It’s been a shocker of a couple of years, hasn’t it? Not just for me, but for everyone. People have been trying to make ends meet, or keeping a business going, and at the same time facing a pandemic and government restrictions. From home-schooling the children, to wearing masks and facing mental issues through loneliness and stress from lock-down, it has been a change of lifestyle so foreign to all of us, that it has broken many people.

Unable, often, to visit loved ones, and seeing elderly family members facing the horror of the Coronavirus and the indignity of ventilators and maybe even death. All these difficulties have not helped at all.

So, try and remember to keep yourself and those around you well. Try and find the time to smell the roses, keep busy and diversify your interests.

If you are interested in any of the books or paintings featured in my blog, please follow the links below, or Direct Message me. Thank you.

Here is a gorgeous painting by Mykey, that has the marvellous message to slow down and do just that.

The story it inspired follows.

Perspective on the world.

“For goodness sake, Daniel, will you hurry up!”

Danny sighed and tried to keep up with his father’s long strides. But it was difficult. He couldn’t take his time and actually look at the world around him. At the speed his father travelled, everything was a blur.

Suddenly in the concrete pathway, he saw a smudge of colour. He stopped and bent his head to look. A fragile flower was struggling to exist in a crack in the pavement, but it was definitely surviving. Danny smiled and was about to smell the bloom when his Dad turned around, grabbed his hand and yanked him along towards the city building towering in front of them.

Danny blinked. He was just a little scared. Seeing a doctor when you never had to before, was a huge step to take for a small child of four. He stood and waited at the lift, clutching his father’s hand tightly. The doors opened they both walked in.

The jolt of the elevator starting caused Danny’s stomach to flutter with nerves. He hoped he didn’t upset everyone and be sick.

But the feeling passed and before long they were sitting in a waiting room, with several other people. Danny sat, swinging his legs, until his father hissed at him to stop. Then the lady at the counter told them to come into another room.

Danny was overwhelmed by it all. There were machines whirring and all sorts of charts up on the walls. A man came in and shone a bright light into his eyes. A nurse made him tilt his head, and dropped in a liquid into his eyes that made them sting.

Then they waited.

That visit was one of many in the next few years. An operation or two and many more examinations followed, until finally he had spectacles placed on his nose.

The joy of seeing that trees in the distance had leaves (he never knew that before) and the ability to see everything that others took for granted was amazing. To be able to stop and touch and smell the flowers around his home, created a life that Danny felt made all those traumatic visits to doctors over the years, so worthwhile.

When he was able, he thanked his father, but insisted, now that he could see so much better, he would always take time to appreciate the beauty around him.

***

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https://www.facebook.com/BooksByMaureenLarter

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One of the continual battles throughout the ages, has always been human leaders going to war. The need for more land and power, causes such leaders to decimate and conquer whole areas and peoples. It never seems to end.

In that process, whole villages and towns are razed to the ground. Original inhabitants are evicted from unlivable homes and culture, histories and customs are destroyed or merged with the new conqueror’s ideals. It seems, that in all that happens, no-one really wins.

Please remember, if you are interested in any of the books or paintings featured in my blog, please follow the links, or Direct Message me. Thank you.

This painting by renowned artist, Mykey, inspired me to tell the following story.

Loneliness.

I stood quietly next to my horse and gazed around at the beautiful view. On the horizon lay the verdant hills of my homeland. I placed my hand on Honehe* and the softness of his neck calmed me. The plain in front of me was covered in yellow grass, and the breeze sent shivers along the valley. The swirls of the grass reminded me of the beauty of nature.

The hunt this morning had been successful, and the family would not go hungry for a while. I hoped we would be able to store some meat for when the snows came.

I stood for a while longer, soaking in the silence. My brothers would be waiting in the village to butcher the buffalo and section it out according to our customs.

I turned to go, ready to leap upon the back of Honehe when I saw the dust in the distance. Was it a whirlwind? Was it a war-party? I strained my eyes to search for the answer before I raced off to warn the tribe.

***

“Oh, do slow down,” Sarah Martin said to her husband, John. “Just look at this valley! Isn’t it beautiful?”

Two tousled heads popped out of the wagon and looked around, but Hannah and George didn’t seem to be interested and they disappeared back into the comfort of their beds.

“The children don’t yet understand the importance of what we are doing,” John said, when Sarah frowned at the children. “We have made this journey to find a better life.”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “I just hope that we don’t get set upon by the savages that are out here.”

Just at that moment, Joseph Williams, their guide came gallpoing up.

“There are Indians coming!” he shouted at them. “Get armed and hide your wife and children,” he shouted to John as he continued towards the other wagons to give the same message.

***

Many months later, at a small gathering in the town they were settling into, Sarah said to Martha, at the general store.

“It happened so quickly, that I’m not sure if it was the Indians who shot the first arrow, or one of our party who fired their gun, but I lost my husband in the ruckus, and I hear the Indians were rounded up and sent off to a reservation. All we wanted was a better life.” She shook her head and Martha tutted in sympathy.

***

I bowed my head and trudged on. The tribe were dispirited and lonely. All I had now were the clothes upon my back, and one brother beside me. Everything else had been lost in the bloody battle that had followed. We had only wanted to welcome the newcomers to our land. Where we were going was unknown, but now my homeland was gone.

*Honehe is the Cheyenne word for Wolf.

I write children’s picture books, as well as chapter books. The two following books are about lonliness. ‘Giddy the Galah’ is a picture book about a bird looking for his family, while ‘Petey’ is about a bird unfortunately forced out of home and finding himself in a hostile environment. Both books are AU$18 plus postage, so if you would like one, please contact me throught a direct message. (https://www.facebook.com/AlphabetanimalsofAustralia or https://www.facebook.com/Sweetfields-Publisher )