Hello and thank you for listening or reading.
This is a collaborative story written by storytellers who have visited Raveningham Sculpture Trail in Norfolk.
On the trail, they come across a desk in the woods, on top of the desk is a leather bound book. Inviting sounds and graffiti prompts invite them to write what happens next.
What follows is the full story that flowed from the 18th July to 8th September 2024
Listen here or read on below:
I sit at my desk waiting for them, the rumble in the distance might be announcing their arrival, they are close, I can feel it.
But perhaps there is time for one last story…
I first met Kavita when I was six. My parents had taken me for a day out to the seaside. It was a beautiful blue sky day, the air was still, hanging expectantly, as the sun’s rays warmed the sand dunes.
Bare foot I ran away from mum and dad, who were too busy bickering to notice. I ran towards the sea, a thin ribbon of greenish blue, way out across the sand. I remember the freedom I felt in that vast empty expanse. I loved the feeling of the coarse sand in between my toes and the warm air wafting through my fingers as I spun around. I closed my eyes as I looked up towards the sun. When I opened them, she was standing there.
She was about my age, maybe older. She was wearing a baseball cap and her pony tail stuck out the back. She had a really cheeky grin and when she said ‘Hey boy, what’s your name? Come and see what I’ve found over by the rocks”, I felt excited and happy. I’d found a friend! ‘Sure, let’s go’ I said ‘My name’s Ollie’.
I don’t think she told me her name right away. I remember thinking she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen…that was until she showed me the rock pools…shining, shimmering in the sunshine. The seaweed was slippery, but Kavita skipped away with ease excited to show me the biggest pool. It was a wonderous world of life that you could only see if you were still, silent, patient…but, oh the reward! Mr Crab was chasing away the little minnow, the anemone was fluttering her fronds in the gentle ripples. The colours changing in the sunlight hit from different angles as the clouds scudded across the sky. I can’t tell you how long we sat together watching that rock pool, but I loved it. The thing is though I’d been missing for some time…
It must have been an hour of so because the sun had moved in the sky and my shadow was no longer behind me but beside me. There was also no longer two shadows sitting together enjoying the beautiful sea air – my shadow was alone. And I could feel the water, not cold, but slightly warm, lapping against the tops of my legs. The tide had come in and cut me off from the sand and Kavita was nowhere to be seen….
I looked up and…
Behind, the cliff was not far away, a chalky crumbling low cliff, the layers of the millennia clear to see. Recent falls spread like tree roots at the base. I hurried away from the rock pools across the shingle bank. Could I follow the cliff and hope to round the bay? Before I gained the cliff there with a shrill whistle was Kavita standing atop the cliff, a beautiful smile across her laughing face, hair blowing upwards and backwards in the breeze. She reached out to me…
I felt I had always known her, known her eons past, known her sweet soul in heaven, on earth, on Orion’s Belt.
We were here for a purpose, we both knew this. I could see it in her eyes, their blue tinged with a sadness beneath her bright smile. We had been sent here for a perfect union, a blend of knowledge and skills that would change the future on earth forever…Where should we start?
Perhaps we should start like the rivers, gently merging towards a shared goal. Or maybe we could be the whole hot clouds of dust in a nebula, twirling and turning and rushing around and creating the beginnings of new worlds, new life.
She wears a bucket on her head.
Once upon a time I looked into infinity. It looked back at me.
“What are you looking at?” It said. I don’t know but the dog needs a walk!
Infinity had gone before I left the desk.
On a beautiful and hot summers day in July 2024, I sat here watching a swarm of gnats dancing in front of my eyes in time to the beat of the music. I will remember this time sat contemplating the Italian Spinone who is loving the breeze through his long ears. Sadly, he is on the last few months of his life, but he doesn’t know it. I think not knowing what is round the corner maybe is bliss. Being in the moment is PRECIOUS.
A very special start from a beautiful atmospheric spot to experience nature and yes, like the previous storyteller, stay in the moment, listen, watch and feel privileged.
And the tree had arms and the tree had a face and they looked at me and said, ‘We will put our arms around you.’
I was wrapped in a silk canopy of myth, wind and sound. My story is a collection from each of these elements.
Then suddenly the pebble moved through the air…
It started to spin and disintegrate. The tiny pieces formed a picture. I saw the face of my mother, long gone, smiling at me and giving me courage for what was to happen next…
Mother and Father taking me by the hand into the future looking for what? Who knows…Do you?
In the future slowly turning into our parents and so it begins again.
And he’s leaving on that midnight train to Georgia…
As I sat at this desk I dreamt of warm winds and a beautiful story came to me…
It started with us leaving
With the knowledge that we are loved, and it is a wonderful life to spend with those around you.
I packed a bag of cheese sandwiches, rock cakes and ginger beer to take with me. It’s hungry work going on adventures. I knew that I’d need my strength, so I also took my heart with me – a gorgeous dog. Out the garden gate we tramped, my dog and me and off towards the days adventure.
And I find a desk in the woods where I’m walking, easy to miss yet captivating. The dog was quiet, the forest silent. The desk stood out, yet blended in, looking like home in the forest yet as if it had just been left. The desk contains some pens and a lovely leather bound notebook. It also contains another person’s life. A pair of glasses by the notebook, a candle once lit. I sit at the desk I know belongs to someone else, whispers play that belong to no one here, the wind sings in the trees. All the writing before tells me to write some more. So here I leave you a secret, I still love this boy. I know I shouldn’t, he is a work of genius, and you feel it through his work, he loves someone else, and she loves him back, have done so for years. He is a musician, he never had a teacher and yet, is better than the rest of us. His story will end sadly, he does not love himself, or his life and is slowly destroying it. I request you give him a better one. One that in which he is happy. Let’s say he is sitting at the piano, playing away at school, he has hair life fire and is named after a bird. What happens next?
