The fantastic voyage of young Miss Shirley 3/3

And indeed, there on the other side of the small lake, Frank the white – or grey – horse was captured by the angry men. And he looked horrible. Big red marks were running down his side, from where the men had hit him with their whips. The once proud horse was standing there with hanging shoulders and a sad and tired look on his face. It seemed that his spirit had been broken. Shocked little Miss Shirley drew back from the waterfall. A single tear rolled down from her eye and over her cheek.

“It makes me so sad. Frank is a friend of mine, and those evil men have taken his freedom away and hurt him. But what can we do? We are but small, while they are big and strong.”

That was true. They could never win this one by sheer force. So they had to come up with a plan. Just as they had done with the trolls. No matter how hard they thought, nothing useful came up. You could almost hear their little brains cracking, but unlike the waterfall their source of ideas had dried up. Sadly they sat down, and waited. Maybe time would offer an answer. Time however kept carefully away from the young travelers, so he wasn’t any help at all. Not knowing what to do or how to help, young Nigel filled his mouth with water and blew it up his snout. The water collided with that from the waterfall. Just below the impact point a small hole emerged, because the water from the waterfall was stopped there. Forgetting the serious situation they were in, he blew again. And again. Because he liked it. After all, elephants like to play.

“Stop that, you stupid animal.” Billy cried. “We have a problem here and all you can think about is blowing water out of your stupid nose!”

Embarrassed, Nigel stopped his little game halfway. The first burst of water still created a hole in the waterfall, but the second bit was just dragged down with the rest. It lacked the force to make a difference. Little Miss Shirley looked at Nigel, then at the waterfall, then seemingly through the waterfall to where the angry men and Frank were. They could hear them singing and talking loudly and clinging booze bottles together. A sparkle ignited in the back of her eyes, and after some consideration a fire broke out in her bright young lookers.

            “Nigel, how hard can you blow that water out of your snout?”

They all looked up; the question caught them by surprise.

“Uhm, I guess pretty hard. We always played this game with my friends to see if we could knock each other over. Why?”

You could see the twins were anxious to know the answer to that question too.

            “I’ve got an idea. Nigel, fill up on water.”

The young elephant did what he was told.

            “Now spray it as hard as you can on that wall over there.”

She pointed to a rock wall at the side of the cave. And with all his power young Nigel unloaded his water supply to the poor defenseless wall. Bob and Billy had to cover their faces, because a lot of water bounced back and soaked them from head to feet. Shirley escaped the involuntary shower because she happened to be standing behind Nigel. Indeed it was very powerful. The twins started to see what Shirley was aiming for. The discussed the details of the plan and waited for darkness to fall. By the time it had gone dark, the angry men had fallen asleep. Proof came from the heavy snoring in different tones. They sneaked through the waterfall, and through the lake, until they were very close to the shore. Nigel went under and emerged again with a mouth full of water. On Shirley’s signal, the twins ran up the shore and started hitting the trees with the sticks they had found in the cave. Nigel rushed out of the water towards the waking men. In the dark they could only see something big coming their way, so they got really scared when it started spraying them. Nigel flapping his ears wildly completed the nightmare for the evil men, and in panic they ran. In their haste they left everything behind. Just to be on the safe side, Nigel ran after them a bit. The heavy thumping of his big paws combined with the powerful beams of water did it for the men. They ran as if the devil was at their backs. They were never seen in these lands again! Shirley – who watched the scene from a distance – started laughing. And she couldn’t stop. It was so much fun to watch those grown man run away over something so silly. The twins looked at each other, and joined Shirley in a boyish giggle. Nigel had sprayed his last bits of water, and agreed with them in trumpeting loudly. They had done it!

            “Frank, where are you?” The young girl suddenly very seriously said.

That brought them all back to reality. To the side of them they heard the horse’s faint response.

“I’m over here, my sweet human child. You have rescued me just in time. I almost couldn’t take it anymore. Those bad men have really hurt me.”

Soon they found the abused horse, and freed it from its leash. After they had taken care of his wounds as good as they could, stories were exchanged. It turned out that Frank was actually helped to shore by his captors. At first they treated him very nice and gave him plenty of food. But when he wanted to go away, they beat him and tied him down. Although Frank was a big and strong horse, he was no match for those five men with their ropes and whips. Luckily the rest found him in time, because Frank was about to break from all the abuse. The talks, the campfire and the fact that it was already very late at night made them decide to go to sleep. So they used the beds the men had left behind and got comfortable. Little Shirley settled against Frank’s chest, and immediately fell into a deep, deep sleep.

The next day, the sun was the first one to wake up. He sent some rays down to hit the eyes of the sleepy people. One by one they woke, and rubbed the sleep from their eyes. Luckily the men had left plenty of food behind, so with a full stomach and well rested the group left again and followed the road again. It was still very flat, but it no longer ran in a straight line. It twisted through the fields, and they couldn’t see very far ahead anymore. Halfway through the day the travelers reached a square. There were no other roads leading somewhere else, so they weren’t quite sure why it was there. But it was a nice spot to have something to eat. They sat down and unpacked their lunch. With taste they ate it, and felt better right away. After about an hour, they decided to move on. They didn’t need the whole hour to eat, but the place was just so nice they didn’t want to leave right away. They walked on. No one had anything to say to the other anymore, and the twins had actually agreed on silence. Because they couldn’t see very far ahead, they didn’t know if they were close to the castle or not. But it was the right way, because the twins had heard from many people that you just had to follow the flat road and you would get there. And Frank had overheard the men saying it too. So they went on. And on. And on. Seemingly without an end. But then, suddenly:

“What’s that? Over there, in the distance.” Shouted Frank, who was the tallest of them all.

One by one the kids climbed on Frank’s back and saw. Nigel stood up on his hind legs, which was quite an impressive sight. They all saw. In the distance the land got hillier. And on one of the larger hills you could see a castle. It must have been a castle, because you could see towers everywhere. With new energy they walked on. And soon they noticed that the road was going uphill and downhill. They had reached the hilly part of the land. Now they couldn’t be far away anymore. And that was true. The castle was becoming bigger and bigger. With this pace, they would reach it at dinner time. Wouldn’t that be great: a lovely dinner in an actual castle! The rest of the journey wasn’t very exciting anymore. They walked. Talked. Laughed. But that all stopped when the companions rounded a corner. Suddenly they were eye to eye with the castle. Only a big green grass field separated them from the castle’s big iron entrance gate. Wow, the castle looked so fantastic. It had big and small towers all over. The big towers were made out of big pure white stones, the small towers of small black bricks. The rest of the castle seemed pinkish. On top of every tower a flag moved in the wind. The flags all had a pretty crown over a horses head. But nowhere was there anyone to be seen. A bit suspicious by the lack of people – and animals – as Frank rightly pointed out – they entered the big gate. Still no one. It seemed that the castle was abandoned.

            “Hello!” Bob shouted through the palace square.

            “Hello! Hello. Ello. Llo. Lo. O.” The echo answered.

