Orange Over Green

From the outcrop, you could see for miles. The walk to this point had been delightful with paths which meandered half way up hill sides and down again. In some areas there were hoof prints indented in the dry mud from the nearby riding school where sturdy horses had plodded with their passengers. Brooklets rushed by and gave a constant babbling and hissing sound as the water cascaded over rocks and down into deeper falls. The smell had been an intoxicating mix of summer: the tall grass; flowing bushes and wild flowers accented in occasion by the smell of horse manure.   

The visit to the farm shop at the beginning of the walk had been rewarding. In addition to the fluids and energy bars procured for the journey, ice creams were purchased made with rich Cornish clotted cream and juicy beaded blackberries.  Within the heat of the day, the luscious ice creams were quickly devoured before heading further on the walk.

The backpacks were laden with picnic blankets, matching plates, plastic beakers and cutlery, waterproof coats, the newly purchased goods and a collection of boiled eggs, fresh salad, cut tomatoes, cucumber and homemade quiche.

Each of the girls had collected sticks from the wooded areas. The oldest took pride in the strength and length of their sticks, whilst the younger ones regarded theirs as dangerous weapons to only be held by silent, deadly ninja assassins. Although having said that, the journey was often punctuated by the cries of ninjas jumping out of their shrubs yelling “whaaachaaaaa!”

Anyway, having reached the destination of the outcrop by the late afternoon, the picnic blankets were spread out with the showmanship of a matador, quick flicks as the red and white poker-dot blanket glided to the dry woody floor. Smiles are exchanged as we jointly prepare the food onto the plates, trying hard to not let any of it run away off the plate. I could see that twinkle in your eye as you layout pieces of sliced ham on each plate. It’s that look which say’s so many things in one instant. A look of: bliss; happiness; fulfilment; completeness; cheeky, flirty contentment on life and being in rapture of how life after years of conflict and struggle, can resolve in total peace. It’s a beautiful day!

The girls settled down to eat, battling for the limited space on the blanket and whining on about this person taking up more room than that person. The whining is a defect from not having their polyphony of electronic phones, gadgets and gizmos and you can almost see their thumbs twitching from lack of texting. Despite the niggling, the picnic platter went down as a treat and when completed, the girls went off exploring and climbing trees.

After clearing away the plates, we laid back down on the blankets in a tight embrace, our bodies interlaced and our hands stroking each other tenderly as we watched the orange sun go down over the lush green fields.

The Girl With The Strange Shadow

It was Sophie who noticed her first, whilst in amongst the concourses of people, there was something tugging her line of vision. Her eyes were drawn to a girl who was in the crowd. There was nothing that different about her, she looked 16, had a red woolly hat with a large pom-pom on top. Her coat was a normal trendy looking super-dry coat and she wore fur lined boots, yet despite the girl’s warm smile, Sophie kept looking at her feeling something was not quite right. It was her shadow.

At first she noticed the shadow flickering like a faulty light-bulb. Sophie looked at the streetlight which looked fine. She looked back at the shadow and saw to her amazement that the shadow was facing a different way to the girl. The shadow seemed to be alive as the shadow’s hand lifted and waved in an open gesture. Sophie tugged hard on the coat of Elizabeth and whispered sharply “Liz.... look!” It was important to know if this was just her imagination running away with herself (of which she had loads) or something else. Liz looked to where she was pointing and her mouth dropped open as she watched the shadow jump around the puddles on the market floor. The shadow’s splashes appeared in the market place as if someone was really there. At first the splash surrounded where the shadow landed with a jolly splash, and then as the shadow kicked and played, the water sprayed up, splashing the nearest man who looked round sharply to see who splashed. The shadow put its hand up to her mouth and bent over laughing at the man’s reaction.  This made Liz and Sophie giggle as the shadow continued to dance and skip around. 

There was a cheeky side to the shadow who seemed to love tormenting and teasing those nearby. Both Sophie and Liz actually laughed out loud when the shadow pinched the bottom of the large lady serving at the deli stall. Her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head in surprise as she yelped in pain and she looked in all directions to spot who was near enough to do it.

The mischievous shadow then cart-wheeled over to  both Liz and Sophie, long grey arms extended and then drilled into the sides of the girls, causing them to double over laughing and giggling until it ached so hard that tears came to their eyes.

Mother gave the girls a look that read... “and what is so funny?” The girls straightened their faces to hide their amusement at seeing the shadow behind their mother, fingers in its ears and tongue waggling in mock. Sadly it was time to go and as mother started to lead them away, both girls looked back puzzled to see everything normal. There was no magical animated displays, only a twinkle in the eye and a smile from the girl with the strange shadow.