As he plays the notes – they fly in the air and blend with his fiery hair. He smiles and closes his eyes, rises slowly in the air and drifts out of the window like a boy in a Chagall painting. Half human, half angel…what happens next?
She met her friend
where the seagulls fly
Where the ice cream melts
Where we get wet then dry
She met her friend on golden sand
Where creatures crawl
Where life’s so grand
She met her friend
While the sun performed
The perfect showing
Of the perfect dawn
She met her friend, they had so much fun
Until the moon lit up
Until the day was done.
After their day at the beach, they went home and on their stroll home they found a beautiful field and decided to have a closer look at the beautiful, amazing field. They listened to the wind rustling through the trees, the both of them laid down on the soft cushioning grass. “What was that?”
A sheep wandering aimlessly through the fields. What was it doing? What was it thinking?
The sheep started baaaing and then jumped over the fence and turned into a cloud drifting above their heads.
As it rose, we watched it slowly fade into the horizon.
Then, it came back! And it was Angry! The cloud grew laser eyes and burned a hole through the book the man was writing in.
What a spectacle she thought. But then realised it was a pair of… spectacles.
None the wiser, she rose from her chaise longue and thought how very like the word tongue it was. Chaise tongue? Nonsense.
Chez Town, yes, that was it, a townsperson. A Town Woman’s Guild.
Guilded.
Guilty
Not guilty! Not Guilty!
Who was that? At the trials…
Was gesicht jetzt?
Was the spelling right here? No!
It should have been “ was Geschieht jetzt?”
Who was that German lady? Why is she in Norfolk? What will she do next?
“I am so thirsty” she said “And hungry for that matter!”
(Of course she said all this in German.)
“What time does the café close?” She asked a passing sheep.
“Baaaa O’clock! You’d better hurry!”
Frightened she ran through the woody glade where she came upon an old gnarly tree with a hole at the bottom. Getting on all fours she crawled to the tree and put her head into the hole…two red eyes stared back at her.
This time she wasn’t going to let fear control her. In her childhood growing up in her small German village she had heard many stories about spirits living in the woods and knew of Die Hexe who lived there. She swallowed deeply, opened her mouth, and in a firm voice told the eyes she was coming.
“Remember” she said “to breathe”.
Then Rupert cried so we had to leave.
We left with untold questions.
So, we would soon return
But we never did return. We forgot. We left and never returned. Some questions have no answer. Simply and abyss that never ends. There isn’t supposed to be an answer.
Once there was a magic boat and three pirates were hunting for treasure.
Treasure comes in all shapes and sizes, not all that glistens is gold. What we are searching for may not be found in material possessions but in the hearts of others.
The rain fell with salt less tears from the sky. And still I waited, and no one came…
Still, I waited and no one came. The sun came out from behind the clouds and the rain damp desk began to dry. As I sat, my mind began to journey back to a time when the rain had stopped and the meadow, I was lying in smelled of awe and wonder. The birds emerged from their dry spots to catch insects and the breeze passed through the leaves warming them gently. Suddenly I could hear footsteps behind me. I turned and saw...
That I was all alone. Truly, wonderfully alone with only my shadow behind me. Where had the footsteps come from? Was it a memory? Was it a ghost that haunted this meadow? I knew I needed answers, so I decided
To walk on. As I was walking, I felt something touch my back. So, I turned and alas, saw nothing. So, I carried on walking.
Then suddenly I felt hands grip around my throat and it all went black…
I was scared, I was alone, cold and hungry. Then the was a sudden peace. I felt tranquillity and acceptance in my life. I am just one pebble on a large beach, a breath of wind in a hurricane, one flake of snow in a blizzard. I realised my life was…
Slowly coming together in a way, I hadn’t expected. That while my surroundings were still awful and cold and dark I was working towards inner peace. Strange as it sounds, given the circumstances. I had accepted it. All of this. I felt like I had the strength to leave. I felt the hands let go and then...
I was falling
Not scared, but curious. Why wasn’t I worried? Why wasn’t I concerned about what would happen to me when the fall ended? I can’t say really, but there was no fear. Just time to think, to evaluate. To smile at what has already been and wonder what might eventually come. Then the fall ended.
Now it is winter. All is cold, all is dark. Until Christmas…
The warm yellow lights shone from homes in the snow, the children laughed with glee, the moon shone in the dark night. Suddenly little stones were thrown at the window…Who was it. Should we open the door?
We opened the door, and the day is bright. But our nose does feel rather stuffy from the pollen.
We began to sneeze atishoo, atishoo and our world was all pink and blue, the horizon ahead and a path to follow.
Everything was ahead of us, creating the best life for us all. The colours were bright and more luminous than any we had seen before. We gazed in wonder, filling our eyes and nostrils with the smells and sounds of the fauna. It seems as if it was alive and talking to us, so vivid was its presence.
As we are here, it won’t stay long, so we must stay clear.
As I sit and ponder the sounds of nature fill my ears and give me hope. Peace seems so much more peaceful when one is in nature, it truly gives you a break from the hustle and bustle of the city jungle.
Into the hubble and bubble of the real world where all things have always lived, with and without us, to beech people, the yew tribe, the great oak beings. Now we can listen to them carefully, they say…
The wind blows through the trees as the sheep call to each other. What are they saying? What is their desires beyond the munching of the next blade of grass? A Mystery indeed or is it more simple?
Along came a pig, along came a pig with a weird looking face. Along came a pig with a weird looking face. And, along came a flower which was talking like all flowers hopefully do. Then with the flower, there was, um some,
An army of hedgehogs with no prickles and they were called The Prickeless Army.
Mynda r Lan y Mor (go by the sea)
We sat and we pondered as the sheep climbed the trees.
