Fire In Your Eyes

Continuing with the poetry theme, this is a sestina which involves you using six stanzas consisting of six lines each, and the same six end words for each one. Summed up in three final lines at the end. This is my first attempt, its certainly not perfect but its a start

Picture comes courtesy of psd.tuts, which has some beautiful pictures of eyes which is definitely worth a look

I see the fire in your eyes

A flame still ignited after many years.

A blazing desire of hate.

A murderous passion of a thousand lies.

A storm that centres around your heart.

All the fires of hell cannot come close to the fury of you    

Yet, I still remember you

as a bright cheerful soul with shining blue eyes.

Only sweetness and love occupied your heart,

and your intelligence strayed beyond your years, 

you were hurt by the mere thought of hate.

Dead and buried is where that person now lies.

It was when you uncovered the bed of lies

that ate away at you

until it would turn your sweet love to savage hate.

tears came streaming from your eyes

for days, weeks, months, years

it was only sadness that occupied your broken heart.

But now black is the only colour of your heart

you would avenge all those lies,

wait for if you must, thousand years

to kill your fiend that killed you.

You could strike them dead before your eyes,

but you know that they are not the only one you hate.

It is also the World that you hate.

The wide, whirling world in which you are right at the heart.

Within it, you can see nothing but scorn through your eyes,

for your life has been filled with this World's lies.

All the glory that was promised you

and the many happy years.

So here you stand after all these years

Your face drawn with hate.

Now I see that I barely recognise you.

You hold your hand to your heart, 

drop to the floor to lie

and look at me directly in the eyes

In your heart, you see after many years

That it was not the lies that sparked your hate,

it was but You that lit the fire in your eyes.

(not sure why the first few lines are highlighted, sorry!)

                          

Revival

I've been absent the past few days, but I'm back now, I'm going to be posting my first attempts at poetry, this was a free verse poem I wrote in class, I will be posting other types of poems shortly.

Darkness

Eternal darkness

No light

Nothing

I see…

Nothing

But I remember seeing

That place

Her

Him

Falling

That last view

Of the seething sun

Then blackening out

Darkness

No Light

Nothing

I hear…

Moving

Scuttling ants

Slithering worms.

But I hear…

That shot

That scream

That thud

The last thing I heard

Before darkness

No Light

Nothing

I taste

Dirt

Dry

I want, I want…

Blood

I liked that taste

I remember

Her skin

Her heat

That taste

I want more than this

More than darkness

No Light

Nothing

And I smell it,

Blood

Running, wasting

My own.

I want her scent

That same perfume

On her bare skin

That fresh scent of

Running blood

I crave more of it

No more Darkness

No Light

Nothing

I remember everything on that day

They think I’m long gone

They think I’m buried for good

They’re wrong

………

………

………

………

I feel…

Life

Icy veins recharged

Heart beating

Moving Slowly

But steadily

Vision blurry

But visible

Memory faint

But Clear

What they did

I remember

Brightness.

Lights.

Revival

The Tale of Animalia (Part 5 & Epilogue)

Here is the final part and epilogue of Animalia, what will happen to the war torn kingdom, read on:

Filo had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. He had been spared the death between an alligator and a shark, but was about to be eaten by the main predator of the rabbits. He looked up at his assassin.

A sense of shock flooded Filo as the two eyes he was staring into were those of Orleé’s.

‘Ah, Young Filo, even the greatest of hero’s needs support.’ 

‘H-h-how did you know I’d be here?’ asked a flustered Filo.

Orleé explained to Filo how he had been watching everything that happened from a safe distance, he hadn’t flown in to help though as he admired how adamant he was and wanted to let him solve the problem independently, only jumping to help when it was needed. ‘You have truly impressed me, young rabbit, I wouldn’t find many other mammals that do not swim regularly would’ve taken that on, but help from others is needed sometimes, I shall take you to the island, it is not far now.’

Orleé did not seem remotely remorsed with his leader’s death, nor that of Leonardes. Whilst he stood loyal to his species and shared their disdain for Leonardes, he was never a fan of the aggressive, hateful ways of Eglé. He was a rather cold creature despite his great caring for those less advantaged than himself, he always put logic before strong feelings.

‘Well, young rabbit, I have passed Platypus Island in my many solo adventures before, it is just along here. Best of luck, you have the whole kingdom in your hands.’

Eventually, the water ended at a small island. He had reached Platypus Island.

The two of them landed softly and Orleé released Filo from his grasp. As he stepped forward, he instantly saw them – dozens of the duck billed, webbed footed creatures called ‘platypuses’ gathered round, they were not defensive, but were certainly intrigued at this small, long eared stranger. One stepped out of the crowd. There was nothing that distinguished him from the others, but he looked far bigger and intimidating and it was easy to see he was the dominant platypus. He addressed Filo:

‘What is your business here, long eared animal?’

