The Bog – Outback Tales Part One

A short story of mine – follow the link below to read the full version.

A Thousand Words

I raised my voice. “Look… we have no signal, miles to walk, and we’ll be lost if we lose this track in the dark. We also have no water that I know of other than mine. Did anyone else bring water?” Heads shook in unison. Why the hell am I the only one who thought to bring water and a phone!

Tano looked like he was about to cry and I felt for him then. “Sorry. I drove around that tree and then we just went in.” He pointed so we all looked. There was a tree branch hanging low over the track behind us. It seemed to have appeared since we had driven out earlier.

Priscilla picked up the torch. “Me and Aurelien will walk to find a signal while you all dig.”

“NO!” I snapped, perhaps a little too quickly. “We don’t split up. I don’t care what…

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The Dam – Outback Tales Part Two

A short story of mine – follow the link below to read the full version.

A Thousand Words

 

 

It was a long hard walk, perhaps an hour or two, though it felt like much more. My phone had finally died long before we found a signal, and with no passing traffic, we were forced to walk the entire way to town. The night was still and beautiful all around us, but we barely noticed as we trudged along the empty road. The light at the end of that very long tunnel finally came when we first could hear the rush of water, and then a short while later, just make out the towering structure of the dam, spanning the river and marking our home stretch.

Our pace quickened as we approached, the excitement at having made it suddenly spurring us on. The highway narrowed as it merged into the massive concrete wall, and the sound of the white water raging through the dam beneath our feet…

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All In A Day’s Work…

A short story of mine – follow the link below to read the full version.

A Thousand Words

The morning sun shone in beams through the dirty skylight. The dust filled air was stifling and particles danced in the light. Hannah rested the broom against the wall, and wiped the drop of sweat that was tickling the end of her nose.

She looked up through the huge lattice of of rough wood, cargo nets and rope ladders towering up to the roof, quiet and still. Piles of grey debris dotted the walkways. It was almost opening time.

She sighed, and made her way up the ramp leading back to the visitor centre, returning a few minutes later armed with a dustpan and brush.

The lower level of the maze was a dimly lit warren of tunnels, accessed by several small tube slides. Hannah realised she should check the floor down there too, so rather than walk around, she crouched at the entrance to the nearest slide, and launched…

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Carnival Girl

A major part of my upbringing was my involvement in the local Bridgwater Carnival in Somerset. It still boasts being the largest illuminated carnival in Europe, and I’m fairly certain is the largest of it’s kind in the world, though I have so far been unable to confirm this fact.

What I am certain of, is that it is entirely unique in it’s local qualities and in it’s roots. If you are interested to read more, visit this page on the Bridgwater Carnival website to catch up on it’s history and traditions.

Over the years, I danced for a number of the carnival clubs in their stage shows for the Carnival Concerts, but in 1999, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to perform on the front of Vagabonds cart ‘Viva Brazil’.*

Several years later, when my mother – Georgina – was teaching at a local school, James Crowden, a local poet, was visiting one day to work with the students. He had a copy of his recently published book which she went to look at, and happened to open it on the poem ‘Carnival Girl’, accompanied by a photograph of me, taken by local photographer Pauline Rooke, moments before the procession set off on one of the carnival nights.

Also, by chance, Georgina had made a carnival display in one of the glass cabinets for the school, featuring the costume she had made, and which I had worn that year. So in return, he was able to see the costume in detail, and hear all about the Carnival Girl who inspired this feature in his book!

The book pictured below is a signed copy he gave to Georgina to pass on to me with best wishes. Perhaps one day I’ll happen to meet him so I can thank him myself!

You can find out more about the book, ‘Bridgwater – The Parrett’s Mouth’ here

*There is a little footage of me on the very front of the cart here if you wish to see, and to get a sense of what the carnival is like. The commentary about the lorry cab rather than tractor, is in reference to the fact that this was the first cart ever to tow using a stripped back lorry cab instead of a tractor.

Welcome to the Hall

A written piece of mine – a fictional account based on true events. Follow the link below to read the full version.

A Thousand Words

Dear Reader,

I hope this finds you well.

If you are reading this, then you are either a resident tidying the kitchen (in which case hello and apologies for the wall behind the Rayburn – please would you return this letter to the board when you’re done), OR you are my successor, in which case WELCOME and please read on to hear a little about my time here, plus a few things I think I would have found helpful to know in the beginning.

My hope is that you may find some comfort from my words, or perhaps even some useful advice.

I most often seem to be here in winter, when the ground is hard and twinkling with frost. The morning skies are clear and bright and of the richest blue. The sun sits low, casting golden beams through the ethereal mists. Take time to enjoy the ever present…

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The River Pictures

I thought I should include a post about the main photographs featured here on my site.

