Magical feilds

This boat was near our hostel, I took a liking to it.

I know I have been slacking in posting since I got back, but in my defense I was catching up on NCIS, House, and Castle. Not much of a defense, but to my tired brain it is a spectacular defense.

In the coming weeks I will be writing about my adventures in the UK, some will be musings, others will be factual. This one is definitely going to fall under musings. Musings that happened after the end of the trip, but have nagged at the back, front, and sides of my brain. To say the least, when I was leaving Kyle of Lockalsh, I looked out of the corner of my eye.

For Doctor Who fans, you probably saw the reference to the Eleventh Hour, where the Doctor tells Amy not to look out the corner of her eye at the alien who is using a perception filter. If the alien knows Amy saw it, then it will obviously think that it is imperative for Amy to die. It will probably also take great pleasure in killing Amy, since it was a fugitive. Getting off topic was rather fun.

Back on topic! As we were leaving on the bus we were able to hire to take us back to the train station. I had diligently put my ear buds into my ears with music blasting through my ears. I watched as the Highlands, which I had fallen in love with, blurred past. My brain kept yelling at me that we were on the wrong side of the road, but I didn’t care, to absorbed in the watching the scenery rush passed. I felt sadness welling up in my chest, we didn’t have as much of a stay in the highlands as we had in London and Edinburgh.

Then suddenly, I would see something grey flash passed a tree just from the corner of my eye. I have exceptional peripheral vision, if I do say so myself. It would have to be from being in marching band, where there is a need to judge where people are with just your peripherals. My eyes would dart to the spot, but nothing of that grey color would be waiting to greet me. Puzzled, my mind would dismiss it immersing itself back into the music.

It happened a couple more times. I got very excited, thinking I may have glimpsed something magical. But now I wonder if I was hoping to hard to see something. I have met others who claim they have seen ghosts, fairies, and other creatures that have abandoned this realm. I have not, like many who feel left out of the loop, I would get frustrated and look that much harder.

I recently wrote a short story about ghosts. In the story it touched on how people would convince themselves they saw something out of the corner of their eye. Something that wasn’t there, but they wanted it to be there so they saw it. I wondered if this was happening to me. Was I to be forever left out of the loop of seeing the magical realm, or were they waiting for me to have an epiphany. If so, magical realm rest assured I am still searching for that epiphany. One day I will find it, and you will be revealed to me. Just wait.

 

The Library

Being in a college library is an adventure in itself. Being so quiet and silent, the imagination is free to roam. Coming up with ideas and fancies is delightfully easy, and brings wonders to the ego. I rarely come to the library to study, but to think, write, and hide. Being as vast and avoided as it is, it is easy to get some alone time with others thinking that I am actually studying. (I hope no one I know reads this or I am going to have to find somewhere else to hide.) Being holed up in a dorm room is not generally my cup of tea, and I need the change in scenery if I don’t want to go bat shit crazy.

In my hometown, I didn’t live anywhere close to the library. I could have ridden the bus, but really creepy people who don’t have showers ride the bus. Plus, I didn’t usually have a lot of pocket change on me, and my mother was one of those semi-protective parents. She would have wanted to go, thus taking out the library, or wanted one of my friends to go with me. Unfortunately, all my friends live unreasonably far from me making it near impossible to get together and go to the library. College fixed that for me.

Living on campus does have its ups and downs. My roommate, for example, I am okay with my about 50% of the time. The rest, I kind of wish she would go away and find that apartment she has said that she was looking for. The major thing that gets on my nerves is the way she eats. She eats like someone making out. It’s disgusting to listen to and has put me off of various meals. The library allows me to get away from her without being too rude, and gives me the chance to get my stomach settled.

I have found that it is easier to write when I am in a public place. I get less distracted and stay more focused. No going onto all the sites I like to procrastinate on, complete focus on writing. Along with this is the thinking, I can think a lot better when I don’t have people singing off-key right next door. Oh you glorious library, I bless the person who first thought you up!

However there is a downside to libraries as shown in Doctor Who. In a certain episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor and Donna explore the biggest library in the universe. This library takes up a whole planet, but when they get there, no one is around. As they explore, they find that little aliens that eat living things rather quickly are inhabiting the library because they believe it to be their ‘forest’. After watching this episode, I was a little leery of entering a library for some time. I knew logically that this couldn’t happen in my library, but the quiet does allow my imagination to roam and that is a rather scary thought.

Plus, during a zombie apocalypse, there isn’t really anything to use to defend yourself. There are plenty of places to hide, but there are no real weapons. Sure you could use the books, but I took an oath never to harm a book intentionally. Zombies would be able to starve the survivors out, or corner them. The slim aisles may seem like a good defensive position, but that is only until the zombies topple the book shelves on top of you. Ouch.

Currently I am being held hostage in this library. Not by zombies or tiny aliens, but by the weather. I do hope this rain ends soon, it doesn’t sound at all nice to walk through.