Filo explained to the leader what had happened: ‘and the king would like to ask you to take the throne for Animalia.’

The leader was less than enthusiastic: ‘So he kills one of us merely because we expose him for what he is. Good riddance. He expects us to step in just so we can ‘forgive’ him for what he did? Pah! He can watch his kingdom fall from hell.’

‘But our land is falling, we need your help, you’ve managed to set up a community well here and we need your superior methods to repair this damage that our fallen king has caused.’

‘We have our own community; we care only for our own kind, not you foolish and weak minded animals. You have no more business here, please leave.’

Two of the platypus by his side moved forward to usher Filo back to the river, but he wasn’t about to give in:

‘But…but…but’ the platypuses started to shove at him with their beaks, until Filo blurted out: ‘YOU’RE ONE OF US’

Everyone turned round; Even Orleé looked surprised. The lead platypus was intrigued. ‘What are you saying, you wretched creature?’

‘How can you say you don’t care for us when you are one of us yourself? You have fur just like a mammal, you swim just like a beaver, you have a beak & webbed feet just like a duck, and you need water to survive just like fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. How are you any different from our kingdom? You can run from it, hide from it, deny it as you will, but however unique, you regard yourself, you will always be an animal, just like us. Why would you watch all of your own kind fall, that is more selfish & arrogant than Leonardes ever was!’

At this the two ushering platypus flinched and looked set to attack him but the leader warned them off, possibly because he knew what Filo was saying was true. ‘You are right young rabbit, we are in fact, mammals just like yourself and Leonardes, We don’t hold any grudges against the rest of the kingdom, but your king drove us away. He was an arrogant fool that believed he was more equal. He clearly thought animals shouldn’t be mixed and should keep to their own kind, he drove us away, why should we help him?’

‘Because you can build on the mistakes he made, not just your own kind, but the whole kingdom will benefit and you can be a part of it again.’

'You are what Leonardes never saw -  proof that we are all related.’ These were Orleé’s words, it was the first time he’d spoken since they landed.

After a prolonged silence, the leader spoke: ‘I am going to discuss this situation with my colleagues, please wait here.’

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting of what were only a few minutes, the leader came back to them:

‘We agree to take up the throne’

And with that, they all went back to the war torn island of Animalia. Filo was carried back once more by Orleé, whilst the platypuses used their adept swimming to he saw the whole kingdom at his feet: He knew it would take a while to repair the damage, but for the first time in weeks, things were finally starting to look up.

Epilogue

Word and shock spread throughout the kingdom at the sudden death of the two fallen leaders and a shock change of throne. The animals were shocked that a mere rabbit had managed to do all this for the kingdom; he was given a hero’s welcome when he returned to his family, in which all including his sick brothers had survived.

The strange creatures weren’t welcomed warmly, and received some disdain from Leonardes’ wife & sons, it was eventually seen that the kings orders were those to be followed and when they learnt about the venom of the platypus, they gave way.

The platypuses elected Filo & Orleé to help them decide plans of how to make Animalia a better place for everyone. It was discovered that the world had many individual islands that were almost the size of the main land. It was eventually decided that each species would get an independent land on one of these islands to prevent arguments over who should get priority on one land. The species will primarily own that island and look out for their own species, however, other animals are always allowed to come and go on the islands as they please. There would be an elected leader that would look out for their own species only.

It was also agreed that no species would receive special treatment and all herbivores must agree to be ready to be killed by a carnivore as that is their only way of surviving, at the same time, the carnivores must not bother the herbivores unless they need to eat.

The five lands are Terra Mammalia (mammals), Terra Avium (birds), Terra Serpentium (reptiles), Terra Amphibian (amphibians), Terra Piscium (fish) & Terra Insecta (insects & invertebrates).

The platypuses decided to still stay together rather than go to Mammalia, but still are responsible for the whole kingdom and would never abandon them. They kept the main land and renamed Kyers Rock to Platys Rock, but the majority was also open to all species as a leisure space.

And that is more or less where our story ends, but what became of our heroes and villains?

Filo is now a worldwide hero, even in the land of Avium, and is granted an official place on the panel of Mammalia. The lions agreed to step down and instead gave way to the powerful bears, led by the huge, powerful grizzly, Baran. Whilst Filo is something of a celebrity on any Terra, he prefers to remain with his woodland friends and lives a quiet life, he chose not to have immunity from predators and whilst they remain reluctant, he remains fiercely adorned to his previous life. A memorial still remains on Mammalia for Leonardes.

Orleé was elected new leader of the land of Terra Avium, he remains widely respected and acclaimed to this day, and with his help, the birds have become a far less violent and more co-operable with the other species.