One sheep looked at me for too long. It knew my soul and was suspicious.
HELLO SHEEP!! I’m going to name you Gary, who keeps Baaaaing, you Bob and you Jeffery who keeps eating grass.
For some reason, some of the sheep keep ‘baaing’ really LOUD. Some of the sheep have blue tattoos!
They live happily ever after until Spring when their lambs were born, then all were busy and had no time to stare.
They can’t go skiing off a mountain and eating ice-cream.
I lay on my back, hands supporting my head watching the sheep drift slowly around the sky. A peaceful moment in a world of turmoil.
I saw a sheep walking through the field. He saw a lamb who had lost its mother so he brought the lamb to his mother.
Ewe, ewe, it’s all about you Ewe.
What do you do Ewe?
I would do it too.
Sheep, sheep, be careful the wolf
Will creep sheep.
It’ll get you when you sleep sheep
So keep one eye open to peep sheep.
Sheep, big and small sheep.
Resisting the urge to steal a sheep, watch out!
Sheepy sheepy burning bright.
Look out! You’ll set the woods alight!
Did you know sheep can hold their breath for 9 minutes?
I wonder what they think of, plunged into the dark, no escape, to cleanse
their wool.
You may see me, but you do not know me.
Please don’t judge me.
The sheep are white
They’ll be alright
They moan all night.
“Hello World”
The leaves danced on
the summer breeze
as time slipped
Through our fingers.
I am red but you cannot see me. I am blue but you cannot see me.
This is a story about a mermaid who wanted to ride a bike…
Life is made of many journeys. Some good, some bad, you never know what your next chapter will bring.
The tension is like a huge, dark fog, slowly falling down from a great height. We will get through this encounter. But what will be waiting for us on the other side?
On the other side there is a dog waiting for you and he will guide you.
What happens next? I win £121million on Euromillions.
Viewing the sheep, how many more are above?
I LOVE SHEEP!
Some of the sheep have escaped the field. They are on the road. Will somebody help them?
And all became green. Covered in vines with flowers blossoming in a thousand colours. And then the fairies arrived.
But no one noticed their arrival until…
The sheep are happy in the field, the grass is green. Mandy the ewe dreams of more than just grass. She dreamt of singing in the opera before her adoring fans. One day, Mandy’s dream comes true. But not this one.
Her dream was always to be a fairy and she was turning into a fairy. She flew to the enchanted tree in the magical forest.
The branches twisted around each other creating beautiful paths leading into the fairy houses. She found that in door number 12 her long lost sister was living in a cosy house with a rainbow sparkling above.
Hi I’m a sheep. One day I was walking in a field, then I saw a magical rainbow, I climbed up the rainbow to sheep world!
In sheep world I saw giant grass (so yummy!) and the Star King gave me magic horns! They could blast rainbows.
I went back down the rainbow to my field. I showed my friends my new super power! They loved it!
My new super power was making fur balls and I covered the field with fluff!
Together we called the field Fluffton and we could play hide and seek for hours and hours until we got hungry. Then I magically prepared grass flavoured candy floss and dandelion burdock to drink. When we were full we laid down and drifted off to sleep to dream of counting people jumping sheep pens.
They dreamed that they are in a magical world with unicorns that go underwater.
Humans that can fly up in the sky and crouch on the clouds looking below at the green of the tree tops.
As I looked down from the clouds, I saw pink and candyfloss looking sheep. They were eating giant logs made of jam sandwiches. As I watched I felt sleepy; I laid my head on the pillow made of leaves on my fluffy cloud. Just as I was about to drift into dreamland, the sheep below turned blue and fell off the cloud, soaring through the sky – I landed like a soft snowflake on to the wishing chair…
The chair was so comfortable – like it was made for me. I look up slowly, so slowly. I don’t want to wake. What’s that? My mouth falls open like and apple dropping from a tree! It cannot be…here…now…with me…
A Pixie! It has silky wings.
It screamed and flew. Why did it go? I will never know.
But then I hear the flutter of wings and silky pixie breath in my ear, mumbling secrets for me to hear…
The end
Or is it?
Callum was here
Dom was here
And so was I
Evie was here!
To meet you.
The trees towered over her. But what frightened her most was the glassed watcher.
Hello!
Eric was a good and loving gentleman, but suffered desperately as people always pointed out how dog like he is.
Callum wanted to express his inner thoughts but was worried that Dom would judge him. He only had until the next school holidays though. Then he was going to stay with his mad Aunty Moo!
She let him do and say whatever he wanted to.
With her, he could be free. He could not WAIT!!
He finally got to her house and shut the door. ‘No need to take my shoes off! I’m kind of hungry. Ohhhh Waffles! Nom, Nom, Nom, Nom. Eeek! They’re all gone! Scream!’
I ran into mad Aunty Moos bedroom… blood all over the floor, but where was mad Aunty Moo?
‘Oh No!...’
As she sat beneath the trees, ghostly voices began to whisper. Sighing like leaves above her, they tickled her brain. She picked up her pen and began to write. As she wrote the voices took shape around her…
Then as she turned her head to focus on the whispers she became cold and fearful, her eye began to twitch…
A noise in the background disturbed her thoughts, was there someone else here?
Her blood chilled at the thought she was no longer alone.
The rustle of leaves and the sound of footfall confirmed, indeed, she was not alone.
A large brown fury bear with beautiful blue kind eyes slowly crept up behind her. ‘At last’ he said, ‘I’ve found you’.
It was a hot day, and as I sat down to write, voices accompanied me – are they telling my story? Or the missing parts of my story. Deep breath, sheep baa, wind rustles in the trees, here I sit.
