A warning

'Now listen very carefully,' whispered Witchety-Woo and she drew Bobby Bird up close to her so her awful twisted nose touched his cheek and her sour, putrid breath invaded his nostrils. Birdy grimaced and wriggled and tried to create some space between them but Witchy held him tightly, her long dirty fingernails digging into his arms.
'Whatever you do boy, don't be caught out there in the dark after midnight...'
He looked at her and frowned.
'I'm warning you!' she hissed fiercely and then pointed a long crooked finger towards the window where the pale moon shone through the dark winter branches. 'For there are strange and terrible things out there in those woods...strange, ghastly, beastly things and there's no telling what they will do...what they are capable of...If you want to come out of there alive boy, you'll take care and listen to what wise Witchy is telling you...'

Strange places...

In the land of Naranjamanine everything was vibrant and fragrant. Too much time spent there gave one a headache. The sun was a big beaming yellow grapefruit and in all the trees there were limes and bright pink flowers. It was advised to take dark shades when passing through the country. There was little you could do about the smell though, for how can one create no smell? Impossible! The best thing to do was to wear thick, tightly packed cotton nose plugs, but this looked very silly and the vapours still clung to one's hair and skin. It entered through the mouth and eyes and more private regions. On hot humid days it was so bad that it stung. One's skin would grow red and sore and ooze with citrus acid. It was vital to cover up on such days.

Coming out of Naranjamanine, one came into a cooler territory where the mountains of Submentolt grew - yes grew- they were always growing: at night they deflated slightly like a pair of lungs but at the height of mid afternoon they stood upright and stretched on and on for what seemed like forever. It was very difficult to see their tops. Only an expect eye could make them out. Here, the smell and vibrancy waned and was replaced by a gentle wind that licked and soothed the skin burns and carried away the sweet fragrances to some place unknown.

The mountains of Submentolt brought relief but only momentarily for it was here the pesky leghuggers dwelled. These super cute furry creatures had big saucer cup eyes - which lured you in -and were not to be trusted, for this was all part of their pretense. Once they disarmed you with their beguiling looks, they quickly got a hold of you and the nightmare of trying to shake them off would begin...

The truth about dreams...

'Amy, you really annoyed me in my dream last night. I'm not very happy with you!' said Lizzie sulkily over breakfast.
Mrs Mayhew raised one eyebrow as she placed the toast rack on the table between them.
'What did she do Lizzie?' she asked humouring her.
'I'd rather not say!' declared Lizzie defiantly.
Mrs Mayhew looked down at little Amy who looked back at her wide-eyed and innocent.
'Well Amy,' said Mrs Mayhew 'What do you think about all this?'
Amy tilted her head to one side in consideration.
'Yes,' said Amy 'I imagine I probably was a little annoying...'
'Understatement! You were being totally obnoxious!' interjected Lizzie.
Mrs Mayhew rolled her eyes and laughed.
'You two, what a silly imaginative pair you are! Just a dream!'
She turned her back to fetch the orange juice from the fridge. Meanwhile Lizzie and Amy exchanged knowing looks and in turn rolled their eyes at their mother's adult foolishness.

Mole and bullfrog

The mole came out of his hole and looked around. He spied a big fat bullfrog looking straight at him.
'Reeeebit' croaked the bullfrog in acknowledgement.
I said the mole 'spied', the mole had very bad eye sight so the bullfrog looked more like a huge blancmange shape looming in front of him. The mole sniffed the air...it certainly didn't smell like a nice blancmange... and blancmanges don't normally speak... The mole squinted further still but eventually, failing to make out what was in front of him, he shrugged his shoulders and disappeared back down his hole...

The bullfrog was of the chilled variety. He shrugged his shoulders too. Then spying a fly nearby he gave a quick flick of his tongue and swallowed the nice little hairy snack.

The hand

Out of the dark hollow of the old oak tree came a withered grey hand with long yellow fingernails - jagged and ripped and filled with black soil. The long index finger unfurled and then curled, unfurled and then curled. It beckoned to Amy slowly. It beckoned and called for her to crawl into the hollow beside it but Amy was scared and did not want to go.

Night things

It had long gone midnight and the only light that now lit the streets were the orange glowing street laps, dully ebbing and softly buzzing. The world was quiet, sleeping...or so it seemed. Busy people never see the smaller details. They rush about and forget about the night things. But there is a whole other world out there in the dark and they watch you when you walk, late at night, towards your home, all alone.

Evelyn's not happy

It was pouring down with rain and late in the evening. Evelyn had the heaters turned up and was squinting to see through the misty car screen window as she drove home from the office. She wasn't feeling very happy. In fact she was very close to breaking down. She was tired and feeling downright miserable. Seeing a nearby lay-by suddenly, she swerved into it, turned off the car engine and sat with her head in her arms resting against the steering wheel. The rain continued to pitter-patter on the roof but otherwise all she could hear was her rapid breathing which was quickly turning into wretched quivering sobs. Each breath she drew in, the more desperate her cries became until she was wailing at the top of her lungs.

Eventually this subsided a bit and she sat there quietly, her wet cheek pressed into the top of her hand. It was all such a mess. Such a mess. She remembered back to the days when she was a child then in that moment, and, in particular, she remembered going to her cousins' house to visit Amy and Lizzie. It was funny, the memories were vague and foggy but one thing was always clear when she looked back: those were some of the happiest times of her life.

Nowadays, nothing felt right anymore. She felt like Dorothy without her ruby slippers. Somewhere along the way she had woken up in a strange land where everyone and everything was all very well but...all she wanted to do was go home. Home...

But where was that? What was that? She couldn't tell. She didn't know but every day the longing grew deeper within her. It pulled at her insides and tore at her heart...