Free – a short story by Dominic Bond

Bird Girl Etching by Laura RobertsonThe following story was submitted in response to the writing prompt Bird and Girl, which featured and etching by Laura Robertson, shown above.

 Free by Dominic Bond

When the music starts, she new it was time to rise. Pulling back the curtains, she saw a low line of blue mist rising gently above the soft green landscape beneath. The top of the sun emerged above this, deep orange emanating from its edges. The first smoke bellowed from the roof tops surrounding the tower, a ritual each day never lost.

The bird continued to chirrup. She looked it in the eye, the bird going quiet. She watched it briefly before the door began to open. A guard came in with a bowel of fruit and some water.

“You okay?” the guard asked her.
“Yes, I am” she replied.
“It will soon be over. What do you want to do with this bird?”
“I want it to watch.”
“What?” the guard asked, looking her up and down.
“I want it to watch, then it can be set free.”
“Whatever, I’ll be back shortly”. He left quickly.

She sat down on the bed, taking some papers out from under her bed. In there were some paintings she had done. It was the same horizon, in different colours, changing as the seasons had changed. Then there were some letters she had prepared for different people. She put them in a bag, hoping they would end up with their intended recipient.

Soon the sun was out fully. She looked out at the landscape she had loved her whole life, saying goodbye to those things she would not see again. Their was a folly in the distance that had been such a good friend to her, the lake where she had watched her body grow, her horses enjoying the rising sun.

She took a glance out of the window. The platform was in place and a crowd was forming. She went over to a mirror, combing her hair. Then the door opened.

“Now, ma’am, it’s time” the guard informed her.

“Really? Okay, let’s go”.

She picked up the cage, the bird jumping around, unsure what was happening, and followed the guard down the stairs. They came to a large door, which opens, the sunlight burning on her eyes. Adjusting to the light, she saw the crowd, cheering and throwing their hats in the air. They went on to the platform. She saw the priest, and offered him the cage.

“Please,” she asked him, “when this is done, let her go, I want her to enjoy the same freedom about to befall me.”

“If you want freedom, you better hope that God will show you mercy” the priest told her.

“He knows. Please, let the bird free.”

“As you wish, ma’am.”

She leant down, putting her head on the block. The executioner took his place. The crowd went silent. Then the wings of a bird interrupted the silence, dancing through the sunlight.

Dominic BondAbout the author

Dominic Bond lives in Sutton in Surrey and likes to write about the world he sees before him.  He says: “To me, there are few pleasures like a moment of inspiration.”  Dominic has had poems appear on the Poetry Super Highway and Word Bohemia, and has had flash fiction published by the Pygmy Giant.

Grace among trees with Grace Aza-Selinger

Afloat by Grace Aza-Selinger, mixed media

Afloat by Grace Aza-Selinger

It’s often struck me while meandering among trees how sculptural many of the natural forms are, and how aesthetically pleasing the dappling of shade and sun, how exquisite the precision of a leaf or bark motif.

Artist Grace Aza-Selinger takes this delight in forest settings a step further, by turning her glimpses of trees into mixed media works of art that draw you in, time and again.

Grace never had any doubts about her ambitions in this vein. “I don’t remember not wanting to be an artist,” she comments. “It has always been something I knew very strongly about myself.”

As a teenager, Grace battled to overcome low self-esteem. “It took me a while to gain the courage to really pursue my goal whole-heartedly,” she comments. “It was the best decision to go to Falmouth to do the Foundation course there. I loved every minute of it and went on to have a big solo show in ‘The Biscuit Factory’ in Bermondsey. I would say that as an artist you have to create your own luck, really put yourself out there and be confident about it.”

She adds: “My family and friends are very supportive of my work. I think it can be hard if you don’t have people around you wanting you to do well and progress in your career.”

Grunewald Forest Scene 4 by Grace Aza-Selinger

Grunewald Forest Scene 4 by Grace Aza-Selinger

I can’t help but wonder if this shyness contributed to Grace’s passion for trees. “I think my love of trees stems from my childhood and magical walks around Windsor Park. It is a sense of getting lost in a forest and the sense of exploration.”

Belair Park 7 by Grace Aza-Selinger

Belair Park 7 by Grace Aza-Selinger

There’s often an impression of water in Grace’s works too, sometimes overtly so that light and branches seem reflected. I find that looking at them, I can conjure up the damp, rich smell of woodlands, and that sense of moisture hanging in the air.

“It is always a really satisfying feeling when you have laboured over a painting from conception to completion and someone else responds to the same qualities that initially inspired the work,” she says. “For example in one of my more abstract pieces, someone said it reminded them of going underwater diving and looking up at the light. It was the same quality of being in a place that is still and quiet whilst mesmerised by something beautiful that I wanted to evoke. My friend who is a singer described the creative process in the same way.”

