Various writings by Jacki Walker, ex McClimont, nee Storey. I have kept these from over the years and my grown children may be interested in reading them as they are all in their 30's now!
let me know what you thought of Izzard the Lizard.
Here is a piece I wrote a few years ago:
CHINESE WATER TORTURE
I used to think that the mean words people said were like drops of water landing on a stone. One drop is not much in itself, but over time can wear the stone like many centuries of sandals stepping on it. In the ancient water torture, the victim learns to dread the next drop. Each drop comes at the exact time, each time. Relentless. In an otherwise quiet room, the sound is deafening, and the wait – torturous.
Recently, I was thinking as I drove along the water’s edge near home, if I can’t change other people, I can change the way I think about the situation. I don’t have to picture myself as a rock. I’m not that hard anyway. Why don’t I think of myself as a bowl of water? A drop will then fall into it and cause ripples to spread outward. There is no ‘wearing away’ and it is only a drop.
Driving a little further along the road I thought, why not a lake? An ocean? Yes an ocean. A drop in the ocean. Even if it was a drop of dye, it would make no difference to the ocean really. Even a freshwater drop would not make the sea less salty.
Then I thought of those words in the bible that exhort us to be like the salt that flavours the meal. Maybe it is a spiritual battle after all.
I will thing of an ocean with the waves rolling in and I will relax …
Jacki Walker
Monday, 7 November 2011
OK if you have been waiting for the ending - here it is!
Hope you enjoyed it and I will post some more tid bits soon ...
“I suppose it is the ‘Survival of the Fittest’,” she said to herself. “The big lizard must have eaten all the food.”
Izzard sat under a leaf and cried. Gussie had been so unselfish and had not once complained. If only he had known he was eating all the food too quickly for her to get any.
He absentmindedly munched on the fly in front of him. Lifting his head thoughtfully, he wondered where his next meal was coming from….
In fact that is exactly what she did say when Mick and Freddie wanted to bring their lizards into the lounge room.
Another night passed peacefully, as the boys were too worn out to talk. The Cub Leaders were even more worn out! Izzard and Gussie were thinking how nice it was to be together.
The next day, Freddie’s Mum screamed, “You are not bringing those nasty animals in here!” Freddie hastily pointed out that they were ‘reptiles’ and not ‘animals’, then quickly ducked as a dirty sneaker was thrown at him.
“Well, at least get them off the dining room table,” she pleaded. “Why don’t you put them in the old aquarium in the backyard? They should be quite happy in there.”
“Happy indeed!” snorted Izzard. “I have been moved around so many times that I am beginning to feel like a chess piece!” Gussie laughed and decided that she liked Izzard quite a lot.
Their new home turned out to be very suitable. Freddie had borrowed some books from the library on how to look after lizards and had set up the aquarium to look much like their old home. Dried leaves were piled up in each corner for them to hide under and flies, earwigs and small spiders were dropped in every day for them to eat.
They were quite happy for a few days, and then Izzard noticed that Gussie did not seem to be her usual self. Tired and listless, she moved very slowly from leaf to leaf. Her skin was looking dull and she had no energy to eat her food.
All at once Izzard realized what was happening. Gussie had not been eating her share of the food and he had not noticed. Because he was bigger and stronger than she, he had been snapping up all the food as it had been dropped in.
Grandfather had told him it was the ‘Survival of the Fittest’, but Izzard had never known how much that phrase could hurt. Without realizing it, his greed had cost the life of someone who was very dear to him.
Gussie’s body lay still and lifeless and he knew she had not survived. She had become so cold that she could never warm up. Izzard found some leaves and laid them over her thin frame, too sad to even look at her.
Freddie’s Mum came out of the laundry door and dropped a recently squashed fly in the aquarium. “I can’t even look at it!” he thought in disgust.
“Oh, no!” Mother cried, “Freddie will be upset, he hates it when any of his pets die.” Gently removing the stiff, small body from her home amongst the leaves, she buried it in the long grass next to the brick wall.
Just in case you need a break from Izzy here is a poem I wrote in 2001.
A Seasonal Dilemma
I like Winter best,
To walk along the beach
Hugging my clothes to my chest,
I definitely like Winter best.
I like Autumn too,
Sitting by the fire
and eating delicious stew,
Yes, I like Autumn too.
I like Springtime
When everything is new
And the earth smells sublime,
Yeah, I like Springtime.
But Summer's way too hot,
unless you can go to the beach
And splash about a lot,
Summer's way too hot.
Jacqueline Storey 19.11.2001
Hi there,
next installment of Izzy. (Let me know if you are enjoying it!)
