Category: Play

Melissa

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Melissa hurried to the back of the shop, picked up a scrap of paper and placed it in the front pocket of her bag. From the safe door she turned the small key with a red tag three times to the right, withdrew the key and placed it in the same pocket of her bag as the scrap of paper. Her nightly lock-up complete, she then walked out from behind the counter and in-between the rows and rows of DVD’s to the light switch. She looked back into the shop her heart rate increasing, she paused with her hand hovering over the switch looking in and out of the maze. Had she forgotten something? Had her colleague definitely left earlier or was he hiding behind one of the sets of shelves? She dismissed the thought, flicked the switches and the room immediately fell into darkness. She opened the door, stepped outside, out from the warm island created by the heating system above the door and into the cold damp air of winter.

She pulled the door shut and out of her bag took a large set of keys flicking through the set to find the one that fitted the lock. Her hands were stiff and her heart was beating quickly, she found the correct key, raised it to the lock and as she did her fingers faltered and the set dropped to the floor. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but there was no-one who cared, so she bent down and picked them up.

Pieces

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‘Not after a show… tomorrow maybe, but not now, not just after we performed.’

I felt guilty, I hadn’t meant it in a bad way, in fact the way I worded it was to complement his performance, to show perhaps he should make a break from the group and go his own way. But as he walked back to the stage to pack up his equipment I thought about my words and cringed.

Sometimes Leaves Go Up

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They ran, they ran and ran, they couldn’t stop, not to think, not to look, not to pause for thought. They were making all the wrong decisions, they went right instead of left, they tried to scramble when they should have stuck to the path. They called to each other when they needed silence. But they tried. They both knew that there was a way, they both wanted to find a way, but every decision they made ended in a clash and because of this, they stopped. They stopped trying to escape and were caught.

And here only when hope was gone, when captivity was inevitable did they see each other, they felt each others touch, the pain and friction between them melted away, they looked into each other’s eyes and their hearts beat together. Despite the desperation in their situation, they smiled and felt the warm glow of each other’s love.

They turned away from each other, away from their captors and looked out across the countryside, the landscape was wild, unkept, the terrain uneven and the fauna sharp and aggressive. But there was a peacefulness to the energy, an acceptance from the couple in their fate. They smiled together and looked up to the clouds. As they stared towards the sky the autumn leaves rose up above them swirling, spinning, drifting, bouncing like a butterfly… sometimes leaves go up.

Big Kids

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Things moved fast, life didn’t change much, but there never seemed to be a moment to pause. There was always someone to chat to or laugh with, and you were always close to them, parked up next door or across the road. You could drive somewhere else, but inevitably someone would turn up and then play would resume.

The funniest times were when crews with children turned up, two little rat-bags running around the wild, covered in dirt, but beaming with smiles. It was great to see them play, their imaginations were alive, their toys broken but ingrained with evidence of many stories.

It made me think about our own family, maybe we were all just a bunch of big kids and moving fast wasn’t such a bad thing, maybe it kept our own imaginations alive.

Navigation

Posted in Childhood, children's story, drama, feel, honeypot, hornet, imagination, insect, nature, Photograph, Play, story, swarm, trap, Uncategorized, Why?Tagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The regime was strict, roles and responsibilities were clearly defined and the swarm delivered. There were no complaints and no disobedience, but in time the workers were drawn to the cascade.

‘Have you ever flown between the sticks?’

‘You mean pass the wall between the bombs?’

‘Yea’

‘No that’s crazy, if you get hit with one of them it’s over. You’ll end up spinning in circles in the water below.’

‘Terry did it last week.’

There was a hush around the group as the story sunk in. ‘No way, that’s not true Terry wouldn’t even take on the keeper, he once told me he is scared of the walkers. The honey thieves. There is no chance he would take on the bombs.’

‘He did and he said it was the most incredible feeling ever. Clean wings no gold dust, and when he said clean, it wasn’t just like wiping your antennas, he said he could fly twice as fast, like those dragon flys.’

‘Shut up, are you telling me he flew into some of the bombs? Like they actually hit him?’

‘Yea, he took four or five hits’

‘And he didn’t crash, he was able to handle the weight?’

‘Yea he said it was hard, the force of the water was big, but he said he just held on.’

‘Was he in the air?’

‘Not sure, he was definitely on the stick for a few, but one might have hit him in the air.’

‘Brrrrr..’ Jay rolled his lips shaking his head in disbelief, ‘I don’t believe it, crazy… and he said he could fly twice as fast?’

‘That’s what he said.’

‘Wow’ Jay looked over at the cascade, dreaming of speed.

Causing Chaos

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‘So you want to be one of us?’ Robin announced after a long hiatus, Joseph nodded in reply. ‘Well it’s not that easy you know…’ Joseph didn’t flinch, kept control of his emotions and looked back into Robin’s eyes, not too fiercely, but enough to show he could stand his ground.

‘We can test him first’ Andrew chimed in.

‘Of course we’re gonna test him, everyone gets tested.’ Andrew looked away sheepishly. ‘You think you are up for that?’ he added talking to the new recruit.

Joseph looked up from the floor and nodded, ‘I am fast, what do I have to do?’

The crew nodded at each other. The boys were all sitting in the attic of the ruin at the top of the village, they had transformed it into a base for their crew and met each weekend to organise their next mission. Today was the induction of a new lad, Joseph, who had just arrived in town.

There was some chatter between the crew and after a few moments Joseph turned to the new boy.

