Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Stone Story part 4





"Ah yes, there are some good wallers out there - ones who 'listen to stones', but I am afraid most have joined another rebel clan. We stones are living in a time of great danger where a whole generation of humans have forgotten about the 'bond' which has existed between us for thousands of years. I refer specifically to the plague of so called 'masons' - men who are nothing more than rock thieves and stone traders, who catch and imprison the likes of us, merely for the purpose of sticking them together to drape over their houses and decorate their walls with."

"I have only heard of such things, but never believed it to be true." the Squire said as he shifted his weight from one side to the other. " I have only been used in structural structurally with a comfortable lime mortar bedding to breath and move"

"This other 'modern masons' use a kind of cement is so hard it causes damage to the stones," said the triangular stone, "and they that have been besmeared are scared for life with this horrid 'cement of portent'. The poor stones locked in such a wall have no life at all. They are all bunched together in suspended aggregation.

"How wall full ! " Rhonda gasped

"Yes it is. For surely these things are not cement to be." The triangle stone said looking down at the ground, grimly shaking his apex.

After a long pause he went on " But there is a new wall I must tell you about, though I dare to call it such, something I watched being amassed to my amazement. It is constructed not of local stones or natural material, but of some kind of 'shamrock', a 'phony stone' which is held together with a concoction horrible and sticky. I think 'tis called 'landscape glue'. And yet neither it, nor the wall itself, holds the landscape together at all. It is an affront to the background and a distraction to the eyes. And yet, I am told, this 'impostor wall' is only one of many to soon reach our land. We rocks must try and stop this invasion."

He stared at them gravely. " It is for this reason that I have waylaid you, so that I might inquire your assistance."

"How can we help?" the cube-shaped stone asked.

"I am not sure exactly, but I believe there must be some way for us to undo this spectre of a wall and ensure that nothing like it is ever built in these parts again."

" And where is this 'pretend wall'?" Rhonda asked.

" Not far from here - about a stone's throw from Stonecroft Cottage. I am hoping you will both come with me there to see what can be done?"

" But we are bound for yonder valley to join with our brothers and sisters in the dry stone wall you see being built off in the distance there. We should not delay any longer than needs be."

" I know, I know, but this slight diversion will not 'hold you up' for long, certainly nowhere near as long as those other stones will, when, after this adventure, you all shall be joined in a beautiful wall and enjoying being 'held up' together for a long time."

She paused and then turned to consult the square stone who was staring down longingly towards the walling activity below and asked him " What do you think, Squire?"

" As much as it would be nice to be down there with our kin," the Squire sighed " I suppose we should consider the imploring of our new friend and inspect this 'wall' of which he speaks. "