By Tom Merriman
It can. It does.
It knows. It must.
The creature on the fringe of shadow,
A swirl of darkness in a shaded place;
Sometimes in a room
Maybe at the side of the road
Perhaps in a lightning-charged storm
The list goes on, anywhere
Everywhere.
The mystery creature that appears at will
And leaves to a sigh of relief
With spirits lifted once again;
The star of an internal power struggle
Between darkness and light.
It can know. It does.
It knows. It must.
Light always wins in the end.
The Elite Force of Britain: a group of superheroes who joined together to eradicate problem after problem. Recently, the team appear to have disappeared from existence… or have they? The diabolical supervillain organisation Supervillains United are going to great lengths to try to prove newspaper reports to the contrary that the superheroes appear to be making a comeback. Nothing definite, but such reports are giving citizens everywhere the hope they are longing for. Here’s a report from the local newspaper The Mid and Up Chronicle:
What links Moyobamba, Peru, Adelaide, South Africa, and Dalvík, Iceland? Certainly not their geographical locations, weather systems, populations, or distances from London. But each of these three places and, it is beginning to transpire, other places around the globe, are starting to experience a most unusual – but certainly linked – phenomenon.
A coach party in Moyobamba report being held up at a crossroads by a team of heavily armed and military clothed men, one of whom was about to step aboard the coach when all around them the sound of a beautiful dawn chorus was heard. The would-be highwaymen fell to the floor, screaming and holding their ears as the sound was deafening. The coach party heard relaxing birdsong. The man who tried to get onto the bus was lifted by the collar of his jacket and thrown back out through the open door. There was no physical presence, but a lady sitting close to the front of the coach caught glimpses of the colour crimson and the scent of a familiar perfume.
A traffic warden in Adelaide was lifted off her feet shortly before an out-of-control jeep careered into the brick wall by which she was walking. Although she remembers seeing nobody around her, she could feel a pair of extremely long arms lifting her over to the other side of the road; and she definitely remembers feeling the arms become shorter as she was placed back onto the ground. She also remembers hearing the words “You’re safe now”.
And a couple of tourists in Dalvík found themselves an unusual problem when their popcorn making machine failed, when suddenly the corn in the bag started popping all by itself, the top of the bag bursting into flames briefly before opening, allowing the tourists to devour the delicious and hot popcorn.
These reports point out to us here at the Chronicle that the powers of three of the Elite Force of Britain are being used: Crimson Songbird’s warbling in Peru; Bettystretch’s stretching ability in South Africa; and Firetop’s heat control powers in Iceland. Why they are in those places remains as much a mystery as why the superheroes disappeared in the first place, but if they are where the stories are filtering through from, it means that the superheroes are here on Earth with us. Hidden, and appearing as ghosts or apparitions, but they are here.
Supervillains United have discounted these reports as fake news, and dismissed them as fireside ghost stories.
The team here at the Chronicle feel otherwise, and hope that these reports are the start of the return of the Elite Force of Britain.
The Elite Force of Britain: a group of superheroes who joined together to eradicate problem after problem. Recently, the team have been somewhat otherwise engaged. Some are now speculating missing in action. Rumours had it that some superheroes were off-world on a secret mission – a fact now seemingly discounted by N.A.S.A. (the North Atlantic Spaceways Agency; they always get confused with the other NASA) other folk say the superheroes are busy dealing with more home-grown issues. Wherever they are, the lack of superheroes hasn’t gone unnoticed by the dastardly Supervillains United who are having themselves a field day. And so is the world’s media, looking at these clippings found in a hastily discarded scrapbook:
The Up Lawn Tennis Association has been plunged into chaos as two formidable members of Supervillains United wreak havoc upon the men’s doubles. The Overthrower overthrew the umpire and began directing the game in process and The Tickler completely spoiled play by causing all four players and six ball boys to hysterically pound the ground in laughter due to his Multi Pronged Tickler. Whilst all eyes were on the unsportsmanlike display on the court, off the court henchmen helped themselves to the dignitaries’ wallets and jewels.
The Self-proclaimed Seven Sods stole the show literally at the Mid Monster Truck Rally this weekend, as each one of this unfortunate banding of baddies made their escape with seven of the eight showpiece vehicles. They made sure nobody could use the eighth either by gluing SVU flyers all over the windscreen – with superglue to boot. Organisers and sponsors alike were less than thrilled.
Frustration, anger and an annoyed herd of cows met commuters during Monday Morning’s rush-hour traffic. Road Closed signs diverted traffic off an already congested M6 and then proceeded to direct them into a single lane country road where the first few motorists found themselves stopped by a herd of angry cows. With no way forward and no way to turn, the four-mile long line of cars and lorries had to wait for hours for the cars to be removed, and then wait for further directions to get back to the motorway. The reason for this mis-direction? The pairing of HeroX and Szikik needed to stop a fleet of armoured cars delivering new pound coins to banks around the country and help themselves to the newly minted coins.
