Mirror Dreams
If I Could Bring You The Moon And The Stars
The goat fayre was not what Jodie had expected. She thought it would be full of stripy tents selling fudge, owned of course by goats. But instead the place was bustling full of strange creatures herding goats around. The goat at Jodie's side was jumping up and down with excitement.
“Oh look, there’s my category...talking goats.”
“You mean not all goats talk?” Jodie asked him.
“Of course not. I’ve got to go, before its too late and I have to wait another year for my chance at stardom. See you in the big city some time maybe. I wont forget you when I’m famous.” And with that the goat trotted off to a pen full of similar looking goats.
“Trust me to find a talking goat,” Jodie said to herself as she walked the length of the fayre.
Unless you were a goat enthusiast, the fayre was not the place you would want to be. Jodie had never liked goats much, and had definitely had enough of the animals. At the edge of the fayre a tall wooden signpost stood. Jodie squinted into the sky as she tried to make out the writing on it. One arm read ‘Rook’ and the other looked as if it said catty-pillow. Jodie guessed that the rook was the towers that she had recently come from. She didn’t know what a catty-pillow was but decided to follow that pointer; it was better than going where she’d already been.
The path was narrow and twisty. Jodie was convinced that she was walking back on herself more than once. The scenery was quite bland too, just plain flat green grass, so flat it looked like someone had driven over it in a steam roller more than once. To try and alleviate boredom on the walk she thought about what Sundance could be doing. She wondered where he had vanished too, she was convinced that she hadn’t imagined him in the room in the tower. Perhaps she had; but then if she had imagined him there maybe she had imagined him in the first place. And if she had done that, was it not possible that she had imagined this whole strange scenario that she found herself in now?
Jodie shook her head roughly to try and stop the crazy thoughts flying round her brain. She needed to find another being to talk to; anything would do – except a goat.
The path took another twist and widened out onto the strangest scene that Jodie had seen to date. The place was circular and cool and calm looking; the walls were green and made from the branches of willow trees hanging down. A waterfall appeared to trickle down from the sky; Jodie looked hard but couldn’t source where it came from. The floor was made of the same stone that she had been walking on, but it was scattered with glitter. In the middle of the circle was a four poster bed. And upon that bed who should Jodie lay her eyes on but Sundance. He lay on his back staring at the sky above, his blue hair was all tousled and his clothes appeared creased. He had obviously been there for some time. Jodie hurried across to him and shook his shoulder. He remained motionless, as slack as a ragdoll; his eyes were glazed as they flickered back and forth at something only he could see. She shook him again, harder.
“Sundance!” she yelled into his ear. At last she got a response,
“Look, its beautiful,” he whispered, pointing up at the sky, “I can see the whole galaxy...beyond even. I can see the universe and many more of them too. There’s life out there Jodie, we should go and visit them. I can hear them calling for me...for you too.”
Jodie backed away slowly; she hated it when he was like this. She looked around for something to collect water in from the waterfall so she could throw it on Sundance and hopefully bring him back to this strange world. All she could see was a white pillow lying on the bed next to Sundance. She couldn’t collect water in it but maybe she could hit him round the head a few times till he got up. After all, they were supposed to be looking for a way home. Picking up the pillow loosely by a corner she swung it hard at Sundance’s head. Sundance moaned and rolled over onto his side but Jodie was not satisfied. She needed him sitting up, awake; standing up would be better. She motioned to swing the pillow again but screamed in shock as she felt it change shape and scratch her fiercely across her arm.
“What the -” she started.
“Thanks ever so,” said the stranger, “You just made my dream come true, being thrown against a smelly head.”
“Uh... uh... uh what are you?” Jodie asked in disgust at the creature before her. It had the head of a cat and the body of a caterpillar. Its fur was a plum-ish shade with dark brown stripes.
“More interesting than you, that’s what,” it said snidely as it jumped onto the bed. Jodie was amazed that even though its body was mostly caterpillar it had the agility of a cat.
“Honest answer, I’m a catty-pillow,” it said as it curled up on the bed just like a cat would do. “Come rest your weary head upon my softness. You look like you could do with a good sleep.”
“Won’t I squash you?” Jodie asked feeling slightly concerned at having catty-pillow guts in her hair. As if to answer her, the catty-pillow shimmered and where it had been the white pillow was once again upon the bed. Jodie glanced at Sundance, he was still snoozing so she decided she may as well take up the offer. She wouldn’t sleep for long, just till Sundance was awake again.
She settled herself down on the bed, it was soft and comfortable. She was just the right temperature too and did not need to wrap herself in the blankets that adorned the bed. She gingerly placed her head upon the pillow, she was unsure if it could still feel and talk when it was in pillow form. Jodie giggled at the thought of pillow talk. As soon as her head hit the pillow a sweet aroma filled her nose, her mouth, her brain, her entire body. It smelled of strawberries, chocolate, freshly baked bread, cut grass, bonfires and had an after smell that was musky and dark and filled her senses with starlight. She opened her eyes as wide as they would open, and then opened them wider still. She had the second sight. If only she could taste oranges straight from the trees in Africa then maybe she could have the third sight too.
The willow trees that made the walls of the room started growing upwards, slowly at first then faster. They started twisting together, narrowing the gap between them as they got closer and closer to the sky. Pure white lilies pushed their way between the leaves of the willows, intertwining with sapphire blue roses that also pushed their way through. The gap at the top was getting smaller, from far below on the bed where Jodie lay she could see the pale clouds rushing past across a perfect blue sky. The sky turned through blue, to pink, to purple, to midnight and indigo then the moon and the stars came out and twinkled. The sight brought tears to Jodie's eyes. It had been so long since she saw anything as beautiful. An urge to touch the stars and the moon grew from a little seed in Jodie's stomach to a full roar coursing through her veins. She started climbing up the wall, amazed at how easy it was and how strong the willow leaves were to stand her weight. Quickly she reached the top, the hole was wider than she’d first thought. She hooked her arms over the top and dragged herself onto her feet. She felt like she was on top of the world, in space even. Looking down Jodie saw she was standing on a ring of gold that had the colours of the rainbow swirling through it. She looked back up at the stars and the moon and reached out her arms. She laughed gaily at the beauty of it all. Jodie stood there for the rest of the night, dancing round in a circle. Never falling off the trusty gold ring she stood upon. Then the sky turned from indigo to midnight to purple to pink to blue with orange tints. The last of the stars faded away as the sun grew larger and brighter.
“The sun! I can see the sun again!” Jodie shouted to the world. It felt good to feel the warmth of the rays on her body.
“If the sun is out, I must be back in my world,” she whispered happily as she tipped backwards through the middle of the gold ring. She drifted down, light as a feather through the walls of green interspersed with white and blue.
“Oh look, there’s my category...talking goats.”
“You mean not all goats talk?” Jodie asked him.
“Of course not. I’ve got to go, before its too late and I have to wait another year for my chance at stardom. See you in the big city some time maybe. I wont forget you when I’m famous.” And with that the goat trotted off to a pen full of similar looking goats.
“Trust me to find a talking goat,” Jodie said to herself as she walked the length of the fayre.
Unless you were a goat enthusiast, the fayre was not the place you would want to be. Jodie had never liked goats much, and had definitely had enough of the animals. At the edge of the fayre a tall wooden signpost stood. Jodie squinted into the sky as she tried to make out the writing on it. One arm read ‘Rook’ and the other looked as if it said catty-pillow. Jodie guessed that the rook was the towers that she had recently come from. She didn’t know what a catty-pillow was but decided to follow that pointer; it was better than going where she’d already been.
The path was narrow and twisty. Jodie was convinced that she was walking back on herself more than once. The scenery was quite bland too, just plain flat green grass, so flat it looked like someone had driven over it in a steam roller more than once. To try and alleviate boredom on the walk she thought about what Sundance could be doing. She wondered where he had vanished too, she was convinced that she hadn’t imagined him in the room in the tower. Perhaps she had; but then if she had imagined him there maybe she had imagined him in the first place. And if she had done that, was it not possible that she had imagined this whole strange scenario that she found herself in now?
Jodie shook her head roughly to try and stop the crazy thoughts flying round her brain. She needed to find another being to talk to; anything would do – except a goat.
The path took another twist and widened out onto the strangest scene that Jodie had seen to date. The place was circular and cool and calm looking; the walls were green and made from the branches of willow trees hanging down. A waterfall appeared to trickle down from the sky; Jodie looked hard but couldn’t source where it came from. The floor was made of the same stone that she had been walking on, but it was scattered with glitter. In the middle of the circle was a four poster bed. And upon that bed who should Jodie lay her eyes on but Sundance. He lay on his back staring at the sky above, his blue hair was all tousled and his clothes appeared creased. He had obviously been there for some time. Jodie hurried across to him and shook his shoulder. He remained motionless, as slack as a ragdoll; his eyes were glazed as they flickered back and forth at something only he could see. She shook him again, harder.