The same can unfortunately not be said for the reptiles, the newly elected Savril the snake took the lead from an injured Alguarve. Whilst they have accepted the new rules and enjoy to be running their own island, they are reluctant to interact with other animals and don’t often mention Filo, they remain silent and still quite opposed to the other species.

Matra, the sting ray took over from Xatlhu for Terra Piscium and dropped all allegiances with Serpentium - the two species are very unlikely to bond nowadays.

The Amphibians can finally live in peace, however the war did make them tougher and that is reflected in their newly elected leader, Tolbye, a fierce Cane toad. 

Bermuda the butterfly currently rules Insecta, they are now valued as part of the kingdom despite their size and have even formed relationships with a few of the smaller mammals.

And that is how it remains to this very evening, but one thing that will always stay the same which we haven't covered in our tale - the great, overbearing shadow of Platys Rock, over 1000 years old, it has seen the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and dominance of the animals, it will foresee their time here and whatever happens beyond that. The true ruler of Animalia.

I'd like to thank all of you who have read or followed the story, my views are on the increase so this is only positive, feel free to leave comments about if it worked/didn't work or how it can be improved, I shall post more work shortly.

The Tale of Animalia (Part 4)

Here is part 4 of the tale of Animalia:

Filo made his way to the riverside, where he first saw the strange beast that started all of this. He was overwhelmed, he had no idea where this island was and, crucially, he couldn’t swim. Filo’s late father, Jaspin once went down to the river and ventured out into the shallow depths – only to be snapped up by a crocodile. Since then, his mother had always taught him that rabbits were not meant for the waters and advised them to stay away. Now he was about to venture deep out into the waters, where the battling of carnivorous fish and marine reptiles took place, in deeper currents with high traffic of travelling fish. If he forgot to breathe or slowed down at any point, he would drown. The odds were against him,.

Filo slowly took small steps towards the water, it was bitterly cold and every time he looked down at his reflection he saw how utterly terrified and small he looked under the great blue sky. He paddled for a while as the ground slowly fell from under his feet until he was floating in water.

He decided to head in the direction which he remembered the creature coming from and headed north. He had never swam before, but he imitated the style of many reptiles by moving his legs backwards and forward, to his surprise, he found himself moving efficiently, and he encountered very few problems throughout the first leg of the journey.

As time went on, Filo still saw no sign of any sort of island; as he swam the water got stronger and deeper. He was getting tired, his arms and legs were already strained from his battle with Eglé, he soldiered on, he was approaching the depths where the underwater predators lurked, and they would find an easy lunch with him. The impending sense of hopelessness clouded over him – he was like a frog trying to fly, he just didn’t belong there.

Then in the distance, he saw something coming towards him, it looked big, and was moving very quickly. Suddenly, something bumped into him, followed by something else and again. And he realised too late, it was a frantic, scared shoal of salmon, he was soon surrounded by cursing, panicking fish, he hopelessly tried to get out of the way but another would just bump into him from another direction. The worst thing was that he knew was happening – they must’ve seen a predator and it was coming this way.

Filo saw no choice and ducked underwater below the fleeing shoal. He held his breath, he was now in danger of drowning and underwater. He frantically ran against the floor of the sea. To his relief, the last salmon passed him by and the area was then clear. He quickly bounded back to the top, once there he noticed something else coming towards him in the distance, but this filled him with a sense of dread. Those two yellow, menacing eyes were unmistakeable. It was Alguarve the alligator, leader of the reptiles and one of the most fearsome predators on the planet.

Filo rapidly swam away, still underwater and holding his breath. He knew it was no use, he could picture those fearsome eyes lighting up as that long snout opens revealing those two rows of deadly teeth that could crack his spine with a bite. He looked back and found that Alguarve wasn’t alone.

Alongside him was the ferocious Xalthu the shark. It was a clash of the titan, Xalthu constantly launched himself into Alguarve, while Alguarve lashed out with his teeth and drove him back. This repeated continuously while zooming through the water, they seemed to be oblivious to what was ahead of them. And they were heading straight for Filo.

Filo quickly resurfaced and swam back as fast as his tired legs could carry him, but the predators were strong, could move at great speeds beyond his capabilities and the sheer weight of them as well as their deadly teeth would kill him instantly. Before he knew it, He was blasted into the air.

As he flew up, the two giants noticed what they'd hit and stopped fighting; both opened their jaws wide to be prepared to fight for an easy meal. It didn’t matter which mouth he’d fall into or neither, they would kill him easily. For that brief millisecond, time seemed to stop and Filo was hanging in midair, he took one last look at the sun and then gravity came into effect and he shut his eyes as he fell to his inevitable death, he wouldn't give in and scream.