Bright and early the next morning, the blue plastic bucket was lifted up and inspected. “Yup, they are both here!” It was Mick’s voice. “You can take them home with you if you like, Freddie,” Mick’s Dad said.
“Home?” thought Izzard, “I thought we were home!”
Again they were bumped around, in what they later found out, was a car (a ‘Kingswood’, they heard Mick’s father say.)
Finally, they came to a halt. They were lifted out and peered at by many pairs of eyes. “Gee, I wish we could have them!” and “Aren’t they beauties!” were some of the comments passed about them.
“Can I hold one?” and “No, let me!” they boys argued and for a moment Izzard thought they would be squashed to death! It was quite a relief when the lid was put on with some holes stabbed in it, with somebody’s penknife.
“ALL ABOARD!” yelled a loud voice and the boys along with the lizards, were lifted onto the train that was to take them ‘Home’.
“So, this is a train,” thought Izzard. “I have heard my grandfather talk about them. They make a lot of noise and blow out plenty of smoke.” When he was a young lizard, he used to think they were dragons, but he didn’t dare tell anyone, in case they laughed at him.
“FULL STEAM AHEAD!” yelled the loud voice again. Izzard turned to Gussie, “That man has a louder voice than Mick’s Dad!”
Gussie had never been more frightened in her life and was glad that Izzard was there to protect her! It seemed strange that he was the fastest lizard in the land and yet had still been caught! “Just a silly mistake,” she thought. “One false move, that is all it takes to be captured. Maybe Izzard is not so clever after all!”
Once again they snuggled down under their leaves and the boys gazed out of the train window, looking into the starry night. For many of them, it was their first weekend away from home. From their conversations, which ranged from rude jokes, to how much pocket money they had spent, the lizards found out that the boys were ‘Cubs’.
Lizards were not the only wild life that had been souvenired. In the next compartment were frogs and further down the corridor, in a shoe box, someone had a wild mouse. One boy had a collection of slaters and yet another had some earthworms. There were matchboxes of beetles and jars of spiders.
Someone named ‘Akela’ said, “There will be a lot of irate mothers at the station tonight!” The Cub Master replied, in a squeaky voice that sounded just like Mick’s Mum, “You are not bringing those nasty animals in here!”
“Hey, Freddie! I’ve caught one, quick – bring the bucket!” a boy’s voice shouted. Izzard then realized what the ‘Thing’ was, it was a human. A boy to be exact, judging from the grubby knees!
Izzard warned the other lizards of danger, and they all quickly ran for cover. Darting over to Gussie, Izzard bit Freddie on the big toe. “Ouch!” he yelled. “Watch out, this one bites!” The other lizards were nearly out of sight, but the boys did not notice them, so preoccupied were they with trying to catch Izzard.
A choice now had to be made – Izzard knew that he could escape if he wanted to, but could he leave Gussie? Already she was being placed in a blue, plastic bucket and the boys were after him!
Only an act of sheer bravery, could describe what happened next. But Izzard knew he really had no choice and certainly no time to think. Mick, the other boy, was ‘allowed’ to catch him and he was placed in the bucket alongside Gussie. “Now we have a male and a female,” commented Mick, though how he knew this was anybody’s guess! “Here you are. Here is your husband,” giggled Freddie, as he pushed Gussie towards Izzard.
No more lizards were to be found, although the boys looked around for a while longer. “Come on, let’s go back Freddie,” sighed Mick. “It must be nearly tea time by now!”
Gussie and Izzard were bumped around most unceremoniously in their new home. They were not impressed and were more than a little frightened.
At last they were left in peace. A few small pieces of minced beef had been dropped in for them to eat, so they had a nibble. Gussie looked at Izzard from under her lashes (or she would have, if lizards had lashes!) and noticed that for the first time, he was not showing off. In fact he seemed rather nice.
“Quite a pickle we are in now,” muttered Izzard, “I wonder what they are going to do with us?”
“I don’t know,” Gussie whispered in a small, frightened voice. “I hadn’t thought of that. Humans don’t eat lizards, do they?”
Izzard coughed, “I shouldn’t think so, and they would have had us for tea if they were that hungry.”
As a matter of fact, the boys had just finished a huge meal of ‘toad-in-the-hole’ (not real toads), ‘butterfly cakes’ (not real butterflies) and ‘spiders’ (the kind you drink!)
A very restful night was had by all, as the lizards and the boys were very tired. Gussie and Izzard slept under a couple of leaves and the boys slept under a couple of blankets.