But since no one else answered, the castle was deserted. They checked all the rooms and all the towers, but not a single living creature was to be found. They could check every room, except for one. It was a big one, but the only entrance door was blocked by a heavy wooden beam. Together, it took Nigel and Frank still a lot of effort to slide it away from the door. But finally it fell down on the floor with a big bang.

            “Bang! Bang. Ang. Ng. G.” The echo again.”

Carefully they pushed open the door. With a big squeak the doors turned and revealed what was behind them. No people. Again. But what was there was better than their best dreams. Tables filled with every kind of food you can imagine. Chicken, veal, beef, salads, drinks, vegetables, soups, desserts. If you could imagine it, it was there. And it was all placed on a big long table that ran from one end of the hall to the other. What was weird about it, was that the food was still warm. As if it had just been placed on the tables. But by whom? Bob stepped forward, picked up a chicken wing and put it in his mouth, hungry as he was from all the walking.

            “No! Maybe it has been poisoned and it’s a trap!”

But his brother’s warning came too late. With great taste the wing disappeared in Bob’s stomach. Nothing happened. And in the next ten minutes nothing happened as well. Then their hunger beat their caution and they charged. They ate, and ate, and ate. It was all so very delicious. So well done, so fresh, so tasty. When they had all filled their tummies, they looked at the table. Not even a quarter of the food had been eaten. And you can imagine a full grown horse and an elephant are big eaters. They let the food digest a bit, and ended the feast meal with lovely pudding for dessert. Never in their life had they enjoyed such a great diner. Time had traveled fast. The sun had left them for a moonlit night, and the group decided to call it a night as well. In their search they had seen nice warm stables and big bouncy beds. So the animals went outside and got comfortable there. The boys each found a big bed in one of the eastern towers. Little miss Shirley had chosen the biggest bed she could find. It was made of black steel, and it had pink sheets and pillows. They were very soft. So soft she almost sank away in it. Only her feet and her nose were still visible. It must have been the bed of a princess. And she felt like a princess in it. Happily she fell asleep. She knew she was with friends, and she would find her way home tomorrow.

In the middle of the night, when she was sleeping, the door handle turned silently. It was followed by the opening of the door. A dark silhouette entered the room, and approached the bed on tiptoes. It looked at the little girl, and then went to the right side of the bed. With his white gloves Butler picked up the tea cup little Miss Shirley had drank her tea from. He held it with two hands, to prevent the cup and saucer from making any sound. As he headed for the door again, a grey long snakelike thing slid back under the bed. Butler didn’t see it. And little Miss Shirley? She kept on dreaming. Or did she?

The dragon and the boy 1/2

It was long ago, in a land over the mountains, through the dark forest. The land was ruled by an evil king, who used dragons to control his people. Because he controlled the dragons, he had nothing to fear. If anyone would even think of rebelling against him, he would send his dragons over there. The dragons would fly in majestically, and set fire to the fields while landing. If the rebels hadn’t surrendered by then, the fierce animals burned down their houses. Whoever would run out, would be grabbed in the sharp claws and eaten. Running away was no option either, because the dragons would just send a flame there and burn the people alive. As you can understand, not many people rebelled nowadays, so there was peace in the land. But not happiness, because everyone was terrified. In secret, some people tried to overthrow the evil king, but without success. The dragons could fly everywhere very fast, and the king had spies all over the land. People got used to it, and silently but unhappily lived their lives.

One of the biggest problems the people had, was that the dragons needed sacrifices. For the dragons to reach maturity, they needed to eat a human child. So every couple of weeks the king’s knights, in their dark red uniforms, rode through the country. At random they selected a farm of cottage, and took the young child if it was there. And if there wasn’t a young child present, they let the dragon destroy the place, not caring whether the family was still in it or not. This time they chose a small cottage on the side of a hill, just outside the village. The people in the village were relieved, because they had never liked the family in the cottage, and also because they had been spared.

A few months earlier, at the side of one of the great mountains, a baby dragon was born. It had a beautiful skin, dark blue as the night sky when lit by a thunder. And the thunder seemed to come from his eyes, because they were clearer than any dragon’s eyes ever before. In his first few weeks he remained in the nest, and his mother would bring food to him, mostly small animals. Soon the dragon, named Fyra, became too large for the nest. One day his mother just pushed him out of the nest, and he fell towards a certain death. At least, that is what you would expect. Because apparently, every creature or animal with wings, instinctively knows how to fly. He flapped his wings heavily, and actually his fall slowed down. He kept flapping, and suddenly he flew! He didn’t fall anymore, and could go up or down at his own command. Instantly he forgot the scare of a few seconds before, because he loved to fly! It was a great feeling of freedom, and he had a magnificent view of the land below him. Fyra grew fast, and became a better flyer every day. Often the villagers down below would see the young blue dragon fly over their town. But they would run away as soon as the dragon came near. Fyra did not understand, and tried to ask them. That made them even more scared, because they only heard him roar. He asked his father:

            “Why are the humans afraid of me? I mean them no harm.”

Then his father told him why humans are afraid of dragons.

“We dragons are the rulers of the sky and the lands. Because of us there is peace down there. In exchange for us setting fire to an occasional man hut, the humans on the horses have agreed not to bother us with their sharp sticks anymore. And once in a while they let us feast on some of their own, and humans taste very good!”

Fyra was shocked. Eating a human? He would never do that. They were intelligent creatures, just as the dragons. He would never dream of eating a horse either, for the same reason. Other animals, such as foxes or squirrels, yes, you could eat them, they were stupid things. But humans? No…

The young dragon kept flying over the village, and the villagers kept being scared. And Fyra never got used to it. But time went by, and he grew and grew. By now he was almost an adult dragon. So it was time for his initiation rite. His parents had prepared him for it. It was something he had to do to become a real adult. But they wouldn’t say what it was. Not even when he begged them. So he just waited. Finally the day came for his initiation. They flew over the land, to the forest in the middle of the land. Inside the forest was a big clearing, and that’s where they were heading. In the centre of the clearing there was a pole. On the pole there was something else, but Fyra couldn’t see clearly yet, as it was still early and the sun had not come over the mountains yet. Fyra landed at the edge of the clearing and asked:

            “What’s that on the pole? Is that part of the rite?”

He noticed that his parents had not landed. In fact, they flew away.

“This is your initiation rite my son. You have to eat that human child over there and leave nothing but bone, to prove that you are a real dragon. We will return when the sun is at its highest.”

