HAPPY SOLSTICE

THE SILVER ELEPHANT, part 2

I will never forget the endless jade sea under the turquoise sky, and the blinding sun which pinned us to the deck.. We were Out East.

Before long, the Ninjas attacked.

I was in the Captain’s Cabin, studying maps with my Aunty June. Suddenly, two slim, dark figures smashed through the window.

Aunty June is not a small woman. She simply picked up the two Ninjas and threw them back out again. We heard shouts of alarm and ran up to the deck.

My uncle was fighting on ninja: cutlass against katana. The First Mate, Johnny Jones was hid behind the mast, firing his pistols at a ninja who hid behind a barrel and threw throwing-stars at him.

I did what any sensible young lad would o, and found a good place to watch.

A ninja’s skills are speed and silence. In an open fight, they don’t really stand a chance against us. Soon they had retreated, and only Jones had received a few scratches from a throwing star..

‘You won!’ I called out to my uncle.

‘Only half lad, her honour but not her life,. He replied.

Then he stopped to think, a rare thing for him to do.

‘This means we must be close to our goal,’ he continued. ‘Look… I see it now, on the port side… Castaway Island.’

I looked and I saw. A large island with palm covered mountains and golden beaches. There were small oats at the dock and larger, odd looking ships at anchor. I later learnt that they were called Junks… but they looked alright to me.

As we came closer, I saw a big bamboo building. It had a sign that read ‘Castaway Hotel’.

‘Awesome ship man!’

A young man greeted us as we rowed to shore in our boat. He wore a vest and shorts and looked like he had not washed for days.

‘Thanks,’ Bloodbeard replied.’I stole her myself’.

There were many more young men and women at the beach. Some sat around in the same shorts and vest as the lad who greeted us, some swam in the sea. Castaway island was very popular.

‘How are we going to find the Silver elephant?’ I asked my aunty.

‘We have a map,’ she replied.

She showed me a map of the island and surrounding bay.

‘We are walking to the skull and crossbones, right?’ I asked.

‘Good lad.’

It was a short walk, as the crow flies, but we could not fly. So it was a long walk over jungle and mountain. I had never been so hot as I was in that steaming jungle.

Eventually we reached a beach surrounded by jagged rocks. More unwashed young people sat around drinking beer or swam.

At the end of the beach stood a ride designed by a madman. That is the only way I can describe it. Bamboo poles reached up from a lagoon, five times the height of a man, and supported some sort of giant swing.

‘The elephant is up there,’ Aunty June said. ‘It sings to me.’

I looked puzzled.

‘Fate, lad,’ Bloodbeard explained to me. ‘Go get, will you?’

I cannot clearly remember what happened next. It was like a crazy dream.Hung above a lagoon of pure blue water was a massive bamboo cage. The cage swung on the tall bamboo frame. Several young people were already riding in it, most of them looked sick. I waited for them to finish, then climbed in.

The most important thing in life is other people. Everything else is just shadows against a cave wall. I’m lucky because my family taught me that.

So I just climbed on to that dangerous ride and tried my best.

On all fours like an animal, I looked around that bamboo cage. Then down at the strange little fish beneath, then around at the youths who shared the cage. Soon the cage swung and began to rise.

Up and up, it swang above the trees. People cheered, some were sick. I held onto the bars and looked around.

I saw it! A tiny silver elephant hung from the neck of of a man who say, passed out, with a bottle of beer in hand.

THE KINGS OF THE NORTH

   He always kept a double barreled pistol on his table by his drink, and he always had a drink in hand.
   He always kept a pocket pistol up his sleeve when he left his manor, but he rarely left his manor.
   And he was always waiting for The King Across The Water to return.

To be continued...

Tonight I went up to Serpentine Woods to honour the Gods. Lit a fire and gave respect and sacrifice to The Alfather and the Lady and the glorious dead. Sat by the fire and remembered my grandfather until the sunset. The woods were amazing tonight, in the light of day they shone ruby and golden, after sunset they were nothing but grey and white, smoke and ice covered the forest. The Earth is beautiful. 

Tree of Lost Souls.

The kickstarter for my beautiful new ghost story has begun. Please follow the link below for more information.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/asparkinthesand/tree-of-lost-souls?fbclid=IwAR3JKYaVARkR43KgVSkiujmbvmmCgTQU2B0MpFVHD3OMFsRs4K8ZbneGWVQ

Ruined Church, Ba Vi, Vietnam.

Found this awesome ruin whilst climbing the mountain to the Temple of President Ho Chi Minh.

Message in a Bottle.

A message in a bottle,
Floating at the beach,
Brought by evening tide,
To my eager reach;

"I fear I am lost at sea,
Pray, take pity on me,
My heart sank too deep,
In endless daylight sleep,
My mind was drowned
By sweet waves of sound,
That came from her lips
Like Greek Fire to ships,

Just like a mermaid, 
She took me from land,
Quite why I love her,
I don't understand...."

