Today is my last day, I am gutted that the journey has gone so quickly, but I am excited that it is the start of a new piece of work.
Here is an section of the story that I wrote for the new piece of work:
Dr Bird is standing in the middle of his boat eating cake and points southeast towards Dudley, whilst simultaneously looking from a rudimentary telescope at a tall white wall! Every so often he shouts the words “Polar Bear” then closes his eyes as if a sleep and re-opens then to shout the words “Polar Bear” again. This infrequent outburst is alarming and untimely. Faces of onlookers become even more puzzled and hesitant. Unsure on what is about to happen next the room falls silent from the laughter and conversation that filled the high ceilings a moments before. This excitement and curiosity is expected when attending one of Dr Birds events. Amongst the guests in the room are Thomas Bantock (Mayor), Mary Bantock, Dr Fossil, Dr Fraser, and the artist John Fullwood. All have come to see what preposterous event Dr Bird has concocted this time.
Upon entry the guests are given a French menu, indicating what delicious cake is served. Towards the end of menu, reads the following:
A vision has been impelled upon me by a force beyond anything that we know. This journey has already started; a journey that will end with either catastrophic consequences or with extraordinary significance. A vision given to me by fairer voice, telling me to seek new riches in the surrounding areas, “You will find areas of outstanding beauty; beauty that you can only ever imagine in oil paintings captured by the finest and steadiest hands” she whispers. “Travel towards the southeast where amongst an ancient Silurian reef lays a Golden Fossil that bears the name of a Calymene Blumenbacii. Beware it is guarded by a man eating Polar Bear. To the west you will find the Devil himself. You must look to confront him, as he will look to turn your soul from within. Ensure to bring back samples of his ash. The last and final visit will be to the north; your homeland. Greeted with wealth and luxury your eyes will wonder, but do not give into its lure or you will be trapped by the lady in red, for it is a trick to deceive you. Go forth, baring a line to the north-west, where you will find a witch next to a Silent Pool[i]. Give her the ash of the Devil and Golden Fossil and she will bring you eternal happiness. Do all this and I will no longer haunt you.[ii]
The screams of “Polar Bear” break the concentration of thought once more. The stories are dismissed as no more than a myth or a story that Dr Bird has embellished.
[i] In reference to Doxey’s Pool at the Roaches, Joseph Deville Vickers Painting entitled ‘The Silent Pool’ painted in 1895
[ii] Taken from Stories relating to Bilston’s next exhibition, entitled Once Upon Time in the Midlands, stories gathered by Dave Reeves
