Flying to Paradise – Part 5 (Final part)

The girl was angry and frustrated while she was in the grey city. She tried to keep off the conveyer belt but kept falling back onto it.

Finally, after many months, the white coated general looked inside her belly and found that the huge horrid hungry slug had totally gone. Even he was surprised by this. He didn’t know that secretly the girl’s invisible best friend had been reaching inside her belly every night to gradually kill the huge horrid hungry slug.

So the girl flew back to paradise, with her hand holding tightly to the hand of her invisible best friend: over the grey buildings, over the green hills and out to sea – over the splashing waves and the bubbling foam, over the seas; over the many seas, until she could see God’s banqueting table with the sun rising over it, dressed with a clean white table cloth.

Her heart leapt when her feet touched the ground and she was enthusiastically welcomed by the bear and the dancing meerkat, and by all her friends in paradise. She felt at home. She felt known, loved and safe.

She was excited to find that there was no black cloud of fear on her shoulder and no stabbing pain in her belly. She couldn’t wait for all the adventures she knew would be ahead, walking with her invisible best friend in paradise.

She turned to her invisible best friend and decided never to let go of his hand again.

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As the grandmother’s story came to an end, the two granddaughters smiled sleepily. They loved that story so much, even though they had heard it so many times before. She kissed them each gently on the forehead as they snuggled down under their blankets.

As she stood by the door to the room, she smiled at her invisible best friend. He smiled back, knowing that she was thanking him for helping to kill the huge horrid hungry slug, because if he hadn’t these beautiful granddaughters would not be here.

She invited her invisible best friend (who was still more real than she was) into the room to gently stroke the girls’ hair and quietly sing to them as they slept.

<THE END>

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All original writing and illustrations are Copyright © Hilary Murdoch 2012

Flying to Paradise – Part 4

Then one day, when the bear and the dancing meerkat were away, she was alone and she became afraid. A black cloud of fear as thick as soup appeared on her shoulder and she had a stabbing pain in her belly. In order to hold her belly, she let go of her invisible best friend’s hand.

She didn’t notice it as first but as she let go of his hand, the black cloud of fear as thick as soup, grew bigger on her shoulder, and the frequency of the stabbing pain increased. Wherever she went the black cloud followed her, down the street and even into bed.

She was told to her dismay that she must return to the grey city in order for the stabbing pain to go away. She told her friends she’d be back very soon and took her invisible friend’s hand to fly to the grey city, with a heavy heart and a stabbing pain in her belly.

She went to see an army in white coats in the grey city. They could magically see inside her belly and were shocked to find a huge horrid hungry slug which should not be there. They were very surprised and warned the girl that the slug could eat any baby that might grow there one day. The girl was very sad because she so dearly wanted to have babies of her own and didn’t want the slug to eat them. All this time, it seemed, the huge horrid hungry slug had been feeding off the dark cloud of fear as thick as soup and getting bigger and bigger each day.

Her invisible best friend (who was more real than she was) led her through the army in white coats to a very special senior general who knew exactly how to remove the slug. Only her best friend could have led her to the general because he knew everyone.

The general told her that she couldn’t return to paradise when she wanted to but would have to stay in the grey city for a very long time until they were sure the slug had gone. She cried. ‘You don’t understand. I can’t stay, I must go back!’ she said through the tears.

The girl was distraught and pleaded with her invisible best friend to fly with her back to paradise. But he just hugged her and held her tight. He laid her head on his knee and stroked her hair. He told her to be patient and they would fly back to paradise before long.

TO BE CONTINUED..> [the next one is the last installment!]

ALL IMAGES/ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT HILARY MURDOCH 2012

Flying to Paradise – Part 3

To read Part 1 and 2 use the links on the right of the page.

She took the hand of her invisible best friend and they started running. Running and running until they flew, over the grey buildings, over the green hills and out to sea – over the splashing waves and the bubbling foam, over the seas, the many seas.

Just as she was getting tired she saw with excitement the banqueting table of God, set with a white table cloth and she knew they had arrived.

She wandered around this new paradise, every day walking hand in hand with her invisible best friend. He would whisper encouragement to her and introduce her to his special friends who lived in the paradise.

