Labels: Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 1:14 PM 25 Comments

~Part 4~


“Do you see the curtain over there?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Trust is important isn’t it? Trust me for a moment then and describe the material to me.”

“I will if you want me to… it’s a paisley print. Do you want me to describe the colours also?”

“No, it’s quite alright. Do you see anything other than the paisley pattern? Look close.”

“No… just the paisley pattern. Is there something I am supposed to be looking for?”

“You tell me.”

“I just see the paisley pattern.”

“What if I ask you to look closely at the bottom right hand section of the curtain on my right? Can you make out a peacock?”

“Now you come to mention it I can. It does rather look like a peacock doesn’t it? It’s just the way the curtain folds.”

“I saw the peacock first and then on closer inspection the paisley pattern.”

“I see.”

“Is the peacock there or not?”

“It’s all to do with perception…”

“Do you want to go back to the voices now?”

“Do you?”

“I’m easy.”

“What happened after Mickey’s final visit?”

“I began to investigate the background noises.”

“Background noises? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“You know… you’re reading at night and hear a creak above you, perhaps a tap on the window or even someone calling your name… that sort of thing.”

“Yes?”

“Do you always ignore such noises? Do you dismiss them, make excuses for them or do you investigate what you have heard?”

“They’re just the sounds a house makes at night, a branch tapping on the window etc.”

“How do you know you are correct if you don't get up to investigate?”

“Instinct I suppose.”

“What about when you instinctively feel that someone is watching you…that someone is stood behind you. Are they?”

“Not always… but yes, sometimes they are.”

“And shadows? Can you see figures in dark shadows?”

“Can you?”

“Sometimes.”

“Tell me about the figures you see in the shadows.”

“Just people, sometimes animals…”

“Do these people speak to you?”

“Sometimes.”

“What sort of things do they say?”

“All sorts of things. Sometimes they ignore me and sometimes they simply fail to notice I am there at all.”

“Are you often ignored?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether the person is the type to see peacocks or not.”


Part 1

Labels: Fiction, Madness of Me, Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 9:00 PM 25 Comments

~Part 3~


“Describe Mickey for me.”

“Like I said, he was a boy, quite small for his age which from his appearance I would judge to have been around six or seven.”

“He had golden eyes?”

“Yes… I suppose you could describe the iris as metallic and his pupils were vertical rather than horizontal and quite jelly like. It was best not to look directly into his eyes.”

“Why was that?”

“You could loose too much time.”

“Loose time? How?”

“It would be first thing in the morning one moment and then the next my mother would be calling me for tea.”

“You would loose track of complete days?”

“I didn’t say that. I knew exactly where we had been while we were away.”

“I see… Where did you go when you “were away”?”

“On visits. It was fun. We shared some good time for a short while.”

“Oh... Did something happen to Mickey?”

“He got bored with me that’s all. I suppose I became less and less interesting to him as I grew older. One day he left and never returned.”

“How old were you then?”

“Not quite seven.”

“Were you sad when you no longer saw him?”

“Not really, I understood that it was the time when he would move on. I’ve often thought about him over the years though. I wonder where he is now...”

“Erm… quite. What did your parents think of Mickey?”

“They thought it was a phase I was going through. My mother would often ask if my friend required a place at the table and Mickey would ask if she was one sandwich short of a picnic.”

“And your father?”

“He didn’t think it was a laughing matter. Perhaps I reminded him of someone.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well I’m not the first nutter we’ve had in the family.”

“You’re not... Not that I thought for one minute you were… no… no… please forgive me! What I meant was…”

“Keep your hair on! There’s no need to panic, no offence taken. Try and chill a little, it’ll make it easier for the both of us. Now where were we?”

“You reminded your father of another family member?”

“I should imagine so. There’s a whole closet full of what you might call eccentrics.”

“Do you consider yourself an eccentric?”

“I don’t think I’m quite there yet.”

“Who or what did you visit with Mickey?”

“The past.”

“Can you explain a little more what you mean when you say the past?”

“I might be able to explain it, whether you will grasp it or not is another matter.”

“Try me.”

“Hmm… let’s see. What if I told you that it's possible to seep into the past? How can I put it… Imagine time as an onion, each layer a year or a century whatever time period you want to settle for. Mickey taught me how to seep into those layers without ever actually leaving the place I was in. Flowing back through time purely from the prospective of the geographical location I was in at that moment. Does that make sense to you?”

“A little. You couldn’t seep as you put it without Mickey?”

“Not then… no.”

“But you can now?”

“Sometimes.”

“I see.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Do you see?”

“I’m trying to.”


Part 1

Part 4

Labels: Fiction, Madness of Me, Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 12:01 AM 14 Comments

~Part 2~


“Where was I?”