Fyra was left alone. Well, not completely alone of course. Apparently the little thing on the pole was a human child. And he was supposed to eat it. Curiously he approached the pole. He had never seen a human this close. It looked small, very small. Then he remembered that it was a human child, so it was supposed to be small. He sniffed it, looked at it from all around. It had that distinct human smell. It did not seem to move at all, perhaps it was already dead. But when he looked closer, he saw the boy’s chest move up and down gently, so the boy was breathing after all. That made the young dragon sad. He wouldn’t have liked to eat a dead human, but he could have probably done it. But there was no way he would eat a live one! He looked at the ropes around the boy. The knots were too delicate for his big claws, and he couldn’t burn them away for the little man child would not survive. He didn’t know what to do. A ray of sunshine hit his fiery eye, as the sun emerged over the trees at the edge of the clearing. That reminded him of what his parents had said. They would be back soon. He heard a noise, and looked down again. The little boy, he couldn’t have been older than twelve, had woken up. He looked around with sleepy eyes and then froze when he noticed being stared at by a giant creature with fiery eyes and big wings! The boy screamed! After a while, when he noticed that the dragon did not eat him, he stopped screaming and a puzzled look came over his face. He did not understand what was going on. He tried to break loose from the ropes that held him to the pole. After a lot of wriggling, he loosened the ropes a lot. But there was still one knot he couldn’t undo, because it was behind him. All the time, the dragon just lay down, with his head to the ground, motionless, looking. But Fyra also noticed the one knot, and he noticed that the little boy had given up. He sat down, he had enough room to do that now. Slowly the dragon got up, and walked around the boy. The boy didn’t notice, because he had his eyes closed. Carefully, the dragon took the knot in his big claw, and then, with a sudden jerk, he ripped the knot to pieces! The boy jumped up, scared by the sudden force at his back. He moved a few feet, then turned around to see what had happened.

The young dragon was lying down again, with his head on the grass. Looking curiously at the boy. The boy returned him a curious look. The young boy was sedated when he was brought here, so he didn’t know how to get home. After standing there for a while, with the dragon still doing nothing but stare at him, he slowly moved forward. He made sure the pole was always between him and the dragon. Still the dragon did not move. The boy took a deep breath, and walked past the pole, towards the dragon’s big face. He reached out with a shaking hand, and touched the dragon’s snout. The dragon looked at the hand, and then emitted a low, pleasant growl, as if to say he liked it. The boy petted the dragon, and decided to walk around it, as the dragon still showed no intention of eating him. He walked around the dragon in a circle, and admired the beautiful creature. Especially the color of its skin. The dark thundering blue. He had almost finished his round, when he – and the dragon – heard a noise in the sky. It was midday, the sun at his highest, and that meant the dragon parents had returned. Fyra immediately closed his tail around the boy, and with his claws picked him up and threw him on his scaled back. The boy held on, as the young dragon started running and flapping his wings. Fyra flew away fast, in the opposite direction of where his parents were coming from. The parent dragons landed, confused. And ashamed. Because this had never happened before in all of dragon history. And now it happened to them. They would be the laughing stock of all other dragons.

In the next weeks, the dragon and the boy were hunted upon. Not only by the other dragons, but also by the dark red knights. They had to run and fly many times, and often they were almost killed. But eventually they were left alone, as they moved nearer to the dark forest. They found an abandoned cave, were the foot of a big mountain was covered in trees. There they lived for a while, feeding of the little animals around them, and the berries on the bushes. The dragon would catch the animals, and offer them raw to the boy. He tried them, but they were horrible! Then the boy remembered that his parents cooked the animals on a fire. So he gestured to the dragon to breathe fire over the dead fox that lay in front of them, and the dragon did. But unfortunately the dragon overdid it, so after the fire was out, there were only small black and burned remains left. It took another fox, two squirrels and a small deer, but finally they got it right. With a gentle breeze the dragon baked the small deer, that the boy held out on a stick. And it smelled fantastic. The grease dripped down from the deer and made both young ones become very hungry. With taste they ate the well baked deer, and the young dragon Fyra decided he would never eat a raw animal ever again! For some weeks, everything was fine. They enjoyed each others company more and more, and the young boy especially liked flying on Fyra’s back. Luckily Fyra also really liked to fly, so together they did it as much as they could. One night, as they were roasting a wild pig, they heard a noise in the woods below them. It was the dark knights. They were patrolling the area and had seen the smoke and fire, and were coming up to catch, or even worse, kill them. Quickly the boy mounted the dragon, and he escaped just in time. The knights could still see the tail disappear above the trees as they entered the cave. Knowing that in a matter of hours some dragons would be there to search for them, and this time they would not give up, Fyra flew into the dark forest. Because it was almost getting to dark to see anymore, they had to find a place for the night. The young boy looked around and spotted a clearing not far from where they were flying. They landed there, and immediately the dragon curled himself up and fell asleep. All the flying had tired him. The young boy found a place between the dragon’s legs, and also surrendered to dream land. In the middle of a dream where he was flying high in the sky on Fyra’s back, he was rudely awoken by a scream. A group of wolves had sneaked up on them in their sleep, and the leader had bitten in Fyra’s wing. He had broken it. Fyra pushed the boy behind him, so he was between him and the angry wolves. Even with one wing out, the dragon was still a tough opponent. And this the wolves soon found out. One by one they were severely wounded either by the dragon’s fierce claws, or his scorching fire breath. Finally the wolves that still could, retreated. Fyra killed the other ones, as they had no chance of survival anyway. The young boy tried to take care of the dragon’s broken wing. He put some branches next to the bone, and tied them up with the ropes with which he himself had once been tied. He had kept them and carried them with him all the time. Now they came in really handy. But unfortunately this fracture meant that they had to walk the next days, because Fyra couldn’t fly anymore. What were they to do next? They went back to sleep, but kept one eye open, you could never know…

In the morning – they had both fallen asleep, because they were very tired – they woke up, hungry. They really looked forward to the small wild pig, but of course they were forced to leave it behind as they fled. They got up, and then suddenly the boy stood still and pointed to something at the edge of the clearing. There stood an old woman. She must have been over a hundred years old, and she was very ugly. Her body was bent over, and she wore a torn and colorless dress. With a squeaky voice she said:

            “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Gisela, and I have a surprise for you!”

The first surprise was, that they both understood her. But they had a feeling that was not the surprise the old lady had in mind for them…

The dragon and the boy 2/2

Not really knowing what else to do, they followed the old lady, who waved at them and entered a small path between the trees. It was difficult for Fyra to follow, because he bumped his broken wing to the trees all the time. They couldn’t go very fast, but eventually they reached another clearing, with in the middle a small hut. Apparently that was her home. All around her on the grass were statues. They looked very lifelike. Knights on horses, little boys and girls, entire families, chicken, cows, everything. It was as if they would all walk away at the snap of a finger. Behind his back the little boy tried it, but without success. At the front of the hut there was a bench, and Gisela and the boy sat on it, while Fyra lay in front. Gisela explained how they could understand each other. She was a witch, and she was an expert in magic. So she had found a way to make people around her understand each other, whether they spoke another language or even if they were another species. Because of this, they found out that the dragon was called Fyra, and the young boy Russell.

“Thank you so much, young Russell, for taking care of my broken wing. It really hurt, but because of you it feels better now.” The dragon huffed.

Russell said that it was nothing, that it was the natural thing to do for his friend. They talked a lot, mainly about their histories. The old lady told them that a long time ago there were witches all over the place, and they lived in harmony with the villagers. And Fyra talked about how horrible he felt when he was told he had to eat a live human.

