We see a parcel wrapped in gift paper and tied with a string. There are a few Christmas decorations scattered near it.
As the festivities commence my thoughts turn north to the country of my birth where snow crunches underfoot and darkness is driven away by constant pools of light.
Where ice sparkles and children exhale frosty breath making snow angels on silvery lawns.
Now I’ve put down roots where summer’s sun bakes the thirsty earth and children dance on dusty paths.
Here, where velvet darkness draws in quickly and Africa’s golden moon smiles down, I know I’m already home.
Mr Eyre and Bryony looked at one another in concern as Bethany disappeared inside the Owl-King’s palace, whilst the exchange which passed between Greta and Lobelia was one of quiet satisfaction; Beetle-Queen Florigia whispered soothing words to her many-hued subjects, who folded their bright wings, preparing to wait.
Ten minutes stretched to twenty and Mr Eyre began to pace, long strides repeatedly carrying him the length of the palace’s pink frontage with its blank-eyed windows, which offered no clue as to what was happening inside.
Bryony rose to her feet and joined her troubled tutor, increasingly anxious for her sister, despite their companions’ placid insistence that all would be well; she tugged at his sleeve and muttered, ‘if only we knew what was going on!’
Mr Eyre jerked his head, gesturing his young charge to follow him, before ducking around the side of the palace, where they were greeted by a surprising sight: it was as if the entire contents of the building had been dumped outside.
As they picked their way through the heaps of junk, they heard the murmur of voices; they peeked in through a grimy window. Mr Eyre’s jaw dropped, while Bryony inhaled an astonished gasp.
Bryony, Bethany and Mr Eyre first appeared in my historical fantasy fiction novel, Following the Green Rabbit. They’ve been begging to go on another adventure and now they’ve got their wish!
We see a huge stone angel guarding a city withinits two wings.
Sun’s last liquid rays slip silently beneath a purple-clouded horizon, while birdsong fills the twilight air. Wings, skimming softly over a wide velvet lake, whisper gentle goodnights, and from night’s star-bright firmament, a pearlescent figure appears, bathed in lunar light.
angel’s wings descend cocooning the sleeping town in tender embrace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: It seems that some of my spam woes have returned. So if I seem strangely silent, my comments may well have slid into your spam folder. Please, if I’ve just popped in a ‘like’ on one of your posts and run away, would you mind having a hunt for me and fishing me out!
As the Stingers advanced, brandishing their spray cans, the living carpet of brightly-coloured insects stirred and started to hiss; realising their potential plight, Lobelia whipped out her wand and fluttered skywards, circling over the blue-clad troops, and showering them with sticky streams of gossamer which rapidly transformed them into papery cocoons; the more they struggled, the tighter their bonds became.
Satisfied the opposition had been neutralized, Lobelia descended gracefully to the ground and nodded to Bethany; the insects fell silent, turning to face the palace doors where the Owl-King stood, seemingly transfixed, while Mr Eyre let out an audible sigh of relief.
Adjusting her hairband so that her golden curls flowed more fully around her face, Bethany let her feet guide her to the palace threshold, all the time reminding herself of what she’d been told by her new friends at the welcome feast. She halted before the Owl-King and tilted her head back to look up at him.
Fixing him with a big, blue-eyed stare, she stood on tip-toes and beckoned to him; bending awkwardly, the Owl-King stooped down and listened as she whispered to him. Moments later they entered the palace together, the doors swinging shut behind them.
Bryony, Bethany and Mr Eyre first appeared in my historical fantasy fiction novel, Following the Green Rabbit. They’ve been begging to go on another adventure and now they’ve got their wish!
The insect army parted as Beetle-Queen Florigia led Bethany, flanked by Greta and Lobelia, onto the emerald-green lawn, where they were bathed in the unforgiving brightness reflecting off the pink walls of the Owl-King’s palace.
Seeing her sister, Bryony dashed from the poplar grove, followed by Mr Eyre and Hildebrand, to be greeted by Florigia, beaming in all directions from her multi-facetted eyes. Their reunion was interrupted by a blare of trumpets emanating from the palace, as the massive front doors swung open to reveal a towering figure, wearing golden robes and a richly-decorated helmet in the shape of an owl’s face.
Florigia advanced on the palace; perhaps it was a trick of the light, but she seemed to grow in stature with every stride, ‘Owl-King, we have had enough of your unwarranted acts against those who use words.’ She beckoned to Bethany, ‘we present the golden-haired child, who has returned to reclaim her queendom!’
The Owl-King swept his arm forward as though swatting a fly; a shrill whistle signalled the advance of a swarm of blue-clad troops clutching sinister-looking spray cans; Mr Eyre’s eyes widened, wishing he had a plan in reserve which might save them from the Stingers.
Bryony, Bethany and Mr Eyre first appeared in my historical fantasy fiction novel, Following the Green Rabbit. They’ve been begging to go on another adventure and now they’ve got their wish!
The image shows an old lady sittingwith a young boy in a rural setting. The boy has a laptop open and is showing her something.
I remember that day my Ouma and me perched on the bench in the shade of her stoep making up adventures like we always did.
I remember that day bright brown eyes crinkling at the edges her words, like whispers captured by the keys as I typed, my new laptop balanced on my knees.
I remember that day my Ouma and me mind filled with light eyes button-bright sharing her final story with me.
My Ouma has gone but her stories live on and now I am the story teller.
Paperback book sale on lulu.com – Monday 30th November
My recommendations: ‘Fallen Star Rising’ and ‘Four’ by Tara Caribou, and the ‘Creation and the Cosmos’ anthology, edited by Tara, and including 5 of my poems!
Once they’d reached the apparently unguarded exit from the dungeon, Mr Eyre and Bryony introduced themselves to their fellow prisoner. Hildebrand explained that she’d been arrested for Word Singing, something she did every afternoon to entertain her husband’s elves while they plugged away assisting him in his shoemaking business, ‘Without my singing, all concentration will be lost and production will cease,’ she lamented, rubbing her red-rimmed eye sockets.
Peering around the door, they surveyed the empty yard and beyond it, the entrance gate which swung on its hinges as though someone had just departed. Mr Eyre beamed at his two companions then, taking their hands, he propelled them across the open space and through the gate.
Soon they were standing in a grove of slender poplar trees which led to the Owl-King’s palace; the ground began to shake to the rhythm of marching feet and a few moments later the palace’s emerald-green lawn was filled by an army of assorted brightly-coloured insects.
‘Perhaps you were thinking I did wrong in letting them go? said Captain Stinger to his lieutenant as they emerged from behind the dungeon’s walls, ‘but now we’ll take all the dissenters by surprise and exterminate the lot!’
Bryony, Bethany and Mr Eyre first appeared in my historical fantasy fiction novel, Following the Green Rabbit. They’ve been begging to go on another adventure and now they’ve got their wish!
luna's on line 