“You were telling me about the voices and what you saw from the window.”

“Oh yes… that’s right. I suppose that’s all there is really as far as that episode is concerned.”

“Did you speak with them?”

“The elves?”

“Yes, if that is what you want to call them.”

“I told them that I wasn’t coming out to play, that I had to go back to bed and although they were disappointed they seemed to understand.”

“What happened next?”

“I returned to my bed and fell asleep.”

“Did you tell anyone about what you had seen or heard?”

“I’m not sure, I may have done. I can’t remember any specific conversation about it though.”

“And you didn’t hear the voices again until you were much older?”

“Heavens no! Well, that was the last time I saw and heard those little fellows… as far as I can remember any way.”

“But you heard or saw others?”

“Yes… Mickey came next.”

“Mickey?”

“You’re quite funny at times you know.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, the way you try to keep a straight face.”

“Tell me about Mickey.”

“Hmm…I suppose you would call him an invisible friend.”

“Invisible? But you could hear him?”

“Oh I could both see and hear Mickey! Only other people found it impossible to do so. Not everyone mind you. Our dog appeared to see and hear him but everyone said she was old and crackers. After a while she just ignored him like all the other kids.”

“Did you hear or see Mickey first?”

“Neither. I guess you could say I sensed him and then looked up to find him staring down at me.”

“Staring down? Was Mickey an adult?”

“Mickey? Nah! He was a little kid just like me although I knew he wasn’t exactly like me… we were both children but I suspect he had lived a much longer life only he hadn’t grown older…”

“I see... Where were you when you first saw him?”

“Would you believe I was in the bath? He scared the living daylights out of me sitting on the edge staring at me through his golden eyes as though I was something weird! It was so funny! I told him off for staring and he nearly fell on the floor.
“What?! YOU can see me?!” he cried.
I thought he was a bit simple at first yet he was far from it.”

“What did Mickey look like?”

“A boy silly!”

“Exactly the same as other boys you knew at the time? You mention he had golden eyes?”

“Yes I did didn’t I.”

“It's OK if you do not want to talk about him… we can talk about something else if you prefer?”

“What makes you think I don’t want to talk about him?”

“You seem hesitant.”

“Only because I am concerned for you.”

“For me? Why would you be concerned for me?”

“I’m not sure just how much of my memories you can handle.”


Part 1

Part 3

Labels: Fiction, Madness of Me, Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 12:02 AM 15 Comments

~Part 1~


“When did you first hear the voices?”

“When I was four.”

“Four? So young?”

“Yes… well I think so. I know I wasn’t five so I must have been around four.”

“What were you doing when you first heard them?”

“Trying to sleep. I was in my bedroom, tucked up in bed… almost asleep. I might have been sleeping, I’m not sure. Perhaps they woke me.”

“They?”

“The voices. I heard them calling.”

“What were they saying?”

“My name. Over and over again.”

“You heard it clearly?”

“Well not at first… just a sound like something carried on the wind. After a while I realised they were calling my name.”

“So the voices were in the room with you?”

“No.”

“No?”

“They were outside but I could hear them through the window which was slightly open. I think it must have been summer because it was a light evening.”

“How many voices did you hear?”

“It sounded like many voices at first, happy, giggling giddy voices, like whispering Munchkins. Later I realised that there were only two of them.”

“You compare the voices to Munchkins, had you recently watched the Wizard of Oz?”

“Don’t be daft! That’s really funny that is! There were no DVDs or Videos in those days and the only thing I ever watched on television was Watch With Mother. It was later, much later that I saw the film and the Munchkins reminded me of the incident.”

“So you heard the voices, through the open window. Do you remember anything else?”

“Oh yes… lots more.”

“What else do you remember?”

“Well I remember what they looked like.”

“You actually saw something as well? I had no idea… Tell me what you saw.”

“Well, they kept on calling my name and then when they had my attention they asked me to go over to the window so I did.”

“You got out of bed and walked over to the window? Is that when you saw something?”

“Not at first… it took me a while to work out exactly where they were and then a little longer to work them out.”

“Why was that? Was it dark outside?”

“Quite light really but they were so small… tiny. I remember thinking that they must be elves.”

“Why elves?”

“I had a book, The Elves and The Shoemaker. They looked a little like the illustrations of the elves in that book.”

“And there were two of them?”

“Yes two, both male.”

“What were they doing?”

“Just standing on the lawn under my window looking up at me.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“Yes but I can’t remember exactly what they said… not word for word anyway. I do know that they wanted me to join them, they wanted me to leave my room, leave the house and run away with them.”

“And you… what did you want?”

“To go with them but I knew that I shouldn’t. I remember feeling sad, almost as if I had been cheated out of a great adventure.”