“I’m so glad it was you there in the forest, and not another dragon, for now I would be nothing more than a pile of bones!”

The young boy also talked about his family. That they were outcasts, and nobody liked them. But he didn’t mind, because he had his family, and they were happy together. In the meantime, Gisela had served them water and cookies. And the cookies were great, they were absolutely fantastic! When the sun went down, they felt a bit sleepy. Gisela smiled. She got up, and laughed a shrieky laughter when Fyra and Russell couldn’t.

“You are mine now, mine forever! I already have some boys, but this dragon. What a catch! A fine young dragon, that will really be an asset to my collection.”

The young ones understood now what had happened. They had been trapped by the old witch. The cookies must have contained a magic powder. They could move less and less. With all their strength they could move just a little bit. Looking at the statues in the garden, Russell now realized why they had such strange poses. Slowly the young boy and dragon turned into stone. But not completely. Only their outsides. They could still move their eyes, but they were trapped in their own bodies now. Horrified they looked at each other.

            “What will we do? I can’t move anymore!”

Luckily they could still understand each other, so the dragon replied:

            “I don’t know, what can we do? If we can’t move, we can’t escape.”

It got dark, and before she went to bed, the old witch Gisela came to see her new prizes once more.

            “How lucky I am with you,” she cried, “my fellow witches will be so jealous!”

And then she went to bed.

In the dark, the newly formed statues stood there, as statues do. Minutes went by. It was already horrifying to them. And if nothing changed, they would have to repeat those minutes for eternity! Suddenly Russell had an idea.

            “Fyra, can you still breathe fire?”

The young dragon tried. You could see from his eyes he was trying real hard.

“Well, it’s not much, but there was a little spark inside my mouth. But what good would it do?”

Russell explained. With the fire maybe he could melt the rock that was surrounding him, and they could break loose. So Fyra tried. After a while, you could see a little twitch of Fyra’s snout. And then faster and faster the dragon could move more of his face, because of the heat. Soon he could move his head enough to aim his flame at Russell. Although the flame was very hot, Russell was more excited that he could move his body again. Just before it got too hot, Russell was free again. While Fyra ‘baked’ himself to freedom, the young boy sneaked into the hut. He came back when Fyra was ready.

            “What did you do in there?” He asked with a tired sigh.

“I made sure that mean old witch will never be so horrible to anyone ever again! She eats only porridge apparently, so I crumbled the remaining cookies in her porridge. When she wakes up tomorrow and has breakfast, she will herself turn into stone. She deserves to be punished for what she has done.”

After that, they decided to rescue all the other living creatures there. It took them hours, but eventually they were all free. Grateful all the animals and humans departed in silence, so as not to wake up the old witch. With one last look Fyra and Russell moved on, deciding to get as far away as they possibly could.

After a few hours, the beams of the morning sun started to peak through the tree tops. A sign that the day was about to start. In the morning light they could see the large, snow covered mountains in the distance. It was said that behind those mountains was a great land, where everybody was happy. So they headed straight for the hill. Underway they talked a lot, about nothing and everything. Fyra and Russell really liked each other! At the end of the afternoon, when the sun started to set, they decided to call it a night. After all, they had had a long and tiring night. The mountains were close, so they could reach them tomorrow. Snuggling together, they slept a long and dreamless sleep. A sleep in which they regained their strength. The next morning, after a good breakfast of berries, pheasant and fresh water, the travelers continued their journey. The high mountains were indeed very high, when you were close. And to think they had to cross them… That would be a difficult task. But they would make it, because on the other side happiness awaited them. And they would be far away from any mean knight, dragon or witch. So full of energy they walked on. In the middle of the day they reached the foot of the mountains. They had moved to the left a bit, because they had seen a pass there. Still very high, but less high than most of the tops. After a good meal they started their ascent. At first they could move quite easily, but soon the terrain got harder and harder to travel in. But they persevered. They did not give up! Even though they were very tired, they kept on walking. When night fell, they were almost at the pass. Only a few hundred more meters. They would find a place to sleep there. The sun had already set when they got there. They found a cave that gave them shelter from the cold. Inside they spent the night. The next morning, when they exited the cave, they got a nasty surprise. In front of them lay a big ravine! On both sides almost vertical walls without vegetation, that rose up until the mists swallowed them. There was no way to cross the mountains than to go down again. Either back to find another way, or forward into the ravine. They looked at each other, then looked at the ravine.

            “I don’t want to go back, this was the only site that looked passable.”

With a grunt and a little flame the dragon agreed. So they proceeded. Carefully they climbed down the ravine, watching out for loose rocks and trying to find branches or edges to hold on to. For Fyra especially it was very difficult. He was very heavy and had big claws, that struggled to hold on to the small rock edges. And above all that, his one wing was still broken. More than once, they fell down a bit. But through a miracle never very far, they’d always stop in time, before they could really get hurt. It took them hours to climb down the steep edge, but in the end they got there.

            “I have to take a little rest, I’m exhausted!” The dragon panted.

Russell didn’t even bother to agree, he just fell down and closed his eyes.

The short rest did them good, and with some renewed strength they went on. There were a lot of bushes here and bigger rocks, that made the walk harder, but at least they didn’t have to climb anymore. And another thing, they gradually went up while walking, and after another few hours they reached the other side of the ravine. In the evening sun you could see them, two lonely figures on the pass, between the huge rock giants. They were only tiny things in this vast and deserted world. Apart from the big eagle that flew high above them, they had not seen a single other living thing during their passing. Because the sun was setting already, the boy and the young dragon camped on top of the pass. Tomorrow they would enter the new land. And find humans there, for they had seen small columns of smoke in the distance. But now: sleep!

The path downhill was easier than expected. In less than an hour they were down, in a beautiful forest. They could hear birds singing and the sounds of small animals running through the leaves. They chose a direction to where they had seen smoke yesterday night. The ground in the forest was soft to their feet, almost bouncy. They actually enjoyed the walk. But just when they were about to find a place to sit for lunch, the companions heard a lot of noise. It sounded like metal on metal, like a fight. Silently they ran towards the sounds, and soon they came to a path that crossed the forest. They hid behind the bushes, because on the path there were knights fighting. A group of 10 mounted soldiers attacked a carriage, with an important person in it. They could see parts of his expensive cape and the shining of a crown on his head. 3 foot soldiers were desperately defending their prince. Because that’s who he must have been. It looked like an unfair fight, and if the soldiers on their horses would really want to, the fight would be over in seconds. But they played with the defenders.

            “We have to help them!” Russell whispered.

“Are you crazy?” came the dragon’s response. “We don’t know any of them, and it has nothing to do with us.”

The young boy agreed on that, but his sense of justice prevailed.

            “I will help them! Whether you stand by my side or not!”

The young boy emerged from the bushes, and yelled at the fighting soldiers.

            “Hey you, stop that! You’re not being fair.”