A wide mixture of things drive Grace’s work. “Sometimes it can be seeing an exhibition where I really respond to the images. Often in my work it’s being surrounded by nature and seeing something that really strikes me.”

Grace also likes to defy expectations in her work, often using unconventional materials. “I enjoy using spray paint – it has a great consistency and is wonderful for blending colours together. I think it also adds an immediacy to my work.”

Tree Within Tree by Grace Aza-Selinger

Tree Within Tree by Grace Aza-Selinger

Grace says that the observed and the imagined come together naturally in her work. “The more practice you have at observing the more you are able to imagine and invent different qualities in your work,” she says. “Forests very beautiful places. When you look up at the trees you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.”

Find Grace and her work at  www.graceaza-selinger.com.

Are you an artist or do you know an artist who would like to be showcased on SkyLightRain.com? Get in touch at judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’m also happy to receive reviews of books, exhibitions, theatre and film. To submit or suggest a review, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com.

Midweek writing prompt – the exhibition

Totterdown Exhibition_Shelby Mansell

Photos © Shelby Mansell

Part this actually happened to me. Imagine your protagonist enters a cafe in their neighbourhood and discovers an exhibition of photographs. As they wait for their coffee, they scan the portraits, mildly curious, and their gaze focuses on a face they know intimately well. That of the love of their life, captured in black and white, in the midst of all those strangers…

Now add in some sizzle and give the exhibition a leading title – such as  “people who betrayed me” or “people who saved me.

What does your protagonist do?

BTW: The exhibition pictured here is The Locals by Shelby Mansell. You can find more of her work here.

If you write something prompted by this, please let me know by sending an email to Judy(at)socket creative.com. With your permission, I’d love to share it on SkyLightRain.com.

Book review – The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

TheManWhoPlantedTrees coverThis beautiful little book turned up in my Christmas stocking this year. As slim as it is, with wood engravings by Harry Brockway and an illuminating afterword by the author’s daughter, it really is a book to be savoured.

The story tells of a chance encounter the narrator has in a desolate, mostly treeless, landscape with a solitary shepherd. He watches the gentle man sort a pile of acorns. “As he did so he discarded those that were too small or had a tiny split; he examined them minutely.”

He then took his chosen acorns, dipped them in water and set out into the wilderness.

And so begins a slow, unfurling tale of a man who plants trees in their hundreds over the span of a lifetime. As the narrator gazes on in wonder, the man covers acres of arid land with seedlings that become saplings that gradually become a forest, altering the landscape, the climate and the temperament of the people who reside there.

Yes, a fable, and one to warm the heart, but, as the author’s daughter Aline reveals in her afterword, one that also gained life of its own. Apparently, readers of this story all over the world have believed it to the extent that wooded areas in countries from Finland to New Zealand have been attributed to a lone shepherd with a quiet, but steadfast, ambition. Continue reading

A story, a poem and a literary event at Foyles

Woman preparing pineapple, Borneo cr Judy DarleyMy very short story ‘Towelling Robe‘ has been published by The Pygmy Giant, a brilliant online home for UK flash fiction and very short non-fiction. You can read it here.

And my poem ‘Strays’ (sort of pictured left – you’ll understand when you read it) has been picked up by Literary Bohemian and will appear on the site soon. Such lovely company my words are keeping these days!

Plus tomorrow I’ll have the pleasure of taking part in ‘A Hint of Crime’, a literary event at Foyles Bookshop, Bristol. I’ll be reading my tale Flyleaf, which appropriately enough begins in a bookshop. Other readers include Suzanna Stanbury, AA Abbott, Tim Kindberg and bestselling crime writer Sarah Hilary. Ooh, and it’s free, so do come along (4-6pm) if you’re in the area!

Midweek writing prompt – bird and girl

Bird Girl Etching by Laura RobertsonThis week’s prompt is inspired by this rather dreamy etching from artist Laura Robertson.

Such a gorgeous image. To me it seems reminiscent to ancient fairytales in which a brother or sister is turned into a bird or beast, leaving our heroine to find a way to save them, and in the process herself.

“I read a quote in a book many years ago – ‘only a bird in a gilded cage,’” says Laura of the piece. “It set off my imagination with images of a sad lonely bird in a cage and a sympathetic lady looking at it.”

What’s happening in this scene? Can you spin it into a melancholy fairytale with an uplifting resolution? Or is your impulse to write something far jollier, or far darker?

