Short Stories
Crystal's Journey - Drab Villas and The Unseen
(A sequel to The House of Stone & Skyelights )
A blackbird flew into a new red brick development in Wherewithal, and observed the neighbours indulging in social unpleasantry. It perched on a new tree in a new clay pot and watched Greta.
Greta Gott stood beside her pride and joy, a brand new Mitsubishi Grunt, and endeavoured to look down her nose at her neighbour's meagre vehicle.
The neighbour, Tracey Kanezza, known to her family and friends as Kanny, and to everyone else as Terrain Trundler Tracey, could feel the waves of diss coming from her friend and neighbour, and she felt resentful. Okay, the Terrain Trundler was only four wheel drive. It only had seven doors. It could, on a run, achieve over ten miles per gallon. It was nowhere near as big, overbearing or, most importantly, as expensive as the Grunt, but was still the second most expensive vehicle in the whole housing development. Second after the Grunt, of course.
I mean, look at her other neighbour's car; the neighbour living on the other side! Two wheel drive! Five doors! Nearly forty miles per gallon! What a waster! Still, if they would let the likes of her live here, what could you expect?
Single, at her age. Alternative, whatever that meant. To be sure, letting Kristal Pallis, the New Age self-styled guru that never would quite make it into the top flight buy a house in their stylish development was not a good move. The developer, a very close friend of theirs, or so they'd thought, had apologised thus: 'She'd got the money.'
After the neighbours had retreated indoors, he blackbird returned with its mate and explored the huge plastic pipe that peaked out of the bonnet of the Grunt. They entered the pipe, in turn, then departed to search for twigs.
A pair of mice examined the Trundler and realised the exhaust pipe would make an excellent store for hazelnuts, and the yellow foamy stuffing in the bumpers felt very warm - ideal for lining their new nursery.
*
The morning mist departed more gently. Not exactly like 'old times' but certainly less fiercely than of late. There were many fewer Tonka Toys(TM) on the road - Crystal spotted oats, wheat, and milk being transported, some builders, several nurses in cars and maintenance businesses in vans. She walked away from the standing stones towards the distant stream, barely a thought in her head. She knew nothing of physics, chemistry or biology. Nothing of human history or psychology. Or sociology, business, economics or politics. But she could feel the divine creative spark in every inch of the landscape, which proved to be some consolation.
As she turned down the glade towards the stream, she could finally hear the water running over the rocks. She started to sing; a song without words with vocal ease.
Her spine tingled, she instinctively looked up. The hairs on the crown of her scalp seemed to stand on end, and she caught her breath.
She felt an inner prompting to continue singing, so she did. The dark patches under the few fluffy clouds, the pink glow from the sun and the hazy horizon metamorphosed the sky into a caring feminine face.
*
In Drab Villas, an award winning development (circa 1910), Cinders Ella rose from the fireside, creaked arthritically to the window and rubbed her sore eyes. The wind had abated and there was a rosy tint to the mostly clear sky.
Ella opened her front door and trembled as the sky resolved into a face. She returned indoors in a state of shock. After a while she stood up, took down the net curtains, placed them in the sink and started to scrub. Whilst busy at the sink, she timidly whispered a few lines of a song.
*
Urchin marched back from Skye's flat to keep Meredith company in their allotment shed. He felt as high as a kite after the rail trip to Smogdale, seeing Fidget's endless inventions, drinking far too much tea and meeting the giantess. Meredith would be in for an ear bashing tonight! Suddenly his enormous boots parked themselves on the pavement and he looked up at the sky.
It was wonderful, so he felt amazed.
It was amazing, and Urchin felt he was entering a wonderland.
After a spell of tingly spine and itchy scalp he propelled his massive boots back into their usually unstoppable rhythm. Maybe Meredith wouldn't get an ear bashing after all.
*
Crystal arrived home to find Pearl and Annie in an excited state. The news on the radio was hysterical - three days appeared to have passed, though neither Pearl or Annie had noticed more than two days since Crystal left on her bike.
There were rumours of terrorist attacks using drugs in the form of a gas to render the whole country asleep for two days, though the British Medical Association had countered that men who've been asleep for two days don't wake with only one days growth of beard. They politely avoided mentioning the state of such sleepers' pyjamas. Which is more than can be said for the typist.
Crystal and Pearl instinctively looked each other in the eye.
'Bit of a mystery, that,' said Crystal.
'Life feels richer with mystery,' added Pearl, doing her best to avoid sounding enigmatic whilst dispelling the atmosphere.
'You're being enigmatic,' said Annie, ever the sensitive barometer for the unseen, deliberately pelling the atmosphere right back again to savour it.
*
Crystal's Eyes - Poem
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