Blackchester residents witnessed the most unusual pairing of the Vampire, Dawn, dressed in a red velvet frock dancing a moonlit tango with The Pumpkin, in top hat and tails, outside the Pyramid Lounge. They’d just scooped themselves a prize by stealing artworks from the Victorian Museum, and were celebrating their achievements in broad moonlight. The dancing wasn’t the odd thing, however. The Pumpkin was last seen in 1924.
A separate clipping wasn’t as attached as securely as the others, perhaps because it focussed more on the superheroes?
This is now getting beyond a joke. Our police forces are doing all they can when they can, but with the supervillains running amok there isn’t much more that can be done, apart from the public uprising themselves, which isn’t really a good idea looking at the smug attitudes of the villainous team-ups taking place. We need our superheroes to return. And fast. The question, though, is where are they?
Yep.
I had to do it.
Another of my c’est magnifique portraits that look nothing like the person they are meant to. This one joins the ranks with Lynda Carter who was last year’s victim celebrity chosen to be my subject for #WorldWatercolorMonth.
I shall ask the question now, and then leave you guessing until I reveal who it is in a few day’s time. As with Lynda last year, I may paint a few clues along the way, if guesses are particularly miles off. I say guesses, stabs in the dark may be closer. You first have to first decide whether it is male or female, and take it from there.
So.
Without further ado. Drumroll please, for dramatic effect…
Who.
Is.
This?
As with previous posts such as this, please feel free to throw your wild guesses into the mix… well, into the comments below. I will not be offended by whoever you say, it is all in fun, and I haven’t got two ha’pennies to rub together for a prize; so it’s just as well.
And no offence is intended to the celebrity (whoever he or she may be!) should you happen by this post. I’m terrible at portraits, and have only recently (last year) started back using watercolour, so need all the practice I can get. You were fun to paint, however. If that helps.
Visit the link below (click the box) for more details on WorldWatercolorMonth.
I’d like to share a post I originally wrote in 2010, a couple of months after I started this little blogging adventure.
Hold out your hands.
Imagine a box, a box small enough to fit in your hands.
Imagine this box in your hands.
What shape is it? What colour is it? Is it heavy?
Open the box slowly, and look inside.
Inside the box, there is a door. An open door inside the now open box. The doorway leads to a staircase. Can you see the staircase yet? You can go through the door to look for it, if you like. The staircase is just through the door. You may have to look to the left or to the right, or it may be in front of you. It is there somewhere. Can you see it yet? It’s a spiral staircase, that climbs up into… what does it climb into? Is it a loft? Another room? Another floor? You’ll have to climb the spiral staircase to see.
Don’t worry – it’s all perfectly safe – remember, you’re holding the box in your hands, so you know it’s safe. If at any time you don’t feel comfortable, just go back through the door and out of the box.
You are at the top of the staircase now. Thinking outside of the box has enabled you to rise to the top without even trying! At the top of these stairs is a garden. A lush green, with many different types of plants and flowers around the edges, and beyond them are the tallest trees. There’s a couple of other ‘flowers’ too… a stream and a water feature. Can you hear the water trickling yet? You may need to go closer to one of them to hear it. Is the stream a gentle flowing one, or a babbling brook? Is the water feature a fountain, or a statue pouring water? Is the water clear? It is… the water is crystal clear. The clearest ‘clear’ you have ever seen, and then some.
Up above your head is a butterfly. Can you see the many colours on its wings? Can you hear the gentle fluttering of its wings? Apart from the sound of the water, this is the only other sound you can hear. The butterfly is beckoning you to follow it. It wants to show you something. Follow the butterfly to an archway which is on one of the sides of the garden. The archway leads to a room. An empty room. A completely white empty room. The butterfly flies to a corner, just inside the room. Follow it in to the room, and you’ll find a harp. Play the harp. You know how to. You can play the most wondrous music from this harp. Try it and see. Listen to the creative sounds you are producing from this magical instrument. Remember the tune you are playing. This music will relax and invigorate you at the same time. This is the music of how you are feeling right now. Not the right now in the real world, but the right now in this imagined world. You’ve enjoyed playing the harp. You can always come back again at a later time for another go. Or perhaps, you may be led into another room, by another butterfly, and find a different instrument. Or find something completely different. Something else that you have always wanted to try.
When you walk out of the room, you will be once again outside of your box. Back to the real world. Only now, you have a little more creativity within you. A little more music. A little more magic.
Does it feel good?
About the image:
Taken in May 2016 out in the Grinds, using a Galaxy mobile phone. Harp hastily added later.
