Crystal clear
I don't remember when I lost my way. I seem to have been wandering around in this fog forever. Every now and again I glimpse a landmark through the thick muggy air, then in a spurt of recognition I hurry forward a few quicxk firm steps before I falter and realise than once again I am disoriented.
Going round in circles I believe. That gnarled old tree seems so familiar, I think it's because I've passed it at least twice before in the last 30 minutes.
To test out my belief I unravel one of the ribbons from my hair and tie it firmly around a low branch. I walk carefully onwards making sure that I turn neither left nor right. Checking the position of the stars and the moon a silver lady shining always over my right shoulder.
This time I know that I have kept a straight path, no circling back I've moved firmly onwards. The fog seems to be thinning and I can see the pathway before me quite clearly now.
I do not recognise this part of the wood. I thought every path was familiar to me, but this is new and strange. A clearing opens out in front of me. Across the clearing I see a shaft of bright silver moonlight. Crystal clear it points out to me my own ribbon fluttering teasingly from the branch where I tied it.
Time
Come Inside
"Come inside, come inside" said the little old lady and she beckoned eagerly. "Take your time, there's plenty to see dearie. I'm sure something will take your fancy".
I hadn't intended to go inside, the little old shop looked dusty and ill cared for. The dingy interior was far from inviting. The kind of shop I normally avoided like the plague. But the old womans voice seemed to hook into something deep inside my subconscious and I felt compelled to enter. So enter I did.
Once inside the place didn't give any better impression, it was hard to believe so much dust could gather naturally. It was as if someone had taken a large brush and painted the walls and shelves with the dust of centuries. There were even cobwebs scattered around and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something scuttle away. My conscious mind screamed out for me to leave the place and even as I turned to go the old crone said "where are you going, it's not time for you to leave yet". It was as if my feet were stuck to the floor and I couldn't move at all.
"Come along now she muttered, I have something that I am sure you will be interested in" and she walked towards, the back of the shop. I didn't want to follow her but my limbs had taken on a life of their own and despite my wishes my body followed after her.
Time
Just another Protest
It's just another protest so why am I so scared? This isn't the first time that we've planned in secret approached a fence and cut it, crept inside a nuclear establishment as part of our commitment to forcing our government to uphold it's duties under international treaties and the laws of humanity. So why is my breath catching in my chest, my heart beating furiously fit to burst the bounds of my chest.
Why should one little law make such a difference to the risks we're taking. I have to admit I've seen the sea change coming. Seen how our government has been edging away from the demands of civil liberty towards the actions of a totalitarian state. But somehow I always thought the rule of law would prevail.
The first big crack was when they introduced the "Prevention of Terrorism Bill" way back in 2005. I still remember it. I sat deep into the night watching the Bill ping pong backwards and forwards between the upper and lower houses. I remember the determination of some of the Lords in the upper house not to give such over reaching powers to the prime minister and the secretary of state. Some people thought they overstated the dangers, deep inside I knew this wasn't so and I wept when the government forced the bill through.
Time has show that we were right, this was just the first of a series of Draconian measures aimed so they said at terrorists. Slowly they extended their definition of terrorists to include anyone who disagreed with the governments policies. I never thought to see the day that a somebody as non-violent and peaceful as me would be branded a terrorist.
Time
Leprechaun trickery
Grandad always warned me about the trickery of the leprechaun's but I guess I never really believed that it would affect me.
I can picture him clearly now sitting on his little wooden stool, puffing merilly away on his clay pipe as he warmed his hands at the fire. Through my child's eyes he was the fount of all knowledge and I loved to hear all of his tales about his encounters with the fae folk, but most of all I loved to hear about the leprechauns.
Other folks would dismiss his tales as a product of his wry imagination. Even mother when he insisted they were true would tell him he'd had a dram too much of the whisky and wouldn't recognise the truth if it hit him with hiw own shelaghley. But I believed every word he said and drank in the words coming from his mouth sweet as any enchanted mead. Most of all I loved to hear the story of how he outwitted the Trlawney leprechaun.
"Ah it was a magical night lassy, I could feel it in the air" he said. "The sky was clear and I could see every star dancing in the firmament. The moon was large and bright and in her silvery glow I could easily make out my path through the woods as I took Lassie here on her evening walk" Lassie looked up at her masters voice and seemed to nod in confirmation of his tale.
Time
Sunrise
We stood together his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder, my head leaning into him to borrow a little of his strength and we watched the sun come creeping over the horizon. It's warm glow warmed our bodies and in some small way out hearts. It's wondrous beauty a stark contrast to the desolation around us.
As far as the eye could see the landscape was littered with broken pikes and helmets. The fields which just a few short days ago had been fruitful with tall stalks of golden corn, were desolate. What little corn had not been uprooted by the plunderers lay trampled on the ground. In the corner of the field the old hayrick lay shattered on the ground, the one remaining wheel spinning lazily in the wind. The air was still thick with the bitter tast of smoke and where our farmouse used to be the charred remains still smouldered gently.
The scope of the destruction was almost beyond what our simple minds could comprehend. Yes the battle had been won, the marauders finally chased off but at what a price.
Time
Timeless
Just a moment frozen in time, suspended, ageless in the image she held in her hands. A picture of complete happiness, a couple caught up in each other, barely aware of the camera as they came together for their first kiss as man and wife.
A lone tear slowly wended their way through the rugged terrain of her face to land on the photograph in her hand. As she brushed away the moisture she caught sigh of her reflection in the glass of the picture frame. No longer the young bride time had not been as kind to her as it had to her image.
She studied her reflection and compared it to the vision of her younger self. Flaming red hair had been replaced by streams of silver. Sweet clear skin given way to a landscape of deep lines and wrinkles, charachter her grandson called it. That slim supple body had over the years metamorphosed, a little plumper, a little softer, even a little shorter as her spine collapsed slowly inwards with the pressure of age.
So many differences, but still that indefinable spark, that shone out from her younger selves eyes could be found still. That indefinable something that spoke, of magic and mystery and knowledge beyond human understanding, hinting at her unusual heritage.
Time
Flight of Fancy
Watch their wings swoop powerfully up and down as their streanlined bodies power through the air. Their elegant motions a complicated dance as they seem to follow set routines, synchronised swimmers of the air.
I stand here on the ground looking up at them. My crippled body condemmed by heartless fate to this ungainly chair. And yet I fly with the geese. My unchained spirit floats free and I swoop and soar through the air with them.
Since the accident my mind and spirit have taken to adventuring free on many occasions. The first time I realised that I was flying with the geese looking down at the shell which normally housed me the realisation brought me crashing back to land in my body with a startled bump. At first I thought it had been a dream and dismissed it
Time