“Sundance!” she yelled into his ear. At last she got a response,
“Look, its beautiful,” he whispered, pointing up at the sky, “I can see the whole galaxy...beyond even. I can see the universe and many more of them too. There’s life out there Jodie, we should go and visit them. I can hear them calling for me...for you too.”
Jodie backed away slowly; she hated it when he was like this. She looked around for something to collect water in from the waterfall so she could throw it on Sundance and hopefully bring him back to this strange world. All she could see was a white pillow lying on the bed next to Sundance. She couldn’t collect water in it but maybe she could hit him round the head a few times till he got up. After all, they were supposed to be looking for a way home. Picking up the pillow loosely by a corner she swung it hard at Sundance’s head. Sundance moaned and rolled over onto his side but Jodie was not satisfied. She needed him sitting up, awake; standing up would be better. She motioned to swing the pillow again but screamed in shock as she felt it change shape and scratch her fiercely across her arm.
“What the -” she started.
“Thanks ever so,” said the stranger, “You just made my dream come true, being thrown against a smelly head.”
“Uh... uh... uh what are you?” Jodie asked in disgust at the creature before her. It had the head of a cat and the body of a caterpillar. Its fur was a plum-ish shade with dark brown stripes.
“More interesting than you, that’s what,” it said snidely as it jumped onto the bed. Jodie was amazed that even though its body was mostly caterpillar it had the agility of a cat.
“Honest answer, I’m a catty-pillow,” it said as it curled up on the bed just like a cat would do. “Come rest your weary head upon my softness. You look like you could do with a good sleep.”
“Won’t I squash you?” Jodie asked feeling slightly concerned at having catty-pillow guts in her hair. As if to answer her, the catty-pillow shimmered and where it had been the white pillow was once again upon the bed. Jodie glanced at Sundance, he was still snoozing so she decided she may as well take up the offer. She wouldn’t sleep for long, just till Sundance was awake again.
She settled herself down on the bed, it was soft and comfortable. She was just the right temperature too and did not need to wrap herself in the blankets that adorned the bed. She gingerly placed her head upon the pillow, she was unsure if it could still feel and talk when it was in pillow form. Jodie giggled at the thought of pillow talk. As soon as her head hit the pillow a sweet aroma filled her nose, her mouth, her brain, her entire body. It smelled of strawberries, chocolate, freshly baked bread, cut grass, bonfires and had an after smell that was musky and dark and filled her senses with starlight. She opened her eyes as wide as they would open, and then opened them wider still. She had the second sight. If only she could taste oranges straight from the trees in Africa then maybe she could have the third sight too.
The willow trees that made the walls of the room started growing upwards, slowly at first then faster. They started twisting together, narrowing the gap between them as they got closer and closer to the sky. Pure white lilies pushed their way between the leaves of the willows, intertwining with sapphire blue roses that also pushed their way through. The gap at the top was getting smaller, from far below on the bed where Jodie lay she could see the pale clouds rushing past across a perfect blue sky. The sky turned through blue, to pink, to purple, to midnight and indigo then the moon and the stars came out and twinkled. The sight brought tears to Jodie's eyes. It had been so long since she saw anything as beautiful. An urge to touch the stars and the moon grew from a little seed in Jodie's stomach to a full roar coursing through her veins. She started climbing up the wall, amazed at how easy it was and how strong the willow leaves were to stand her weight. Quickly she reached the top, the hole was wider than she’d first thought. She hooked her arms over the top and dragged herself onto her feet. She felt like she was on top of the world, in space even. Looking down Jodie saw she was standing on a ring of gold that had the colours of the rainbow swirling through it. She looked back up at the stars and the moon and reached out her arms. She laughed gaily at the beauty of it all. Jodie stood there for the rest of the night, dancing round in a circle. Never falling off the trusty gold ring she stood upon. Then the sky turned from indigo to midnight to purple to pink to blue with orange tints. The last of the stars faded away as the sun grew larger and brighter.
“The sun! I can see the sun again!” Jodie shouted to the world. It felt good to feel the warmth of the rays on her body.
“If the sun is out, I must be back in my world,” she whispered happily as she tipped backwards through the middle of the gold ring. She drifted down, light as a feather through the walls of green interspersed with white and blue.