Over the Hills & Far Away

"Quick, hand me that jar."

Francis looked up at Puck, and then to his side where he was pointing. There was a glass beaker with a chrome lid on a bottom shelf, near where he was holding Chips in his arms.

He reached over and took it and threw it up into Puck’s hands. Puck caught it, rapidly unwound its lid, and then spat a little spittle into it. He then placed a hand onto Anon, whose eyes were too heavy now to open, and he whispered in the old dog’s ear.

“We’ve got you buddy. We’ll figure this out, I promise you, this time, we will figure it out. Just go into the jar and we can transport you over the hills and far away.”

Francis eyed Puck with concern. He loved Anon and distrusted this idea. Especially upon hearing ‘over the hills and far away’ - what was that? Puck had not been himself of late. He said nothing.

“It's a fine expression” the Pookah said, reading his thoughts with a little indignation.

“It sounds a bit loopy”, said Francesco, momentarily distracted.

“It's appropriate” said Puck - “where else is one to go?”

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

The Spirit is Swift

Usually, when a mortal departs his fleshly frame, he ascends up through the gates of death, and out into the cosmic spray. There, his etherial starry body takes the soul into the realms where he is best suited - up and away from the concerns of the earthly world and its impulses.

The spirit is swift, and knows the heavens intimately. For this is the natural home to all men's souls, and more natural than the life previously known.

Now this time became very much as it was before - all Pietro could contemplate, was that of finding his son who had run away, now so many years ago.

His spirit flew over the paddocks, and past the fruit fields, through to the mountains where the camp of Francis had grown to a castle community.

In a stone wall there, was a fountain trickling within, and beside, on a pedestal, was a bronze head that looked just like his beloved boy. He knew he had come to the right place.

Pietro’s spirit dashed through the vast corridors, searching within, sailed its way past the cells and vestibules, frantically seeking his son.

Pietro-Peter stopped back at the bronze, looking longingly at the face - to then notice an inscription beneath the piece that read:

Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone
~ 1181 - 1226.


-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Uncanny Phenomenon

When Peter had been brought to the community by Murmur after his first turn-about from death into his newly forged body, he had lived contentedly until his next death … following the routine of a simple life, and blending with the brothers quite happily until his body simply had tired and died.

His funeral was held in the town in the Abbey grounds, where he was to be interred. Murmur was far away on the other side of the country at this time living in the Franciscan community … whilst Pietro-Peter was being sung his final song.

It was an uncanny phenomenon, for his soul to have taken the form of another as he did. And during this second chance at life, Peter-Pietro had quite forgotten much of what he had done in the years earlier. Yet when he was released yet again, his spirit remembered the will and wishes it had carried before - and the great desire to find his son, as he had had, when he had died by arrow the first time in the forest.


- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Earthbound

There had been twenty-two transformations Pietro had undergone before becoming the dog known as Anon- twenty-two body-hopping slides into a life that would not let him go home into the other-words - the heavenly afterlife, after each time that he died..

When his soul yearned for the stars, all he had got was the cold hard reality of more hunger, more pain and more restriction, within a ceaseless cycle of immediate incarnation - conspiring to keep him earthbound seemingly ever more.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Find a new Body

He hastened down the corridors to the hatchery, finding Francis on his knees in morning prayer.

Not wanting to disturb him Puck backed his way out of the door, but then heard his friend calling as he did this.

“Pook get in here - I need you now”. Pook was short for ‘Pookah’ a nickname of Francis’s from long ago. Their familiarity was something reserved for in private. But the two went back almost a century and they had evened out to equals long ago.

Puck heard the urgency and went immediately to Francis’s side to see him on the floor bending over the dog whose head rested limply placed across his knees.

Chips had been whining of late of being weary, and the two had just thought it was his usual complaining which seemed to be a large part of the Weimaraner’s temperament.

It was plain to see that the poor beast was labouring with his breathing. His eyes looked frightened beneath it all. Puck knew exactly what this meant.

“Well, it's lucky you have me here this time” he said with a mock confidence.

The truth was Puck had no idea how this would go, yet had promised Francis he would help if he could, the next time Pietro had to find a new body. Looks like now was this time.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Two Unicorns

Everyone knew that the sighting of two unicorns together was a rare occurrence. It was obviously going to be a good day.

Puck had long been planning to shut down the questionable divisions of the phytogenetic Company he had acquired. He was still answerable to the lesser share holders and had to go about his sabotage discreetly. They must not know that his sole intent was to put a stop to what he liked to call their ‘Frankenstein range’ before it was released into the world.

When he had tried to explain to Charley where he was going with all of this, she had dismissed him out of hand. He reluctantly realized that there were some core concepts she simply could not grasp as yet … her thinking was intrenched in materialism, and she could not comprehend the finer points of any esoteric implication.

Not all advancements were a great idea, and certainly ‘finding a way forward’ was not always the best way to go.

Some places one does not want to go, or need to go, or would safely go - and he had a lot of experience firsthand of trying paths he later wished he had not gone down.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

The Drill

The drill made no sound - it had a fine jet of tooth dissolving liquid that also lit the tooth remaining with a purple light which made it obvious to what was being targeted. Within a minute it was cleaned out and down to the gum. With precision, then, the Dentist (who was around Calvin’s own age of not yet twenty) clamped a mould onto the area and injected it with a ‘tooth paste’ that hardened under UV light. The whole procedure was over in less than five minutes and Calvin was being told to sit up and rinse.

“That’s it?” he asked with a jaw that was like chewing gum still feeling fuzzy.

“Yes, unless you would like any of your other teeth looked at”.

“No, fine for today. But thank you.” he added thoughtfully. As Calvin walked out from the building he realized that he really did love his father’s business and had a fixation for the innovations which lay ahead. He did not want to leave at all and whilst the responsibility may have felt too much, this was where he belonged.

His father’s ghost walked beside him as he was thinking this, and was pleased.

“I knew you’d come around” he said proudly to his son.

For not only had he invested his life in this business, he had also invested his spirit. Johnstone Snr could not leave now either - even if he had wanted to.


-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances