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Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

George wandered slowly as a cloud due to the heavy weight on his shoulders, and the hefty flag the heavy weight was holding aloft. George was certain the old stone bridge they were crossing creaked and groaned, when George suddenly realised there was something beneath.

“Steady, boy!” Heavyweight reassured, as George whinnied nervously. “There’s nothing down there only snow!” George shook his head from side to side. “A few more steps and we’re across, into the safety of the Grand Kingdom.”

George suddenly reared up onto his back legs as a large scaly tail swished at speed from the side of the bridge, whipping the cobbled road before them. Heavyweight toppled from the saddle, and crashed unceremoniously to the ground, breaking the staff of the flag in two.

The tail swished again, this time knocking the flag part of the staff over the side of the bridge.

“That’s one angry snake!” Heavyweight declared, scrambling to get back upon George, only to realise his victory banner was now gone. He adjusted his helmet, and pondered trying to retrieve the flag. “A snake that size can keep the banner!” he declared without further hesitation, thinking what a pity it was that it had got the best end of the stick, and wishing that he had a ladder so he could at least have tried to get it back.

Without further thinking, Heavyweight clutched at his short stick, unsnagged his cape from the horse’s harness, clambered back into the saddle , readjusted his helmet, and was knocked back to the ground by the swishing tail.

George turned to look at Heavyweight, but as his leg was caught in the stirrup he dragged Heavyweight around across the icy stone cobbles.

“Woah, boy!” Heavyweight whimpered, looking directly at George, who was a gift from his sister Princess Grace of the Grand Kingdom. George opened his mouth, which caused Heavyweight to wince. “We need to get that tooth seen to, boy!” He said, still hanging off the stirrup.

The tail swished once more, and that was it for George. Making a rod for his own back, he galloped off the bridge at breakneck speeds.

“Woah,boy!” Screamed Heavyweight, his head bobbing along the ground, protected, luckily, by his helmet. George came to a stop at Small Mercy brook, a hop and a jump away from the bridge, which Heavyweight was grateful for. He untangled himself, dusted himself down to make him look once again like the Prince he should be. He discarded the staff as it was no longer of any use to him.

He patted George’s nose.

“I’ll keep quiet about this one, boy,” Heavyweight was trying to be helpful again. “No-one will believe me there’s a snake that size living under the bridge anyway. You handled that snake very well, George!”

George whinnied once again and rolled his eyes.

—

It’s Hélène’s ‘What Do You See’ challenge once again… and this week, I see knights of old – or something like that.

Visit the link below to see more interpretations of the picture, expertly selected once again!

Weekly challenge

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An Inspiration for a Four Painting Challenge

I like a good challenge, I do.

So much so, I was inspired by Elaine, over at Rose Elaine’s Art, and her recent series of posts. Now Elaine says she was inspired by Raili, from Soul Gifts, and following her inspiration painted four new digital paintings which were totally different from each other but matched each other perfectly. You’ll have to visit Elaine’s blog for the whole story, and Raili’s for the inspiration (I’ve already included the links!)

Elaine hadn’t painted four paintings together before, and I just happened to mention that I couldn’t wait to see her next four. And this is where the challenge began!

Somehow, I don’t know how, it may have been me, we ended up challenging each other to create four digital paintings each using the same colours and that they looked good side by side.

I’ve created two paintings so far. Randomly abstract from my head, based on ancient civilisations that may or may not have existed. I’ve chosen to use four colours, black, white, yellow and brown (I got that inspiration from a banana!) and then just sploshed the colours around. Well, digitally sploshed. Spread. Smeared. No. None of them sound right. I digitally put the colours together (quickly and freehand – which is plainly obvious but I was only going for the impression of symmetry. Some may say I was going for the impression of art, but art is in the eye of the beholder so they can. Say it. And behold it.) (I waffle) and continued until I stopped (painting – not waffling).

The wall where my paintings would go, should I hang them there, is yellow, so if they don’t match each other, they will certainly match the wall (and hopefully the bunch of bananas that I can place strategically underneath).