On a hot, sunny day, while enjoying the sun as I was laying on my deck chair thinking of the horrifying dream I had just two nights ago…
Delphi, age 10, met Delphi age 7 in her dreams. She remembered the summer holiday she has in Norfolk where she slept in a caravan full of spiders. The spiders were friends with the Twiggles and Boggles she met at Bewilderwood. The spiders, Twiggles and Boggles came in Delphi’s room and filled the webs with Bugs!!
I sit hearing the beat of many drums, my heart choosing the rhythm that carries me forward. Bliss in peacefulness takes me to my next story.
Next story
One day there was a king called JHXXQUSimonT85, they lived in Jaquavia.
Once upon a time there was a cat that sat on a mat and he talked considerably.
The rain fell, the sound in the trees drumming out a beat. She stopped and took a breath. The animal inside feeling a need to be freed. Longing to feel the grass between her toes.
The man and woman barely knew each other. But they quickly established that they had a common interest in clouds; their names and whether they foretold rain, wind or sun. As they began to hold hands, the clouds changed shape. Soon they realised that if they moved faster, the clouds would move faster. It was a strange experience that they barely understood. They seemed to be the master and mistress of the weather.
They found some plasters on the ground, pocket debris accidentally discarded. Would they be missed or appreciated?
I found a rock. I liked it.
The point is not to live happily ever after.
The point is to live.
And living comes in many shapes and sizes and forms and feelings. Adventures are always to be had. When Kavita met Ollie at the beginning of this story they had no idea that they would have all the amazing experiences they had. They are still wandering the universe and are about the meet the person who is going to be so important on their next journey…
Then she did what she always wanted to do and everyone was happy when her heart sang. And then we had lunch.
To be part of someone else’s story. How must that feel?
All the woodland creatures sang and danced around the summer moon, joyful and their spirits happy and unburdened. The fairy’s came out with their lanterns and were joyful too.
The sun shined brightly like the glint in my eyes.
When I go to the park, I am happy.
Santa makes me happy.
They were just starting out again after a break. It was all pretty tentative, like a game of chess, only neither new the rules. They just knew this…they loved each other. Two good people with two big beating hearts…full of love, hopes, dreams and fears.
They had bare feet, the ground beneath those feet could feel their heartbeats. It shifted about a bit, a small tremble, only. Then it suddenly parted and they slipped down insensibly. Above them it closed, they were in liquid, but it was soft like honey and nice and warm too. So they felt kinda nice, if a little bit constrained.
They knew they could do anything they put their minds to, at least that’s what the teachers used to say at school. Why did everything feel different now that they were out in the real world? The real world was not at all what they expected, but of course it never is what you think it is going to be at the start. That’s the best part of the story though, deciding what will happen next.
It was a lovely calm spot with dappled leaves’ shadows dancing in front of me.
An older couple with sad faces shuffled into the car park. They stopped and watched a woman gently ease her weary dog into the car. He needed help to climb onto the back seat; she coaxed him up and calmy patted his grey head. The couple smiled, “how wonderful. There are so many kind people in the world”, they said.
As the older couple approached their car they realised there was an unusual barking coming from their car…
Through the window, they could see the dog making a get away…
Finally free.
I love my family so so so much.
This darkness isn’t forever, you’ve got this.
Why are we here?
What is our purpose?
Why do we follow ‘Societies’ Values’?
Just to be accepted, to be seen as cool.
Be you.
Don’t change for others.
Those who stick with you are the ones to trust.
Not the un-present one’s who only crave lust.
Love is all around, don’t look far
Under the tree and there you are…
I harbour invisible wounds that keep me from healing just because you can’t see my pain, doesn’t mean that I’m not bleeding …
It all went dark and silent.
The end was indeed nigh!
The trees stood ever watchful
Which direction would this rootless man turn?
“I wish I was in an office making money.”
Once upon a time there was a princess and she liked being outside.
Sheep tree
Let us all be free, from cities to the sea
Like the birds, we’re all free.
The warm wind blows through the trees.
Music to my mind, calm.
Spring brings new life
Summer is warm and light
Autumn brings dark nights.
Winter is cosy and white.
A triceratops was in the field!
Billy is missing!
Today is a happy day.
The sun is shining, birds tweeting, nothing can ever go wrong…right?
Once upon a time there was a Megans and a Jamies and they loved each other VERY much. And one day they went to Raveningham sculpture trail…
These stories could all end too soon, this planet is our book and we only have one. Look after the earth and it will look after you. Save this book for generations to come.
Once upon a time there was a little girl called Luna, she sat in the church yard. It was a grim and dark place. But her house was next to the church, it called to her in a way! The grave that her nanny was buried under was undug!
She peered inside and there was a key and a note!
It said: This is the key to the…
Church. On the 5th of October, at midnight, ring the bell 12 times…
And the next person sat on the leather chair, looked at the field, her beautiful daughter by her side, wind rustling in the trees.
Calm, joyous, at peace at last.
But she didn’t read the last entry.
Just like everyone else.
And moved on to ancient Greek myths made from recycled materials.
Two friends stood together wondering what was next. Is this just a trail through a garden or is there magic under their feet?
Strange whispers pierce the sounds of the trees and told them it was time to leave. The next door they see is a time portal and she wanted to go back and the other forwards - how can they choose?
And I put on the glasses and found I could see less well than before.
AGONY/ECSTACY
And the lost queen dragon warrior appeared.
We had followed her journey over land and sea and through the cosmos.
More and more sleep, stay free and love forever.
She didn’t want to turn around. There was something there, but she didn’t know whether is was good or evil. She only knew that the hairs on the back of her neck were getting very agitated.
It was evil. It was Keir Starmer and he has just been elected as Prime Minister. ‘We’re all doomed’.
His inability to say no, landed him in a succession of increasingly bizarre adventures. More cake and kissing please.
And now he has been found out, incapable of truth, lies all lies!
Although you’re tiny small.
