D addy-longlegs …

 
»You did well«, Hildegard, his housekeeper and mother, is patting Claude Sideburns' shoulder.

»Did I?« he asks sceptically.

I never noticed how old they both are, and how even older she must be.

»Is something wrong?« Kylie asks.

»Why are there thirteen stones and symbols?« Nigel, her son, adds. »If there are twelve months in one year and one month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural orbital period of the Moon - and the words month and Moon are cognates, by the way…«

»Him using those words is one of the reasons why I send him to college«, Kylie says to Gilbert, the butler and father of Claude Sideburns, not without pride.

»And if each month has got one full-moon«, Nigel continues, »why are there thirteen symbols in your moon-circle?«

A grinding sound that is getting louder is interrupting this discussion. The stones and symbols in the circle have started to glow again, except for two of them. The thirteenth stone has sunken into the ground as well in the meantime, still dark. The whole circle has started to turn while the glowing symbols are sending orang-blue flashes towards the center. And the circle is turning faster and faster.

The grinding sound is getting higher and in the end so high-pitched that is does not hurt our ears any longer. You cannot tell the single stones apart. They have become the blurred edge of a circular arear that is definiatley not mud or frontyard anymore. The lights have gone brighter with the flashes forming one pulsating and disrupted surface with orange-blue waves dancing around like on a stormy ocean.

»There is something wrong«, Mr.Tumbleweed, the faun, says. »The gate has opened, that is right. The circle of stones should be rotating like that. That is right, too. But the surface should be all smooth and plain and more like silver in the beginning. It should resemble the sea or a lake on a quiet day, like a mirror. And you should be able to see your destination through it, on the other side, so to speak.«

»Should, should«, the llama is mocking the faun. »Could, could, …«

I am bumping and jostling it with my bent arm to keep it calm.

»We should see the green hills and meadows of Greenlion and the City of Gold and its' towers glistening between the peaks on the not so far horizon. Even the hanging branches of the willow tree from where I once came into your world would be better than this mess we are staring at right here, right now.«

Claude Sideburns has left his mother's and houskeeper's side and is approaching the circle again.

»Looks like a very dirty whirlpool to me«, the llama says. »A whirlpool with way to many bubbles.«

»But I can see something on the other side, I think«, Claude says.

»What do you see?« the faun asks stepping right at his side. Mr. Tumbleweed is more than two heads taller than the man who is not a professor for archaeology - pointed ears and horns not measured.

»I don't know, yet«, Sideburns replies. »Could be planks or other boards of some kind. Like on a ship or like parquet on a dance floor.«

»Looks all wet to me«, Nigel adds who is taking a closer look now, too.

»Come back from that thing.« Kylie is grabbing her son's arm. »It could be dangerous.«

The world around us has gone all unnatural quiet with no sounds and noises from the lands and estate of Brompton Castle, neither living nor mechanical ones. But as I lean forward now, I can faintly hear winds blowing and waves splashing on wood emerging from the inside of the glowing and pulsating circle.

And all of a sudden the waves on the surface of the circle are forming a giant whirlwind which is still emitting the strange orange and blue light with a hint of gold and spinning and turning fast and faster until it drags us inside. I can see Kylie floating and falling next to me still gotten hold of Nigel's arm. And Claude Sideburns and Mr. Tumbleweed, the faun, are also here, shaken and shocked, not knowing what is happening.

Outside the circle I can see Hildegard's and Gilbert's pale faces and wide eyes and open mouths and the llama getting all upset.

»Hey? Where are you going?« the animal shouts. »Not without me!«

And with a running jump off all four legs at once the llama follows us into all this spinning and turning and flying and falling…

Bored of the life in the City of Gold
He'd left and let nobody know.
Gone were the towers he had known from a child,
Alone with the dream of a life
He travelled the wide open road,
The blinkered arcade,
In search of another to share in his life.
Nowhere.
Everyone looked so strange to him.

They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a City of Gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And wept as they led him away to a cage
Beast that can talk, read the sign.
The creatures they pushed and they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again.
But soon they grew bored of their prey
Beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt.
Oh
No.

They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a City of Gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out.
He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out:
There, beyond the bounds of you weak imagination
Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold.
Let me take you there, show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?

They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a City of Gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept.

And so we set out with the beast and his horns
And his crazy description of home.
After many days journey we came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out.
We followed his gaze and we thought that maybe we saw…

☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑

Today is Wednesday, the 29th of November 2023.

Mr. Tumbleweed, a Faun