That’s when something grabbed and closed around him, taking him away from the water and further into the air, the two predators below looked angry and then carried on in their battle. Filo had no idea what was happening and then feared to see that closing around him were a pair of talons that could only be a bird of prey…

The Tale of Animalia (Part 3)

Here is part 3 of the tale, I noticed my views went up from 44 to 74 just a day after I posted part 2, so I hope that means you're all enjoying it!


The final conclusion and epilogue will be posted in the next few days!

That afternoon, the sounds circulating Animalia were not the cheeping of the cricket, the groaning of the elephant or the shriek of the jay, but the dying cries of a fallen leader. Leonardes had been looking in vain for Filo, but could not find him and when he even came close to a family of rabbits, they hid before he had a chance to explain himself. Despite the throbbing pain of the platypus venom, he made no more screams so as not to draw attention to himself. He hopelessly lay on the grass , just praying to die in peace.

Yet, in the grass, just metres away, sat the target of his search. Filo had heard him coming but whilst his clan hid, he was curious of what was happening. He wondered just why he was so weak and it looked like he was dying. Whilst many would rejoice, deep down, Filo was sad. Though he clearly had his flaws, He had always admired Leonardes’ caring nature towards the smaller animals and how he always looked out for them. Indeed, he made sure the rabbit’s predators were only killing out of hunger and they should otherwise be left alone. Leonardes had a vow to never hurt smaller animals of his own species and he never stopped in his attempt to always help out and ensure they were safe. Whether it was because they could never intimidate him and weren’t a fellow predator or prey was debateable, but Filo was distraught to see such a great ruler go down, yet just didn’t have the courage to step forward, what could he do? Why would the king have time for him? He was a small, weak mammal, he had no power. He would never change anything.

But Filo's and the kings hopes of a peaceful death were all but obliterated when he heard a shrill shriek from above, the unmistakeable mocking call of Eglé.

This sight delighted the bird of prey, he had been waiting all his life to have the last laugh at Leonardes, and he swooped down. ‘So the king of the land, the all mighty power of the lion, the proudest, noblest king falls while Eglé still stands. I must know who got you, was it a bird? Was it one of Alguerve’s or was it a petty poison dart frog who you weren’t careful with?’

Leonardes used all his remaining energy ‘I didn’t fall to one of your filthy fighters that I know’.

‘Ah, Leo, still in denial as ever I see.' He said, pecking provocatively all over the fallen lion, Leonardes was determined not to give in and held in his cries. 'When will you accept that we birds are the rightful rulers of Animalia? I wish we could’ve sorted out our differences but you were always a failure to this land, and just so you will always know who boss. I’ll make this quicker for you.’

Eglé jumped and landed on Leonardes’ neck, digging his talons in deep. The king could hold it no longer and screamed out in pain. Eglé used his talons to move Leonardes’ head towards him, so he truly was the last sight he saw. He grinned as the struggling king started to go still.

‘Long…live…the king’

And that was when Filo struck, he used the only defence that a rabbit could; his agile feet, jumping out of the grass, he flew through the air and landed straight on Eglé’s face, temporarily blinding him and knocking him off Leonardes. 

He clutched onto Eglé’s head, the two of them wrestled. He knew he couldn’t stay like this. Eglé stumbled around blindly, protesting angrily, still not quite sure what happened. He flapped his wings to attempt to take off, but he couldn't without his optimal vision

Filo held on with all his strength, he had not necessarily thought this through and the odds were against him. Once he loses his vantage point, Eglé 's knife like talons and beak would kill him in a second or he could drop him from a great height. He frantically thought of what to do next,  he had to get there first and get him where he’s weak. He let go of the eyes, fell and clutched hold of Egle’s neck and bit into it.

Eglé screeched with pain, his wings stopped flapping and he moved slower, Filo dug deeper, it hurt his undeveloped teeth just as much but he held on. Eventually, a deep wound formed, he moved slower and drew his wings back. At this point, Filo let go and bounded down, Eglé attempted to attack but Filo’s wound had gone too deep and was fatal. He stumbled hopelessly and soon  ‘weak…foolish….imbecile’, until heis windpipe gave in, his face went still and collapsed in a heap on then floor. For the first time ever in Animalia, a rabbit had just killed an eagle.

Filo stood there a while, unable to believe what he’d just done, then quickly remembered just why he did it and ran over to Leonardes. Thankfully, Eglé’s wound wasn’t enough to finish him off completely, but it was clearly just moments before it came.

