I stumbled through a thicket of pink petals and soft leaves, hoping to recognise a path that would lead me home. It seemed as though I had been wandering for hours. I blamed that fool Jojo, whose strong Californian grass had curbed my natural wariness and allowed me to drift from the only path I was familiar with.
Pleased to be out in the open once again, I stopped and gazed around. In front of me lay a landscape of brilliant colour, filled with short, fat apple trees and cool pools of baby blue water. Not far off, surrounded by white and orange tulips that grew to the height of my waist lay a friendly-faced fellow, dressed in brown suede shoes, long, loose trousers and a yellow shirt with an over-sized collar. Impressive sideburns framed his rosy cheeks, and he flashed a thin-lipped smile in my direction. I brushed myself down and picked a path through the pleasant garden towards him.
"Evening, friend," was his greeting from the cool shade of a stubby tree.
"Hello," I replied to this curious chap. "This might sound odd, but I'm completely lost. You don't happen to know where we are, do you?"
He gazed at me for a moment, deep in thought. "We're in the Strawberry Fields," he finally sighed. "Don't worry, nothing is real. There's nothing to get hungabout."
Hungabout? "Well, I'd really like to find my way home. How do I get out?"
He chuckled through narrow nostrils, and perched on one elbow. "Friend, the Strawberry Fields go on forever."
I hunkered down next to him, frustrated. "No they don't. They can't go on forever, otherwise how did I come to be here in the first place? I haven't always been here."
He reclined and stared into the distance, past the turquoise-feathered pigeons that gathered by a small wooden fence. "Living is easy with eyes closed," he mused. "You, friend, have been misunderstanding all you see. I know how you feel. It's getting hard to be someone, but in the end it all works out. Anyway," he lay back, stretched and closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter much to me."
"Well it matters to me!" I retorted with some disappointment. "I just want to go home. I don't know, perhaps this is all just a dream."
He remained perfectly still. "You would know if it was a dream," he asserted, cocking a bushy eyebrow towards me. "I guess you could go see the Fool on the Hill. He knows everything, but never gives an answer. He might be able to help."
I shook my head in wonder at this cryptic, lanky man. "Well, which hill is he on?" I snapped, weary of his games.
"Don't ask me. Ask the Sun, she'll tell you." And with that, the purple-trousered man fell asleep in the shade of the apple trees.
With the smell of apples and flowers in my nose, I trotted down a little mound in the direction of the Sun. As I got closer, the glare calmed and I could stand to stare straight into the globe which hung low above a series of sloping hills in the distance. I slowed, and then stopped completely, as my eyes adjusted to be able to see the Sun quite clearly.
The pale face of a young girl hovered in the sky, in the spot where the blinding Sun had been. Her lips spread in a wide, smiling arc as my jaw dropped. She regarded me through enormous, sapphire eyes from which thick lashes curled alluringly. Her long, brown hair cascaded in waves, covering her ears, held gently in place with a cream band. She raised her eyebrows and twitched her nostrils mischievously.
"Well?" she asked in a voice dripping with syrup. "Are you just gonna stare at me, little darling? I'll be setting soon, you know."
I took a few steps toward her, looming overhead like a decorative saucer on the wall. I ran my hands though my hair and wondered; had the Sun always been a talking girl? I had forgotten, by now, that nothing was real.
I swallowed hard. "I'm trying to get home. You must be able to see for miles around from up there. What's the quickest way to leave?"
She shook her head, and as she did so the shadows danced on the trees and rocks around me. "That's not for me to answer," she mocked. "That's not what you're supposed to ask."
"Fine. I'm looking for the Fool on the Hill. Do you know where I could find him?"
"Oh, yeah," she giggled. "I see him everyday, when I go down for the night. He watches me going down. Hell be on the hill, of course, as he is day after day. Fool's Hill. Follow me, and I shall lead you to him."
"Follow you?"
"Follow me."
The Sun began setting, slowly but visibly. Her pale chin dipped beneath the horizon, and she smiled sweetly, encouraging me. With little other choice, I set off at a brisk pace. I grabbed shiny red apples from the trees as I passed them, and splashed my face in the cold water that gathered in perfect mirrors between egg-shaped boulders.
As I walked, the glow grew less pleasant and the shadows around me became gradually longer. The Sun sang sweetly all the while, the same words over and over in a bewitching melody, and before long I found myself joining in. At first I mouthed the words quietly, but encouragement from her dancing eyes and pink lips led me to join in, comfortable that there were none within earshot but the dawdling Sun.
One day you'll look to see I've gone,
For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun.
Some day you'll know I was the one,
But tomorrow may rain so I'll follow the sun...
Just as my feet grew exhausted, the Sun interrupted our tune. By now, only her eyes were visible above the horizon, and she pointed with them as she spoke.
"Well, little darling, there you are. That is Fool's Hill there, underneath my left nostril. You will find the Fool there, of course, day after day."
"Thank you," I called out. "Shall I see you tomorrow?"
"Well, that will depend on the Sun King. If the rain comes, little darling, they run and hide their heads..."
On that suggestion she swiftly ducked out of view, leaving the Strawberry Fields in a silvery darkness. Silence descended over the land like a blanket. For a moment, the calm was absolute; and then a harmonious whistle drifted softly to my ears. Somewhere in the shadows there was a lone blackbird, singing in the dead of night.
rating: 3
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