{"id":569,"date":"2023-11-04T13:59:07","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T13:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=569"},"modified":"2023-11-04T14:00:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T14:00:28","slug":"flsh-of-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=569","title":{"rendered":"Flash of Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wpsocialite social-buttons large\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=569&amp;locale=en_US&amp;t=\" class=\"socialite facebook-like\" data-lang=\"en_US\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=569\" data-send=\"false\" data-layout=\"box_count\" data-width=\"60\" data-show-faces=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"vhidden\">Share on Facebook.<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"socialite twitter-share\" data-text=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=569\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-lang=\"en_US\" data-via=\"@birdstoowit\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"vhidden\">Share on Twitter.<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n<p>Flash of Thunder<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a9 Peter L. Barnes \u2013 March 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise had been gazing across the fields to the far away hills when she felt the explosive earth impact seconds after the brightest light she had ever seen. Well, the only light she had seen, given her impaired sight. Leaping up with fright and tipping over the bench making her crash to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOof and ow, that hurt\u201d she said, to the listening audience of wild creatures. This bench was her favourite spot in the world. A place where the hum of insects and the rustling of tiny mammals as they went about their short lives, took away the pain and frustration of her ills and disabilities. A place where she could connect with nature, through touch and smell as well as the occasional taste of fallen pollen, bringing a calm to her racing mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise worried that a rain storm would follow the thunder but thankfully she couldn\u2019t smell the dust rising from the big first splatters of rain or hail that might threaten to engulf her. She carefully picked up the bench and sat back down, waiting for her guide back home. Once and only once, she had become lost on the way home after the council had installed a new, and to her mind, unneeded, fence which had her tumbling down a hill, too close to the cliff for comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever since then, her mother insisted that someone come and collect her. But it wasn\u2019t always easy to find a person who could be relied on. Her brother usually helped but these days his mind was on other things. She would be camped out on the bench until he arrived but determined to make the best of the situation, she extracted the bird food she always carried and threw some on the floor by her dainty feet. The ducks were the first to arrive, squabbling over the meal worms, with the chirping chicks of various waterfowl, pecking at the ground for the scraps or begging titbits from their mothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise jumped at the sound so close to her ear. She heard the scramble of ducks as they fled the scene, from what she knew not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello, who are you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSorry,\u201d said Eloise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMore to the point, what are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBoy or girl?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGirl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOoo you must be tasty \u2013 sugar and spice and all things nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m afraid that\u2019s an urban myth,\u201d said Eloise. \u201cGirls are spite and might and all things trite, with a lot of fight. Not tasty at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPity, I was beginning to get an appetite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sorry to disappoint you, whatever you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a girl as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo. What creature are you? You look like a jumble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can see me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI may be blind but I can see mythical creatures.\u201d said Eloise. \u201cThey are all around but most people dismiss them as a mirage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo, my creeping up on you was waste of time and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBasically, yes but I was confused by your shape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFused is the right word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet me look at you.\u201d said Eloise. \u201cA dragon head but with a white unicorn horn; rearing wings more like a griffin, far too small for a dragon; stripey body of a tiger with a white flowing mane; weak back legs of a goat, topped off with a scorpion tail. You look really weird.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou should see the others,\u201d said the monster, defensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCome with me and I\u2019ll show you and maybe you can help us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry, it\u2019s getting late and my brother is coming to take me home,\u201d pointing to the slouching youth, meandering down the chalk path, kicking up white dust as he approached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello Sis, stop talking to your imaginary friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cImaginary, I\u2019ll give him imaginary.\u201d Filling her lungs with air, the monster blasted what he hoped was a conflagration of flames, only to see little puffs of smoke emit from his cavernous mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAre you smoking sis, I\u2019ll tell mum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo, it\u2019s my imaginary friend giving off smoke signals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhatever! Come on, let\u2019s get home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll see you here tomorrow,\u201d said Eloise, looking back over her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sun streamed through the gap in the window, warming Eloise\u2019s cheek. She felt through her wardrobe until she found the outfit she had decided to wear today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEloise, what on earth are you wearing this morning, it\u2019s not Halloween you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI must have picked out the wrong dress, never mind it will have to do. Is Robert ready to take me to my seat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRobert, come and take your sister out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAgain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, you don\u2019t want Eloise turning you into a frog, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOr a three headed toad,\u201d said Eloise, wickedly waving her crooked white stick at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert took a step back, never quite sure what his sister\u2019s powers were or even if she had any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCome on then Sis let\u2019s get you to your perch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise did indeed wish she had the power to turn him into a toad, \u2018sis\u2019 and \u2018perch\u2019 equally galling. She would bide her time before exacting her revenge, as they walked to the coastal path and she took her place on her favourite bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bathing in the warmth of the early summer\u2019s day, Eloise closed her eyes and wondered when her strange creature would join her. She felt a cold presence near her but maybe only a cloud passing in front of the bright sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGo away cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI thought you wanted to see me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh! It\u2019s you. Get out of my sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSorry,\u201d said the creature, shuffling out of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to you, how did you get into this state?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think you may need to meet the others. Take my paw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo leading me off the cliff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAre your promises gold plated?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI need you more than you need me, so probably they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat do I call you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJambalaya.