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| Hansel and Gretyl with Robin double pendant from pinchcheeky - Kraftbomb, Grey Lynn Auckland NZ |
A long time ago before the great change which has come upon, Hansoul and Greetall, who were once-friends but never knew it because that was in the other dreams-stuff place, were adopted as babies into a strange family each on opposite sides of the world. These families were not like what either of them were used to, in the place of dreams-stuff where they really came from, these new people thought the children were there to be ridiculed and teased, sometimes hit and often ignored. This was okay to some degree because they were well fed, and the houses they lived in looked beautiful, their beds cosy, but also, they did get hurt sometimes and cried into the night.
On opposite sides of the world Hansoul and Greetall cried into the darkness and while they wept, they saw stories in mind, pictures danced and played.
The families who adopted these children didn't know they were dreams-stuff babies, they thought they were born of them. But everyone makes mistakes and so it went on.
Their tears flowed out into the evening and formed magical words, letters of frozen ice like the lake within them which Kafka, (they each had a cat who could talk, called that), told them was real, and it only broke when they wrote things down. So in their separate rooms, in different countries, one in the north and one in the south of the great globe that is Earth, these two secretly or openly wrote poetry, the great nothing of nowhere language which seems like it's spun of mere air, but then too, opens so many doors and windows in mind, and allows the world access, whirls and twirls.
But the families who had raised them decided the children were not to be allowed scribble-stoop, they needed instead to get out in the evil forest-ish place and find whatever they could to bring their families more wealth, food, building materials, anything at all useful. So it was the children wandered each alone in the dank and leafy groves where the wicked build pretty places to fool children. Ill will can seem apparently good, like some flowers are poisonous but beautiful.
Hansoul and Greetall both wandered separately too, alone, but then came to the same fancy wancy delight as the other, one at the north door and one at the south. Neither knew the other was there.
Inside a collection of fidgets and digits heard the young people enter and the monsters and greedlies rapidly got together an appearance of delicious and fun-filled, as if this was a party the young people had always wanted to attend.
Hansoul and Greetall lived inside the wild party for a long time, narrowly escaping death and often almost being eaten alive by Despair or the other bogey, Ennui. They cleverly found they could hide inside cupboards and sometimes secret rooms, where no one else knew they were, once they each found the basement at separate times and occasionally the attic, now and then they also met other children caught in this maelstrom. Information better than gold they swapped it as soon as they sensed it was safe.
Some children fell into the clutches of monsters and were torn apart or fell asleep never to awake, others simply disappeared. Hansoul and Greetall knew they needed to stay out of bad luck and built some mirrory things to reflect back bad to whence it came, this could make them laugh with delight. It was not all danger and glamour either, one room held a few clever children who'd set up a kitchen and market, a music room, they did enjoy finding that door.
Hansoul and Greetall caught glimpses of each other occasionally too and wondered, 'Who's that?', but they never actually met. Instead their wits, words and beauty enabled them to dodge bull, wriggle out of trubble-n-fite spots, recognise the wrong witches, (who may seem far too good to be true) and befriend the correct witches, (who sometimes appear stern or demanding), but yes, anyway. Years passed.
One day by accident they each found themselves again at those doors they'd entered by and opened them, to run, run, run back to where they came from. Yes, it was that sudden. However their homes had each both of them changed so much it was like a nightmare, ruined, difficult to navigate, sometimes a bitter wind blew. And they'd grown up.
The only thing for it was to get to their words again, to control and order these bewildering experiences. No matter what, (almost) everything they saw was so beautiful you see, even terrible and frightening places inspired them. They wrote themselves into new lives, just like other people build a house or move to a fresh country, Hansoul and Greetall could make words and meanings into walls, windows, doors, mountains, plains, roads, magical creatures and promises.
At some lengthy time to come and gone, a wireless confabulation took the peoples of the wide and warpy, woozy world into each others' houses through 'puters, and webbysights. Hansoul and Greetall saw each other's poetry after it had floated through space and bounced off satellites. They sometimes jeered and cheered the verses, or teased and breezed, tried hurtful things the strange families they'd grown up with had taught them to do. Hansoul and Greetall recognised the familiar manners of mayhem each displayed but, also, rather wanted to escape ill treatment and something in each other's poetry hinted they could. They also had all that beauty they knew of, which they almost always saw, (see)? and if they didn't it was a warning to go visit someone for assistance, (Greetall) or to hike a mountain for the better air, (Hansoul).
They smashed more icy words out of the prison within and melted the sense of them to create an ocean, where each could float folded paper boats of messages to the other, sometimes in dreams.
Meanwhile, a bird formed from their grown up attraction and it sometimes sang. A robin, a red-breasted creature seen in winter which hints at spring to come. Neither realised this winged messenger flew between them and sang songs about better days but it did, like how in the back of somewhere and nothing there's always an echo of The Big Bang which started all this, (so loud, the beginning of the universe, and in some ways love is also a booming and enormous explosion upon people).
Now the great change is upon the world and trees need to be planted in great amounts. Greetall often writes poetry to encourage this, while Hansoul teaches her the value of listening. She teaches him something like path-making. Hansoul writes in pages which are so secret they may not exist, not until they're ready.
They're each caught in the hell, fluff and happiness of words and meanings, although still far apart. The robin sings. They're swinging backwards and forwards, like the pendulum of a clock and it's time to plant again.
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Please if you enjoyed this story, plant something tomorrow, it may be a herb garden, or some border plants, a window box, it could be a larger shrub or palm, it may be a tree. Take care where they're placed and make sure they'll flourish there, it'd be great to reforest as much of the world as we can, to absorb carbon and make the planet again far more habitable for human beings and other creatures than it is now.
More about robins here -
http://voices.yahoo.com/native-american-myth-robin-became-harbinger-1338351.html
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New Tiny Titles, (below) which may be available at Look Bookish, (if they do not sell beforehand). Look Bookish event is a one-time only grand book sale, dress ups, entertainments, uh huh. (You may also bring books to sell, swap or discuss), on the 17 November 2012 at The Happy Tea House, Grey Lynn, Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, Noo Zeaaalaaand. It's a Saturday, from 11am - 5pm, and the same day as the Grey Lynn Festival, eeep.
Ask me if you want an invitation, (yes, you do need to have met me or know me online quite well to get the invitation, but then you can also invite your friends). I am contactable through facebook, or comments here (but I do not check them every day), and also email my full name all one word at hotmail dot com, *smiles*
This Waywin craft http://waywincraft.blogspot.co.nz/
lovingly sewn and tied and fashioned from the fabulous crafty gift I found at Finders Keepers. (Thanks you lovely people, if you want to come along to Look Bookish please just ask me, or I may pop in with an invite to your facebook, hope that's okay).
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Finders-Keepers-Recycled-Wardrobe/156541407698608
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Up-date on the trees/plants I paid for to cover the carbon for my trip to the Coromandel. I've donated to this place here - http://www.livingwatersboi.org.nz/latest-news-riparian-restoration-sediment-control/living-waters-bay-of-islands-news/64-living-waters-nursery.html
Well worth the $100-, ( a lot more than the carbon I created for that trip but then it also covers me for driving round the city and for some time to come, really). What a great project anyway.
