'All this time I thought the Sun and I should share the same purpose, but I was wrong. I am happy for the Sun to shine so brightly during the day, because I'm able to shine so brightly at night.'

Not many people know this, but the Sun gets many nightmares. It ends up being all hot and bothered and comes out in a fever. So on clear nights, when the Moon is nowhere to be seen, please know it hasn't grown impatient and left its post. 

It is quietly humming the Sun to sleep and will be back in no time at all.



Wednesday, 10 May 2017

The Sun and the Moon - Part 1 of 2




There was a time when the Sun and the Moon were so close that they rose and set together.

The people who populated Young Earth looked up in delight at the amazing exhibition of two heavenly bodies, side by side.

What the people didn't know was that their lives were on the verge of changing forever. 

The Sun was always the optimist of the two, always looking on the bright side of every occasion. This irritated the Moon and naturally it began to fall into the shadows. Whatever the Moon could do the Sun could do it brighter.

Because of this, the Moon began to foster feelings of envy.

'People adore you,' the Moon complained.

'They adore you, too,' consoled the Sun.

‘I doubt it! When you appear, they give thanks. They're not bothered when I come along. In fact, the majority of them go to bed! Every time we rise and set together I see eyes of millions staring at you.’

This sad state of affairs continued for quite some time, until, one day, the Moon saw the Sun yawning.

'Are you tired, Sun?' asked the Moon, rather taken aback.

‘I think so,' said the Sun. 'We might have to set earlier today.'

The Moon felt an idea stirring beneath its chalk-like surface, for its scars that we see today didn't come until much later.

‘Why don’t you go and have some rest, over there in the West?' it said.

'Are you sure?' said the Sun, taking another deep yawn and stretching its rays of deep amber.

'Of course, my friend. You shine so brightly all the time, I'm not surprised you're exhausted.'

'But what about our people?'

The Moon smiled. ‘I'll look after them until you rise, and then I’ll take a rest whilst you take over.’


To be continued...




Tuesday, 9 May 2017

We Can't Force a Child to Enjoy Reading



I arrived late to fiction.

I was a kid with a lot of energy and a vivid imagination. (Something I still have!)

I wanted to be out in the woods, climbing trees, splashing through streams; finding frogs, birds’ nests and dead stuff. We would make dens and tree-swings and get cut up and bruised. We would spy on the older kids and get chased by farmers.

That’s what being a boy was all about; discovering the world by prodding it and pushing it, to see if prodded and pushed back.

And it did, loads of times.

It was called lesson learnt.

The buzz came from thinking you were going to die - truly believing it was the end - but then making it home in time for dinner. 

Books couldn’t come close to that.  

They couldn’t pump me full of adrenalin, get my heart racing and my forehead dripping. 

How lame it felt to turn a page, when my legs were still shaking from being chased by Rottweilers and German Shepherds!

You can’t force a child to read and expect them to enjoy it.

You can’t expect them to get lost in a book - which is where the pleasure of reading is found - whilst constantly asking them what is meant by this passage and that piece of dialogue; and all the while, hanging the threat of homework above their heads, which is to “Write an essay on the protagonist’s perception of the world she can’t see.”

“I hate books.”

“Me too.”

If kids don’t enjoy reading, it might be because they’re enjoying being a kid.

Now, I absolutely love reading because I gave myself space to read.

And that’s good for me, because folk tend to call the cops when they see an adult in a tree.

It’s a shame, really. 



Monday, 8 May 2017

300 Words a Day - #36: A Barnacle's Tale: Part 3 of 3


Continuing on from yesterday's post...


“What?” said Barry, aghast. “NO!” 

Bev let go with a smile.

She was never seen again by those on her rock. They mourned her absence - especially Barry, who was the last to see her, and couldn’t help blaming himself. The warnings of the tide were drilled into the young barnacles, with even more severity than before.

Let us turn our attention to Bev, for those remaining on the rock were mourning for themselves.

As she surrendered to the tide, smiling at Barry’s shocked expression, watching it getting smaller and fainter, she was actually becoming clearer and clearer to others she was not yet aware of.

“Who’s this?” she heard, and turned around instantly.

“Hello there, young one!” said a deep, penetrating voice. “Welcome!”

Bev literally could not believe what she was seeing. Barnacles, just like her, were not on rocks, but on a huge whale.