At first the soldiers were startled, but when they saw it was only one young boy, they started laughing and rode over to him. But just before they reached Russell, their horses went wild. They shook of their riders and ran away. The riders followed their example, with a look of terror on their face. Russell felt the warm breath of his friend in his neck, and smiled. Then he turned to the also frightened foot soldiers. He said:

            “Don’t be afraid, Fyra here will never hurt you. He is my friend. Are you alright?”

Still terrified they nodded. From the carriage the pale face of an old man appeared. He started to thank the boy for saving him, but froze in mid-sentence as he became aware of the big dark blue dragon. Once again, Russell reassured everyone there that no harm was to be expected of them. As proof the young boy put his hand on Fyra’s snout and patted him. The dragon emitted a satisfied little growl. The soldiers relaxed a bit. The old man came out of the carriage, and bowed deep to Russell and Fyra.

“Thank you dear boy. You and this mighty creature have saved our lives. Without you we would have been at the mercy of those ruthless knights. And they would have killed us for sure. I, king Martin, am in your debt forever. Please tell me how I can repay you for what you have done for us.”

Russell answered that it was nothing, it seemed the right thing to do.

“But we would like a place to live, for we were driven from our home land. Can you give us a place to stay and live our lives in peace, good king?”

The good king promised that he would most certainly do that, and together all of them travelled over the road to the king’s castle.

At first the people in the land were scared of the dragon, but soon the news had travelled ahead of them, so they were cheerfully greeted by the peasants. But still from a distance of course. The dragon and the boy were treated with great honor at the castle, and the finest doctors treated the creature’s broken wing. In a few weeks it had healed, without leaving a trace. The two travelers became welcome guests at the castle, and they could be seen flying over the lands all the time, because that’s what they both liked very much. The story of the fierce dragon and its young rider soon became known in all the neighboring kingdoms, so no other king ever dared to attack king Martin’s realm again. So in this kingdom they lived a happy life, together and between the people. And maybe, just maybe, if you would travel over the mountains into that far away land today, and you look up, it might not be a bird flying over your head…

Running down the numbers in a colorful world

Look over here, on the dining table! A box of tomatoes. Big RED tomatoes. Red is a very powerful color that you can also find in fire or traffic lights. In the box are 10 tomatoes. A whole bunch. They make me hungry. I think I will eat a tomato, they are very healthy and nice. Munch munch! That was a nice tomato! But look in the box: there are only 9 tomatoes left. That is because I ate one red tomato.

On the diner table there is also a vase. A vase with flowers in it. BLUE flowers. I wonder how many flowers there are. I will know if I count them. After I have counted them, I know the answer: 8 blue flowers. But oh no! With counting the flowers I broke one. That makes me sad a bit. I take out the flower and put it in the trash, and now there are 7 beautiful blue flowers left.

I go to the living room. There is also a table in the living room, but it is smaller than the one in the kitchen. On the small table is a bowl of chocolates. They are wrapped in  YELLOW papers. I look around but I don’t see anyone. Now there are 6 chocolates, but I guess no one will notice if I eat one. I do eat the chocolate, and it tastes very nice. Although I feel guilty that I did not ask anyone if it was allowed. In the bowl you would only see 5 chocolates, because of course I ate one.

I go to the corner, where my toys are. I play with my stuffed animals a bit. My favorite one is a PURPLE toy dog. My stuffed animals are all over the floor. I decide to collect them and put them at my own little table. I have 4 animals, you know… But however hard I look, I can’t seem to find my fourth toy. I look under the couch, behind the big plant in the corner, everywhere, but in the end I only have 3 stuffed toys. A place at the table is empty, and it makes me sad that I miss one…

With a sad face I go to the hallway. I’m still thinking of my stuffed animal, and I look around. I see my shoes. They are GREEN. The great thing about shoes is, that they are never alone. There are always 2 shoes together. Shoes are never alone, and have always someone to play with. I think my shoes would be very lonely without each other. I pick up a shoe and hold it behind my back. There is only 1 shoe on the floor now. Quickly I put it back, shoes should always be together!

I decide to go back to the living room. But when I turn around, suddenly I see my missing toy. The little ORANGE tiger is sitting on the side table, looking at me innocently. Happily I take it off the table and I bounce back into my playing corner. I place tiger next to the others, and now the table is filled. There are 0 chairs left, and with my stuffed animals I have a great diner party. I’m a very happy child!

I want Candy!

Elsie was a little girl. A little girl like any other. She liked pink, played with her dolls and occasionally dressed up in her mother’s high heels, party dresses and make up. When she would be a grown up, she would be a princess. Or a ballerina. Or whatever her mind was up to. And she liked candy. She really liked candy! Candy was her favorite food of all times. And it didn’t matter what kind: sweet, sour, liquorish, edible, suckable, lollypops, chocolate. Her parents loved her very much, so they treated her to the sweetness whenever she asked for it. After a few years you could see she liked it, because from all the sugars she had become very chubby. Every time she grew out of her clothes in length, she also grew out of them in width. Her parents loved her very much and didn’t want to deny her anything, but they were getting worried.

So one day they told little Elsie that she couldn’t have candy anymore, because it was bad for her. Elsie could not believe it! No more candy?! That was impossible! Why were her parents so cruel to her?! What had she done to deserve this?! So Elsie decided to start screaming. “I want candy! Why can’t I have candy? I like candy!” She screamed her little lungs out. Nothing could stop her. It drove her parents mad. They tried everything: Ignore her, try to get her to eat healthy snacks, ask the neighbors for help, but noting worked. Finally, Elsie fell asleep tired from all the screaming, and because of the lack of energy (she hadn’t had candy for more than three hours now, and she wasn’t used to it).Her parents went to bed, worried about what would happen the next day.

The next morning came. No sounds. They could hear little Elsie get out of bed, get dressed, but without a single sound. When she finally came downstairs to the breakfast table, her face was like a thunder waiting to break loose. During breakfast, Elsie did not say a single word, and after a while her parents stopped their attempts at a conversation. They sent her off to school and looked worried while she rounded the corner. They both went to work. Father at the office, mother at home.

Later that day, Elsie came home from school. She looked a lot happier. “It’s good to see you in a happier mood my love”, mother said relieved. Elsies face showed a meaningful smile. “I have a message from the school doctor.” She handed over a piece of pink paper to her mother. It was a torn page from her daughter’s poetry album, but she read it seriously none the less:

“On docturs advize, your dohtur must eat delico dilisjou sweet candy 4 times per day. If I your child do not get candy that much, she will be very sickly.

Signed,

My school doctur

P.S.: do not telephoon the doctur, becauze he has gone on holiday for the whole next year.”