‘Okay listen and listen good, I am only gonna say this once.’ Silence fell around the room. ‘First we gonna blindfold you and take you to the centre of town, you gotta find Mr Finlay’s shop and get into the attic, I’ll give you a clue, there is an old fire escape at the back, it’s not solid but if you are quick you’ll get up it.’ The boys all looked at each other, sly smiles emerging on their faces. ‘Then once you are up there you gotta open one of his old chests, I ain’t gonna tell which one you gotta go for, but you gotta find a skull, the bigger the better.’ Robin paused and signalled around the room with his eyes.

Joseph followed his gaze and saw seven or eight large unidentified skulls hanging on a rope high in the room. He hadn’t noticed them before. Robin continued.

‘Once you got the skull you gotta make you way through the alley ways and back to us, but watch out there maybe a few extra challenges on the way.’

The Bits In-between

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‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’ Clara said to Joe

Joe sat there staring at the lampposts not really thinking about the question.

‘The reflection, it’s pretty isn’t it?’ Clara reiterated just in case Joe hadn’t heard.

‘Yes’ Joe replied softly and then took his eyes from the water and looked at Clara, his heartbeat accelerating. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to say something cheesy like not as pretty as you , but his throat was dry and he could only muster a low grunt. He cursed at himself cleared his throat and looked back at the ocean. Silence returned.

‘My father always said that good art should make your eye race around the image, following the lines. It’s a bit like a painting really isn’t it?’

Joe didn’t know what to say, he felt so awkward, why did he feel so uncomfortable? They were never uncomfortable, they were always together having fun, but now, now he realised he wanted to kiss her it was different, what if she didn’t want to kiss him? That would kill him, best not to try, he coached himself.

‘I like that, my eyes are definitely running around the lines.’ He cursed himself again, what was he talking about. His words sounded so stupid, just think normally, speak normally.

‘Hmmm’ Clara murmured an air of disapproval in her tone.

Joe leant back defeated, but as he placed his hand in the sand to support himself if fell on Clara’s. He flinched, but she did not withdraw, his heart sped up, their fingers interlocked, his breath quickened. Their palms twisted together and their eyes met. He sucked in some air and leant towards her. Their faces were now close he could feel her breath on on his cheek, their breathing accelerated and harmonised, their lips met, discomfort gone.

Thief

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He hid behind the tar barrel waiting for the sailor to move, time was short but if he went now he would definitely give his position away, so he sat, huddled, waiting.

There seemed to be some discussion about the theft but the facts that Toby could overhear didn’t worry him. They were thin on the ground and they definitely didn’t know he was aboard. The two sailors finally departed, Toby had his chance.

He crawled out from behind the barrel and crossed the deck, making sure to avoid the ropes and the wooden board, that looked as if might squeal and give his position away. He paused by the mast, double checked the last few meters and scrabbled to the ladder. Swiftly he spun around and climbed down, as he got close to the water he gave one last look back to the deck, no one, then slid into the water.

After six or seven strokes he was clear, he had to swim fast, but not make any sound, he kept his body low, deep in the water, taking long strokes praying the morning sun would not reveal him.

Finally he pulled himself up the pebbled beach and ran towards the undergrowth. He felt his pocket, it was still there. He let our a small cry of happiness, smiled and vanished into the olive grove.

Stealing the Stars

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Alex entered the room, the children knew they should still be asleep, but the arrival of their Uncle the night before was too exciting and the anticipation of fun and games too much to keep their eyes closed.

‘What is going on here you little ratbags.’ Uncle Alex teased the children. There was some little giggling coming from under the duvet. ‘Are there two little thieves hiding from their Uncle under there?’ Alex moved towards the bed where two small children were hiding.

‘We not thieves’ came a muffled denial and then a head popped out, ‘you are a thief’ said Sarah

‘Yea you are a thief’ confirmed her younger brother.

‘I am not’ Uncle Alex replied before jumping on the bed to wrestle the two children. After a few minutes of rough and tumble Sarah’s brother pipped up.

‘Why did you call us thieves?’

Uncle Alex pointed to the jar by the side of the bed filled up with fairy lights. ‘Look, there is the evidence’

Sarah and her brother looked at each other puzzled.

‘You two have been stealing the stars’

Instinct

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The children sat on the grass and watched their dog mooch around. Sniffing the tree trunks, bushes and the corners of the strange white building that didn’t seem to house anything. Perhaps it was a storeroom in times gone by.

‘Imagine being a dog’

‘Woof’ Rebecca replied

‘Very funny, no imagine, not having to think’

‘I am pretty sure dogs think Sarah’

‘No, like just thinking now… oh smell that, oh that smells better, oh actually I think another dog is coming.’ She mimicked the nose of their dog sniffing the air. ‘Just thinking of what is in the now, what is there.’ She paused as Muji came back from around the white building carrying a stick. ‘See look, he just lives for the now.’

‘And your point being?’ Rebecca asked

‘I just wish I could live for now and not have to worry about the future or the past. I just want to hunt for sticks.’

‘Hmmmm…’ Rebecca mused. ‘That’s what all those self help, meditation apps tell you, live in the moment, but it’s not really that easy. You have lots of stuff going on, exams, Brian, Mum’s birthday, A-level choices, things as simple as what to wear to church next Sunday. Muji just has, where is my next meal coming from?’

‘But that’s my point, what if we could stop worrying about all those things and just work on instinct, you know stop questioning if one way is better or the other. How cool would that be?’

Rebecca smiled, ‘I reckon we would end up with a lot of bad decisions!’

They giggled together… ‘Like splitting up with Brian.’

‘Or buying Mum tickets for Spice Girls’. They laughed louder.

‘I think she would actually quite like the Spice Girls concert.’

‘Yea your right… See perhaps instinct is a good idea.’