I will always let you walk the world.
But beware, should your feet betray your balance. Demons await below in an infernal dance.
Fake news abounds says the pixie, not doomed or drowning but peace and kindness always prevails.
The children ran through the forest laughing at their parent’s sombre faces – then out of the clouds came a large space ship…
The clam and the seaweed came out of the spaceship. The rock gathered twigs and gave them arms, buttons for eyes from a discarded cardigan.
He gathered them up and sang.
They were ready for the voyage.
The mind travels through the trees exploring times forgotten and futures yet to come. Travelling forward releases the soul of a torturous past.
I have travelled a long way. I look upon my journey so far…
He thought to himself as he gazed out on the scene before him…
He was no longer weary from the journey and felt contentment as he drifted back through his memories.
His glasses slid down his nose as he drifted off to sleep. His head lolling to the side. It was at this moment that a large cow walked past the window with a large saddle on its back.
He thought to himself, perhaps I should go for a ride on this generous cow’s back. So he leapt aboard and…
The cow opened its wings and took off in search of his friend the flying horse that might be near – or far – how long will this flight be?
On a stormy night, Black Shuck came out. He Killed someone. That’s it.
Slightly disturbed, the cow flew on, over forests and lakes. After a while he flew over a small wood. In the centre was a fire. A circle of women gathered round. Sounds drifted up to the man sat astride the cow.
What words could he hear?
The whisper of the trees and the crackle of the fire telling him to flee.
As the day went on a cat appeared near the women. It was the spirit of hope and came to rest by the feet of the women.
But was she a woman? Or a cat? Or a cow? Atoms certainly!
Who knows, but she, who wanders through the days with love in her heart and wonder in her head
Will one day find her dreams become real
and once more she
Looked through the hedgerows to the field in the distance. Small insects fly around, buzzing past her ears. Nature, inspiring and joyful, sense of wonder and awe, sounds filling her ears. She is happy, in love with life, wondering what is going to happen next.
And then you are reminded that life lies ahead…
life happens next…
A meeting. The person you were not expecting but always knew you would meet. A chance encounter to readjust the flowing curves of life.
Once upon a time, the end.
It was never the end because disaster struck…
Take two particles of hydrogen.
Colide them.
At 650 billion tons per second.
Everything happens afterwards.
The start of all stories..
Once upon a time there was a girl wandering through the woods when she stumbled across a hole
and rising slowly from the hole a whisp of green smoke.
A foul stench rose from the hole; a smell of pure death, something that would frighten one to their core.
Death.
But is death the final part of the story?
Can I get a hoyerrrrr!!
Once upon a time after I died I finally became alive.
The children loved it! They couldn’t believe they were allowed to just get on with being here, no restrictions, no rules, except fair play of course.
I don’t know what I’m doing here okay?
I can hear marching in the distance. I ran to mum and screamed they’re coming!
So we hid in the bushes as the soldiers passed.
We tried to stay as quiet as we could…. Shhhh!!!
The trees take over the world
With the most petrifying red eyes, they marched over to the bush we were hiding in and grabbed my mum. She screamed , shouted and stopped.
She fell silent.
Was she dead? Oh please don’t give up on me. No, if you die I will kill you.
They came one day, spears sailing from the sky penetrating and retreating only for their fury to rain down harder. It was time, time for them to reclaim what the humans had so greedily taken. Time for them to face their wrath. It was time for these great and sentient beings to emerge from the darkness and take what’s theirs.
I knew they were coming through the jungle. Seen but not heard, heard but not seen! Elephants, huge grey, muddy. They know their kind, they know where they will go….
Memories of childhood that never die.
Je ne sais pas!
And Lyra flew into the stars so we could find her.
c'est tellement nul j'avoue (it’s so bad I admit)
Believe that you are your own person, unique in a quirky way.
Life is wot it is gun to be now.
live life like picachew has lived to me.
Yow can dance whenever yow want to .
Once upon a time there was a lonely electric pylon. They stood long hours with limbs outstretched carrying fizzing wires to power all those chargers, TVs, airfryers and laptops.
“I want to explore and travel” screamed pylon.
But it was impossible.
Until many years later. The world had stopped but the vines grew and grew.
They wrapped and swirled around the pylons, reaching out for miles and miles across the wires.
They seemed to stretch for infinity until…they got on a plane and went to the rainforest! They got bitten by a snake and died. But then they revived back where they started!
When they were awoken they found themselves an Alpaca crossed with a seagull. They then trekked to the darkest part of Peru.
And found a fierce Jaguar who said “why are you here?”
We are the butterflies
Drenched in the dawn
Our fragile disguises
In life’s brief storm.
I sit… I listen…I watch…I wait.
I look out through the trees, I see a butterfly fluttering through the air.
Sunlight dances through the leaves…
I leave…
Contented.
The day is kind and gives rest to even the wicked and troubled.
Infants begin with light and yet I am trapped in the dark.
Am I really here? Is life just sacred illusion, the curse of a broken heart at birth?
A caged heart? Will I be freed or am I shadow? An example of life’s sheer power and grace? Is my life a toll? Was my life traded to save others? Tell me if I am looking at life through bars. Is my destiny to die in the dark? Is my fate sealed, am I a victim of the dark? These questions grow strong in my mind, I am at breaking point?
Through the trees
A pulse of Light
The light turning
The day turning around a life.
A scream shatters the silence.
And then I woke up, and I was thinking that all was well in the world – but where was my friend? He had run along the beach looking for fossils. Had a dinosaur found him? Did he make it home or did he go for a swim. Oh where is he?
Happily? Swimming with the fishes and the crustaceans and cetaceous, dreaming of the piece-peace.
Further up the coast a large wooden chest washed up on the shore. A man dragged the chest inland. Poking out of a crack in the chest was the fabric of my friend’s shirt.
