(Yes that is the tail belonging to you know who, in the right hand corner, I banned her. Too noisy and won’t sit still.)
(that way I might get a decent Christmas pressie.)
He watched from the shadows, studying her, relishing her discomfort. Time stretched on, he smiled. It felt sweet to witness her fear about being let down. This was the first time he was late to meet her. He inched his way forward. With a sudden burst the last few feet were covered in a rush of thundering footsteps.
The sound sent her spinning about. Panic fled, relief flooded her face as she said, “Oh it’s only you.” Then Karen continued. “Sorry, Joe, I didn’t mean it that way. You gave me such a fright. I was miles away.”
“Somewhere nice?” His teasing tone prompted an answer.
Karen’s smile reached her eyes and lit up her whole face. The transformation was immediate. She changed from being ordinary to extraordinary.
It had drawn Joe to her. Her quiet beauty and his secret game. But she didn’t know about it yet. He would reveal all at the right moment. A tingle of anticipation shot through him.
He remembered vividly the first time they met. His orchestrated loud sneeze interrupted her battle with the many bags containing her afternoons shopping. With a loud clatter they dropped to the floor. He had been apologetic and kind, quick to pick them up.
Conversation had been light and easy. Before she knew it Karen had impulsively agreed to go for a coffee with him. He was well aware of his powers of persuasion and suspected that her usual answer to sudden invitations was a stiff thank you followed quickly by a soft refusal.
However, she later confessed, she was tired of feeling lost, a nobody in a vast swirling pool of people that was the city. His invitation had been like a breath of fresh air, changing everything.
Karen said, “I was thinking of how much we have in common. It is really remarkable to find someone who has the same interests and views on life.”
Joe looked into her eyes searching for some indication of suspicion. What he saw made him relax. “It was fate. Do you agree? I mean, why else would you have said yes to coffee with a complete stranger so quickly?”
“How could I refuse a handsome knight?” She smiled tentatively.
The truth was Joe had planned everything from the start. He had caught her at a moment when her defenses were down. He imagined her life was tedious and she longed to have the bravery to step outside her box. He wondered if she had been tempted to end the boredom everything swiftly and cleanly. He hoped not, he had other plans for her….
Breeze loved to sit in trees.
It was generally regarded by those who believed they knew Ogres, that Ogres hated trees, but he was the exception to the rule. The bonus for sitting in trees was; he could spy on his neighbors.
It was Monday afternoon. Breeze climbed his favourite tree in the forest and almost crashed to the ground. His favourite branch was bent at an ninty degree angle which meant he could not sit on it.
He grinned, then said, “I could use it as a slide.” And he did.
On his third slide to the ground, he let out a tremendous roar of ‘Wheeeeee.’
The female voice that roared back was not tiny or polite. When she had his attention, Fairy Tulip declared,
“You sank an entire batch of fairy cakes so you can come to the party and explain why they look like pancakes.” Her foot was tapping the air as her wings flapped close to his nose.”Stop scowling at me. You thundering big oaf.”
“Ogre” he corrected her. “I’m a thundering big Ogre.”
Her answer surprised him.
She laughed, so hard she tumbled upwards until she was level with his eyes. “Well for a TBO you have surprisingly nice eyes.”
They went to the party together.
Days passed before Tulip met Breeze. “I have an order for two hundred cakes. Come to the tree at two o clock, I will sit with you to protect the slide and my cakes.”
He scratched his head. “Ok, if you bring a large fairy cake for me.”
Tulip said “Yes.”
At two o’clock he saw her struggling with a huge package. She said, “I couldn’t carry the cake up to the branch but you could.”
He climbed to the branch below his favourite one, in case he was tempted to slide.
“This cake is huge.” He said.
“Don’t worry I’ll help.”
They sat for a long time eating and talking.
It was late when Tulip said, “this is odd, we are sitting high in the sky and we are sinking instead of the sun.”
“That can’t be right.” Breeze said and finished the last of the giant cake.
Tulip looked down and smiled. She said. “Getting back on the ground is usually a long flight for me. But watch.”
With a flick of her wings she took a step and landed on the ground. Breeze stood up and walked after her. Together they looked at the tree. Instead of one branch bent towards the ground now there was two branches bent over like steps on stairs.
Breeze smiled at her. “Tulip you have solved the mystery. Thank you.”
“You are very welcome, but perhaps you should stop eating fairy cakes for the next few weeks.”
Together they strolled off into the forest.
This story was inspired by pictures on miartedoris.wordpress.com site.
August 13th
I was looking out for helicopters, while Ellie snoozed
And I spotted the most amazing stuff,
it was like a whacky race,
I decided not to join in as they were racing for an
Apple!
Survive & Thrive
Listen to your inner self..it has all the answers..
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decidinglybob 