He murmured with all the remaining effort he had in him: ‘Are you…Filo?’, Filo nodded. ‘That was…very brave of you, I…am…truly honoured...Thank You’, Leonardes coughed ‘Young rabbit, I am sorry I have let you and all your kingdom down, but could you spare me….one more favour before I die’, Filo nodded vigourously, ‘earlier I killed one of the…platypus…whom I believe….saw you too. Go to their island across the river from here….and tell them…that I give them rights to be the rulers of…Animalia’.

Filo was shocked; it was within the king’s rights to give anyone the throne once he died.  But the king had made it clear was always going to be Leonardes’ son that takes the throne. Never did he imagine that the king would be offering to someone who wasn’t a lion. But he was more shocked to hear about how he killed the creature. Filo was flustered but he honoured the king to the end and took a bow, something which the king had always liked. Leonardes managed a smile and then went still immediately. That smile was different to his usual smiles though, it was supportive and reassuring.

Filo stood in the clearing, around him laid the dead bodies of two of the most fearsome predators in the kingdom. And he, a small rabbit, had the whole fate of Animalia in his hands.

The Tale of Animalia (Part 2)

Here is part 2, bit longer than the other one, this is now looking like a four parter!

Until one day, Filo snuck down to the river to get a drink; as the youngest, he was the most vulnerable. But what he noticed at the river was not a predator but an oddity. Initially, he thought it was a beaver, and was worried he’d get discovered by a predator. ‘Hello! Excuse me sir, but I’d recommend you don’t come out here, you may be killed!’. It came closer to the shore; Filo couldn’t believe what he saw. It had the build, fur and tail of a beaver, but had the bill and webbed feet of a duck, he had never seen anything like it in his whole life. The thing spoke: ‘I may be killed, you say, young rabbit? I have not been involved in this land for many months, we platypuses tired of the endless selfish quarrels that bestowed this power corrupted land. We have since been exploring and found an island of our own, here we live in spacious harmony so we can raise our eggs in peace.

‘We have always kept out of the way of this land, and so I doubt your followers would’ve seen us before. I must dash, for I daren’t stay too long here.’

Filo was lost for words as the thing swam away, there were so many other questions he wanted to ask this strange beast. He dashed back to his friends and spread the word, at first, no one believed it, they laughed at his youthfulness and despite his protestations, they soon scolded him to stop telling lies and focus on surviving. What he had heard had given him brief hope, he went down to the river every night unbeknownst to his clan and looked for the creature, but it never showed up and the war continued with no sign of stopping.

‘Keep trying, young rabbit, your day will come’. Filo overheard one night, it was Orleé, the great owl who was widely respected throughout the kingdom and one of the few birds of prey who was friendly with other species, he watched over Filo and his family daily, though times were tough,  Filo still trusted Orleé’s words.

The war went on brutally and the clan struggled to survive, Jiltan & Heath had fallen ill and one of the ducks had already passed away. All species were starting to fall into critical condition and high death rates, with no sign of any clear winner. Although it was tough, The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to just abandon his family and friends and go and live with the platypuses, they seemed to know how to live, unlike his current kingdom.

One morning, Leonardes went down to the river to nurse his wounds and something caught his eye. At first, he thought it was a beaver. He could not afford to lose any more mammals, especially when Eglé was on the prowl, he roared, an ear piercing sound that no mammal can ever question. But it didn’t respond, Leonardes wasn’t used to this, he roared again, louder, but still the creature moved slowly, no urge at all. Leonardes shouted at the top of his voice, ‘YOU! CREATURE! COME TO THE SHORE THIS INSTANT OR YOU WILL BE KILLED ON THE SPOT!’ That seemed to do the trick, the creature came on shore, what he saw was an oddity - It looked like a beaver, but had webbed feet and beak of that of a duck. In all his years, the king had never seen anything like this, he demanded to know what it was and why he had never seen them before. The creature remained calm: ‘your majesty, it is a pleasure to finally meet you after all these years, I am Palu and I am a platypus, We live across from this land it is big enough to accommodate us, we are forced down here sometimes though to look for water insects’

‘You haven’t seen us before as we try to avoid coming up here all we can; we do not consider ourselves a member of your kingdom. It is no wonder there is such a brutal war here when you can’t all realise you are all related in the same way. I have fur just like a mammal and swim just like a beaver, yet I also have a beak and webbed feet so my eating habits are like that of a bird, I also lay eggs just like a reptile or amphibian and insects are my food source. May I ask where I would fit in within your kingdom?’

‘It’s not possible that you can be like this, it’s just not. You look more like a mammal to me so you should be on outside, if you can fight, you and your whole species should report to Kyers Rock now’ Leonardes demanded.

‘And that is your great flaw, you are consumed by power, you still see yourself as more dominant than them, all animals should be equal.’

‘Some animals are more equal than others’ Leonardes made clear; it had always been the motto amongst them.