I threw that bottle
Back into the deep,
Leaving that fellow
For the ocean to keep.

Axe Throwing: The Sport of Kings.

THE SILVER ELEPHANT

(Here follows the beginning of my latest short story..)

My earliest memory is of a duck pond and a toy sailing ship. I have always loved sailing and the sea. I watched that small ship dancing on the sparkling water.

Then came the mighty roar of a gun, and that ship flew apart into scraps of wood and paper. My uncle came and sat beside me, smoking pistol in hand.

“You got him, Uncle,” I said.

“Only half lad, his vessel, but not his life,” said he.

However, the most distinct memory of my childhood was The Adventure of The Silver Elephant. This was the first time in my eventful youth that I realised that my my uncle, his crew and our enemies- the Ninjas- were not like most people.

It began, many years ago when Uncle Bloodbeard (yes, that was his real name) took me ‘Out East’. That mysterious part of the world, which he called ‘Out East’, was very hot and very dangerous.

The year was 2013. My uncle and his crew were disappointed that the world had not ended in 2012, and needed a seriously good adventure to cheer them up.

“We’re going Out East, lad,’ Uncle Bloodbeard said.

‘Alright Uncle,’ said I.

In those days, I did as I was told.

‘We’re going to find the Silver Elephant,’ he continued.

‘What’s that?’

‘The greatest treasure on Earth.’

Who could say no to that? We jumped on his ship and set sail.

We could, I guess, have flown on a plane, but my uncle does not live that way. So we sailed. It took several months.

Intoxicated Observations of Nature, Part 2

VI

People ought to look at the sky often, it reminds a person of how vast the world is, and how small we are.

VII

Respect nature, because it is stronger than you.

VIII

Love, wealth, power, friends, family... all of these can be taken from you in an instant.

The Earth and Sky cannot be taken from you.
IX
Many days observing a cuckoo chick being raised by a blackbird. The greed of the over-sized chick. Its first flight out of the stolen nest. Nature can be merciless, like man. Yet it is full of function, efficiency... and a little irony.

TREE OF LOST SOULS

This is to be my first published book, Tree of Lost Souls. Out in the autumn this year. Follow the link below for more information.

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk%2Fnews%2F16207340.Kendal_author_aims_to_raise_thousands_to_publish_ghost_story%2F&h=ATP35RMfZwP1kPHecBUyf4W_Rz9YQKUGw5EYt10bafvS4B9cct30ALh6yW8ZU4FPnZUCXuEyMEQ938iMcVf6HxIbrCpPYbEc0rI00pEf&s=1

Intoxicated Observations on Nature, part 1.

I

Why is it so difficult for modern people to deeply appreciate nature without either going insane or appearing insane to others?

II

It is easy to see why ancient people venerated trees. A fully grown tree is the oldest, largest and strongest living thing which a human can encounter- like a living god.

III

People can be alone but not lonely, or not alone but lonely. In the contemplation of nature, an individual is never alone or lonely

IV

Nothing is permanent. Things may last for eons, but not forever. All things change or fade away.

To attempt to force permanence on a thing is to ruin it. 

Nothing is destroyed because all things change.
V
Sitting on the stump of a once mighty tree reminds a person that one day all things die.
Does a tree feel fear or pain at its death? Does it think of the thousands of seeds it has scattered? does it know regret?
Unlikely.
Remember that one day we too shall die. 

Dragon Rising

   Firecrackers exploded like bursts of machine gun fire as Dragon walked down the crowded streets of Hanoi. After almost a year of felling trees in Laos, he was glad to be home.
   It was New Year's Eve. Tomorrow he would be 16 years old, almost a man.
   A bicycle swerved drunkenly down the street. The rider shouted a greeting and made Dragon simile, then he saw a Japanese soldier standing on the street corner and his smile faded.
   He kept walking, just a few more streets until he would reach his Uncle's house.

   He got to the muddy banks of the massive Red River, where farmers scratched out a living raising oxen or growing vegetables on the flood plains. The huge iron suspension bridge that the French had built loomed in the distance.
   'Not a bad bridge ,' he thought,' I hope they don't come back for it.'
   Then he turned into the alley where his aunt, uncle and five cousins waited for him. They were all that were left of his family. .  
To be continued.

Neil Gaiman's 'Death'.

DEATH, MY LOVER.

DEATH, MY LOVER.

Death, She is my lover,

But we don’t love each other,

I need Her, and She needs me,

Just to be and not to be,

In the end, I know She won’t forget,

Me, and I won’t be able to regret,

Nothing could be left unspoken,

Nothing left broken or unbroken,

Death, She is my endless lover,

We can’t exist without each other.