Silver Tree Pendant

“Let me get you another coffee" Charley offered.

As she leant forward to pick up the empty cup, her pendant hanging from her neck swung towards Robin - it glittered joyfully. Robyn could see with this closer look, that it was a small silver tree.

"How lovely" Robyn remarked genuinely.

Charley touched it affectionately - "Thank you, it reminds me of home".

The door opened with its usual swish, and Calvin briskly walked in - this time with an arm hugging a stack of folders.

"There" he said almost proudly, as he parked the pile in front of Robyn.

He really did look like someone very pleased with himself. The folders were bulging at the sides with hundreds of documents within. They seemed to emanate importance, dressed with the authority that a folder naturally carries. Truth be known, these papers were worth untold sums in research dollars and patents to come.

He then pushed it closer, as though she might have missed seeing the pile the first time.

Robyn thought that Calvin looked quite young to her in this moment - enthusiasm refreshed his veneer of business, and this vibrant man appealed to her even more.

She smiled back in grateful acknowledgement of being entrusted with something he obviously thought very special.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Independence is a Magic Word

“Independence is a magic word, because nowhere in the Cosmos does it actually exist.”

When Robyn took his hand inside hers, she noticed it was cool to the touch - not clammy, nor icy - but compared to the warmth of her own, with palm touching palm, it felt quite cold.

Calvin had just come from Lab no.3 where the temperatures were almost always freezing. He looked at her face and smiled. He instantly liked this new girl that was before him.

Charley's curly hair had frizzled in the heat and her golden ringlets looked more like a tangled mane with knots and ties - rather than a secretarial up-do; whilst Robyn's enthusiastic face was framed by sleek straight disciplined hair - wound into a ponytail with every strand in place. 

He sensed that Robyn was the type of girl who would wake up looking tidy first thing - her kind on leisure days would iron T-shirts, and count calories, and presented well he mused …he also noted further to himself that this Aussie girl looked just great.

Calvin pulled his hand back abruptly, and a slight frown crossed his brow. The electricity between them had gone to his groin. He got up quickly from his chair.

"Excuse me for a moment, will you?" he did not look at the girls when saying this - but hurriedly departed.

Charley did not seem perturbed at his manner. Robyn felt a dash of disappointment and stared into her coffee cup for something to do.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Spellbound

[ c. 13th Century ~ ]

The steam from the huge iron pot had given form to twelve spirits that were now suspended in the air above them, whirling around each other, like salamander dragons, snapping at each others tails.

A breeze had been conjured outside, yet within this light filled space they sat in, all was quiet. The darkness shouldered without.

Francis looked over to the old Pope in wonder for the power of this man sitting before him - whilst he, in turn, held his gaze, when suddenly he saw the old man’s face drop forty years . He was so unrecognisable that Francis had to wonder if this was the Holy Father at all.

“You are correct in your discretion, yet quite mistaken with this suspicion: - l am that I am, and much more besides …” he looked hard at the Elvish man and then continued: “We are similar you and I.” he seemed to slur his words slightly saying this.

Francis found himself disbelieving now more than ever. This strange individual assumed too much, yet one look at the puce toned robes compelled him to differ. Francesco mused at the finery of the weave - even in this half light he recognised its obvious worth.

The spirit forms that had been dancing in and out of the light-filled vapours above them, returned back into one homogeny, which now were presuming images - moving images - of the feast in the village in the valley below.

Portrayed in ghostly smoke Francis could see Tobias dancing with Granoldi, who was waving a metal tankard in the air, near missing the folk close by. The two appeared quite drunk.

The strange thing about magic is how easily one can feel familiar with it. Much like a dream, its message can infill the senses of the soul and persuade the consciousness in a way that is undeniable. As intoxicating as the musk of romance, and as enlightening as the whispers of hidden wisdom, magic can take you back into the very realm of your childhood ... and leave you there.

And for a moment, each in their way, on this night, was spellbound.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS- Second Chances 

Robyn meets Charley

The young woman motioned her to follow - "I'm Charley, by the way".

