The Magical Fantasy Land

UNICORNS!

The words surrounded the magic tree, continuing on a permanent loop until they whispered away to nothingness.

"Who is here, we know not, they aren't familiar at all?"
"Why are they here and how did they arrive?"

Over and over again the words spun without change, yet no reply to their question was given - which made it more impressive. In time the words would fade away and new ones take over in the fullness of time. Time? what is time? Is it visible or yet another feature of this land? This magical fantasy land!

Suddenly a Unicorn came out of the tree, breaking the endless chain of words surrounding it - which stopped abruptly! Then new words surrounded the magic tree.

"A unicorn, with sparkles all around, what a mystical beast to grace our land."
"Where are the others who came with it? Are they not visible yet?"

The silver emanating from the unicorn's horn turned into stars, searching for the Chosen One and as they swirled around her, she alone slowly showed her form. There were no other beings to be seen but it was obvious they were not alone. The unicorn knelt briefly in front of her and then began to sing.  The song had no words, but images filled the minds of everyone.. As the song drifted away, the Chosen One gently clapped her hands and the sound was the sweetest of all.

"My friends, please greet this messenger with respect because it has traveled for many a mile, and countless years have passed since it left its home." And now, my dear, what message have you to impart, no-one here will harm you as we revere all life. Whatever news brings you thus, we shall listen without judgment"

The unicorn nodded to accept the welcome, then let out a little whinny, which brought two others from the tree, which shuddered for a while.

"Fear not," he said, "these are my companions to complete my mission, in case anything evil befalls me. Our sages saw a terrible event which may threaten this world and many more, so they entrusted us and many more to impart the news to all of what may befall us every soon."

"A silver object appeared in the skies, travelling at great speed.  It came ever nearer to the planets before ours, then landed on one. Once the object stopped moving some body-forms in peculiar garb exited and began exploring that world. After a few days, several more silver objects joined the first. Before they started exploring distant parts, they made some shelters and an item with wheels was taken out of the third object. This was able to traverse quite quickly. After several months, there was activity around one of the silver objects, and then it took to the sky again, and landed on the next planet. Other objects arrived from far away, and joined this one. All the activity seen on the first world  was repeated There were strange activities on the planets - on both these planets - items eating rocks dug up, and many other things. This pattern continued until the last three planets of that galaxy were taken over."

"Then our sages, who had followed all of this strangeness, noticed a change in activity and, to their horror one silver object took to the skies again, moving to the first world of the next small galaxy - the one before ours and thought they had best start to send messengers to alert all the planets. They gathered all unicorns to pass the warnings on to all inhabitants to be prepared to deal with these invaders,. Other beings will carry out the same tasks for the safety of all the other lands. Thus far they haven't been on an inhabited world, so their intentions are not clear and, after ours, yours is the most magical fantasy land of all. It may be that nothing bad will happen if these travelers come here, but we must be prepared for anything."

"Your invisibility may protect you, but not your trees and plants. The sages are unaware of what may happen, so cannot offer much than this warning. They are preparing to make sure any developments on less barren worlds are reported, we shall know when that happens and be able to advise you accordingly. If necessary, we shall protect as best we can to preserve this beautiful land. That has been attested by the highest on our world. And, once any danger is detected, a further 30 unicorns will arrive. We do not require sustenance of food or liquid. All we need is somewhere quiet to sojourn - not all at once, of course."

"We shall be made aware of the dangers you may face, then we shall talk with you and make our plans according to your wishes. If you wish us to join you in invisibility, we shall do so. Our task is protection and it is not in our nature to fight. It may be that these unknown beings find all they need without coming any closer and return to whence they came from. That would be the best solution, because if they come in to this galaxy they would discover some of the magical properties and would never leave us alone."

The Chosen One spoke to the unicorn, her voice like chimes gently teased by the wind.

"Thank you, dear friend. We shall be pleased to have your company. If anything happens to this galaxy it will be catastrophic indeed, for all the magical fantasy lands would be lost for evermore. Come, let us find you a place where you can wait in peace until needed. The suns are starting to slip from our view, so we shall sleep soon."

The words of the magic tree changed to a gentle humming sound, to let night reclaim the silence, and gradually nothing could be heard or seen except for the silvery forms of the Chosen Ones and the unicorns which were growing ever dimmer. Sleep, alas, was not to last until after dawn, but rather noises grew louder and louder as the light started oh so slowly to rise over the land. 

Every one and every thing were brutally awoken by unicorns emanating from the magic tree, 30 of them nearly rent the tree apart. The words from the magic tree stuttered to life.