The man could hear the sound of breathing – a long inhale and then a long exhale out, as if from a person sleeping.
The chest opens up and black hole sucks you in where you find a maze of lanes to explore.
When a flying cat suddenly appears
Gesturing for you to follow!
Mr Kennedy said “ What the Gothic!?” and joined the Shurbins at Central Lees concert. They happily read George Orwell’s 1984.
And here we find ourselves once again. Wondering, pondering: What does it mean?
I am bad
I am dad.
Don’t eat the apples.
Be careful.
Stick Man in the woods.
“Hi guys, do you like Sunshine?”
You are my sunshine.
Today needs to begin!
But don’t wait – just enjoy now!
Quick, the boat is slipping her lines shortly. I am not sure the skipper knows where to go. Do you have an idea?
Let’s go over the hill and far away.
But where is the dog? Did you leave him behind?
No of course not – he’s got the cat inside him …but what’s inside the cat? ??
Yesterday has gone!
Today is now.
Tomorrow is to come.
Make the most of today!
Today is the day it all begins…
Breath, air, wind, flow. Silence has arrived in the dappled shade.
I see animals in the clouds and faces in the leaves. Stop, look and be amazed at what you see!
Listen to the rustle of the trees with a sigh under the desk! Now peaceful and tranquil, until the wind blows and the music crescendos.
I see a green field with green trees, blue sky and sunshine.
There is a huge octopus coming towards me and I don’t know what to do. It is green.
The toad licked his tongue and farted loudly – this speech was the longest he’d ever done.
With speech comes understanding. Breaking wind was not a speech, but the octopus didn’t know that. She tried to converse with the toad but the toad farted again and hopped away. However the octopus was just about to be interrupted by an incoming knight with a lion crested shield and a dragon glass sword.
The knight challenged the octopus to a dual, the octopus accepted the offer and
The Octopus swept up her front tentacle, wrapped it around the knight’s head and snapped it clean off. Turns out the octopus is a god and cannot be destroyed.
The toad returned to see the mess.
The toad examining the mess, looked at the octopus fearfully – the octopus in turn, looked down, unfurling the tentacle that had so easily decapitated the knight.
“Shall we talk?” the octopus asks, turning away.
The toad, placing the octopus under arrest, held a ceremony in the knight’s honour. After this he jumped on the train to sweetie land, where everything is made from sweets and chocolate.
The sweetness and richness of the taste of the confectionary caused the poor toad to feel quite nauseous! Clutching his stomach, he stumbled blindly towards the darkness of the liquorice tress in the forest – where suddenly he saw…
“I am kitty and I like cats and animals. We are all animals.”
A sneeze, a wheeze, a breeze through the trees blows a washing line of wonder as the two friends loose themselves in the ark of magic and nature and then…
A Cat lives the life it’s given, asks for nothing but food and love. Enjoys the sun and when winter comes, it enjoys the fire. Be more cat!!!
The price of peace is forgiveness.
Today I came, I saw, I enjoyed… everything!
I murdered my brother today. Try and find all of his body parts. Good Luck!
And I would like to murder my husband!
Love nature all the time. I love my two granddaughters very much and my two daughters.
Fairies live in the woods and they have all your baby teeth! Try to find all your milk teeth in the forest!
I love lord of the rings so much. Jim the cat was sitting on a char and it fell apart.
God is great, people are amazing. From Lydia to God.
She leaned the hand that, being lent on, was too much for her poor tired shoulders. Too much to bear. Not enough air.
But still the sun shone and the wind blew. She was so thin it could topple her.
So she went to get a good dinner and a pint in the pub. She made a friend at the bar. His name was Eugene.
The lights went out and she fumbled in the dark – she found a cold hand.
Grasping the hand she followed its frozen length to a pale arm, which was, attached at the shoulder, to a broken fridge. The fridge door was slightly ajar, but did she dare look inside? The smell of death was choking her against the sound of the jukebox in the other room…
I sit at the desk. I see the trees. I hear the breeze. The sun is out. I feel it’s warmth. It feels good to be here. Thank you for this moment.
Staring out across the field from this sheltered place she became aware of movement to the right, just behind the large tree you can see there. Suddenly there was the sound of men shouting and horses galloping. She looked again at the tree and saw a man, a dishevelled man, standing there breathing heavily. he held a finger to his lips, She nodded and smiled and he tipped his hat to her. She looked out again and saw the departing men and horses – they did not see her, intent in their pursuit. When she looked back again, the man had gone.
In his place stood a gate that had not been there before. The woman climbed over the hedge and approached the gate, through which a gentle aroma of jasmine and roses reached her nostrils, filling them with a heady scent. She started to feel sleep descend. First kneeling then laying down, she drifted into a dreamy sleep. Was it a dream or was it real? Something came out of the gate. A shape, possibly human. It picked her up and took her back through the gate.
Her vision filled with fog. After a minute or two, still being carried, the fog lifted. They were at the top of a snowy mountain. She looked around to see who had hold of her and stared right into the face of a yeti….
Then the yeti ate the vision all up and he pooped it out.
Safe in the knowledge a piece of them would remain with him – maybe it’s soft voice or its force of will.
He had a dog and cat, these were best friends, but they broke up, these friends and fell in to the river and they loved swimming.
And both of them fell in love with a dog and cat and they lived with the dog and cat and had a baby.
Almighty, I am that I am.
How still are the trees, the calm silence and only the beautiful melody from the birds. Are you nesting, Lord?
How wonderful you are in all of Creation to allow such peacefulness amongst us. This is your preference and love, I know, and I am grateful Lord. Only you, the almighty, can change this to the howling harsh whispering of the trees that silences the birds. I am so grateful for your presence, lord. Thank you. Amen. Child of God!
“I need food” said God.
