All the Better to See You With. The woods had always been his home. He knew every dirt track, all the paths. He was always hungry; nothing he could find truly satisfied his appetite. So he spent his days wandering between the trees, waiting. Then one day something new happened. A little girl strode into the woods, a bright red cloak on her back and a basket in hand. She skipped along the path, humming loudly. She couldn’t have been more than 12 years old. He heard her coming before he saw her, his ears pricked up at the sound of her voice. Years alone in the woods looking for prey had honed his senses, all the better to hear her with. He darted behind a nearby bush, and waited for her to get nearer. She rounded the bend, appearing between the trees. He was struck by a sudden ravenous hunger the moment he laid eyes on her. It was like he had never eaten before in his life. He tracked her with his eyes, large and brown, as she skipped along the path. She was humming to herself as she went. It was such a sweet sound; he could listen to the little girl sing all day. But the soothing melody only made his appetite grow stronger. He stalked her from behind the bushes. She stopped suddenly, looking around, as if she had heard something. She looked right at him. The little girl saw a glint of something in the bush, something sharp and terrible. She could feel eyes peering at her hungrily. Her mother had warned her of the dangers of the woods. Terrible creatures, nasty predators, lived there. The girl hurried off, unsure if there was even anything there at all. He followed her, hunting his prey. He slunk
silently between the trunks of the trees, hanging back but always keeping that little red cloak in sight. She had come upon a clearing full of flowers and had stopped. He approached silently, hidden beneath the canopy of leaves and the shadow of the trees. He watched her, unblinking, carefully observing her every move. He wondered if she had ever been into his woods before and he’d simply never seen her, or if this was her first time. She was so care free, sitting there, picking flowers, so innocent. There was a sweet smell in the air. He sniffed at it. Not the flowers, it came from her basket. Muffins and bread, and biscuits too. But these things he was not hungry for. They could not slate his monstrous appetite. He stared at the little girl, her hood taken down, little black pigtails falling onto each shoulder. He felt his hunger more powerful than ever before. It burned inside him, like he had never eaten a bite before and never would again if he did not seize this perfect opportunity. She was right there, laid out like an offering to him. His big, hungry eyes looked her up and down as he prowled towards her, out of the shadows. His boots crushed the flowers beneath his tread, his checked shirt faded and torn. The axe at his belt glinted in the sun like a beasts claws. What big ears he had, sticking out from under his woollen cap. He still tread softly as he approached, he didn’t want to scare her away and have to chase her. She turned her little head towards him, looking up at him from her seat among the flowers. “Hello there, little girl.” Said the woodsman, grinning like a wolf. N
The Beauty Behind the Thorns. Prince Phillip had been travelling across the country when he came across a monolith of a castle. He had never been one to trespass, he knew better, and he should have kept going. But Phillip was curious, so he stepped off his horse and approached the dangerous walls. The castle towered over him, the bricks were worn where they could be seen, but it was difficult to try and gaze through the thorns and vines that covered the ancient walls. Who knew how long this castle had been guarded by the deadly barbs that shielded the entry ways. However, the prince could sense the beauty with in. It was almost as if he was drawn here by some higher power, that he was destined to make it through the thick shield and discover what was kept behind the walls. Pulling out his sword the prince slashed his way through. He winced and swore as a long thorn cut through his royal garb and slashed at his clean skin. He was but a mere foot in but he kept going, the closer he got to the doorway the more determined he was to enter. Eventually he made it to the admission of the castle and using all of his strength he pushed the door open and it creaked as its timeworn hinges moved again for the first time in years. Once inside Prince Phillip felt compelled to explore. The inside of the castle was as worn as its outer walls but he ventured forth. There was something here, something he needed to discover. Sword still in hand his light feet began their pathway through the castle. He saw a body lying in a courtyard and he instantly ran to observe whether this woman was a survivor. When he approached her he noticed more bodies lying around, none of them hurt or with faces twisted in pain, there were just lying there as if they had fallen asleep.
B y J ohn C oomans
The Three Brothers and the Talking Sparrow.
B y C urtley O prean
A long time ago in a kingdom, well, far enough to be inconvenient I guess. Anyway in that kingdom there lived a farmer and his three sons and his only daughter. The two oldest brothers were stout lads, strong enough to do the work of three men each day and the youngest brother was thought to be clever. Finally the daughter, who was the youngest of all of them, was known throughout the land as a total hottie, like an eight out of ten easy, a nine even. She was so beautiful that every day men from across the country would travel to the village just to spend the night with the family and admire her. To show their gratitude it was custom for these visitors to leave a gift with the family, a crock of butter or a Phil Collins CD. All in all, between the older brothers doing the work of six men and the daughter raking in loads free stuff the family was doing pretty well, great even, they probably ate too much butter though. One day however the men that came to visit the totally smokin daughter were not men at all but rather fierce giants. Now not only did the giants not bring gifts, they actually kidnapped the daughter and carried her off to their castle! The two eldest brothers might have stopped them but they were off working in the fields and the youngest brother was rather sensibly hiding in the cellar. As soon as the two older brothers returned the eldest volunteered to rescue her. He took his Father’s sword and his suit of armour and set off. Not too far from home the eldest brother came upon a sparrow sitting on a fencepost. “Hey man,” said the sparrow. “Heard about what happened to your sister, that’s pretty rough. Let me perch on your shoulder while you travel and I’ll help you through the trials ahead.” With that the sparrow hopped onto the eldest brother’s shoulder and the pair of them journeyed onwards until they came to an immense river that seemed impassable.
