Lisl Fischer - The Day of the Jackal

 

The Day of the Jackal

Having a garden is a wonderful thing. And, gardens are not only great for the spirit, they are spots of creation as well. Wonderful team work. Man and nature working together.

And,  Lisl Fischer has a wonderful garden in Vienna. A corner of heaven on earth. And, it is here that nature comes calling. Trees, plants, and beauty come in on the wind, and, nocturnal guests include foxes, bats, badgers, and cats, and many more, too. But, the strangest of all came early one morning.

It was just after six. A fine summer's morning. Lisl was out in her garden. All of a sudden, Lisl felt something behind her. A presence. Very, very slowly, Lisl turned round. A jackal. And, it was looking at her. The jackal, a wonderful animal with its spots and light yellow stripes. And, Lisl and the jackal just stared at each other. Mesmerized. Neither moved. And then, in a flash, the jackal was gone. Lisl was very relieved. She had been just a little bit scared.

But, from where had the jackal arrived? Lisl phoned up the zoo. No jackals had escaped. But, what they told her was interesting. Because of the climate change, Jackals were now spreading out across Europe. Lisl can expect more jackals in future!

But, the real mystery remains. How had the jackal found Lisl's garden? Lisl's garden is in one of the busiest corners of town. Between Lisl's and the hills are not only two busy roads, but a railway as well. The jackal had been lucky and Lisl had been lucky as well!

Lisl's day of the jackal. A beautiful guest if only for just a short while.

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The Green Children of Woolpit

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The Green Children of Woolpit

In 1142, two very strange children were discovered in the English village of Woolpit. They were brother and sister. The children had unusual clothes and spoke an unknown language. But, the strangest of all, they were green. Two green little children. A mystery. No one knew who they were, and no one knew from where they had come.

Then, after being given a home by Richard de Calne, the children quickly learned English. And, after some time, their green colour gradually faded. They had become like everyone else. But, sady, after an illness, the little boy died leaving his sister alone. It was then the girl told what she knew.

The children had come from St. Martin's. A land where the sun never shone and the light was like twilight and everything and everyone was green. But, how had they come to Woolpit? The little girl had no idea. The only thing she remembered was looking after her father's cattle in St. Martin's. Nothing more.

The girl became known as Agnes and later married. But, the mystery remained. St. Martins, her very strange language, and green, the colour of her skin.

A true story and a mystery that has never been solved. The Green Children of Woolpit.

An Unknown Destination

An Unknown Destination

Sometimes, the wherever it is we are going is different from that we expected.  And, whilst reading  Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, I discovered the following anecdote.

Nicholas Nickleby was involved in an accident. He was on his way from London to Yorkshire. The coach upon which he was travelling overturned and Nicholas Nickleby was thrown into a snow drift. Everyone survived. Then, whilst waiting in an inn, one of the passengers told the following story.

Once upon-a-time, there lived a German Baron. Baron Koeldwethout. He was a very happy man. He spent most of time hunting, getting drunk, and generally having lots of good fun. But, one day, he started getting fed up.  His life had become very boring. And so, to cut a long story short, the Baron got married.

But, 12 years later his thinking had changed. The Baron was sorely missing his former life of revelry and drunkenness.  He had foolishly sacrificed everything upon the altar of domestic happiness. His wife was always miserable and totally domineering.  And, he had13  horrible children to keep and to feed, 

Things were bad.  His money was spent. He was  depressed. The only way out, he believed, was the bringing about of a premature end to his life. Suicide.  And, so, there he was all alone in his room. All he had was a bottle of wine, a final pipe, and a knife to kill himself.  But, he was not all alone. The ghost of suicide was waiting for him!

The ghost of suicide was a  miserable apparition in a hurry. Many others were waiting for him. The next one on the list was a young man with too much money!  The Baron burst into laughter. How could someone kill himself because of  too much money?  Totally absurd!  The baron started thinking!

Was where he was  going better than where he was now?   Without any doubt at all, the ghost of suicide was not a very happy ghost. Was everyone else the same? The Baron changed his mind. He got his life back in order and became happy again.  He died many years later.

And, what about Nicholas Nickleby? He resumed his journey and became an assistant in the school which belonged to the notorious alcoholic and child hater Mr. Newman Noggs.

But, if you want to find out more, you must read the book.  Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.