Mother really had to make an effort to avoid laughter, and reassured the expectant looking face of her little Elsie that she would discuss it with her father, they would let her know in the morning. “And now go and play with your friends outside”, she said while pushing her daughter to the door. She took off the kid’s backpack and laid it on the table. Elsie’s poetry album fell half out. That night, when Elsie was already in bed, she heard father come home. He had to work late. After the normal greetings she heard her father burst out in big and thunderous laughter, soon followed by the higher sound of her mother’s laugh. The next day Elsie rushed down the stairs, still putting on her sweater, expecting a nice candy treat on her breakfast plate. But alas, no success. Her parents had not fallen for her trick. Father explained that it wasn’t a very nice thing to do to fake a letter from the school doctor, and told her she still couldn’t have candy. “Trust me, you will feel better after a while, you don’t need all that candy.” She finished her breakfast sulking – “brrrr, healthy!” – and went to school. She had to come up with a better plan to get her candy privileges back.

When Elsie left for school, she wasn’t a happy child. What difference was it when she came back in the afternoon. Whistling and hopping her mother would see her approaching the garden fence. With a cheerful “Hello sweet mother” she entered the house, and sat down at the kitchen table, looking expectantly at her mother again. Mother was curious to what her daughter had figured out this time, so she decided to ask right away. “How was your day at school, sweetheart? Is there anything you want to tell me?” At first Elsie told about all kinds of trivial things that had happened, like miss teacher dropping her cup of coffee, Jeany from near the train station (NOT Jeanny from three streets down) had new pink shoes and they were great, and on and on, until the story came to the fact that they had watched TV the first half hour after lunch break. Miss teacher had put on an episode of Sesame Street, and in it Cookie Monster had proven that cookies made you happy. Because when he didn’t have cookies, Cookie Monster looked sad, but when someone gave him cookies, he looked very happy again and actually did the Cookie Dance. “So,” Elsie concluded, “TV says cookies are good for you. And since I like cookies just as much as I like candy, candy is good for you as well. So I want candy!” Mother smiled, because she remembered the episode from when she was herself still young. It was about sharing food. Cookie Monster had eaten all the cookies himself, and his friend was very disappointed when he came by, because all the cookies were gone. When Cookie Monster got some more cookies, he looked up his friend and together they really enjoyed their cookies and were best friends again. That was why he was so happy. Damn, why did her mother know what had really happened? Her parents were tough, but she would win. No one could keep her away from her candy!

The next Friday night, father and mother went out to the theater, to see a play. They had asked Lily, the 15-year old girl from next door, to babysit on Elsie. She didn’t like Lily, because her braces made her look scary and she was never very nice to Elsie. But to Elsie’s parents, Lily was always very nice and polite, so they asked her every time they went away. So her parents went away, kissed Elsie goodnight and gave Lily instructions. After they were gone, Lily planted herself on the couch and turned on the TV. Elsie played with her toy kitchen in the real kitchen, pretending to bake real cotton candy in her plastic oven. While waiting for her cotton candy to be done, her eyes wandered off. And then they stuck. To the big jar next to Lily on the couch. It was full. Full of candy! Unbelievable! She had never seen more candy together! This was what candy heaven must look like. At that moment the doorbell rang. Lily jumped up and ran to the door. Usually some friend of hers would come over when she was babysitting, and they would talk about boys. Why they would do that, Elsie did not know. Boys were stupid! But tonight she didn’t care. Because while the two girls were chatting in the door opening, the big jar of candy was standing there unguarded. Elsie looked at it. Then looked to the hallway. The girls were totally gone in their conversation. She decided to go for it. Silently she slipped out of the kitchen into the livingroom, and jumped up the couch. It cracked. She sat still in fear, but the sound of the TV and the endless girl talk were loud enough for the cracking to go by unnoticed. Elsie’s hands slid over the glass, to the cap on top. She slowly and carefully screwed it off. Lily wouldn’t mind her taking one piece of candy, now would she? Of course not, so a sweet piece of liquorish vanished in her mouth. A few. Lily wouldn’t notice a few pieces of candy missing, right? It was such a big and full bowl, nobody would ever find out. Justifying every piece of candy like that, soon the jar was half empty. Oh my god, how she loved candy! Candy was the greatest! Within half an hour the entire jar was empty, and she was surrounded by dozens of candy wrappers, and her hands and face were covered in chocolate stains. She so enjoyed it! But then… What was that? A burp. A feeling of nausea quickly spread through her full tummy. She had eaten so much candy in so little time, that she had gotten ill from it. At that moment Lily ended the conversation with her friend, and entered the living room again. Seeing what Elsie had done, she shouted angrily: “What the hell have you done, you stupid child? You know you are not allowed to eat candy, and I saved all week to be able to buy that jar!” But then she saw the sad little face of the sad little child, and her anger was instantly gone. “Are you alright, Elsie?” The child shook her head, and said in a tiny voice “I’m feeling ill, my belly hurts. I want my mommy!”

Lily, realizing she couldn’t handle this alone, ran to the fridge, where the phone number of Elsie’s parents was written down. She called them and explained the situation. In half an hour father and mother were home. In the meantime Lily had gotten Elsie some water, and they had to go to the toilet several time, because Elsie had to throw up. Mother immediately took over from Lily, father paid the babysitter for her duties and her care, and then sent her home. Her mother took really good care of Elsie, and caressed her gently. That made Elsie feel a bit better. That night Elsie slept in her parent’s bedroom, between them. So they were there for her whenever she needed it. Her parents had given her some medicine, so she slept through most part of the night without waking up or vomiting. The next day she felt a lot better. Her belly didn’t feel too weird anymore, and she could eat breakfast and keep it in. Luckily it was a Saturday, so she didn’t have to go to school. Her parents took care of her all day long, and they watched cartoons together, and played games.

In the afternoon father and mother drank coffee, and Elsie had apple juice. They offered her a piece of candy, but she refused instantly. “I will never eat candy again. It is horrible!” But her parents insisted. “Candy is not disgusting, you just shouldn’t eat to much of it. A piece of candy once in a while is great, see.” And as an example both mother and father took a piece of candy and ate it. Seeing her parents apparently enjoy their candy so much, Elsie decided to try as well. She carefully put a sweet in her mouth, but hesitated in swallowing it. She sucked on it a bit first. It did taste good. With caution she swallowed the sweet, and didn’t feel sick. “You see,” father said, candy is great, as long as you know you can’t take too much.” And father was right. From that day on, Elsie only took one piece of candy per day, when she got home from school. And she loved it. And as father had said before, she actually felt much better without all those big amounts of candy. She could play with her friends again without them laughing at her when she had to run. Candy is great, in moderation…

The lonely princess

Once upon a time, in a kingdom near the sea, there was a royal family. They lived in a big old castle on a high rock next to the water. The king and queen only had one child, a young girl, named Muriel. Everybody near and far admired her for her astonishing beauty. Kings from all the neighboring kingdoms sent their young sons over to the seaside castle to ask her father for her hand in marriage. But he turned them all down, he didn’t think any of them were qualified for his only child. At first Muriel did not care about it. She was young, without a care in the world and she lived a happy life. But eventually, when she grew more into a woman, she started noticing the handsome princes that would occasionally stand out of the usual boring and ugly contenders. She told her father she would like to talk to them herself, and maybe even decide for herself whether she liked a young prince or not. Her father was overprotective of his daughter, so he got scared by her demands, because he felt that she was growing up and would become an independent woman sooner rather than later. So he decided to keep his daughter hidden from the world, and the world hidden from her, until he thought they were ready for each other.

