It moved again, this time i was certain i wasnt imagining it. its stone wings curved as it elegantly preened itself, and it paused for a moment to glance at its reflection in the still water of the pond below.
I had been standing beside my soccer-ball, staring incredulously at the griffin, so shocked that i was standing as still as the statue ought to have been. but out of the corner of its eye, it noticed me. it's head whipped around to face me and it stood on its lion-like hind legs, extending its grey, mossy wings wide. i reeled backwards, screaming, and fell flat on my back. i scrambled to my feet, but as i tried to run away, the griffin soared overhead and landed with a resounding 'thump' in my path.
"wait," it said, it's voice gravelly and deep, urgency evident in it's tone, "do not run away, i have a message for you."
i made no attempt to flee, party because i knew i could not outrun this mythological creature, and party due to my curiosity. how can a statue come to life? i wondered, and what does it want with me?
my mouth was too dry from shock and fear to speak, but it didnt seem to matter; the stone griffin spoke too quickly, leaving no room for me to interject.
"my name is gus. i've been sent from the other side to fetch you. something terrible has happened adn there isnt much time for explanation." here, he began to stutter, fear in his eyes, "uhh... the prince... captured!.... we need you to... uh... diversion... oh, just come with me and i'll show you!" and with that, he picked me up with his mighty stone talonds and threw me into the pond.
i watied for teh inevitable splash and the icy water to engulf me, but it never came.
i was falling through darkness, and suddenly i was flying. i wondered, distantly, why it was so dark, then i realised i had my eyes closed.
opening them, i saw that i was on the griffin's back soarking high above a forest. the sky above was blue and cloudless unlike the grey english sky i had been beneath mere seconds ago.
my ribs were throbbing and sore from where the griffin had grabbed me. That, and the high altitude and the rushing wind made it hard for me to breathe, so i couldnt get a proper breath to ask where we were going. The next second i realised i didnt have to, for directly in front of us, an enormous old castle came into view, battlements and turrents visible over the treetops.
the griffin swooped downwards, making for the castle, and we landed so hard on the stony ground that i was thrown from the griffins back and ladned feet away, grazing my chin in the gravel
"At last, gus," a voice boomed over the ringing in my ears, "you have arrived!" a burly figure clad in an extravagant fur-lined cloak, emerged from the shadows. i saw a sinister glee in his eyes as he looked at me, and i disliked him immediately.
Groaning, i tried to lift myself from teh ground but the pain was too great so i let myself lie at his feet.
"ah, your majesty" his voice dripped with sarcasm, and he made an insincere bow
as he rose, a malicious smile tugged up the corners of his mouth, and he let a moment's silence pass for suspense.
"arrest them," he growled.
hundreds of armored men flew out from nowhere. rough hands covered me, restraining movement, and then carried me away.
my eyes shot around wildly, searching for the griffin, gus, but by the time i saw him, he was a receeding speck in the sky.
i was holed up in a gaol cell for three days, the entire time without food, and only the water of the morning dew which i licked off the metal bars that imprisoned me.
i was sure that i was going to die.
a crashing sound woke me up early one morning. i retreated to the back corner of my cell, cowering.
who should i see standing on teh other side of the bars but gus, surrounded by a hoard of other strange looking creatures and, most bafflingly, me.... but not me... it was like looking at my reflection, but this reflection had a crown upon his head and a grand look on his face, and was donned in elegant, renessanse-style attire. Everyone had enormous smiles upon their faces.
"thankyou," said my kingly twin, gratitude sparkled in his eyes. "if it hadn't been for you, all would have been lost!"
gus smiled and broke down the bars.
my cell was suddenly crowded with clothed animals, goblins, pixies, and a sphinx.
foremost was gus and my refkection.
my bafflement must have shown on my face, because gus began to explain. "We were losing teh war, you see. our enemies were honing in on the brince's whereabouts. i posed as one of our enemies and said i would bring the prince to the evil sorcerer. you were the decoy. thanks to you, the sorcerer was distracted and we had just enough time to gather our army and defeat him."
my reflection stepped forward, removing the crown from his head and offering it to me. "take this, " he said , "as a mere token of teh gratitude of a nation/"
as he put the crown on my head, my vision blurred. my bones felt heavy and my eyes sank closed.
when i opened them again, i was in my own bed in my own room.
was all that a dream? i wondered.
as i sat up, my feet kicked something hard at the end of my bed.
i looked down.
there, glittering on my doona, was a crown.
- Mood:
mischievous
- Mood:
hungry
we continued on to wales and saw the cardiff castle (in welsh- castell caerdydd) first. we took plenty of photos of the grounds and the keep but we werent allowed to take photos inside the castle itself "for security reasons". but it was so pretty and luxurious. the walls and ceiling were decorated 24 carat gold leaf, stunning medieval-style paintings of old kings, animals and whatnot, the skirting boards, even, were embedded with precious stones. it was beautiful. the keep itself is the only thing about the castle thats medieval (made in the 1000s), the rest of the castle was enlarged and designed a lot later in the 1800s by the marquess of bute to look medieval-style because that was his favourite period in history. and that boy must've had quite a bit of spare change to afford such pretty interior decorating.
then we went to cardiff bay and had dinner at an italian restaurant overlooking the water. steph and i couldnt resist having a go on the carousel, then we all had ice-cream and went on the ferris-wheel and took photos of the sunset from the top- it was very pretty.
