Are you Chasing Your Tale.
- Photo courtesy of Allef Vinicius Unsplash
It is close to 10pm on Sunday evening. The day has been busy, so busy in fact that I have found no time for what I had planned for myself, which was to write, just for an hour, half an hour even.
The momentum of the day, its adventures and distractions whisked me away from my writing. It has been a wonderful day the writing just didn’t quite work in.
Now with the household asleep, my world is quite and I find myself with the time to right my write.
Sitting at our kitchen table our house is still and warm, it has been hot day and the heat still lingers inside. A breeze drifts in through the nearby open window, it is cooling off outside at last.
I turn my head to feel the cool air on my face, it is too tempting I pick up my laptop and move outside
As I sit at our outdoor setting in the darkness with the breeze softly rusting the trees and cooling my clammy skin, I smell the ocean and the warmth still in the earth. This surely is the perfect time to write it is quiet, it is cool, I can think, no distractions.
Sitting quietly my imagination wanders which tale am I going to share. All of my stories and thoughts seem illusive tonight. They are there, just tricky to hold on to.
It is like a game of chasey, catching one in particular needs some speed and skill, once you get a grip you must hold on, then you have a chance of winning. I love the thrill of the chase.
I am running with my mind chasing my tale when I am interrupted by the sound of running water. The filter tank from our bore is filling up. I can hear the hiss of the water but the tank is overflowing spilling water on to the ground. It does that sometimes. I will wait, the float will do its job and switch the bore pump off it usually does.
Right, writing, it is time, chase my tale. Another sound, my gaze is shifted from my screen to the darkness. I recognise the sound of brush tail possums talking to each other. Looking towards their noise I become aware of the night sky. It is ever so clear tonight and the moon is bright enough to silhouette the trees.
I can not see the possums only hear their chatter and movement. I breathe in the night air deeply, this game of chasey is a competitive one, I need to out smart these tales, change tact.
My pursuit fails, my attention is drawn back to the bore. The water is still running over and it seems as though it will not stop. I pause the game of chasey and sneak inside to get my head torch. Head torch on, I set out towards the tank.
Along the way I spot the glistening gems of Orb Spiders eyes reflecting when the torch light happens upon them. I stop to watch their web weaving magic.
On to the tank, I fiddle with the float, it just needed a reminder of what it was supposed to be doing and the water stops overflowing.
Good. Again I hear the possums, they are rowdy. I follow their noise and spot a pair of bright orange eyes in the Marri tree. We gaze at each other for a while, the possums large eyes are so dark and soulful when the torch light is not directly in their gaze, I begin to imagine what this possum must be thinking.
Wait this is not righting the writing, I feel that my tales have changed tact now too, this game has stepped up a notch. I head back to the glow of my laptop, being careful not to destroy the Orb spiders great webs stretching through the trees.
Back at my laptop. Game on! The quite of the night is so loud, it is taunting me and I can’t seem to ignore it.
More possums leaping and leaves and gum nuts dropping to the ground, from a different direction this time, insects clicking and singing, the thud of kangaroos in the distance passing through, the moon it is so white and so bright and the clarity of the sky, its too much!
Concentrate on chasing the tale Nat, that is your game plan. The soft breeze flows in again and I look toward the branches dancing gently in the moon light. If I look at the sky for long enough I am sure to see a shooting star!
I leave my laptop to see more of the night sky, I let the tale that was nearly in my reach slip away, scanty words are left on the screen. Who is winning this game tonight?
I pick out the Southern Cross and what we call the Saucepan and I star gaze for some time, no shooting stars tonight that I could see, however there are bats scooting across the sky, they are hunting, their swift motion is only illuminated when the moon is behind them, completely bewitching.
Another sound entices me, perhaps possums again? I tread quietly in the direction of the sound to reveal a pair of Ring-Tail Possums, it seems they could be playing their own game of chasey.
I realise at this point that I am not much competition tonight. It has been over an hour since I left my words alone on the laptop. If I was serious about righting my writing and chasing down this tale my head would be in the game.
The tales have bought in a rookie “The Night”. The Night has run rings around me, distracted me, put me off my game plan. It is near on midnight and I am laying on my back in the middle of our lawn smiling up at the universe defeated.
I spent the entire game absorbed in my competitors game plan, not mine, I ran a lot further than I expected to and lost focus. It was a beautifully executed game plan. Round one to the Night!
Respect to your strategy, you taught me a lesson or two. Thank you, good game. Rematch?
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be”
Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide Series.
Kindness always,
Nat
Buy me a coffee ☕️❤️🙏 here if you wish. You may also enjoy reading some thoughts I am collecting to inspire imagination.
Eminently Grateful 🙏