B y L auren F owkes
Phillip didn’t know what had happened, he was confused, but that’s when he saw the rise and fall of the chest of the woman he was standing beside. “Ma’am?” he shook her. She had a pulse and she was breathing, she was alive but not waking. So he proceeded to check the status of the people around her. He concluded that everyone was asleep, but no one would wake. Their clothes were a century old and he couldn’t help but feel compelled to continue on his search to find the source of the slumber. His journey took him to large oak doors, braced by a sign that said “Do not enter”. His curiosity still got the better of him and he pushed it open. This one opened easier without the mass of plants and vines barring his way. He didn’t expect what he would see on the inside. Laid on a beautiful bed of silver and gold embroidery was the most beautiful being he had ever seen. With fair skin and hair as black as ivory, lips a plump pink and enticing to kiss the prince couldn’t help himself. Leaning forward he delicately pressed his lips to that of the sleeping beauty and suddenly, as if my magic, gorgeous blue eyes opened to greet him. Long lashes fluttered in slight confusion for a moment before the once slumbering soul sat upright. But before a word could be spoken the people from the courtyard came rushing into the room to greet the saviour.
“Alright,” said the sparrow “What you wanna do here is wear this stone ring and then as long as you keep your thumb in your mouth you won’t run out of air and you can just walk across the bottom.” Not having any better ideas the eldest brother put on the ring, stuck his thumb in his mouth and walked along the bottom of the river, but halfway across he found himself running out of air and drowned. “That’s weird,” said the sparrow “Maybe he had it on the wrong setting?” and then he fluttered off. When the eldest brother never returned the middle brother volunteered to go and rescue both him and their sister. There was no sword and armour but he was able to take a sharp knife and a stout length of rope and he set off. Not too far from home the middle brother came upon a sparrow sitting on a fencepost. “Hey man,” said the sparrow. “Heard about what happened to your sister, that’s pretty rough. Let me perch on your shoulder while you travel and I’ll help you through the trials ahead” With that the sparrow hopped onto the middle brother’s shoulder and the pair of them journeyed onwards until they came to an immense river that seemed impassable. “Alright,” said the sparrow “What you wanna do here is wear this stone ring and then as long as you keep your thumb in your mouth you won’t run out of air and you can just walk across the bottom, easy!” But the middle brother didn’t like that idea so much so instead he uncoiled his length of rope and threw it
over a tree on the other side of the river and then crossed it that way. On the other side of the river he journeyed on until he reached a terribly deep forest. “Okay!” said the sparrow “The way to handle this is to tie this piece of string around your ear, that way as long as you hold your nose you’ll be invisible to the beasts of the forest. Not having any better ideas the middle brother tied the piece of string around his ear and held his nose and ventured into the forest. But he didn’t make it halfway before a pack of wolves pounced on him and tore his throat out. “Wow!” said the sparrow, “I’m off my game at the moment, I really thought that would work,” and he fluttered off. When the middle brother never returned the youngest brother made a big show of looking very busy and was careful never to bring up the topic of his siblings until finally his Father kicked him out of the house with orders not to show his face back without his siblings. There wasn’t any swords or armour or even any ropes or a knife so the youngest brother took a crock of butter and a Phil Collins CD because they seemed better than nothing and he set off. Not too far from home the youngest brother came upon a sparrow sitting on a fencepost. “Hey man,” said the sparrow. “Heard about what happened to your sister, that’s pretty rough. Let me perch on your shoulder while you travel and I’ll help you through the trials ahead.” “Thanks but I think I can handle it,” said the youngest Brother but the sparrow hopped onto his shoulder anyway and could not be shooed away so with a little grumbling the pair of them journeyed onwards until they came to an immense river that seemed impassable. “Alright,” said the sparrow “What you wanna do here is wear this stone ring and then as long as you keep your thumb in your mou-” “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” said the youngest brother. Instead he found a local fisherman and offered to give him a crock of butter in exchange for ferrying the youngest brother across the river and then crossed it that way. On the other side of the river he journeyed on until he reached a terribly deep looking forest. “Alright,” said the sparrow “The way to handle this is to tie this piece of string around your ear, that way as long as you hold your no” “I take it back, this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” said the youngest brother. Instead he found a merchant and offered to give him a Phil Collins CD in exchange for carrying him though the forest in his sturdy carriage and then crossed it that way. On the other side of the forest he continued on his journey until he reached the castle of the giants. “Now listen,” said the sparrow. "I know you haven’t thought too highly of my ideas so far, but I’ve got this magic hat...” “Mmm I’m gonna pass,” said the youngest brother. Instead he grabbed the sparrow and stuffed it into the magic hat, found the three giants and offered to give them a talking sparrow in exchange for his sister. The giants were so impressed by this offer that they threw in a life giving elixir to restore life to the two older brothers. Thusly the siblings were able to travel home together but before he left the youngest brother strongly advised the giants not listen to a word the sparrow told them. “He’s full of shit,” he explained. N
“You did it! You broke the spell!” he heard. He spun around to see the lavishly dressed King and Queen and Phillip bowed in respect. Prince Phillip smiled kindly in returned before turning back to the stunning individual beside him. “Thank you. My name is Prince Aaron and we are forever grateful.” N
Coming Soon.
Opposite page “Daydreamer” by Saabira Razac.
For submissions: Email Adrian at— collective@courthouse.org.au
www.courthouse.org.au