Chapter 10

It's early morning in the meadow, my three friends are here and they're looking at me expectantly, standing (if you can call it that) in a line of sorts. They look up and all speak at once 'tree, fox, leaf, bat, pumpkin, spider' etc. I look at Goblin and he gives a little shrug, looking at me from beneath his lowered head in a bashful sort of way. I'm so happy I dance & squeal with delight!! Even if they learnt the words parrot fashion & have no idea what they actually mean this is real progress. Incredible is the only way to describe it. I squat down & we have a group hug, right there in the middle of the clearing, in the middle of the meadow beside the path. Path, what path? Ahhhh THAT path. It seems there's now a path through the meadow.

I peek through the long grasses either side of it to see where it ends up. I want to know where it goes. Goblin takes my hand gently, I pick up Bones, who isn't the fastest mover on the planet, & we set off. Three Legs is happily bounding along beside us with his ball in his mouth as we move from the clearing & begin our journey. My three friends are happily chatting away as we walk, every so often one of them mentions 'Pore & Lorr' & I eventually begin to understand a bit more about them. From the little I can gather, they're a bit naughty really & you don't get one without the other. They go through this, my dreaming land, causing havoc & mayhem at every turn, despite the huge efforts on the part of their sister, Trin, to curb their behaviour. Hmmm I'm not very sure I want to actually meet them really.

We're on our way to Afrikalafrica I think. It was just mentioned by Bones. To begin with I thought that was the name of my beautiful meadow, but now I know it's a faraway land of enchantment. I have vivid pictures of magical griffon rides through clouds coloured by rainbows...I can hardly contain my excitement. Finally, I get to learn a bit more about my friends. The slithering sound has been following us now for quite some time, it doesn't get any closer, it just follows at a distance. It's only there when things are good, so it doesn't worry me, Pore & Lorr are a bit worrying though I must admit. We stop at a stream, it's a hot day & I slip my bare feet into the water to cool off before we begin the next part of our truly amazing journey. Blast! I'm awake.