So he ordered his people to build her a chamber in the rocks towards the ocean. His finest craftsmen carved out a spacious room below the castle square, with some big windows overlooking the ocean. It took a lot of effort and time, but finally the room was ready. A beautiful, large room, with a king (or in this case princess) sized bed, the finest carpets on the floor all the things a woman would need in her chambers. Even Muriel liked it, except for one thing: the door. The door itself wasn’t the problem, it was the problem the door faced to her. It limited her free moving space. At the outside of the door was a constant two man guard. She could only get out with the king’s permission or at his request. Essentially she was being captured in her own castle by her own parents. And that made her very sad. Because her room was close enough to the square so she could hear all the people going about their business: working, talking, laughing, crying, everything people together do. But she could never be part of it. Well, only if her father brought her up now and again to show her to a hopeful prince. Unfortunately, at those times it wasn’t real life she’d get a taste of, it was all a big show. And in the end, the ‘star’ of the show went backstage again, and the spectator, the naïve young prince, left unsatisfied and with empty hands. That’s the theatre of life for you…

Most of the times Muriel filled her days with drawing pictures. She drew her imagination, which often featured a handsome white prince on a beautiful horse, coming to her rescue, sweeping her of her feet and taking her away to his far away and mysterious land. While drawing, she often stared out of the window. Her idea of ‘outside’ soon became limited to the blue vastness of the endless waters. Once every couple of weeks in the distance a ship sailed by. She always hoped the ship would turn towards the shore and on the bow would be her prince. But alas, the ships all sailed on and were consumed by the sides of her window and disappeared into a monotonous past. The weeks passed. The weeks turned into months. And then the months started to pass. The months gave their rhythm to the years, which in turn started passing. Muriel grew older, but every day, month and year more beautiful. She was out in public less and less, but every time she was, it turned into a great gathering. Because the rumors of her incomparable beauty spread through the lands faster than the wind. And she was more beautiful every time a new young prince showed up in hope, but she was also paler every time, for being captured in her room all the time. As always, the princes would leave the castle disappointed for secretly thinking they could be the one, but on the other hand also in awe of the great beauty of princess Muriel.

Somewhere along all those pointless visits, Muriel lost hope to be rescued from her sad existence. So when one day a ship emerged on one side of the borders of her ‘outside’, she didn’t really pay attention to it. It would just reverse its appearance as soon as it reached the other side of the window, and then be gone forever. But after a while the ship was still there. She looked again. The ship was still there, and if her eyes did not mistake her, it was actually a bit bigger then before. Her eyes did not mistake her, the ship was coming straight at her, in the dead center of the window. So often had she dreamed this to happen, that now she couldn’t believe it. She rubbed her eyes, blinked heavily a few times, and then looked again. Still disbelief. A pinch in her arm, pain, looking again. Finally she believed it. An actual real world ship was coming to the shores of the kingdom! She took her chair and placed it in front of the window. She sat down, with her elbows on the window sill, her head in her hands. She stared and waited. Waited for the ship to come closer. If it weren’t for the wind rocking the ship side to side, someone looking at the scene from a distance would almost think he was looking at a portrait, so still Muriel sat. Muriel didn’t move, because she was totally focused on the approaching vessel. All the dreams of days, months, years past were currently combined in the beautiful sad face of the lonely princess. Her passionate belief that her dream prince was on the ship and was on his way to rescue her bordered on knowing it was true.

It turned dark outside. The ship was still too far away to reach land in time, so it would cast out its anchors on sea, and dock in the harbor the next morning. That night the young princess slept a restless sleep, filled with dreams and hopes. When the first rays of sun illuminated her pale face, she awoke. Immediately she looked out the window, to see if it wasn’t all just another dream. The ship was still there. She could see sailors busy making the ship ready for the last short part of its voyage. Muriel got dressed, and put on her most beautiful outfit, decorated her hair and wore some fine jewels. The ship arrived, and was fastened to the shore. A messenger disembarked and rushed to the castle. He was admitted before the king, and not after long guards came down to Muriels room to get her. The prince of a far away country wanted to meet the legendary pale princess and ask for her hand in marriage. In the distance the skies rumbled, a thunderstorm was on its way. Clouds gathered over the kingdom and rain seemed inevitable. Muriel followed the guards, as she had done countless times before. But this time was different. This time hope filled her heart, and made her bounce over the stairs as if she were weightless. To her the dark clouds were just a silver lining to the sun in her mind, the approaching thunder would just set her heart on fire. The prince had proposed to meet on the field by the harbor, so she joined the parade down to the docks, led by her father and mother.

Upon arrival, the prince emerged from the tent his party had set up to shelter him from the expected rain. With a friendly but firm voice the prince spoke: “Thank you my good king and queen, for the honor of welcoming me to your wonderful country yourself. I feel humble in your presence, and I will not disgrace your hospitality.” As he spoke, his eyes wandered through the parade, stopped and fixed when they found princess Muriel. He stuttered a bit as he presented his gifts to the royal couple, so quickly and with a small blush on his cheeks he averted his eyes from her and focused on his duties again. But that single moment, those few seconds of eye contact, had sparked a fire inside of the owners of those four eyes, a fire bigger than the one coming in the form of the enormous thunder. In the distance the rumble predicted not much good. “Please accept these humble gifts as a token of my appreciation.” He waved to his servants, who came forward with an array of gifts, big and small. They all looked very exotic – the gifts and the servants. With a courteous nod the king accepted the gifts, and they exchanged hands from servant to servant. “On behalf of my wife and all my people I welcome you to my home, and I hope your stay will be fitting for such an honorable man such as you.” The pleasantries continued, a ritual all of them must have performed countless times, and in the meantime the princes eyes wandered off again. They met Muriels eyes, and were instantly locked. What a spark, what a feeling! The prince had never felt so alive! And he was sure the princess felt the same.

What a spark, what a feeling! The princess had never felt so alive! And she was sure the prince felt the same. She thought to herself: “This is the love of my life, this is the one I’ve been waiting for, this is the one who has kept my hope alive.” Even though she didn’t know him, she knew in her heart that it was good. She hoped the obligated conversation would be over sooner rather than later, and that her dream prince would come to the really important part: her. Apparently the prince had the same thoughts, because he seemed to loose his patience, because when he saw the chance, he asked straight away: “Dear king and queen, I have traveled many weeks over the ocean, to come and see the subject of this legendary tale myself, the tale of the beautiful princess waiting for the one that is right, and growing more beautiful every day. And now I have seen her in reality, and the story tellers have been too modest. She is even more beautiful than any man can describe! Forgive me my rudeness, but this is something I have to do.” In saying this, he passed the couple and elegantly but firmly walked up to Muriel. He sat down on his knee, and looked Muriel decidedly in her eyes. “Princess Muriel, creature so divinely beautiful, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man in the world, of standing by my side forever to rule my… our kingdom justly and wise, and will you be the one to give me a big and loving family. Sweet princess Muriel, will you be my wife?” Muriel looked past the prince to her parents. The dark clouds of the coming thunderstorm caused them to show as sinister silhouettes, but she could still see their faces clearly. From their eyes a tear rolled down over their faces, and they both nodded. Muriel looked at her prince, and after a second that seemed to last a lifetime, she exclaimed “Yes! I will be your wife, I want to be happy with you forever!” Not a fraction of a second after she had agreed to marry him, thunder broke loose with a mighty rumble, as if the world agreed to this historic union. The thunder was followed by a bolt of lightning that illuminated the entire kingdom in a fierce but extremely magnificent display of power. The timing couldn’t have been better.

