Marmalade skies

The world actually did go orange today. I think it may be a sign.
Some people claim it was actually pink, but the gravel and yellow stone of Downing were glowing orange at me. When I looked up from my computer I was somewhat worried that I had been staring at the screen too long! It was beautiful though - I stuck my head out of the window and just absorbed it all. This college just keeps on growing on me. :)

Chapter 4

The girl in the tavern sat and moped over the prince, and the prince in his castle sat and moped over his princess, and the people avoided each other's eyes in the streets and snapped at their loved ones, and it seemed as though the kindom had been cursed.

Then, suddenly the girl got up. She looked out of the window and the street was empty. In the distance she could see the red castle on the hill but nothing moved there; the only life in the town was two black and white birds flying low overhead, calling to each other. The man who owned the tavern came into the room, straining to carry a heavy barrel and muttering to himself. The girl turned and smiled a radiant smile and the man was so suprised that he stopped and stared as the girl came over, took the barrel and put it away behind the bar. Then the girl fetched her coat and told the man that she was going out for a while, and the tavern keeper noticed that he had been smiling without realising it. The girl stepped out of the tavern and walked down the road. First she went to visit her friends and some of them joined her, and they walked through the kingdom together laughing gaily. And they would smile at the people they passed by, and people would come out to speak with them, and then they would see other people that they knew and instead of returning to work, stopped to speak with them as well. Gradually the streets filled with people again, and they remembered what good friends they had, and how much they enjoyed each other's company.

The sounds of laughter spread up the hill to the castle and the prince looked out the window, astonished. His servants were giggling in the corridors and they smiled fondly at him as he emerged, bemused, from his room. He went outside and people gave him a friendly nod as they passed, before continuing other conversations, and though they smiled at him, they smiled more at each other and the prince walked unhindered through the town. As he looked around at the smiling faces, he realised that he was smiling too, and seeing his subjects so happy made him forget all about his own sorrows. He turned a corner and there was the girl who polished the tables at the tavern; she glanced at him with sparkling eyes that matched his own, then came up to him and kissed him once on the cheek before walking away with her friends around her, leaving the prince standing and staring all around in amazement.

The kingdom was always happy after that; even when times were hard the people remembered that they could rely on each other and that their friendships were strong and valuable. The prince went out less, he talked with his own friends, and they created something together that they could share through joy and sorrow. And when the prince did go out, he looked around and everything he saw made him happy and he was glad and grateful for the gift that other people gave him.

Follow the chain.

Jeez, come on adam! I was trying to go to bed an hour ago!
LINKS!

Chapter 3

Most days the prince would wander the kingdom and sometimes he passed by the tavern, and sometimes he went in, but mostly he would not. And when he did come the girl who polished the tables was ecstatic and when he didn't she was glum until he came again. And sometimes he would walk by and she wanted to run out to speak to him, but she didn't, she waited, and when he didn't come in she was crushed. The prince had so many people to talk to that he didn't always see the people waiting or didn't get a chance to talk to everyone around him and the people were sad because they loved him so but he didn't have time for them. And though when he did speak to them they felt special once again, when he didn't they felt rejected, and thought that he had never really cared about them at all, and they grew sad. And after a while they began to grow angry that they had been taken in so, and that a glance from him should still have the power to make their day or destroy their mood, and they began to avoid him so that they would not fall under his spell again. The girl who polished the tables still gazed at him from inside the tavern as he passed and though she told herself that she didn't want to see him, each time he didn't notice her, her spirits fell.

At first the prince did not notice. There were still new people in the kindom to meet, and while he gained some satisfaction from this, when he was alone he preffered to think about his princess, although she was long gone. But gradually the prince became aware of a change - the people were no longer cheerful in the streets, and each day less would come to speak to him. He didn't understand what had gone wrong - for still when he spoke people would smile, but now it didn't seem to really make them happy. A gloom of misery and simmering resentment crept over the kingdom. The prince began to go out less, for when he passed it just seemed to become worse, so instead he sat and dreamt about the princess.

Chapter 2

The years went by and as the prince grew he became ever more charming and all who saw him couldn't help but smile; for a grin they would do anything, and when he spoke to them people were indeed happy and felt honoured to have to themselves any small moment of his time. Only the princess did not fall under his spell and though they had been close, she left one day, and the prince cried. And though he was sad for a long time after that, his charm remained and he could melt the heart of anyone his green eyes rested upon.

