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.