So Muriel, the princess of many stories that everyone told about her had finally started her own story. Later that same day they sailed out, the prince and princess on the stern of the ship. They looked very happy together, holding hands and smiling the biggest smile. They were waved off by everyone that was in or around the castle that day. They headed for the open sea. Towards the adventures and stories of the unknown. Over the stormy waves they yelled “Farewell everybody, we will go where no one has ever gone, we will let the wind take us where it wants, but always together! And we will be happy!” They may have said some more, but the distance and the storm stole their words from the sky. Just before the ship crossed the horizon a last, a very bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky one more time, to send the happy couple of on their amazing journey through life.

The two pigeons

Once upon a time there was a young pigeon. He was happily pecking around in the forest with all his brothers and sisters. There was cooing all over the place. Roocoos of joy, of envy, of playfulness. The young pigeon led a good life. Food aplenty, always someone to play with, not a care in the world. The months went by, the seasons changed. But with the falling of the leaves came a lurking feeling of discomfort. He couldn’t quite lay his paws on it, but over time something had changed. And not in a good way. He looked around all the time and asked his relatives, but to no avail.

One day the little pigeon was pecking at the edge of a clearing full of food, the pigeon family had just discovered. He looked up, and then looked up again. Suddenly he saw what was wrong: there weren’t as many of them as there once were. Most of the older kids were gone, he was one of the oldest pigeons left apart from his parents. He hopped over to his parents and confronted them with his observation. Papa pigeon thoughtfully rocked his head back and forth, contemplating his answer. Pigeons have eyes at the side of their head, so they have to move their head like that to see depth. Finally papa pigeon answered. “It’s time for you to know as well, my son. All your older brothers and sisters have spread their wings and found a partner, to start a new family with. It’s what every young pigeon does around your age.” The young pigeon was surprised. He never realized he’d have a family of his own one day. “Why do I have to do that?” He roocooed rebelliously, “I want to stay here with you and my brothers and sisters! I don’t want another family, I’m happy here!” He flew away angrily.

In the next couple of days the pigeon wasn’t in a good mood. Fiercely pecking, flapping his wings if another bird came close. Then his mother landed by his side and brushed her beak against his head. “You know deep inside that it’s true for you my son. Don’t fight it. Just look around and find yourself a nice girl. Apparently in the next clearing, east of here, there are some nice pigeonettes.” And deep down inside the young bird knew his mother was right, so reluctantly he flew east towards the rising sun.

After about an hour the young pigeon neared the clearing. And amazingly there were a lot of pigeons there, so he decided to land. Immediately after touchdown a lot of fine looking young pigeonettes approached him, trying to look their best. The young pigeon felt overwhelmed by all their attention and feather display. So he took off again and landed at the other side of the clearing. At the edge, where the trees start, he saw a shy young pigeonette look at him with her deep dark eyes. His young bird heart burst into an explosion of colors and flowers. Wow! What a bird! Pretty and cute as he had never seen or dare to imagine before. And as she smiled at him, he felt his paws go soft. Without knowing the real thing by experience, he realized that he had found it: the love of his life!

After a first few clumsy approaches, the two young love birds became more and more inseparable as the days went by. He would woo her with some fresh berries or a piece of bread, and she would let the rays of sun bounce of her beautiful spread feather pack. He was happy. He wanted to start a new family with her. He wanted to kiss her. Kiss her. Yeah, that’s what he wanted to do more than anything! So he moved closer to her, ‘accidentally’ touching her neck and her head. Evidently both of them wanted it, but neither of them took the initiative. In the end the young pigeon decided just to go for it. “I want to kiss you”, he cooed. “I thought you’d never do it!” came the relieved reply. So the pigeon positioned himself in front of the cute pigeonette and took a deep breath. And then he kissed her. Or at least he tried… Because every time he moved his head forward, she moved hers back. And whenever she moved her head towards to give it a try, he retreated his. What misfortune! Due to an incredibly bad spell of fate, the young love birds rocked their heads for depth in the exact opposite order…

After the first shock was over, they tried and failed to find alternative ways of kissing each other, which resulted in an unfortunate series of eye-pecking and bumping beaks into the backs of heads. Finally they gave up in despair. They pondered over the horror of being forever together but never being able to kiss each other. As they sat down depressed, an older pigeon approached. He was the oldest pigeon they had ever seen. His one eye was gone, there was just a hole where it should have been. He hopped and stopped in front of them and spoke: “I have seen the difficult problem you have to deal with, and maybe I can help. I lost my eye before I was old enough to find a wife, so I stayed alone all my life. You can’t see depth with one eye, you know. So I wouldn’t have been a good provider.” “So how did you cope with it?” the curious young pigeon enquired, “seeing that you don’t seem to have a problem with it right now…” The old one looked at the young one with his one good eye, and explained. “I decided I would not let my handicap get in the way of my happiness, so I thought of ways to compensate for my loss. If you really want to achieve something, you can do it!” The old pigeon walked away, easily avoiding all obstacles on his way, thereby proving his point on the go.

The young couple looked until the old pigeon was out of sight. Then they looked at each other. Instantly, the sparks of their passion ignited a determined fire, and from that moment on all they did every day was practice. Trying to stop their heads from going back and forth at all, trying to control the movement. It took them a lot of effort, a lot of neck pain and a lot of mocking from the other birds, but finally, after three weeks, they had mastered the skill of controlling their head movements. The young pigeon stood in front of the love of his life, and if possible the fire inside him was burning even more brightly. He closed his eyes, altered his order and tilted his head forward. But to his surprise there was nothing but air! He opened his eyes as he moved his head back, and saw the pigeonette move forward at the same time. He moved his head forward again, but she was again on the retreat. With a shock he realized that they had both altered their ways, so now – after some painstaking weeks – they were right back where they had started! It was as if at that moment his entire world collapsed and crumbled.

He looked up at the cute little pigeonette in despair, only to find an oversized smile on her face, which instantly broke out into an explosion of laughter as she saw his sad face. And then it hit him: she was playing with him. She altered her order with an elegant twist of her neck and kissed him passionately. They made a deal: the one who kissed, would adapt to the other one, so they would always get it right. And they always got it right from now on. And they lived happily ever after.