The first painting, which isn’t completely finished but I wanted to share, is called Oddly Aztec:

As you can see, it looks symmetrical, but the closer you look the more you notice how  unsymmetrical it is. And roughly freehand. It needs texturising, I feel, which may or may not make it look better. That remains to be seen.

The second painting, which again isn’t completely finished, is still wet. Well, it would be, as it’s called Eerily Atlantean. Based on Atlantis and not the Atlantean Ocean. Either way, there’s a water theme. And I am Piscean, just saying for added value.

Again, it isn’t meant to be symmetrical, which is good because it isn’t. The triangles are included on the fish-inspired shapes (they’re abstract, remember!) and the fact that there are nine of them, fish (-inspired shapes), which is a triangular number. The triangles are also represented by the bold stripes of colour, which in turn are meant to represent the Sun’s beams being dispersed beneath the waves. Being abstract, however, they are open to interpretation.

So, there we have it. Two abstract digital paintings, with two more to go. I wonder which ancient civilisation I will go to next? Find out in Part Two, later in the week!

(Oh and please visit the sites above… you’ll be glad that you did!)

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Sea-life Cuisine

My, th-that was a rough night!
Declared Albert, voice trembling with fright.

I’ve got a sinkin’ feelin’…
Replied Malcolm, not quite believing.

I hope I’m still dreaming…
Cried Cyril, plotting and scheming.

Come join us, it’s suppertime!
Sang the mermaids,

 

ending the rhyme.

Sinister, them mermaids! This is my take on Hélène’s latest ‘What Do You See’ challenge. (Link below!)

Weekly challenge

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The Newsreader

Currently, the tally for the Love Referendum stands at:

Thankfully, it’s the last day of the Referendum today. The scoreboard is now broken, and I’ve channelled that many famous characters from history that I no longer know who I am.

Today’s channelling is from a newsreader who only a few people may know or recognise.

The votes are now cast
And the results are counted
Love is a good thing

Kay Tunrara votes: YES

Kay Tunrara says: “What started out as a closely contested race, soon saw one side taking a clear lead. My vote brings the final tally to YES: 11; NO: 5. Personally speaking, we can’t have a world without love, it’s just ridiculous to even think that way, so there was no option other than for me to vote yes, love is a good thing.

“’Tom Merriman’ who brought about the referendum in the first place wasn’t available for comment at the time of channelling, but it is a well known fact that he doesn’t think highly of St Valentine’s Day and it is thought this is the reasoning behind the vote.

“We in the newsroom are only glad that the vote wasn’t made available to the population of the world, as over seven billion posts like these would have been a bit much, and those together with votes from all of the characters from history would have had serious repercussions on the internet. And besides, the scoreboard was totally inadequate to accommodate that number of votes.

“So, in conclusion: Love wins!”

*****

‘Tom Merriman’ says: “Ugh! Curses! What happened there? Maybe next year.”

*****

Disclaimer: Obviously, this has been a work of fiction, and any views contained herein are those of the characters who have been channelled through the ether at the time of writing.

*****

This is the end.

*****

Of this series. The blog continues tomorrow.

*****

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Venus

The tally for the longest referendum in history now stands at:

That’s nine votes for love being a good thing, and five votes that disagree. OK, it isn’t the largest referendum, by any means (and it may not even be the longest either – however that research can wait for another day!), but there appears to be a clear leader forming… and with only one more day remaining after today, I can’t see anything changing too dramatically – unless the vote is thrown open to the whole of the United Kingdom. Then again, that too may not make too much of a difference.

So. I wonder just how Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love, will vote? Remember anything can happen in this Love Referendum – look at Cupid’s vote on the first day, back at the turn of the century.

A feeling within
That is apparent without
For those who notice

Venus votes: YES

Venus says: “Of course love is a good thing, child. It is the best thing, the best feeling, the warmth and the passion that flows through every single living thing. It is its own reward. It really needs no words as it is what it is. Be more open to love, and be more loving, and you will see.”

The final referendum vote is tomorrow.