“Do you know why you felt that way?”

“No. Not then anyway...”


Part 2

Labels: Fiction, Madness of Me, Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 4:48 PM 14 Comments

Part and parcel of my recent holiday was the opportunity to chill out with a book or several. I took two books away with me and managed to finish two more. Here are my thoughts on my travelling companions in the order that I read them:

1. Wings Over Talera [Book Two of the Talera Cycle] - Charles Allen Gramlich

The first book in the Series, Swords of Talera, was a great read and I admit to being a little hesitant as I opened this book anxious not be disappointed as is often the case with sequels. My fears were groundless for it was such a treat to slip back into the world of Ruenn Maclang and Talera.

It is worthwhile noting that the book stands well on its own and although it is not necessary to read Swords of Talera first you would be cheating yourself if you left it unread.

Ruenn Maclang is a rock solid character whose bravery and honour are irreproachable, as much as I have warmed to him [he reminds me of my father] I found myself intrigued by the introduction of a new and slightly tarnished character a mercenary by the name of Dicken Graye.

Wings Over Talera is action packed from start to finish, plenty of sword fights for those of you who love that kind of thing and so well written that it does not alienate those of us who lean towards the magical fantasy rather than sword and sorcery realms.

I make no secret of the fact that I like Charles, his blog and that of his wife Lana are on my blogroll and are daily reads for me. However, I would not allow my liking of the author to colour my review of his book and I can honestly say that there were several descriptions in this book that were so well crafted they blew me away!

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read and the next book in the cycle, Witch of Talera, has joined my most wanted list.

2. Night Brothers – Sidney Williams

I knew vampires existed even before I saw Christopher Lee in that black cape dodging holy water, stakes and crucifixes. I’ve read all the vampire chronicles, shook my head in disbelieve when Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat and continually dodge the naff vamps – my kind of vampire is sophisticated as well as wicked. Having read so many books and seen so many films it is rare to come across something different in the genre.

Night Brothers was an exciting read and all the characters are so well written and observed that the story literally grips from start to finish.

I loved the way that Sidney [another fellow blogger] introduces his main character and the way he approaches the vampire origins and ‘lifestyle’. As this book was first published in 1989 I suspect a few later authors of the genre may have borrowed a couple of his ideas and woven them into their own tales.

A number of likeable characters met a gruesome end in this book and call me twisted if you like but I do so enjoy it when an author is not afraid to bump off some of the good guys!

After you read this book you will realise that pale looking two legged individuals with unusual dentistry are not the only creatures you need to be wary of…

3. The Watchman – Chris Ryan

The author, Chris Ryan was a member of the Bravo Two Zero Team in the first Gulf War and is the survivor of the longest escape and evasion in the history of the Special Air Service Regiment. Despite respecting Mr Ryan for his amazing perseverance and courage I was totally prepared and expected to find his books complete tosh. I openly admit that I was holding a grievance against this author and only opened this book due to a book famine in the second week of my holiday.

So, having said all that and having declared my feelings openly I can now tell you that this book is one fantastic thriller and one I read well into the night in order to quench my relentless thirst for each and every word!

The first chapter is raw yet necessary. Life is grey, many many shades of grey, there is no doubt in my mind that this book although fiction tells it as it was and how it is. If you want to read something exceptional, an action packed thriller that will take you to the edge this will not disappoint.

4. Stand By, Stand By – Chris Ryan

Yep, there were two of them and not a bookstore on the island not that I was reluctant to read this book after reading The Watchman.

Chris Ryan managed to spin another good story and in parts this book was excellent yet I am unable to rave about it because the main character Geordie Sharp, whose viewpoint the story is told from, failed to win me over. In fact, I disliked him, there were times when I wanted to give him a good dressing down and there were times when I shook my head at his stupidity.

For me, the first half of the book was too slow, too cumbersome and the book only really got going about half way through but from there on it held its own. There was a cliff-hanger at the end that I could see coming a mile off, perhaps I was supposed to? I’m not sure.

Labels: Book Review, Miladysa

Posted by Miladysa at 10:03 PM 22 Comments

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."
Lewis Hine

Labels: Menorca, Miladysa, Photographs

Posted by Miladysa at 10:19 AM 17 Comments

www.flickr.com

Down to earth and back to Blogland after a splendid holiday on the fabulous island of Menorca!

Of course, there are photographs of beaches and scenic views to share/bore you with but you know how I feel about stone!

The island's Talaoitic people certainly left their mark and over 1500 Bronze Age sites have been discovered, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring some of them.

Great to be back and I am looking forward to catching up with you all once the chores are finished!

Labels: Menorca, Miladysa, Photographs, Talaoitic

Posted by Miladysa at 10:58 AM 25 Comments