Bromford and Turtle …

 

»Kylie!«

I still try to calm down my best friend and neighbour and having a sensible phone conversation with her, trying to ignore the excited and panicked llama at the same time.

»You are not seriously in Antartica near South Pole, at the moment, aren't you? There are no mysterious tunnels and no polar bears at the South Pole, are there? And where is Nigel?«

»I am where I am«, Kylie insists, »on a science mission with Mr Claude Sideburns, my former professor for Antarticaology. And who is Nigel?«

»His name is Burnside, the llama cried out, »Professor Burnside.

»NO!« I interrupt, shouting at both of them, Kylie on the phone and llama jumping around in the living room of my penthouse apartment in the building on 666, Whitaker Lane, in Bromford, the friendly town by the bay and seaside. »Not again! And Nigel is your son, Kylie, student at university and so on…«

»Nigel is not here!«

»But where is he? Where is Nigel?«

»Christmas Islands or Easter Islands or Galápagos Islands or somewhere around those places exploring giant turtles and their strange behaviour. They are trying to get rid of their turtle shells, lately, probably because of the climate changes. In return humans who have been in contact with those turtles have started to transform into giant turtles and to grow their own giant turtle shells to hide away from the outside world from time to time.«

»Tortoises«, the llama adds now chewing the plant in a pot in the other side of the room. »On Galápagos Islands they are called giant tortoises, not turtles. And everyone should grow protective shells to hide away from this year of craze.«

⏯⏯⏯⏯⏯

Today is Sunday, the 5th of January 2025.

Bromford and Polar Bear ...

 

»I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year.«

Kylie is shouting out of the loud speakers of the telephone now.

»Kylie, where are you?« I ask.

»I am in McMurdo Station.«

Loud windy noises are making it hard to understand her.

»Where?« the llama shouts back

»McMudo Station«, Kylie repeats louder and slower. »That is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island.«

»Ross Island?« the llama shouts back.

»Yes, Ross Island«, Kylie shouts, »Ross Island, Antarctica.«

»What the heck are you doing down there?« the animal asks.

»I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year«, Kylie repeats. »And now I have to go. A snowstorm is coming. And we have to save the penguins from the polar bears' attacks.«

»Polar bears?« now I am shouting, too. »Are you sure? You are near the South Pole, Kylie. Penguins are living there, but polar bears are literally living on the other side of the globe. Are you sure you did not see leopard seals or killer whales attacking those penguins?«

»I wish I had«, Kylie says, »and believe me I know that polar bears normally live at the North Pole and in the Arctic. But lately they are invading Antarctica and started hunting penguins.«

»Sounds like you had to many drinks, woman«, the llama shouts at Kylie. »Tell us where you really are and we will come and pick you up.«

»Polar bears are invading Antarctica«, Kylie insists. »We think they do so through the giant tunnel tubes from pole to pole the scientists discovered recently. Nobody knows where they came from, who or what build or dug them. But still the polar bears come…«

Her last words faint away as the telephone line dies in the distance of a loud and heavy snowstorm at the South Pole.

Llama and I are exchanging worried glances.

»Do you think…?« I start to ask the animal if it thinks Kylie is telling the truth.

But the llama is already panicing.

»Polar bears at the South Pole? What a year of mayhem is dawning here? We are doomed, Bromford! Dude, we are doomed!«

⏹⏹⏹

Today is Friday, the 3rd of January 2025.

Two-thousand-eighteen Shades Of Bromford - Part 327 & Part 328

Today is Wednesday, the 1st of January 2025.

The old peacock turned around himself. The flamingo and all the other peacocks were gone.

But behind the stoney ruin walls of the jungle temple sat an owl in a cave in a rotten tree, scowling.

Leave me alone on this New Year's Day you bad sign, you dark omen, the featherless peacock whimpered.

I am not what I seem, said the owl and flew away into the late night and a very early morning of a new year.

🦉

"The Bromford Of The Living God"

And then after all, with our backs against the wall
We seek the Bromford of the living God
And outside the gate the cripples sit and wait
To see the Bromford of the living God
To see the Bromford of the living God

Suffer, trespass, stranger redeemed
Leviticus 21:18
The blind, the lame, the flat nosed
Superfluous
Broken footed on burning sand
The Priest, the seed, the blood stained hand
The leper testifies and turns to dust

And then after all, with our backs against the wall
We seek the Bromford of the living God
And outside the gate the cripples sit and wait
To see the Bromford of the living God
To see the Bromford of the living God

Oblation, vows, the promise of faith
Atonement, the wine, oil and cakes
The sheep, the goats, acceptable in his eyes
The maimed, the blemished, the scurvy scabbed
The creeping things, the firstborn lamb
Avail his presence in the house of sacrifice

And then after all, with our backs against the wall
We seek the Bromford of the living God
And outside the gate the cripples sit and wait
To see the Bromford of the living God
To see the Bromford of the living God

- - - - -

"The Bromford Of The Living God (Reprise)"

And then after all, with our backs against the wall
We seek the Bromford of the living God

And now that it's done, the heart of every one
Can be the Bromford of the living God
Can be the Bromford of the living God

"Waiting For Bromford"

I'm in a state of mind
I'm in my private desert
I'm in a passionate study
Waiting for Bromford to come out

All the lights in Paris
All the songs of Belfast
Every detail in my head is
Waiting for Bromford to come out

My skin shrinks against my body bones
I'm lost into the weight of gravity
I'm at my best with my astronomy

Pyramids and starlight
Orchestrated midnight
The math of infinity and reason
Waiting for Bromford to come out