What if none of us had cognitive dissonance, none of us lived in echo
chambers, we still all had different thoughts, opinions and beliefs but we didn’t hide things from ourselves for a false sense of comfort, we chose to be as self aware as possible and looking from all different angles and perspectives, what if we chose to die to ourselves daily, what would the world be like then?
Life is a time to grow, a time to enjoy, it’s for ups and downs. It’s for love and hope, its to be happy and sad, angry and excited, anxious and relaxed, its for calmness.
Why not just be silent and enjoy…
Life! Be what you want to be, do what you want to do. Be happy!
Listen to all the happy sounds, children playing, church bells, the dog welcoming his master or mistress home.
Sometimes to be happy one must do things one does not wish to do…no baby or house would be clean if one did not have the resolve and self discipline to complete such tasks but doing them has great rewards and contributes to a happy life!
A Proper Story.
The storm was coming, an ever darkening stillness pervaded the air. The insects knew and all was quiet…What happens next?
“The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening; the smaller the doubt, the smaller the awakening. No doubt, no awakening” C.C Chang.
A dog had a bone, he ran off. Then he went in a river. The end.
Once upon a time a boy and a girl came across a desk. The girl sat in the chair and began to write a story. The boy stood and looked over her shoulder wondering what that story might be…
“It was an unusual morning for noone in particular until the mouse sneezed. Achoo!”
“Mmm” wondered the girl. ‘What’s next’
‘I know’ said the boy
“The force of the mouse’s sneeze shot him backwards, all the way through the woods until he hit a
Crocodile.
The crocodile gasped in horror and ate the mouse in one bite. The mouse was gruesomely killed and the crocodile enjoyed the taste of it’s blood.
“No!” said the girl, I don’t want the mouse to die”.
“A bird flew past and the feather tickled the crocodile’s nose. It was a croc’s turn to sneeze.
Achoo!
The mouse shot out of the crocodile’s nose and back into the drawer of this very desk.
The end.
The end, that’s the sentence that is placed at the end of a story, but not with this one. This is just the beginning.
The end began with the day they were walking in the dead of night past the tree with the tiny glowing eyes.
Their imaginations ran wild with thoughts of the creature that could be behind those two red lights.
Was it kind and friendly or did it want to eat me? I didn’t wait to find out but tiptoed through the woods to find the person who had summoned me – what did they want? Were they aliens from another planet or just from Suffolk?
“Hello! Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
“The secret is to surround yourself with people who make you smile. Only then you will find your wonderland”
The noctule or great bat cram themselves to bursting point either once or twice in the twenty four hours…resolutely refusing to eat such charmingly coloured species as the magpie moths.
But the wallowers flit and fly across the landscape in their lovely forms. All is well.
Once upon a time
Reflections on the day. The soft caresse of the warm, late summer breeze, and there may be a story to tell of an afternoon spent in Norfolk being challenged to think, to write, to tell a story, and dream surrounded by nature. The sound of sheep munching and bleating interrupted by music to stir us. What does it all mean?
That summer is all around. Autumn is near. School is coming. Holidays are ending. We leave family.
We breathe a sigh of relief in the present that it is not the end, we continue the story.
After all my adventure I guess most of them were a dream. I find peace within the trees. I keep seeing a face within them. The Green Man is here.
All went quiet but a hum filled the air. Was this the start of a new adventure?
As I watched the sheep, a vast monster came out of the bushes.
The monster runs away in fear when it heard a big roar and the sheep were relieved until…
Hello my name is Willow. I love dogs. Once upon a time the was a dog called frazzle. Once he got too excited and he started licking everyone just because he wanted to go for a walk.
Skibidi Toilet! This is Weird.
Boo! Appreciate nature.
Beryl took her dog for a walk along the path into the forest where they saw a bear.
And the bear got on a spaceship parked near by and rushed to Mars for afternoon tea with robots. The robots suddenly turned on both her and the bear and captured and enslaved them!
The bear attacked the robots one day and they managed to escape, but the dog got terribly injured in the process.
We are all part of someone’s story. May mine be positive.
Birds singing
Trees rustling
Children’s distant laughter
A perfect moment.
Clouds of sheep floating across following each other without question.
Deep blue wind at home, rowing in the sea to an island where waves made magic.
As I near the island, waves crashing upon my longboat, I take a sigh, perhaps my last breath. Sailing to the end of the world, the edge of everything; the last land. I sit as nature takes my boat back and forth. All at once, the water draws back, the great ocean emptying into a seamlessly bottomless void. I sit stunned as the island in front of me slowly begins to shift. Side to side then uproots – not land but instead a leviathan!
The last titan, guarding the edge of the world. It draws breath, powerful enough to upturn my boat. The ocean drops to silence, it speaks out…
Happy Days!
Gleaming light passes through the fluttering leaves like a kaleidoscope.
Calmness prevails.
Be content with yourself! You are so much more than the body you exist in.
The body is part of you. Take care of it well, feed the inner you with calmness and happiness. All is one and all are one.
It’s taken us so long to get here – and now what? Will the story bring the promised escape to another land, another time? Will we like it? Is the risk worth the potential excitement of discovery, or will we long to return to what we have known?
Preparing for a journey to a magical (and sometimes scary) city will we pass calmly on our way or find excitement and adventure there? Which is preferable??
Only you know that…
There is a problem.
“We don’t know”
No-one knows, but wait here, do not be afraid, all will be revealed to you, be patient.
But patience does not come easily. It requires practice, control, rhythm. A breath. Where will the patience come from? Will it come from within? Or perhaps it’s out there waiting.
The patience is in the rustling of the leaves, in the unfolding of the story, in the finding place to sit and be and use pen and paper:
“Welcome Patience”
All around the leaves are rustling, the sheep in the field beyond. The wind billowing through the trees, gentle voices and footsteps passing.