"What is the meaning of this? Why did you all come at the same time? You nearly killed us!"

Magically, the Chosen One and the three unicorns, appeared in their silvery hues.  Messages seemed to pass between the unicorns at lightning speed.  Then the lead unicorn made obeisance to the Chosen One.

"An emergency was detected and we have been given the means to protect this magical fantasy land. The silver objects came ever closer, and ancient magic came to our minds. We have the power, in a herd of 33, to make this land invisible to all who are not from our galaxy. We shall need help from you with your knowledge of this land. We need to go to the highest place where we may combine our magic to shield all from outside sight. It must be done very soon, all of the lands in this galaxy need to be shielded at the same time. In order to be prompt, please show us where to go, seconds may be very important."

The Chosen One nodded her head, sang some magic words, and growing taller and taller asked the unicorns to stand on her hands, one by one. She then blew the unicorns to the highest mountain and when all were gathered there they soon started to use their silvery horns to create a diaphanous layer which curtained the world
. 

* * * * * * *

DOLPHINS!

At the same time that the Lead unicorn arrived on this world a nearby planet, which was mainly underwater, was experiencing similar activity. As unicorns can not live submerged, the messengers here were dolphins - foreign to the beings populating this world - arriving through a special rainbow, the likes of which were only seen at special times.

A musical tune the dolphins sang resonated until the Chosen One appeared. They quickly told her of the threats discovered  and the methods they intended to use to help keep this magical fantasy land safe from outside view, along with all the others. 

The dolphins asked for assistance in keeping the rainbow alive in order for the rest of their family, totalling 33, to arrive unharmed. This the Chosen One agreed to do, and blew the head dolphin to the bottom of the rainbow, which shivered and shivered as dolphin after dolphin came through. Each one made their way to the Chosen One, who blew them so they appeared to be leaving for another world, but came back, singing a special tune, which made the rainbow shimmer until it stretched to cover the whole world. 



At the same time all the planets in the galaxy disappeared from outside eyes too, and nevermore would the magical fantasy lands be threatened by outsiders.

The end
written by

Virginia Kop/Kop's Kattery

The New Shoes

Children's Fiction
by Virginia Kop/Kop's Kattery

One day Pandora's Mother asked her 8 and a half year old daughter to sit beside her on the settee as she had some good news for the family. Pandora's father had been unemployed for a year, but finally he had landed a fantastic new job. 

"We are moving, Pandora, to live next door to the Natural Science Museum in Town. Daddy has just been given the job of Head Curator and there is a house next door to the Museum." Pandora thought for a while, then asked what kind of exhibits were there. "There are all kinds of very large rooms in the Museum, housing dinosaur bones, fossils, images of spacemen, even one for super-heroes and live exhibits of reptiles and small mammals. Plus artists' paintings and sculptures. A lot to see and learn about for all of us!" "Will I have to go to a new School, Mummy?" asked Pandora.

"No, darling, you will not be going to any School at all, you will be taught at home for some subjects, like mathematics, but the majority of your School days will be spent in the Museum - learning about all the exhibits - so that Daddy has a good assistant and when he is too old to be the Curator, you will take over his position. What normally happens is that each Head Curator selects a child of their own to follow in their footsteps." After some thought, Pandora had a question "Why do they need Daddy to work there, then?"

"Good question, Pandora! Well, the last Head Curator asked his son what he wanted for Christmas. The boy replied that he would love to have a new pair of shoes - not ordinary leather, something more exotic like snakeskin! His father was not happy with the request as he didn't like the way the boy acted in the reptile room , but decided to buy the shoes anyway. Christmas Day arrived and, in the boy's gifts there was a pair of shoes made from snakeskin. He put them on and went rushing into the reptile section at the Museum, saying he was in charge now he had snakeskin too. However the snakes were so annoyed that one or more of their kind had been used in such an abhorrent manner, they escaped from their exhibits and silently slithered up the boys legs, venomous ones biting the boy all over. The constrictors did their part too. After an hour or two his father missed his son and went into the Museum to see where he was. As he entered the reptile section, he noticed that all the snakes were out of their exhibits and in a great heap on the floor. 'Silly boy,' he said, 'why did he let the snakes out? He has always been nasty to them, teasing them with their food.' Then he saw that underneath the snakes was the body of his son, with his new shoes in tatters."

"After he dealt with the snakes and his son's body, the Curator decided he didn't want to live and work there any more, so he told the Trustees he was leaving to go somewhere no-one wore shoes and learn to live without his son. So your Daddy was offered the job and told that as long as he promised never to have anyone in the family wear exotic shoes or clothes, we would be safe. Do you think we can do that, Pandora?" To which Pandora replied 'I never want to wear anything made from any kind of animals and, although I am sad for the boy, am looking forward to our new home!"