Robyn could not pick any accent at all - the woman did not seem American - if anything it was British.

As she had said this she smiled brightly. Robyn noticed the rectangular pin she wore that said "Charlotte Black" on her lapel.

"I'm Robyn - Robyn Prior … I’m from Australia."

Charley thought that this was said as though it was some kind of accomplishment. Actually, on second-thoughts, it probably was, she added to herself wryly.

"How uncanny! My father's name was Robin!"

“Oh, that is random!” she smiled a relieved smile.

“Perhaps this was a sign", Robyn speculated ... she might be able to get the information she had come for after all.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

No Service out Here

And so with a veterinary doctorate in the making, Robyn had country-hopped into the wilds of Canada, then on to the boutique zoos in Southern France, composing her thesis on wound treatments and their efficacy with scale and fur.

Johnstone Pharmasuture had not been responding to her email requests, and so being frustrated and yet determined, she thought she might go there in person, before returning home.

She buzzed the intercom several times and still no one had answered.

"Why did I let that taxi go?" she asked herself now frantically checking her phone for reception.

A dozen or more rabbits scuttled past her.

"I'll go look for a bus stop" she said to herself half-hopefully.

"I'm sorry but we are closed indefinitely" a voice called after her, just as Robyn had turned to leave in defeat.

A young woman only a few years older than herself approached - her long golden brown hair was braided in Rastafarian knots clamped back with several adornments, which greatly contrasted her navy blue business suit and bright red shoes. She appeared to be genuinely apologetic.

The unwelcome news suddenly made the heat all the hotter and Robyn clutched onto the gate to steady herself. It burnt her hand.

"Please, do you think I might be able to use your phone? I can't seem to get mine to work."

“No, not out here, you won't get any service... - of course you can."

The gate clicked loudly open with a snap and glided open. Robyn hurried through nervously.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Robyn Prior

Robyn was standing all alone before the Johnstone Pharma front gates wondering just how to get past them and through to the office. Her long hair was damp in the Arizona heat, her feet felt like they were cracking within the flat sandwich of her broken sandal.

All of her moments had led her here, she mused. Big and small moments, each and every increment of time spent, had brought her now to this very place. She could feel her destiny sitting both behind and in front of her.

Robyn Prior had been born and bred on a cattle farm, that lay miles away from any neighbors, and yet further away from any town.

Their property was settled on a 'green belt' - a valley that attracted the clouds, and grew moist tall grass all year round, for which the herd depended upon. For all of the spiders and snakes, this part of Australia had been a paradisiacal place to begin her life in.

She loved the familiar morning sounds: of the magpies warble, the crow's barking, and listening to the lowing that came from the engorged cows as they stumbled in procession through to the shiny sheds lit by the sunrise.

She would awake to their kelpies doing circles outside her bedroom door, and her brothers, with their manly sounds, moving about the house in random concert.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

The Cauldron

A large iron pot had appeared at the exact same time as did the cone of light, and it was full to the top with steaming water.

The Pontiff pulled up his sleeve and slipped his hand in, up to the elbow, and drew out a beet. He then held it up to Francis.

"Where did this come from?" asked Francis smiling at what he just saw. He had heard of the wonders of this man and now they were being confirmed. He passively took their ignominy.

"From God" said the old man plainly.

"What I mean to ask your Holyness is: where did the water come from that is cooking the beet right now?"

“From God" replied the Pontiff, again in a voice that was matter-of-fact.

"Yes yes, but where did the pot, that is vessel to the stew, come to manifest from?"

"Nepali" said the Pope ... "I acquired it from a blacksmith there who makes bowls that can sing when you strike them."

"Yes, I see. But" persisted Francis, "but how did the bowl with the water with its fruit appear here?"

"Magic" replied the Pontiff - "how else?"

Francis looked a second time over to the cauldron, noticing that the steam that was rising from the top was gathering into sprite-like forms.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances