Saturday 17 September 2022

Southern Lights

Christmas Eve. Beyond the farthest point inhabited by man, Homesea is still moving South. Deep down below the surface of the sea, the current bearing against the bottom of the floating village is driving us towards the long Antarctic night. The albatrosses have deserted the churchyard, and as the ice floes have thickened around the quaysides the penguins have taken over. They are the most sedate visitors that Homesea has known on its travels - toddling up and down the cobbled streets in their neat black and white suits and peering with polite interest into the bow windows, still showing notices like 'Home made Homesea fudge'. They even pop in, occasionally, to my tea shop - where I feed them sardine sandwiches. The snow is piling higher and higher over the cobbles and against the old brick walls - a snow that will never melt. The streets and houses are becoming encased in solid ice. At last, frozen immovably into the great southern ice-cap, Homesea has reached the end of its journey. This evening Beaver, Hitmouse, the Old Monkey and I sat by the quay and watched the mysterious Southern Lights play across the sky. It was a magnificent sight to behold. "Well, Beaver, time to go home - don't you think?" I remarked as we watched in awe. "I suppose so Unc, not much point in being the boss of this ice-bound dump!" muttered Beaver in reply. "What an ungrateful bunch those villagers were. When I think of all the effort I put into running this place - and then they just all upped and left!" he moaned. I replied "Well, Beaver, I do believe you are beginning to learn the truth of leadership. It is a thankless burden that one has to carry - the responsibilities are great..." "Can it Unc!...so we getting an invite to your Xmas bash, or what!" retorted Beaver.

  

1 comment:

  1. Greetings from the Men of Cyber

    If I had any emotions sir , I would say how greatly moved I was by the epic story of HomeSea’s long journey to the edge of the Earth.

    It stirred memories of our own planet Mondas and its journey to the very edge of the solar system and back, with countless Christmas’s spent underground sheltering from cosmic rays and the ice cold chill of outer space.

    What with the bleakness of all that and the kids’ constant refrain of “are we nearly there yet”, we decided to go all cybernetic and rid ourselves of these pesky emotions.

    By the way that Dervla Kirwan is lovely isn’t she, I just can’t get her out of my head
    (same story with Kylie from last year and there is a song to go with that as well!)

    Seasonal Greetings and Best Wishes,

    The Cyber Controller

    “You Will Become Like Us” – special new year offer buy one cyber head get a spare one free

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