The Fox and the Turtle – excerpt

“I lay for a while on my back with my head poking out of the tent flap, looking up at the darkening night sky. It was a peculiar shade of orangey grey that I had never noticed before. Cloud cover completely hid any heavenly bodies that might have been waiting to twinkle down at me.  I hoped that the clouds would disperse later so I might be able to try to spot constellations and shooting stars. Looking into the strangely flat and featureless sky became tiresome quickly so I rolled onto my stomach to examine the features of the surrounding garden. Lying there, with my head poking out from the front of the brightly coloured dome, I started to feel like a large psychedelic turtle.  I imagined myself sprouting feet at each of the tents corners and lumbering around the garden, chewing at the plants and shrubs, maybe pushing a fence over and moving amongst the other gardens, sniffing and nosing as I went. Then I pictured my turtle-self slowing levitating from the earth, gracefully banking around the garden and swooping off amongst the tree tops and clouds, feeling the wind in my hair as I peered down at the lights of the houses below….”

To read the whole thing you’ll have to buy ‘Legends of Circumstance,’ a self published booklet containing artwork and writing by myself and others.