    

MIRROR

MIRROR
A Poem by Virginia Kop
(Kop's Kattery)

The magical illusions of the mirror,
Whether on wall or stand,
Allow a glimpse of yesteryear
To the highest in the land.

The magical illusions of the mirror,
Are a myth to those without glass,
And when the sun shines through the trees
Pools of water reflect the beautiful lass.

The magical illusions of the mirror,
Allow a passing Prince to see 
The face of the fair damsel 
And he looks for her behind every tree

The magical illusions of the mirror
Whether on wall or stand
Show the Prince as he waits for the
Damsel to agree to take his hand.

The magical illusions of the mirror
Shows how happy and grand
The Princess and her family lovingly
Bring joy throughout the land,

Thunder!

Thunder - A dream

I am moving slowly through crowds of people, trying to find where I need to be! So many bodies they are stopping me from reaching my goal. Time is running out, I MUST reach my destination very soon, there are too many people awaiting my arrival - and this is the last step to fulfilling my dream destiny, if I fail now there will not be any more opportunities!! 

Finally my route is cleared of people, and all I can hear is thunder - yet there are no dark clouds. Slowly the realisation dawns that this isn't weather. People are waiting for me to fulfill a dream held by most of us. As I arrive the people stand and applaud even louder. There isn't a free seat, standing room only - and that is extremely limited. I like this kind of thunder, it does no harm at all.  My would-be Nemesis has joined me, and we prepare ourselves for what is to come. It only takes an hour then the thunder resurfaces, much louder than ever  heard before!

There is a new Ladies Singles Champion at Wimbledon, a 43-year old British woman, who only started playing tennis at age 40! And the pinnacle has been reached thanks to a wild card into qualifying!

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?

The Wee Saga

How A Minor Request Became A Major Battle!

On Wednesday, 24 July, I took Bracken to the vets due to changes in her body and behaviour. After an examination, the vet said she suspected there was arthritis in Bracken's rear legs, and she would like me to collect a urine sample and film Bracken walking, etc. After showing me how to turn my phone's camera into a video recorder, she gave me a pack of plastic pellets, pipette and some specimen bottles. I paid the bill and returned home

Our triangular tray

This oblong tray came when my youngest sister had to lose her cuddly cat a few years ago

Because I knew it would take time for Bracken to recover from her visit to the vets, I decided to wait until Monday, 29 July, to try for the sample. Cleaned out the triangular tray - which wasn't difficult as I had changed cat-litter on the Friday. The pellets looked lost in the big tray, so on Tuesday I bought another pack of the plastic pellets. The tray looked more appealing - Bracken kept smelling them and walking away! Thinking she might be better tempted with a smaller tray, I bought a kitten starter kit - hot pink - the next day. Feeling I had solved the problem, I stacked the other trays so she couldn't use them. Success?

No way!!!

NO!!

My lovely, cuddly cat was NOT amused. At about 4.30 am, she woke me up  had made so much noise to wake me that I was surprised some neighbour didn't complain! We went into the bathroom and she started trying to get one of trays down to use.  Not for the required wee - a bm. After clearing the smelly deposit out, I sanitised the tray and  both covered trays were put in the kitchen - nothing in there at risk of contamination.

Decided to make an effort to persuade Bracken to use the tray by keeping her in, which was a good idea except for the fact that by Noon Bracken was desperately in need of some grass to help  a fur ball come out of her tummy. When she returned and ejected the fur ball, she went straight into her normal tray to have a wee. There was no chance of her using the plastic pellets, even after trying to entice her by putting some crystal litter in the tray.

I should have saved the  crystals by leaving them where they were! But, desperate times call for desperate measures! Luckily I had a much better idea - buy a pheromone spray to entice her into the pellets! Shall hopefully obtain the spray on Monday and [metaphorically speaking] cross my fingers. Failing that, back to the vets - am sure she can find a way to  gather some urine - and could take a blood sample, which she may need to do anyway!!! Pheromone spray cost didn't fit into my budget and I saw on tv how a cat can be persuaded to have a wee - need a helper, but think I'll leave it to the professionals.

I remembered that I had really thought it would be very easy to collect a sample - totally wrong!! Bracken is such a stubborn cat!!

Cine camera - a doddle, I thought as Bracken loves to have her  photo taken - NO, she didn't like the lack of clicks so moved away! Back to the drawing board!