If you write something prompted by this, please let me know by sending an email to Judy(at)socket creative.com. With your permission, I’d love to share it on SkyLightRain.com.

This week I’m reading…

Three beautiful books cr Judy DarleyThree truly beautiful books – The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer, The Children’s Book by AS Byatt and Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at The End of the Lane. And I am in bookworm heaven. Here’s why.

These three books, while utterly exquisite reads in their own right, meld together in extraordinarily flavoursome ways. Think of the fresh deliciousness of ice-cold tonic, then imagine adding in a generous splash of gin followed by a fat wedge of lime. See what I mean?

For starters, they each have a glorious cover in shades of blue, just the thing to lift me out of February’s traditional gloom. The glints of gold and light enhance the blue, and the fact AS Byatt’s tome features a gorgeous yet monstrous dragonfly woman makes me immediately want to know more.

Secondly, they each weave fairytales into their narratives – or at last otherworldly elements, some imagined, and some apparently real, at least in the world of their narratives.

Thirdly, each tale centres on a strong, introverted protagonist with a rich inner life – whether they’re the narrator themselves or simply one of the many characters, but each offering a sharp-sighted gaze on the events unfolding.

And finally, for now at least, each of these skilfully written novels intersperses passages of sheer, startling beauty with moments of fear and dread, bringing together poetry and horror fit to take your breath away. Wonderful.

A culinary travel writing tour in Cambodia

Cambodia ala Backyard TravelFancy yourself as the next Elizabeth Gilbert? Boutique travel agency Backyard Travel, which specialises in insider tours throughout Asia, is hosting a culinary writing tour in Cambodia this May.

With just the one departure date on Friday 22nd May 2015, the eight-day ‘Eat, Learn, Love Cambodia Tour’ has been put together in collaboration with travel writer Lara Dunston, who writes for The Guardian, The Independent, and National Geographic, amongst others.

Over the course of the trip, you’ll get to visit some of Cambodia’s most iconic locations, as well as less well known sites. Along the way, you’ll have the chance to deconstruct Khmer cuisine, delve into the country’s vivid and troubled history and, with Lara’s guidance, develop their flair for culinary writing. Professional photographer Terrence Dunstan will also join the tour, offering tips on travel and food photography.

Tonie Sap lake, Cambodia

To provide insight into the roots of Cambodian cuisine, the tour includes guided visits to cultural landmarks such as Angkor Wat, ex-colonial outpost Battambang, and historic temples like Banteay Chhmar Wat. Along the way, you’ll scour village markets for fresh produce, discover the region’s vineyards, taste its wine, and sample an array of authentic local flavours, from street-side vendors to top-billed restaurants and everything in between.

Through excursions to pineapple and coconut plantations you’ll trace the cuisine back to its source, while side-trips will offer a chance to focus on other cultural aspects, including Cambodia’s art, religion and colonial history.

The trip will also include a homestay in rural Cambodia, “offering a true taste of Cambodian warmth and hospitality.”

Find full details on Backyard Travel’s website and social media channels: www.backyardtravel.comFacebook.com/BackyardTravel and twitter.com/Backyard_Travel.

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Laura Robertson’s living art

Tiger Argentina by Laura Robertson

I know people who believe artists are born, not made, and in the case of Laura Robertson that may well be true.

“I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember,” she says. “It’s part of who I am. I live and breathe it. I can’t imagine life with doing art.”

Following her early urges, Laura studied illustration, printmaking and sculpture in Durham, London, Cambridge and Bristol. “For a long time I didn’t know what to do with it, and having children and losing all my free time made me determined to take it up again once I started to have free time,” she says. “These days I’m on the committee of two art trails and will exhibit in four this year. I have work in four shops and am a member of an artists’ cooperative, and sell work online. Pretty busy really!” Continue reading

Midweek writing prompt – evidence

Picnic bench mushrooms cr Judy DarleyEver watched a crime show where the body is discovered buried in the forest, given away by the profusion of mushrooms sprouting over the corpse? Maybe no, maybe so, but it’s an idea that lodged in my mind from somewhere.

While visiting a leisure park recently with my family, I spotted this gloriously orange crop of mushrooms nestle beneath a picnic table, and wondered what made them choose that spot, out of the whole park.

Picnic bench mushrooms1 cr Judy Darley

Is there a body nurturing them, quietly rotting in the earth just there, or is it something else hidden in the soil – something much less distressing and far more magical?

No, I don’t know what that might be. Why don’t you give it some thought and see what your imagination dredges to the surface?

If you write something prompted by this, please let me know by sending an email to Judy(at)socket creative.com. With your permission, I’d love to share it on SkyLightRain.com.