I do not want a hug

Erin the hedgehog was sad 

“cheer up” , said Felipe Weasel, “it might never happen”. Felipe tried to hug Erin

“I DO NOT WANT A HUG” said Erin, and carried on walking 

“Turn that frown upside-down” said Otto the (bat-eared) fox. “Come play in the leaves with me”

“I DO NOT WANT TO PLAY IN THE LEAVES” said Erin, and carried on walking 

“You just need to think positive” said Suri the Meerkat “stand proud and look at the world”

“I DO NOT WANT TO STAND PROUD” said Erin, and carried on walking 

“eat some of these hazelnuts and you’ll feel better” said Scurry the Squirrel 

“I DO NOT WANT TO EAT HAZELNUTS” said Erin, and carried on walking 

Ereth the Porcupine Sat still, on a log. She looked at Erin, and then looked at the space next to her on the log, and then looked back at Erin.

“AREN’T YOU GOING TO TELL ME TO CHEER UP?” asked Erin

“no,” said Ereth

“WELL THEN AREN’T YOU GOING TO TELL ME TO STAND PROUD?”

“no,” said Ereth

“WELL THEN AREN’T YOU GOING TO TELL ME TO PLAY IN THE LEAVES?”

“no”, said Ereth 

Erin was so used to being angry and spiky that she didn’t know how to react.

“if you like,” said Ereth, “I’ll help you get that thorn out of your paw”

Erin realised that the thorn had been there all along, and that was why she was so grumpy. When Ereth pulled it out, she felt better, and a also a little silly for being angry with her friends. 

They had tried to help, but because it wasn’t the help she needed, she had been mean to them.

“thank you, Ereth”, said Erin. I didn’t mean to be mean, I was just hurting. Would you wait for me while I go say sorry to my friends?

“I will”, said Ereth, “And when you get back, if you like, you can sit on my log with me”

Erin went to see Felipe, and gave him a hug.

Then she went to see Otto, and chased him through the leaves

Then she went to see Suri, and they both stood as tall as they could and watched the sun set

Then she went to see Scurry, and picked up some hazel nuts on the way, which they shared.

When she got back to Ereth, there was a little fire going, in front of the log. 

“If you like,” Said Ereth “you can have a hug” 

“I would like a hug!”, said Erin.

She carefully tucked away her spikes, and cuddled up to Ereth. 

The Lighthouse

Old George lives at the lighthouse. He is long past retirement age, but kept the light going, unpaid, because it needs doing, and he likes living in the lighthouse. 

He loves the air at the top. At a hundred and three feet high, the tower's elevation means that the air is palpably thinner, and George, having spent a good deal of his life at the lamp, says he finds it easier to breathe up there.

There is little call nowadays for the lighthouse, and it has become simply daymark, in function, with the decline of the shipping industry, but George still keeps up the tradition, just in case. 

He enjoys watching the boats. In his youth it was cargo vessels, but now it’s mostly just leisure boats, and the occasional fishing expedition. Watching from the top of the tower, inhaling a sweet mixture of pipe tobacco and lamp oil, Old George can see the whole town, and feels almost as though he is their protector, ever vigilant, should anyone need help.

He sees Horace the Grocer’s rowboat, adrift on the river, and chuckles to himself, as he imagines the scolding Horace will be getting now for having sailed home drunk from the pub again. It’s quicker, and shorter, to walk home, but greengrocery belies Horace’s true passion, and after a few drams of navy rum, he is wont to feel the water under him.

“It’s  not a bad old life really”, George mused

Ebb & Flow

Ever moving, the ebb and flow of the sea serves to calm. The predictable entropy, every wave different, yet the same. I search for reason or purpose but come up short, and yet am not disheartened. Perhaps the point is not to achieve any one specific thing, but just to face each new challenge calmly, confident that it will work out, because, one way or another, it always has.
Half a life ago I was so sure I had everything figured out and knew where I was heading, and to what end. But there is no end, save the inevitable ultimate end, when I become one with the universe again. Failure has been the greatest teacher I have had. Not so much the personal failure, which more and more I realise is actually success at continuing, but the failure of plans to come to fruition; the failure of society to realise that if everyone is cared for, everyone is better off for it.

So what now? Never has the future seemed more uncertain, or more daunting. I have a feeling, as though it is my destiny to be presented with answers that seem too easy, and almost always are. Yet for every opportunity that has crumbled to dust, I have forged the foundation of a different possibility. Success is not unobtainable, simply finite. You don’t achieve your goal, and then simply rest for the remainder of your days, each mile marker of success contributes a chapter to your story. Success is not one thing, but a series of small victories, and the failures don’t negate them. Even when balance seems to be in favour of the disappointments, it is invariably just a matter of perspective. Wins and losses are temporary - they are the end of a story, but not the end of the story.
There is a temptation to view things in an absolute, binary manner - particularly in the settling dust of a skirmish that has left you momentarily defeated. And yet, even in the face of this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, as one person falls short of your expectations or hopes, another rises above them. Victory from defeat.