sparky lightbourne
|
Island LifeThe Island.
White limestone cliffs, like the crust on a fruit crumble. Topped with short scrappy yellow green grass, and a few stumpy twisted trees. A red and white striped candy cane lighthouse, it’s once powerful beam become dormant. A small tug boat pootles by on the waves below, it has a smiley, friendly looking face just beneath the funnel. It looks up at me, and sticks its tongue out.
“Ahoy there stranger”, it shouts.
I rub my eyes with the palms of my hand. I blink and poke my fingers in my ears. Nope, I can still see its cheerful countenance. I wave back.
“Err…Hi There”.
“Lovely mornin’ int it?” it enquires with a broad West Country accent.
I scan the clear blue skies with just a hint of white whisp.
“Yeah, nice day for it”, I shout back.
“Anyway, best be goin’, I’ll see you later me old mate.”
And with that the tug boat turns out to sea and rapidly vanishes below the horizon.
I turn back, looking inland towards the woods. Erik my little terrier cross is sitting on a large toadstool, his legs dangling idly over the top. He has a bright blue rucksack on his back that he didn’t have yesterday. I shake my head.
“That didn’t happen did it boy? A tug boat didn’t just wish me a good morning.”
“He did, I heard it as well Paddy.”
I stare at Erik, trying not to let my eyes and ears pop with surprise.
“Now you’re talking, and you’ve got a rucksack, and I bet you can walk upright, what is this cartoon land?”
“I have no idea, all I know is that I woke up this morning with this rucksack next to me and the ability to talk and act like a human, or at least an anthropomorphisation of a dog”, replied Erik.
He jumps off the toadstool and as expected walks upright over to the remains of the campfire, where he absent mindedly rakes through the ashes with a stick.
This is a lot to take in; I sit down on the hollow log and think back. It’s not drugs or food poisoning, I’ve experienced both and even the most vivid hallucinations are not like this. So I’ve ruled out drugs and dodgy food, what else? Let’s see, we arrived on the Island late last night, it was too dark to see what it as like then.
I’m walking around in a bit of a daze, Erik is now whistling to himself, because he can I suppose.
“OI! Watch were you’re treading sunshine!”
I jump back and look down in the direction of the voice, a clump of generic flowers, different coloured petals around yellow faces, scowling up at me.
“Shit sorry.”
Is everything sentient here? I prod Erik and ask him the question. He looks at me, then up at the sun.
“You tell him”.
I look up at the sun, he grins down at me, and he’s wearing a vast pair of sunglasses like in that vitalite advert.
|