He introduced her to a family of animals, who welcomed her in. The father was a bear: bold and warm. The mother was a dancing meercat: creative, alert and curious, looking out for those around her.

It was a strange house. Other houses around had high walls and gates with big locks. This house had no walls around it, no gates, no locks, not even any doors. The wide doorways were always open and there were always many different animals and people coming in and out.

The girl went to live with the bear and the dancing meercat and was very happy. Gradually she became so at home in this paradise that she wanted to stay. Then she was suddenly aware that her feet had stopped itching.

TO BE CONTINUED>….

ALL IMAGES/ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT HILARY MURDOCH 2012

Flying to Paradise – Part 2

Click to read Part One (with watercolour illustrations added since it was first posted).

A tall, silver-haired, wise man came to the cave. He listened to the girl and enquired about her itchy feet (which had made her late for work on a number of occasions). She told him, with tears, what she thought her invisible best friend was whispering. He gently recommended that she should listen to him and do what he said. The girl had wanted to wait until she knew where she was going before she left. But her invisible best friend didn’t seem to want to tell her that. The tall, silver-haired, wise man told her that although the adventure was a risk, the place she would go would be immeasurably more than anything she could imagine.

So she left. But her feet didn’t stop itching. She didn’t know where to go or what to do.

She had heard of a beautiful land with wide blue skies, in the meeting place of two huge oceans. Myth has it that this paradise has a huge mountain rising up in the shape of a table, and at that table a banquet is prepared and God meets for a meal with anyone brave enough to climb up to find him there.

She felt her invisible friend quietly but persistently tugging at her sleeve and he always seemed to be tugging in that direction.

She was desperate to step off the endless conveyor belt in the streets of the grey city. She longed for somewhere with a wide sky where her mind had space to think, her heart had space to feel and her soul had space to breathe.

So she packed up her ball dresses and placed them in the dusty attic. She packed a small bag, took the hand of her invisible best friend and they started running.

TO BE CONTINUED>….

ALL IMAGES/ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT HILARY MURDOCH 2012

Flying to Paradise – Part 1

Recently I went to a creative writing workshop and we were challenged to write about part of our life in the form of an adventure myth, using metaphor and symbolism and allowing strange things to happen without holding too tightly to the facts. So here’s what I wrote and my illustrations to go with it. Here’s part 1…

A grandmother perched on the edge of the bed to tell her two grand daughters a story. They were tucked up and warm and pleaded with her to tell the story of flying to paradise, even though they’d heard it before, a thousand times.

So she began…

There once was a girl who lived in a very busy, grey city. It had tall buildings, a small sky and not much light but she’d lived there for a long time and had got used to it. She had many friends and knew many people and sometimes dressed up like a princess and went to balls, to be spun around the dance floor by the handsome princes, none of whom asked for her hand, even for a walk let alone for marriage.

The streets between the buildings were conveyor belts, moving very fast, taking her to work, to see people, to church, to parties and past the treasure stores which had magical powers to make you desire more treasures.

The girl had an invisible best friend, who was in fact more real than she was.

They went everywhere together, hand in hand. She trusted him with her life. Her invisible best friend liked to walk slowly and so sometimes, when she stepped onto the conveyor belt and got whisked away to ‘the next thing’, her hand slipped out of his. When she slowed down their hands reconnected and they both smiled.

She worked in an underground cave. Everyone in the cave worked very hard; sometimes late into the night. Their work was significant and worthwhile. They worked with giants, trying to make sure they didn’t tread on the little elves working in their gardens. Sometimes she went to speak to the giants and sometimes she went to speak to the elves. Sometimes she tried to help the giants and elves to talk to each other but that wasn’t easy because they spoke different languages.

Despite the lack of light in the cave and the hard work, the girl was happy because she believed in what she was doing and she stayed there for many years.

Then one day a sense of unease grew. She thought maybe her invisible best friend (who as more real than she was) was whispering in her ear that she shouldn’t be there anymore. At first she tried to ignore him. But after a while she had a strange sensation in her feet. Every day when she descended the stairs into the dark cave her feet became itchy, so itchy she could hardly bear it.

TO BE CONTINUED>…. 

ALL IMAGES/ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT HILARY MURDOCH 2012