‘But your great pride has blinded you to seeing that they need different ways to survive, it is no surprise that the birds and reptiles have developed such a grudge, they have become selfish and power hungry due to your influence, your delusion that you are better than them has separated them from you, you have become oblivious to your kingdom’s survival, and as a result, a protest was always coming.’

Leonardes couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he bellowed: ‘Do you know who you are speaking at, pathetic creature, I AM THE KING! I always look out for the safety of my kingdom; so long as they respect us, Egleé & Alguerve have always been out to get me and this is just them trying to dethrone them, We will win this war and prove who is still dominant’

‘I have no doubt that these are rather hateful creatures that are out to get you but with all due respect sire, you have brought it on yourself. You are a failure’

And with that, Leonardes aggressively swiped Palu, the blow hit him straight across the face and knocked him out. Leonardes jumped on him, growling manically and gave a bite across Palu’s belly.

‘Don’t say you didn’t earn it’ Leonardes said, savagely. Palu was clearly dying but he remained calm: ‘and in your anger, you have just killed a defenceless member of your own kind – for I am a mammal sire.’

Leonardes stopped in his tracks, he had never before killed a defenceless mammal, although he had to feed, he had only stuck to the agreed sacrifices of the gazelle and antelopes, it was his oath though to never kill a smaller mammal as he was against it. Until now.

‘And you have endangered yourself as well, for I am also venomous, of course, I would never have attempted to give it you, but you have just given yourself it as you couldn’t control your anger’

Leonardes couldn’t speak.

‘In your last moments, I would recommend searching out a young rabbit who feels like he does not belong here, I saw him the last time I came here, go and listen to him and his demands, I feel he could bring peace to the land, he could convince you further to do the right thing in your final moments, I hope I have at least started in mine. Good bye your majesty.’ Palu’s face paled and the life drained out of him peacefully.

Leonardes was still motionless, he had been gone a while, his pride would be wondering where he was, but he couldn't cry or get angry at this point, he couldn't do anything but sit in shock. And then the pain started to kick in, hard, Leonardes groaned and stumbled away from the pond.

The Tale of Animalia (Part 1)

So this is a story I wrote from scratch, it takes the form of a sort of fairytale with a moral message, it was quite a bit longer than I intended it to be so I will post it in three parts, here is part 1.

The Tale of Animalia (Part 1)

Far, far away sits the world of Animalia. Consisting of six landscapes, five of them the same size centred around one large landmass. On the great platys Rock, sits not the Lion, the shark, the eagle nor the alligator, but the platypus.

How the platypuses came to rule Animalia is a tale that circulates the shores every day.

Many years ago, the residents of Animalia lived on one larland. Animals lived in harmony in a variety of different habitats. At the forefront of the kingdom were the Mammals, led by the most powerful beasts of the land – the Lions led by the veteran ruler, Leonardes. For years, it had been agreed that the mammals’ sheer power and how much many of them could adapt made them worthy leaders and as a result were immune from being eaten by other carnivores except themselves, but conflict was arising in the land…

The mammals were simply deemed to have too much power. At the forefront of this was the birds. Led by the notorious Eglé, the birds of prey have always been the mammal’s main rivals and with the recent arrival of the bats that also needed to fly, they were annoyed that their personal area had to be shared and argued that the mammals were being too greedy.

The reptiles were also annoyed. The known rebels of the animal kingdom, they were led by the oldest leader in the land, Alguerve, the alligator, who constantly rebelled against the system. A long time ago, they were the rulers of the land as the mighty dinosaurs, but time has not been kind and as that species died, the reptile’s dominance loosened and the mammals soon had full control. With these conflicts arising, the reptiles saw fit to bring up their usual arguments – that they were the rightful rulers of the land and that they deserve a place in the higher kingdom, an alligator and a snake can easily kill and eat an antelope and have proven their worth as strong and deadly fighters, so why were they relegated to ‘below’ the mammals. Algeurve & Eglé were known allies in Animalia in their hatred of Leonardes and saw their collective problems as an opportunity to bring down the mammals reign.

Elsewhere the fish, led by one of the most feared warriors on the planet, Xalthu the great white shark, had more reason to complain. They were the long time rulers of the sea; the sharks were amongst the most fearsome fighters of the whole kingdom. They were becomingly increasingly frustrated with having to share the seas with the large whales and dolphins, particularly the biggest mammal in the land, the Blue Whale. The fish saw themselves as the rightful rulers of the sea and demanded that the others found some other way to adapt, given they could not survive without their gills.

On the issue of no respect also applied to the insects. Due to their size, they were regularly seen as inferior and had no abilities; many deaths occurred daily for the poor insects as many animals viewed them or simply just don’t recognise or hear them. This was a problem for the worker ants, and the wasps and black widow spiders felt hard done by as they had proved they are deadly warriors and were not given enough recognition, the insects were very easy targets for all animals and the death rate was twice the amount of any other animal and they did not feel equal.