The prince would often roam the kingom for he loved to meet people and talk to them, and he was glad that he had chosen so well and that he had such a power to bring joy to people's hearts. One day he came across a girl polishing tables in a tavern and he spoke with her as he did with many people and she gazed at him, amazed that a person like him would pay her such attention. She offered him a drink and he accepted and she was filled with such excitment by this simple act that for the rest of the day her spirits were lifted to the sky as she went about her work. And the prince went on and visited many people, and for a small time he would give each of them his gift and they too would be gleeful as they conducted their business.

Sometimes when the prince told the story of how he got his gift, his friends would shake their heads and remind him that magpies were tricksy birds and not to be trusted. But he could charm even them and he looked around at his kingdom and saw that despite life being hard in that place, each day his happiness spread to make even the most painful work more bearable for everyone.

Chapter 1

There was once a beautiful kingdom of stone and grass. In this kingdom on a hill sat a grand ivy-covered castle of red, and here lived a prince. One day when the prince was a small boy he came across a magpie with it's leg caught in some wire. Upon untangling the wire the magpie granted the boy a wish (for magpies have special powers over those who see them). The prince was very excited for he could think of many things to wish for! He could wish that he was less shy, or that he had blonde hair, or that he could know everyone in the whole kingdom and never be afraid.

But then he thought, "maybe I can change these things myself without magic. I ought to wish for something for other people," and he thought some more and then he made his wish. "I wish for the power to make people happy." he said firmly and the magpie gave a slight nod of its head and leapt up and off in a flash of black and white and was gone.

When the prince told his friend, a princess, what had happened she thought he must have fallen asleep and dreamt it. "Did you salute the magpie or raise your hat to it?" she asked him, "it's bad luck otherwise," but the prince thought that the magpie was so beautiful it must be good, and anyway what bad luck could come of such a selfless wish?

A brother - but not of the flesh and blood kind.

My college brother Adam has failed in his stalking attempts - mwa ha ha haaa! This makes me laugh (as you have just seen). Why it is only a few convoluted steps that are required to find this very blog and yet he remains bemused! One day perhaps....one day. *cackles*

Also writing about sexual conflict while slightly drunk? Easy! I managed to use examples from the rest of the animal kingdom and not write about my personal experiences.

Looking at photos of strangers.

Looking at photos of strangers
whose names I know
used to know
and you called me acca
and you meant too much to me.
It's so easy to love a child
when they love you
and they are yours
though I was sometimes jealous
that you were really hers.
And i'm looking at her pictures
from when she was with you,
I'm sorry I didn't come
I was sorry but now I'm not so sure
I'm so removed
You all match so well.
And I didn't recognise you, you know.
You've grown so much
while I was away
and so now I don't want to go back
I don't want to look
because however things drift and times change and people aren't the same
I can hold the memory and try to forget the drifting
and the jealousy.
So I'm afraid to go back
Because it can never be the same.
But it's worse looking at photos
because I'll never know if somewhere in there it's still you
and maybe I can still match too.

acca

You used to be my baby,
and then you grew big
and that's fine with me,
but would you mind if I went and cried a little bit?

Another song for a sunny day

This one's never had any chords but I still sing it occasionally when the mood takes me.

I like the way the sun light up the moss in the morning,
and suddenly the wall is golden.
I like the way that I can leave the curtains open so the day streams in.
I'd like to stay
in this one moment everyday
for just a little bit longer,
but I'm up and I'm off, I've got to get ready for the world outside.
I walk and I watch and everywhere seems busy and bright.
And right now, this is what life should be about,
in this moment.
But I've gotta get on, gotta go, no time to stop and stare!
Just passing through, other things to do, though days like these are rare.
There'll be other mornings, other moments, other days,
though none like this one,
can't expect the world to stop for just one hour of bright and glorious blue sky and sun!

Two years

I will never need you, always need you, even though you'll never see.
I'll live without you, have to live without you, knowing it could never be.
I'm living everyday knowing you belong to someone else,
and it'll never go away however much I say it's for the best.
I do not want you, do not have you, it's been years now, really I'm fine.
I no longer want to hold you near me, never dream you could be mine.
But if you asked today
I would not hesitate,
and though I know you'lll never say it, anyway, I can't help hoping.
I can cope without you, lived without you, everday these past two years.
I do not need you. Never needed you at all, despite the tears.
I used to think maybe you felt for me, somehow, something,
No. This time I know, it's done. This is the end now, no more hoping.
No more hoping, wishing, dreaming
waiting, crying, wanting, needing,
I was over you so many years ago; it's true,
It was just a crush that couldn't last, but when I see you still
it's like not a single day has passed,
you were my first,
my last,
but still
I'm fine alone here, now I know for sure that what we had is gone.
And though you're moving on,
I'm still waiting.
I'm still hoping.