Tranquil – from Sue Vincent’s weekly #writephoto prompt.

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Funny how the light shines in this glade she thought. The trees and the beach look pink and purple. It must be the weather. Then she looked up to where the sun should be, but the star she saw  was red, like the sun when you see it through thick clouds on the horizon. But this star was small and high up in the sky. She could tell it wasn’t her sun. You could actually look at it without being blinded.

She tried to remember how she had got here, what had happened to her? All she could think of was the lights in the sky the night before. Not meteors but green flashes, like falling fireworks. Yes, then something had lifted her up and everything had gone dark and silent….

Where am I? Where have I been brought to? she thought, this place is so peaceful, so quiet. Then she realised what was missing, birdsong, insects churring, the everyday sound of traffic… Wherever she was she knew now it was alien. It could not be Earth.

Written in response to Sue Vincent’s Thursday #writephoto prompt here

Giant metal frog

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Am I on Earth or an alien planet? I thought. I was walking around the lake, the ground was wet. In the distance I could see a metal spike rising up from the ground, with something sticking out, attached to it.

I got closer, the thing was clearly metallic, greenish copper coloured.

It was a sculpture of a frog, feet wrapped around the spike. It seemed to be looking at me? How? Its metal isn’t it?

Then it moved! One arm came up, it rubbed its eye in that odd way frogs do. It opened its mouth. .. The last thing I remember was its tongue flashing out, catching me round the neck. . The world faded.

Curtains for you

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Curtains, you cover my modesty

Hide my imperfections,

You keep the warmth in, the heat out.

You stop me seeing the rain,

Shut out the traffic

Such a simple invention.

You divide rooms,

Seperate scenes in plays,

And yet you remain unremarked.

You can be cut down to make a dress

Or a gown.

You protect tapestries and paintings

From harsh sun.

You fade in sunlight

Get moth eaten

Eventually fade and die

Then it’s “curtains” for you!

Timothy Trow

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Sorry for the blurry photo. This is the memorial to a man called Timothy Trow.

I’d known about this for a few years but got a leaflet today and it explained he was a local hero 125 years ago.

Timothy Trow was from neighbouring area of Shelton. He was a conductor on a tram that ran along London Road in Stoke. When the tram reached the West End area of Stoke, at a spot near James Street, he saw a young girl who had fallen in the canal. She was later identified as Jane Ridgeway. He jumped into the Newcastle Canal and rescued her but he then got cramp and despite people trying to rescue him he drowned. All of this happened on 13 April 1894.

There is a memorial stone in recognition of his courage. In recent years our local Councillor has encouraged an annual commemoration. The local West End Methodist Church and local people have turned it into an annual event. One of my friends actually wrote a song to commemorate his bravery and a couple of years ago we walked along the course of the canal (which has since been filled in) and my friend sang the song next to the memorial stone.

International Women’s day

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A date to remember. Its international women’s day and also one hundred years since the suffragettes’ fought for the vote for women in Britain. The colours of purple white and green were used to signify their struggle.

It should be remembered that when they finally did get the vote it was only for older women who owned property…

International women’s day means freedom to me. The freedom to vote and be part of a democracy. The freedom to control your body and not be forced to do things you don’t want to. The freedom to own your own property and to earn equal pay for work of equal value.

As a woman I have seen years of inequality. I have seen mysogeny and misanthropic behaviour. But not everyone is like that. At the end of the day we need to learn to respect one another. After all women are not another species. Equality is still some distance away, people shouldn’t be judged on the way they look or act. Life can be hard work. With age comes experience. Women don’t need patronising it’s time for equality.

A lesson

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The old school walls were damp and the paint was peeling off them. There were holes where ceiling tiles had fallen down and sunshine had broken through the roof.

She walked between discarded chairs, the tables were stacked against the walls. At the front of the classroom stood one of those rotating chalkboards. Grey with layers of chalk.

She reached out and pulled on the join between the boards but the thing was jammed up, no movement.

She remembered the first day she had taught here. Registration followed by the history of the celts. Teaching about Boudicca and the ancient Britons.

Nowadays children didn’t come to school. They were all home schooled, isolated, plugged in. Teaching was easy. Link to the local computer by an imput in the cranium. Download all the information, sit in a chair and learn the curriculum.

She remembered the sweet feeling of imparting knowledge  The look of wonder when a pupil understood a new concept. Ideas flying from lips to ears to brains.

No more, no enthusiasm, just imput, data, no fun.

She sighed, closed the door to the classroom. She walked home.

Missing cat

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I found out my sisters beautiful little kitten/cat went missing a few weeks ago. She just disappeared one night. If anyone lives in Rhyl near the coast road  between Prestatyn and Rhyl please can you keep an eye out for her. She is microchipped. This is a bit of a spur of the moment request and I can’t remember her name. I don’t want to upset my sister so I’m just quietly asking.

Thanks for any information.

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Reflected

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Caught on camera, this fairie metallic us, seen flitting over the lake at Trentham Gardens. Like a dragonfly. Was she catching gnats for supper or taking a drink of water from the lake.

Fairies rarely stay still long enough to be photographed. Their magic powers mean that they can hide from view. I only caught this image by dodging out from between the trees and having my camera on zoom. That is why it suffers from camera shake.

Lol actually there are lots of wire weave fairies at Trentham but I just tried to write a small fiction about this one.

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Cycling home

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“I used to be fit.” The old timer said as he looked down sadly at his old bike. “I could ride up to the lake district, round Windermere and back home in a day. Now look at me, my knees are wrecked, my back aches and my balance makes me wobble all over the place.”

“You need to keep cycling though, I said, I know it’s tough, but if you stop now you will probably stop for good.”

“I’ll ride to Scotland and back he said, no doubt it will take some time.”

“But you don’t know the way. Why not try cycling on canal towpaths?” I suggested.

That was two weeks ago. I haven’t seen him since. Though I did get a post card from John o’Groats saying “in Scotland, can’t find the canal!”