IT SEEMED A PITY to waste the big tough wrapping from my Fed-Ex parcel, so I used it to portray big tough Emperor Qin, the first man to rule over a united China, over 2,200 years ago. I used acrylic paints and did a bit of stamping in the background – no, not with my feet! The square stamp is my seal, carved into a lovely piece of bloodstone by a local craftsman in an artists’ village near Xi An, the old emperor’s hangout.
We continue with the second part of The Great Nundle Dog Race from my forthcoming novel No Idea.
The poem, Mauve, explores how a domestic animal can reap advantages by changing colour.
The Great Nundle Dog Race - part 2
ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES of Nundle being an older town is that there are roads leading to it from every direction. Thus our revellers were able to approach it in a fairly straight line from Mudgum, the only towns they passed through being Nestling (of the notorious pub), and Chookscrossing, a tiny hamlet on the river.
The Nundle sportsground was large, green and freshly mowed. Children were competing in sprint races, and various small commercial activities had sprung up around the boundary.
The Dressed Dog parade was to begin shortly, so the girls quickly assembled the bemused Jessie in her costume of bra, suspenders, net stockings and diaphanous blouse, all hurriedly cut down by the girls the night before, and bearing large, hasty stitches. Drop earrings and a black sequined collar and lead completed the ensemble.
It was decided that Vivvi, being chief seamstress, should do the parade honours. A number of the other dogs were beginning to show a keen interest in Jessie, but Viv kept them at bay by tapping their noses whenever they came too close.
“Uh oh,” said Andrew when he saw what was happening, but refused to elaborate further.
A cute pair of Pekinese in matching bridal outfits won first prize, but Viv was ecstatic to be handed a Highly Commended certificate on Jessie’s behalf. On Andrew’s suggestion they divested Jess of her costume, gave her a drink, snack and walk, then left her in the car, windows half down, under some trees, while they concentrated on the other events.
Hiltrud and Klaas were keen to compete in the foot races, while the English girls enrolled in the various novelty events.
The long-legged Dutch pair did well and won some small monetary prizes. Viv and Morgan found out that the egg throwing competition consisted of throwing a raw egg between them at an ever-increasing distance, until eventually the egg shattered in Morgan’s hands. Around them other competitors’ eggs were hitting the ground, so everyone ended up a bit messy and smelly, but were consoled when each entrant received a prize: a brightly-coloured plastic double eggcup with the compliments of the Egg Board, which had also donated the eggs.
A near-tragedy was averted during the gumboot throwing. Vivvi swung the boot around several times and released it in a mighty underarm throw. It seemed to vanish completely, and while Viv turned a slow circle trying to catch sight of it, the boot reached an impressive height above her head and began its inevitable descent.
Andrew was standing nearby and could see the whole scenario. Breaking off his conversation with a friend in mid-sentence, he rushed towards Vivvi and swept her up in his arms as the gumboot whistled down past her ear. In the drama of the moment their feet became entangled, and they fell together full length on the ground, where Vivvi lay half-stunned on top of Andrew, prompting one old chap to comment, “I think she’s liking that a bit too much!”
Then some middle-aged female feet in respectable shoes arrived, and Andrew could hear whispered words like “Hollesmith…wife gone…daughters…”
Damn them! he thought, grasping Vivvi around the waist and lifting her to her feet somehow, saying gallantly “I think you at least owe me a kiss for saving you from the killer gumboot!”
“Oooh, that’s no hardship at all!” Viv exclaimed, seizing him in a deadlock and planting him a lingering smacker on the lips. A few shocked gasps in the background went ignored.
to be concluded in Blog #11
MAUVE
Sooty was a snow-white, blue-eyed cat
who like many a feline loved to roam;
investigated this, poked his nose in that,
and often spent hours away from home.
‘till he spent some time in a jacaranda grove,
and his coat turned a delicate shade of mauve.
Now Sooty was a purple, blue-eyed cat,
much in demand as a local stud;
for the neighbours all wanted a kitty like that —
they desired the sire with the purple blood.
Sooty knew that come the next October,
he must roam jacarandas and come back mauver.
You must rove, rove, rove in the jacaranda grove,
for you’ll lose your appeal when you lose your mauve.
~END~