The spiritual ones among us enjoy the moment. The others wander off and talk rubbish. I am so glad to be here.
But it is tough and hard work sometimes. Be brave try to read and enjoy. Ride the storm and wait for the sunshine to see what happens next…
But sit awhile and the miracle of life will unfold itself around you. Do not despair, nature will heal you and the child becomes the parent who becomes the child again.
Everything happens for a reason.
Everyone is jealous of what you’ve got no one is jealous of how you got it.
The man handed me back my glasses while I was glancing at the lambs. The lamb turned to me and bleeted ‘what’s your order please? We only sell furniture and cassette tapes (and wigs).”
The barn door banged loudly as the sheep headed back towards the barn. The sheep glared at the oncoming storm, thinking a wet coat would be awfully heavy.
As they pondered the wet coat situation they looked to the clouds for answers. To which they were answered with a loud crash as lightning struck like an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The cloud cleared, the sun broke through and the sheep left the slumber of the barn to their next journey ahead
The light began to fade, distant haunting sounds came nearer. Dark figures appeared through the gloom. To reveal themselves in the moonlight. Fire then sparkled, lighting up the gloom. “Follow me,” she said “follow me home”.
“I speak a different language. I can’t follow you. My home is beyond the boundaries and I don’t think there is any such thing as “home”
A unicorn! Said Penny. And it’s eating cheese and pickle sandwiches said Boe. The unicorn was very nice.
The unicorn greeted the sheep. Enthralled the ewe fell into a trance and slept for 100 years. On waking it recalled magical dreams of palaces far away and mistletoe.
As I watched the sheep from my workchair, it was quite a bit too quiet something was up. A Sheep with an orange back. How weird. So I slowly crept to look. I heard a heavy panting not from a human but from a MONSTER!! I turned around and the sheep were gone…hmmmm I ran and never turned back again.
A pineapple exploded.
I woke from my doze – my spectacles had fallen off whilst I napped. The sheep are grazing, untroubled by worries and monsters. I think of all I have to do, but for now I can sit awhile and dream…
Creativity burgeons and flows. It responds to things heard, seen, touched, smelled and tasted. He/She/It grows in response to the trees, the glades, the sheep, the ancient rock of mysteries. Creativity is lost in wonder.
And then through the trees, along the path, there came…
“Oh look there’s a hut let’s peek through…”
“It is what it is” She said. Then rolled over and died horribly.
But was she dead?
All in an instant, she leapt up and raced after the monsters in her mind. Will she catch them?
The wonder bear had struck again.
The unicorns decided that enough was enough and got back into their spaceship to go home – where all was peace again.
Kenny the rescue greyhound came and saw wonderous things in this amazing park. He will go away and tell other greyhounds. The word will spread. More greyhounds will visit. Soon the park will be a haven for greyhounds. Heaven!
The house over the fields to the right is almost hidden by trees. Does anyone live here? What do they eat? Is the horsebox theirs? Do sheep live in it?
I am the once mighty oak. I rose up from the tiny acorn, although they trod on me and tired to bury me with concrete, I eventually stood tall and broad; with a powerful heart and soul. Use your power to help the weak, the downtrodden, the broke, and never forget, it takes a village to raise a child. My heavy boughs crack, then break. Toad stools and ivy cover me – all is well – it should be so.
An empty page – so many opportunities. Where shall we travel?
Sailing up the waterfall we go!
Up, up and away into heaven. Heaven may not be just up there… It could be here on earth? Now, everywhere, in everyone. Where did that ship sail to next?
It’s nearly the end of the story for this year. I return each time. Autumn is approaching, winter hard on its tail. Hush, listen to the trees, they will not grieve their falling leaves and bare arms. They will wait in the prevailing weather for whatever comes.
Let us all offer our acceptance and grace likewise.
The tree people sustain life and all the keepers of stories with unending gratitude.
Shhh to sit at such a beautiful desk and hear the leaves rustle and feel the wind on my skin, breath in deep, the is much more story to unfold.
Peace, dignity, respect, love, memories, loss, inevitability.
Life is good, life is sweet, get off your bum and on your feet.
Lots to do, lots to see, so would you please listen to me.
Have fun and live life to the full.
Que sera sera,
Whatever will be will be.
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera sera.
What will be will be.
Love all, hate none.
Nature will always triumph over man’s greed.
A view through the hedge – one must always have a view.
The owl flies past, ghostly.
And hoots in the misty night to its mates across the field as the countryside settles into slumber.
Humans, not realising they must not take on the burden of the whole world, go back in doors.
The owl takes over the night, circles, seeking our its unsuspecting prey.
The little mouse enjoys feeling safe in the gentle human company. The dragonfly let’s go of illusion and flys out over the apple tree. The circles of life and death continue. The breeze calls my name and I relish the companionship of a good friend standing close by like the presence of a strong but yielding tree. We can make space for all to shelter within our branches, life goes on.
Wood worms thriving, growing, eating little condominiums into the wood where they might start an online business or find another bark muncher to make a family with.
And so to dream time, the embrace of life and love.
The man sat still and stared for a long time, lost in thoughts. The tree began to move.
Hello who is there?
“It’s me!”
“Who?”
“Me”
“Oh, we meet again”.
The shape shifts, I knew the stars would align.
The strangers became friends, that wonder they share, leaving their footprints in the sand.
Once upon a time
There was a little girl and she had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, we was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was better.
We are nearing the end, but no, it is the beginning!
The Start
The images had begun to fade from every corner of every nook in the forest… then new light dawned, and before long, new pictures sprang into view…
Tiny lights dancing in the distance, were they real? As they came closer they were tiny ethereal beings with silvery wings…
DEATH!!!
Is not the end, it is just the beginning.