“Park yourself here,” said the barnacle with the deep voice. He seemed to be in charge. “Move up, everyone. Let’s create some space for her.”

Bev was still speechless. Her own imagination could never have conjured up such an experience.

“Well done for letting go and trusting!” said the barnacle in charge. “I’m Benny.”

“You’re Crazy… sorry, I mean, you’re Benny?”

“Guilty. And you are?”

“Bev.”

And all of the barnacles, including the whale, all chorused, “Hello, Bev!” Of course, the whale’s voice drowned out the rest.

“Oh, this is Winnie,” said Benny. “As you can see, she’s a whale, and a grand one at that.”

“She doesn’t mind us clinging to her?”

“Mind? It was her idea, wasn’t it Winnie?”

In a slow, operatic sort of voice, Winnie said, “It can be lonely swimming through the world’s oceans, all by oneself.”

And so, legend has it, that Bev went on to see the world. 



Sunday, 7 May 2017

300 Words a Day - #35: A Barnacle's Tale: Part 2 of 3


Continuing on from yesterday's post...


“Cope better?” said Bev the barnacle. “And how do you propose I do that?”

“Just… copy me,” said Barry. “You don’t hear me fantasizing about being swept away by the tide.” 

“That’s because you’re afraid!”

“Afraid?! I’m not scared to let go! It’s just that we’re not supposed to, that’s all. I prefer to follow the rules, unlike some folk.”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors, though?”

“What, that trusting the tide leads to happiness? Of course I’ve heard them. Everyone has. But I’ve already told you, it means saying goodbye to all that we know.”

“You mean this rock?”

“Yes, I mean this rock. Our rock. We know this rock and it knows us.”

Both of them were quiet for sometime, then Bev said, “You said those who have let go have never been seen again, but there was one, wasn't there?”

“You mean Crazy Benny? Yeah, okay, good luck trusting him. The tide went to his head.”

“But he said-“

“I know what he said. My grandpa’s told me all about him. He was there, when he came back.”

“Well, wasn’t Benny happy?” said Bev.

“He was as crazy as a crab, my grandpa said. He said Crazy Benny was telling everyone how the tide takes you where you need to go, just as long as you’re willing to let go first. Trust! That’s what he kept on saying. Trust! Trust! Hah! Fool. They pushed him off the rock. They couldn’t stand him talking such nonsense.”

“Maybe that’s why nobody ever comes back, because persuading others to trust the tide, when we’ve been conditioned not to, is pointless.”

“They tell us that stuff for our own good.”

Bev couldn’t fight the impulse to let go. She had to do it. 

It was now or never. 

“Goodbye, Barry,” she said.



The final part will be here tomorrow



Saturday, 6 May 2017

300 Words a Day - #34: A Barnacle's Tale - Part 1 of 3



Yesterday, I mentioned the importance of flowing with life, and finished off using the analogy of a barnacle. (A barnacle being an arthropod that clings to rocks, resisting the tide.) 

I remember reading a tale about a barnacle, but I can’t remember whereabouts I read it. 

I will try and write one here. (If you know of such a tale, please let me know).

***


So the story goes that a group of barnacles were clinging to a rock.

All the barnacles were conditioned from a young age to resist the tide. No matter how hard life got, one was never to let go and be swept away.

“Those that get swept away are never seen again!” said a melodramatic barnacle. 

Let’s call him Barry.

“But there has to be more to life than clinging to this rock,” said another barnacle. We’ll call her Bev. Her thinking set her apart from the rest. “Day in, day out, all we do is cling. What if there’s more?”

“More?” said Barry. “What do you mean more?”

“Well, suppose all those who have let go and trusted where the tide took them-”

“Now stop that talk about the tide! If the elders hear you they’ll-“

“I wasn’t saying anything bad... I was just going to say, what if those who have let go are not only okay but are actually having an amazing time? What if they’ve found other rocks?”

“You talk daft!”

“What if they’re doing what every barnacle dreams of?”

“And what exactly might that be?”

“Well… don’t you want to be free?”

“I am free… free to roam on our rock!”

“No, I mean free with the tide; for all the stress and the pressure to vanish.”

“You just need to learn how to cope better.”

Bev stared at Barry, angrily. 


To be continued tomorrow...