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJumble what? asked Eloise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJambalaya. It\u2019s a mix of everything\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd very tasty too, I expect,\u201d said Eloise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jambalaya led Eloise through the thick woods where she felt all the damp mosses and ferns on the fallen tree trunks. Eloise gingerly moved forward, not wanting to break any bones in the awkward undergrowth and still terrified that Jambalaya would lead her into a trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHere we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2019Here we are\u2019 where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the magic stone circle of course,\u201d said Jambalaya. \u201cIt\u2019s where all mythical creatures come to socialise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEach creature has a stone to sit on, what we call our \u2018Circle of Fiends\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhich one is for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou have been invited to be the chair of our meeting to try and resolve our issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo I have a choice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTheoretically!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jambalaya led Eloise to a stone chair in the middle of the circle. \u201cThe chair will swivel and point you to the relevant creature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise sat on the stone seat and it came to life, spinning like a top, as a ring of weird and mixed up creatures all clamoured for her attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe witch tricked me!\u201d shouted one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMe too!\u201d called another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow will I survive,\u201d moaned a third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be ridiculed for life!\u201d said a fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a voice she had never heard coming out of her mouth, Eloise screamed at them, \u201cQuiet!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shocked by the sheer strength of her voice, every one instantly ceased their complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJambalaya, explain what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s happened to your voice Eloise!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNever mind that, explain. Now!\u201d Her new found voice astounded herself. No doubt the result of the end of years of being placated and pandered to, because of her condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAn old woman appeared one day at our monthly meeting and promised to give us more powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A con called one, a trick called another, she cheated us called a third, until the clamour once again forced Eloise to quell the noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight, you first!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A monstrous man shaped creature with bulging muscles like the Hulk, stood up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was always losing fights \u2018cos I don\u2019t have stereoscopic vision. She promised me another eye,\u201d pointing at the extra eye, almost stabbing himself in it in the process. \u201cNow I have two eyes but they point in different directions. So, I\u2019s worse than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not good, but maybe if you didn\u2019t fight so much and instead used your power to protect vulnerable people, then you would get more sympathy and make some new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cyclops looked down with shame at his past aggressive behaviour. \u201cYou doesn\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to be mocked and ridiculed for one\u2019s looks,\u201d he moaned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh trust me, I do.\u201d said Eloise. \u201cI\u2019ll see what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The chair swivelled but pointed only to a dark shape in the bushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The creature turned towards her showing her black and white face split in two and with a similarly coloured, spirally horn. Bulging eyes highlighted by being black on the white side and white starkly contrasting with the black side of it\u2019s face..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to be more zebra with their startling, stripey bodies, then I could stand out in a crowd, and look what I got.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOn the plains of the Serengetti, there are a million zebras and none stand out as being special,\u201d said Eloise. \u201cA unicorn is the most startling and wondrous animal of all and you\u2019ve spoilt it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The unicorn bowed it\u2019s head and scraped at the ground with it\u2019s white hoof, stirring up some insects in the field, only to be snapped up by a pecking pigeon creature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise spun towards the mishappen Griffen. \u201cAnd what happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted more colour like the strutting male pigeons,\u201d puffing his purple green and blue chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd will you stop pecking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t help it. It\u2019s what pigeons do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow you\u2019ve gone from a magnificent Eagle headed lion, to a pecking pigeon with unsightly legs. Well done you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The misshapen griffin tried to bury it\u2019s head in the sand in shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStop that, you\u2019re not an ostrich.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMe, me. Help me.\u201d The chair swivelled around to face a caped man. \u201cShe took my front teeth and left me with gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProbably a good thing then for all those virgins out there who value their blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut that\u2019s the problem, with my fang teeth every one swiped left on the dating apps, now with gaps, it\u2019s even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDo you promise no molesting necks in the future?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut I need to drink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf I help you, then in future you\u2019ll only be allowed to drink Bloody Mary\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her chair swung again to reveal a bright red minotaur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd what seems to be your problem?\u201d asked Eloise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to be able to fly like Pegasus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All I got was two cans of a caffeine, carbonated drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLast of all, Dragon what was your desire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNothing really but what I got was everything that the others had asked for and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard enough of this,\u201d she said. \u201cYou were all so dissatisfied with your wonderous looks and powers but you still wanted more. Shame on you. What you look like does not define you. What you do and how you act does. Good deeds, love and respect for others are the key to success and probably happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you wake up in the morning and think \u2018who can I help today\u2019, then you are on your way to a good human being or indeed in your cases, a revered mythical creature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Murmuring across the glade showed that each creature had realised realise the error of their decision to have something the others had, which they envied, was totally flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow all think about your best features and you will have the wicked witches spell disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They bowed their heads as another flash burst across the woodland and fields beyond, as Elois pointed at the assembled creatures, with her crocked wand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eloise slowly wandered across the fields on her way back to her fairy godmother\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello godmother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello white witch, is it done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, they are all back to their un-normal selves and happier for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd your Black Witch Brother?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s out in the garden pond, croaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd your sight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can still see the mythical creatures, but everything else as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flash of Thunder \u00a9 Peter L. Barnes \u2013 March 2023 Eloise had been gazing across the fields to the far away hills when she felt the explosive earth impact seconds after the brightest light she had ever seen. Well, the only light she had seen, given her impaired sight. Leaping up with fright and tipping [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":571,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}