Another bird landed, and another. They were crows, all of them. One of them hopped in a circle then leant forwards to touch her foot with its shiny beak; she leapt back with a small shriek and stumbled, falling inelegantly into the dirt.
They weren’t frightening. Not yet.
“Who are you?” Maria whispered.
Instantly the birds fell silent.
“What do you want?” There was nothing else she could say. “Do you want…me? Me? Do you want me?”
She pointed to herself.
And at that moment each and every one of the birds stopped moving.
They were completely silent.
Completely still.
Maria shuffled forwards a step. Slowly, she bent down and took off her sandal.
She threw it.
One by one the crows toppled over, like dominoes, in a perfect circle. One coal-black feather lay on the ground.
“Well,” she said, quietly.
They had turned to stone.
--------------------------------------------------
This is an extract from the novel I'm writing. It's called Into the Blue (this is just a working name and may be changed to something different) and it's basically about angels.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Abolish SATs!
Ohhhhh yes.
Click on the link and pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase sign my petition to abolish SATs!! Wales has done it, why can't we?
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-sats.html
Click on the link and pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase sign my petition to abolish SATs!! Wales has done it, why can't we?
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-sats.html
Monday, 14 July 2008
On Waking
One, two, three.
You could sneeze now anywhere in the world and I would hear it.
All around me there is silence. I could hear anything but nothing is moving. The world is frozen, trapped in eternal ice.
Until you melt it with your sneeze. Go on, now. Imagine the warmth that is expelled in that brief explosion of sound - cracking the ice already with its force. Imagine the warmth as it gusts across the frosty landscape, melting and thawing.
The world is beginning to wake.
Hear the trees as they yawn and stretch, the rivers as they shatter into life. Hear the oceans rise and swell as the moon continues in its orbit and the fragile waves smash as they finally fall. Hear the chatter of birds as they shake the melted droplets from their wings.
Are you listening?
Go on. Sneeze.
You could sneeze now anywhere in the world and I would hear it.
All around me there is silence. I could hear anything but nothing is moving. The world is frozen, trapped in eternal ice.
Until you melt it with your sneeze. Go on, now. Imagine the warmth that is expelled in that brief explosion of sound - cracking the ice already with its force. Imagine the warmth as it gusts across the frosty landscape, melting and thawing.
The world is beginning to wake.
Hear the trees as they yawn and stretch, the rivers as they shatter into life. Hear the oceans rise and swell as the moon continues in its orbit and the fragile waves smash as they finally fall. Hear the chatter of birds as they shake the melted droplets from their wings.
Are you listening?
Go on. Sneeze.
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