This left only the amphibians cowering in the corner. The known pacifists of the land, they hated any kind of conflict and believed that all animals should live in harmony. So much so that they had no known fighters and, as a result, they were very easily taken advantage of. They were forced into the conflict.

The subject of food was also a present conflict amongst all species. The species’ thought it was unfair that the mammals got this much advantage over the other species, as the birds of prey and other carnivorous animals needed to eat too, and they did not deem it fair that they had a restriction.

The kingdom was at a state of unrest and Leonardes saw no option but to declare war. Whichever species proved to be the toughest through a series of all on all battles was worthy of the rights to the whole kingdom.

On the battlefield, only the toughest predators were allowed. Meanwhile, the defenceless, herbivorous animals kept out of the fighting all they could. Not all animals were opposed to each other and some smaller herbivorous animals still stuck together for survival. Our story will focus on a small family of rabbits, Monceen and her five youngest children, Brent, Gale, Heath, Jiltan & the youngest, Filo. Two ducks & a family of frogs joined them; together they took it in turns to go down to the water every day to fetch food for the gathering. It was a challenge going down to the river or to collect food every day as any predatory animal not of their species who saw them would kill them instantly, the youths were not used to this but had to still venture down to the river. Through tough times, they formed friendships and lamented over the bloodbath their once peaceful kingdom had become, they longed for the day that they would see the error of their ways and that war is not the answer, but they would never be powerful enough to say anything.

Changes to my blog

Please note that a few changes have been made to my blog including a rebranding and design, normal service will continue soon

The Bin

And here is the second of my two creative pieces for my first assessment, titled 'The Bin', it is an exercise in describing a character through the contents of their trash and in the process revealing something about them.

The Bin

It was early when I came that day. The clock struck at half past ten. I walked up to 224 Warrender Street, home of Mrs Bradshaw. Very few people came here, I’d always wondered why; it seemed to be quite a peaceful place. I knocked on the door. No reply. I knocked again. Still nothing. I eventually had to use my key to unlock the door.

No one was home. A note by the door read 'bins in back garden’, I proceeded through her house, I noted it was rather cluttered, she had obviously not been cleaning the night before. I stepped over various overturned chairs and stray clothes and noticed her windows had a tint yellow shade on them. I didn’t give this much thought and opened the back door. It was a cool morning and there was an unusually cold feel to the air. I should do this quickly, I thought, I’m already behind in schedule.

I took out my bin bag and opened the lid, the instant I did, like a shaken up bottle of cola, the bin started overflowing, this took me by surprise and I stepped back slightly. Spilling on to the floor were dozens of boxes of anti depressant pills, and there were more in the bin. The thing that struck me as odd about them was that some of them were either empty, half full or completely full, the correlation between the three was quite shocking. It’s as if she’d not decided whether to take them all or not.

I decided to investigate this bin further - I put the bag down and started to dig my through the bin, once I got to the end of seemingly never ending pill boxes, I saw another pile of cigarettes, many had been smoked to the core, the ends completely pitch black and burned, aside them lay many green, crunched up cigarette packs. When I’d seen all this, I can’t say I was that surprised when I saw the next pile, a load of empty glass bottles that were still labelled. All different types of alcohol. Ciders, beers, spirits, vodka, whiskey and, the most surprising of all – Absinthe. I’d seen very few of these in my time and its more worrying that there was more than one bottle of this.

Below them, there was an extreme and unusual amount of food. Banana skins, Apples and Pears eaten until they were almost falling apart, Orange peels, this naturally attracted the attention of many flies, I shooed them away. Lying next to these looking oddly out of place were – bizarrely – crushed cereal boxes with milk cartons next to them. They looked very out of place. I also noticed cracked egg shells and remembered the windows...

I put the lid back on the bin. Taken aback and openly shocked by the contents of this bin, I was quite scared just what on earth she is doing with herself now, the note claimed she was at work, but I thought she could be doing something much more serious...

Whilst contemplating, I tripped over something next to the bin – The paper recycling, which was quite odd considering most of the other recyclables just went straight to the landfill waste. I took a look and as far as I could see, it was completely full to the brim with papers, that may not be out of the ordinary but this literally only consisted of papers, ripped, scrunched up and some left untouchable. I scoured through them all, the sheer volume made me incapable of reading them all but the general gist was not a pleasant one, choruses of ‘FAT SHIT’, ‘FUCKING WASTE OF SPACE, ‘BIG NOSE’ (this statement proved common), ‘MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL AND PISS OFF’ screamed at me from the papers. There were even pictures, most were scribbled down unpleasant doodles, one I came across near the bottom caught my eye – it was a computer picture of an elephant, but what caught my eye even more was that it was covered in a minimal but noticeable stain of dark red, I sniffed it – though faint, it was unmistakeable...it was blood.

