a story

(This is a story I was asked to write and fit into one page, by P. Now I'm to shorten it by half. It's fun -- reminds me of the good times of wine and cheese and writing parties with the playwriting class. :))

LOVE.

The Queen And The Soldier (or, A Problem We Never Have In Ireland)
The queen sat on the largest throne in the longest room under the tallest tower of her castle, and waited. Every day she arose, ate, walked her gardens which raged forth under the sun, and sat on her throne. Every day, the sole person over whom she ruled entered the throne room, knelt, and reported on the state of the queendom. Rarely did things happen outside the throne room -- and, if they did, they were addressed by the soldier on his rounds. Nothing reached this queen who had no beginning, but simply was. Every day the queen rose, ate, walked and waited while the soldier patrolled and reported and the stones of the castle grew warm under the sun. Every day, until one day something changed. "Queen," said the soldier, "the horizons grow dark." She nodded and said nothing. The day ended. The next morning, the soldier appeared early to the throne room. He was flushed, windswept. "Queen," said he, "the horizons grow darker." She smiled and said nothing. The day ended. The next morning the soldier appeared, breathless, as the queen walked the hall to the throne room. "Queen," said he, "they grow still darker. Clouds are amassing." She put a hand on his shoulder, and said nothing. The day ended -- the next morning, the soldier appeared before she finished her walk in the garden, for he had not ridden out this day. He had not needed to, but had watched the sky through the windows as he ran to her. He stood before her on the garden path and said, "Queen, the dark has reached our doorstep. The storm is upon us." He fell to his knees as the sun faded behind a roiling cloud. "Why do you say nothing," he cried, "when it is only the two of us against this storm and I am afraid?" The queen smiled, softly kissed the top of his head, and said,
"Are you not tired of the sun?"

updates

- on Halloween, we dressed as superheroes. I say we...but in Clai it was largely me. I mean, others had pieces of costume, but I was fully masked and caped and underwear-over-tights-ed. The costumes grew as the day progressed, though, and in the evening we went on a walk in Woodpark and I shared the story R and I wrote and we went back to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories. Mm, Halloween. :)
- a few of us are off to see HP7 part 1 tomorrow. YAY!
- I made a cake, all by my lonesome, last weekend as part of the Bible evening we had (10 minutes of silence, then a specially-prepared meal together, then a sharing of the bible reading from the week and a discussion of it. It was lovely to share a spiritual space with all these people that I've shared so many other spaces with. :)) Also, I put a smiley face on the cake and people liked it. The cake, and the face. :)

Yup. That's about it for now...(except maybe a clarification. The previous post is telling of my visit to Dublin earlier this week, to do research for a play. It was awesome -- to take the time for the play, and for myself (went to some other theatre on the first night. Bad show, but good to be back in a theatre). In the hostel, my bed had no bedding on it so I was transferred to another room which I had all to myself. As we walked there, I joked with the hostel guy showing me the room that I could do anything I wanted (because I had it to myself)! There was a pause...and then he said, "Yeah...but don't." Ha. Whoops. It was a joke... :)

Ok.
Hope all is well with everyone.

LOVE.