They were taken in 2011 on the Ord River, near Kununurra in the East Kimberley, Western Australia.

I was initially in town to pay my dues on a mango farm in order to claim my second year working holiday. Safe to say, I fell in love with the place and so once the farm work was done, and the second year claimed, my partner and I decided to stay, and so turned our attentions things other than mangoes.

I thought it would be pretty cool to have a job where I got to get out and see the area, some bush exploring, whatever. And a serendipitous turn of events actually did lead me to that job.

And it was pretty cool. In fact I still think it was the coolest job in town – even though I no longer have to say that  😉

I was sidekick (Yep. Official title.) to locally famed Maka, who runs Go Wild! Adventure Tours – providing canoeing, abseiling, climbing and walking, guided and self guided tours in the Ord river region.

Yes I know. Amazing.

So one day, several months on, Maka and I were havin’ a yarn over a beer, when I suddenly had this brainwave and said “So if you rigged two abseil lines and joined them together… then you’d have a rigging point above the river?”

Maka looked at me and blinked a bit. Then he said “Yeah. So what is it you normally do again?”

So we set about making it happen.

My wonderful friend Isabella Streckhardt was the talent behind the camera, capturing some incredible images despite shooting from a very unsteady boat, circling me on the rope.

Huge thanks to Maka, Isa and the rest of our little team who came out with us and worked so hard to make this happen.

Here are a few more of the final images, and a few ‘backstage’ to enjoy!

The V Word

 

It’s that look of surprise

Yes that one

And I’ve come to expect it

The anticipation

The absolute awkwardness that follows

You raise a brow

Oh!  you say

Biding time

Wondering how to respond to this

Confession

My truth: There it is

On the table

I am exposed now

All my colours laid bare

I am one of them

 

May we continue?

Perhaps not

Perhaps our differences are too great

 

You are thinking it already

Aren’t you

But where do you get your protein?

 

Once, I would feel myself blush

Embarrassed and somehow ashamed

By the social problem I had become

It was hard

Because you were hard

To convince, every time we had this conversation

 

Every

Time

You ask all the questions

And state

All the insulting justifications

About why you are not like me

And why I am wrong

And why I must be sick

 

And while you may have this one off chat

Then tell it later

An amusing anecdote

To jeering friends

Or colleagues with rolling eyes

I have this ‘chat’ every day

To justify my actions

And explain my beliefs

 

As if they need excusing…

 

But time has matured me

And you have strengthened me

Every time you questioned me

And I stuck to my guns.

Now I feel the pride

The purity that comes

From a life of compassion

 

So where do you get your protein?

There

You said it.

I draw my breath;

From plants  I say.

No!  you say,  like actual protein?

Yes.  I get.  Actual.  Protein.

 

But our teeth can eat meat  you say

We were born to eat animals

Yes our teeth can eat meat, sure

Cats eat meat too

But I’ve not seen a cat use a knife and fork

Or a cooker

Eat as a lion eats and I shall concede

You are right

You were born to eat animals

 

And cheese!  you gush

I couldn’t live without cheese

I think that literally you could

But you think you couldn’t

So I hold my tongue

 

And Oh! Sweet honey!

And milk and eggs!

You do realise they don’t actually die for those things don’t you?

Yes.  I realise.

But I also realise that many do

And millions more painfully suffer.

For the things we do to fill our boots:

To those cows,

And chickens,

And Oh! Yes honey – even the bees

Are unnatural

And unforgivable

But I hold my tongue

 

My Brain aches

I recompose

I’d love to go into it now  I say

But I think it’s time to order…

Yes please

Baked Potato and salad

Just beans please

 

There.

Not so weird after all was it?

 

 

© H M Edwards 2015. All Rights Reserved.

To see more of my work, please visit A Thousand Words, a writer’s platform hosted by Cursor Studios featuring original work from all our resident writers.

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

I am currently practising becoming a much less passive vegan.

I believe it is important to have this conversation whenever possible.

However, I am only just learning how to conduct myself in the face of opposition and remembering enough information each time to back myself up.

Because lets face it; to defend your vegan (and/or raw) lifestyle choice you need to know your facts.

I find the longer I have been living this way, the easier it gets to handle – because increasingly, I can simply use my own body as a testimonial. And I’m doing okay. No one yet has denied I look healthy.

This piece is a nod towards what I’ve found to be the hardest thing about being the change I want to see in the world.

When people say that it must be so hard, or it must be so restricting, I find that it really isn’t.

I’m thriving.

The thing that is hard is holding my head up when I’m being put down.

But unless we continue to hold our heads high, there is no one else to show the way.

Stay strong, and stay true to yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Haylee-Mai