I carried on scrounging and sure enough – all of the papers below this were stained in red, getting clearer and clearer as I went down, and then my wrist hit something....

It felt like metal. Hard, cold yet with a slightly creased feel, I tried to get a grip on it and pulled it up thorugh the mound of papers and there in my hands was a blood stained, dented crowbar which had been used....

A Day In The Life

So to start with, this was my first assessed piece, its a short tale about an ordinary day in the life of a certain protagonist, can you guess who the speaker is?

A Day in the Life

They’d attacked us again

The night crew had been disturbed in the early hours of the day. They’re coming out more and more frequently. It appears They are no longer tolerant of us as They once were. This was the second time in five days they’d tried to destroy our home. It was only a matter of time before They would try again…

Naturally, everyone was up and clearing up the mess. I and a few others took some of the rotten debris and went to dispose of them outside. We ventured out into the dark shadows of the surrounding grass. Towering over us was the almighty fireball resting in a sea of blue. The pinnacle of nature. A great power that watches over us and decides our fate. It was the strongest it’s been in a long time, all around us, pink, soft blossom fell from the trees like snowflakes. The fenced up jungle around us burst into life. Vibrant coloured flowers stood above us, tall and proud, blowing in the light breeze and glowing in the fireball’s rays. This was the period where Nature was at its most active.

Today’s eggs were ready. Her Majesty divided them between us to hide safely and securely. Before we hid them, we swore an oath to protect these eggs with our lives. And that we did. For we all know what will happen if we weren’t to do that….The eggs are essential, if we fail to protect them, we are no longer deemed worthy of their place and banished….and we all know very well what happens to workers on their own.

Today, I was on patrol. Our priority was food and protection. We assembled as usual – lined up inches apart in a square formation, our heads pointed upwards, ever alert to the World surrounding us. Her Majesty gave us her blessing and then we left the hill and marched on.

We were following the leader through our usual hidden passage, it’s much easier here, of course there were still risks, They had many ground destroying contraptions that could destroy us. Not to mention those uncontrolled by Them, like those dangerous ground monsters, masters of surprise, digging and equipped with a pink vacuum to rat us out. Despite this, it was easier than going exposed to the dangers of the fireball. On the way, we saw the red squad – naturally, we kept our distance and they did the same. We never mixed, they were different to us, aggressive workers who frequently attacked and stole from other hills. The red squad don’t live by the workers code, which we all were saying to ourselves as we marched: ‘To protect, To serve, To fight, To support, To survive’.

Finally, we emerged from the tunnel, into the open view of the fireball. We came up through a small hole, and after a quick briefing, got down to work. It was an open space, the grass cut short and a conquering, drooping tree towered around us.

It took us totally by surprise; we heard its high pitched squawk to late. It was an­­­ Air Killer. This was smaller than the others, but no less menacing. Bleakly coloured. Sporting those terrifying yet baffling huge beige limbs which somehow kept it airborne. Coupled with sharp point below its cold, dark eyes which were shrouded by dark shadows and to back it up, four more points lay on its feet, it wasn’t controlled by Them, but this was a living killing machine.

Scatter! We all headed straight for the hole we came through, the leader quickly ushering others in before. I was far away from the nearest hole and had to move very quickly. Too late. The Killer touched down and already many of my comrades were history…

The killer moved closer, scooping us up effortlessly with its facial weapon. That was when I got to the hole and retreated, just inches away from being another one down…

The leader was down there too, he counted us up and we looked around. Our numbers were seriously depleted and we had lost well over 100 troops. We could still sense the killer was still there, waiting patiently. We decided to head to pastures new.

We could still feel the fireball’s powerful glow even though we were underground. The day was far from over and we still had many more jobs to do. As we marched on, we were all repeating in our heads the same thing to ourselves….

The Worker’s code

To protect.

To serve.

To fight.

To support.

And most importantly…..

To survive.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Starwryte!

I'm Tom De Ferry, and I've just finished my first year of studying Creative Writing with Media Studies, Starwryte will be keeping track all of my creative work - these will include my short in-class exercises, some short pieces of my own and some posts to keep track of how my longer pieces of work are progressing (as a novel is a bit too long to put in a single post!)

I would appreciate if any of you would read or comment if you can. Any constructive feedback is welcome, please don't be afraid to criticise if need be although do take into account that I'm very new to writing! :p

I'm aware the blog doesn't look great as it stands, but I will try to work on customising it!

Thank you
Tom