Friday 25 November 2011

Sad, bad Harold and the quest for a smile........

Stephanotis was peering closely at the sleeping figure of Harold. 'He certainly has changed since I last saw him, he was quite a handsome boy - full of beans and happy, hard to see any trace of that now he  looks so grumpy.' Hortensia was sitting by Harold's head stroking, it has to be said, his rather straggly hair, 'poor boy, whatever has happened to him?' Aunt Mildred made a loud snorting noise 'No use getting sentimental Hortensia, he is up to no good and is letting his sense of lack overwhelm his natural good sense! Wants to destroy our forest does he and sell the trees for timber - poor boy indeed'.

Archibold was thinking, he was wondering if Harold remembered his days as a boy when he had run free in the forest. How to remind him of those days was the tricky question that was facing them. Suddenly Baby Harriet slipped out of Hortensia's lap and crawled up to Harold's face. Gently she started playing with his face, trying to make him look like he was smiling by pushing up the sides of his mouth. 'Careful Harriet' said Hortensia 'I am not sure he even remembers how to smile'. Archibold leapt up with excitement, now he knew what to do, instead of thinking about how sad and bad Harold was, why didn't they think of how to make him laugh?

The gnomes rallied round, it has to be said that Aunt Mildred was still feeling a bit cross, but mostly the gnomes were in high spirits at the idea of putting on a entertainment for Harold. The aim was to make him laugh when he woke up and to remind him of how much fun he could have in the forest, surely then he would have second thoughts about destroying their home. As Archibold said, he used to be happy when he was with them, surely they just had to remind him of what a wonderful place the forest could be?





Saturday 19 November 2011

The allure of moss and a rustle of danger.....

Harold, (for such was the name of the Old Lady's son) was walking through the forest. Not walking as you or I, or the gnomes might walk with full attention on our senses - listening and looking with wonder and delight - but walking with a purpose. Harold was making a list of all the trees that might be valuable - that is valuable to him in terms of how much money he could make by selling them as timber - once he had finally persuaded his Mother to give him the forest so that he could cut the trees down. Of course all the trees could sense his intent and soon a rustle of leaves spread the news far and wide. The deeper into the forest Harold walked, the more strange everything seemed to be. For a moment he had been sure that he had heard a trumpet call in the distance, but then giving himself a firm talking to, he dismissed the thought as the sound of the wind in the branches.

The thing was he was finding making his way through the forest very difficult. No matter which way he turned, and no matter how determined he became, the more obstructed he found himself. After hitting his head several times and even falling over, twisting his ankle and grazing his knee, he finally decided to sit down and have a short rest. It had been years since he had been in the forest and it wasn't at all how he remembered.

As fate would have it, he had settled down on a mossy bank that made up the outer ring of the Sacred Clearing. Hortensia's trumpet call had alerted the forest of imminent danger and from far and wide gnomes were rushing to that very spot! Luckily Harold was taking his shoe and sock off (he had been wearing very silly shoes to go for a walk in a forest in - black shiny leather ones with a smooth sole) just as Aunt Mildred and Humperdinck burst into the clearing. They quickly hid behind a tree trunk and Aunt Mildred started her impression of a lark singing on a joyous morning. Singing like a lark was one of Aunt Mildred's special talents, it had taken her many years to perfect her talent and she was more than a little proud of her skill. Of course, though humans would think that it was a real bird singing, all gnomes knew that Aunt Mildred was warning them that an intruder was present, and were very careful to stay hidden as they approached the Clearing.

As for Harold, well, he found himself overcome with the desire for a little nap. Slowly, no matter how hard he tried to stay awake, all he could do was think about how soft the green moss looked and how much he felt like lying down. Soon he had given in and was sound asleep. The gnomes hearing such a reassuring noise, gently crept up to look at their very strange visitor.



Thursday 10 November 2011

Slivery light and gentle thoughts......

Lady Eleanora was standing in the bright moonlight, stroking the twin of the blue stone that was shining so brilliantly in Harriet's crib. 'All goodness and joy to you Little One, always look to the light to keep you safe and guide your way', and with that she carefully placed the shimmering stone in a basket of moss and started on her way home.

Eleanora loved walking in the the moonlight, the clarity of the sound and the beauty of the river as it glinted and flowed over the rocks, even the pine trees seemed to whisper in the soft, silvery light. As you can imagine, she was very beautiful. She was the most rare of creatures - the kindness and wisdom of her spirit illuminated all that she did. She had lived a long time ( even by gnome standards), and her knowledge of the great mysteries was legendary - as was her generous and humorous nature. To soon have a new apprentice had put a lift in her step and a flutter in her heart. She had been waiting for Archibold to visit and was thrilled to have been able to advise him on the best course of action for the future happiness of the Dwellers of the Forest.

'What times we live in' she thought 'so many humans now, we are indeed lucky to live so far north and still have the space and freedom to live as we will'. Because she had lived for a long time, and because she had worked with the mysterious qualities of light for most of her life, Eleanora could seem almost see-through as she walked by - all apart from her eyes of course. A gnome could lose their way gazing into her eyes, such pools of deep violet blue full of starlight and sparkle, and it was well known that no one could tell a lie if they were looking into her eyes.

Eleanora stopped by one of her favourite great trees and carefully sat down to have a little think. Gently she started to sing, weaving a dance of harmony and peace in the air with the beauty of her voice, 'Not long before the changes begin' she thought and fell silent as she sat for a long time looking up at the stars and the great moon full with enigmatic radiance - and wondered about all manner of things above and below and all around.


Saturday 5 November 2011

The thought of change and a soft bed.......

'Oh Horty, if you could have seen them, I'd forgotten how beautiful they are, almost a bit scary how wild and fiercely free they can be.' Archibold was lying safely tucked up in bed under his lovely soft eiderdown, telling Hortensia all about his meeting with the gnomes of the Great Trees of the North. 'Lady Eleanora, well, she has this way of looking at you with her deep blue eyes - and you start to feel as though you are gazing into the stars - most peculiar, I almost forgot who or where I was.'

Hortensia was combing out her long chestnut hair and thinking. 'Tell me again what she said about baby Harriet, what did she mean?' Archibold sighed, 'it will be hard for us, but when she is about ten or so, she is to go and live with them and experience their life in the far North and learn about the Light Mysteries. We will miss dreadfully her of course, but what an honour and blessing for our family.' Archibold saw the anxiety in Hortensia's eyes and quickly added 'We will just have to go on holiday there as often as we can whilst she is staying with them.'

Hortensia thought of the shimmering blue stone tucked safely into the side of Harriet's crib, a token in honour of a promise and a pledge for the future. 'Allowing children to follow their destiny was sometimes a challenge' she thought, 'Oh Archie, our Little Darling is so small now and already her path ahead is unfolding before us, we must cherish every minute we have with her.' Archibold smiled at her 'Of course we will, we already are! Remember what they told me though Hortensia - such promise for the future for all of us and the forest - and such a possibility of hope.'

Hortensia slipped on her bed socks, climbed up into the bed and blew the candle out. 'Times are changing Archie, times are changing, thank goodness for all the goodness around us!' And with that the two gnomes snuggled deeper into their soft bed and drifted into a most excellent night's sleep.

As they slept, baby Harriet woke up and gurgled with delight a - her little crib was lit up with violet and  blue light, the blue stone was glowing and filling the air all around Harriet with the most beautiful swirls of soft colours - she smiled and chuckled and gently touching the swirling light, fell back into a peaceful sleep too.