we got back really late and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. i took heaps of piccies. i'll put them on facebook for you guys to see. :)
flight was long, uncomfortable, and unremarkable. after an 8 hour flight, there was a stopover in singapore for a couple of hours (not long enough to explore at all) then a 14 hour flight to england. i was so enthused to be in a whole other country (you can tell i haven't travelled before) that one of the blokes on the plane who i made friends with, a travel veteran who thought it "cute" that i was so excited to see england, laughed at me.
this country is so green, people! the grass is this amazing electric green colour that looks delicious even to me. the houses are nothing like the angular "modern" atrocities in the newer suburbs of canberra; these houses have character. vines creeping up their stone walls, moss decorating the rooftops. even the paths are different- narrower, and the gutters are lower and made of stone. the houses are closer to the road, and the road is narrow too- steph and i both praise the amazing skill of the bus drivers who manage to manoeuvre their bulky vehicles through the little streets. as for the people, the english are so polite and proper. i love their crisp, chipper accents, and it is so cute to hear little toddlers talking in their posh accents. the birds are so pretty, and make sweet little tweets like from some corny fairytale, and looking outside now, i think i can see a squirrel!
the car rental place has closed already, so we cant return the rental car until monday. we've got a car for the weekend so we're going to use it! steph, a lovely canadian girl im living with who took me around high street today and went clothes shopping with me, suggested we take the car to wales and see the sights there.
its a gorgeous place, im loving this country. wish you were here? :P
ive got good news and bad news. The good news is that i got my VISA TODAYYYYY!!!! gave the delivery guy the biggest hug! then raced to the flight centre and booked a ticket for tomorow... IM GOING TO ENGLAND TOMOROW!!!!!! the bad news? i lied, there is no bad news hehe.
hear that everyone? this girl is going to england tomorow, FINALLY!
Goodbye grandad, goodbye queensland, goodbye australia!
- Mood:
ecstatic
im still here. "here" being queensland.
the magpies here are not very smart. i throw a little bit of bread over, and they'll race for it like mad, but when they get to it, they stop... look at it sideways, then peck at a leaf next to the bread.. look at it sideways again, then walk away. they're not black here, either. they're brown. all the same markings, but where they should be black, they have brown feathers.
note of interest- today i saw a cloud that looked exactly like fatty arbuckle.
fuck, im bored.
- Mood:
drained
and here i am, wishing i were over there, but stuck in australia and being a bit resentful about it. irrational i know, but im not a patient sort of person. im the sort of person who, when she gets an idea in her mind, she goes for it immediately; hates delay.
ive been trying to see as much of australia before i go (even though it'll only be a year before im back tagain). so far i've been to lone pine koala reserve where i took photos of koalas, chatted with the crazy bird lady, flirted with a roo, and got the stink-eye from a wedge-tailed eagle who looked like he wanted to eat my liver for breakfast. i also saw a birds-eye-view of brisbane, and discovered that mother-nature hates me, when, on a sunny day, i decided to go to the beach and after an hour of driving (most of the time i was lost) i got to the beach and it started to rain. well screw mother nature, i went swimming anyway, just to stick it to her. i was beaten to a pulp by the tide, dragged half the beach back into my newly-vaccuumed car, and have had a sniffy nose ever since. and the clouds are still hovering overhead making sure i dont do anything else fun while im still here.
maybe tomorow i'll go to some theme park or other. there are quite a few around here. screw those fun-dampening clouds.
well it's all finished... sort of.
this week has been insanely stressful- packing the few things we want to keep, selling the things that can be sold, throwing away everything else, cleaning, sorting, etc, etc. All this built up stress saw to it that by friday i was a blubbering mess. The last day of work, the last day of cleaning, the last night in canberra, not to mention the last time i'll see my brother in several months, and my cat (Lucy, who as you know, i've had for 14 years) ever again (a lovely lady from work took her and i'm sure, after a while, Lucy will be happy in her new home).... that was friday.
Saturday morning we finished a few odds and ends, had a goodbye brunch with my brother, Joshua, and stuffed my tiny Daewoo with everything we're (mum and i) taking with us, our three dogs, and all the dog supplies including the dog bed (needless to say the car was almost scraping the bitumen) and we were finally off.
All was well until night fell and we reached a little place an hour or so south of Muswellbrook. I can tell you, now, driving along the bumpy, unsealed road, as we squinted through the darkness, rain and fog looking out for potholes and suicidal australian wildlife who were dead-set on using our vehicle as a means of ending their furry little lives, even though we laughed in attempts at reassuring ourselves, i was mentally composing a few "if i dont make it through the night, i just want you to know i love you" txts to my close friends and family.
Fortunately we survived that terrifying journey (though it took longer than it might've, in my small-wheeled, overloaded city car, driving at 40ks an hour) and mum and i took turns driving, travelling through the night. though i have to admit that as soon as i was behind the wheel, i had already worked out that if i drive just 20ks faster, i'll cut 40 mins off the travelling time, and was just pondering how much damage a kamikaze kangaroo would make if i drove that 20ks faster compared with if i drove the speed limit.
well, apart from a few scares, we made it to brisbane by 7 this morning (sunday) and had a warm shower and catch-up sleep at grandad's place. right now, we're just about to drive Glenview to drop off the dogs at the kennel, and we won't be seeing them until they're flown to england in december (this way is instead of putting them in quarantine) .
Mum's flying to sydney on monday, and on tuesday she will fly from there to england. as for me, i will have to wait a few weeks, it seems, for my visa to arrive. now the most stressful thing is getting assignments and tests and things done for my RN course.
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