The Goose that Got Away

by 42 Comments

Recently, I had a dream.

Before you groan and run away, yes, there have been times in my life I’ve been guilty of over-sharing when it comes to dreams.  But this one has a point, I promise – so stay with me.

A baby goose grew from my hip and started demanding food.

It was a greedy little critter, and soon became unwieldy attached to my hip.  So I tried to detach it and accidentally separated the poor beast from one of its legs!

It didn’t seem to mind, it just wanted food.  Lots of it.  Now.

I took the goose to the local supermarket, but somehow, they had run out of sardines.  We began to get desperate.

I stood, holding my flailing goose, by a rocky, surging coastline.  How am I going to catch fish in there? I wondered, but before I could answer, the goose wrestled free and dove in.

No!! But he hasn’t learned to swim!  He’s too weak to fish!  He’s disabled!  He’ll be crushed on the rocks!  I screamed, silently, watching for any sign of a resurging goose.

Then, on the crest of a massive wave, I saw my goose.  Head held high, swimming with the glee of a bird wild and free…

Coming back to reality is always frightening after one of those dreams.  What does it all mean? you ask, not really wanting an answer.

The truth is, I’ve been keeping a little pet project all to myself.  I thought if I don’t tell you, then it’s not real.  I can back out anytime.  It can die a hungry death and no one need be wiser.

Except my pet has started growing up!  It’s become greedy and snatching and uncontrollable.  I’m afraid you’ll start to notice my strange behavior – unexplained absences, slurred comments and an oddly non-existent life outside of blogging.

So it’s come to that point in a parent’s life when, even if I don’t think he’s ready to go public, he has other ideas.  He might be missing a leg or a whisker, but the time has come to share my work in progress with some friends…

Say Hello to Pepi.

Some of you might remember me telling you about the day I realized Pepi was the Best Man in My Life.  How I had a second chance to honour his being before he says goodbye.

Pepi never was one to have his picture taken.  Quite aside from the fact that he would never sit still long enough, he hates the camera.  And for a long time I was too allergic to budgeting poor to own one.

Instead, his story will soon come to life in a series of illustrated verse.  Above is the illustrator’s first sketch – I don’t know about you, but I think she’s done a mighty fine job.

Pepi’s not so sure.

Now when he hears his name, he’s suspicious it’s a rival dog that lives in the computer.  His fears are confirmed by the barks of Youtube Pepi look-alikes that get played on repeat!

Anyway, the point here is – I’ve been keeping this quiet in case it all goes to pot.  But now that the illustrator is weaving her magic, it is taking up hours of my day – finding reference material, reviewing sketches, researching Kindle formatting (argh), tweaking verse…and the list goes on.

This, unfortunately, leaves less room for chit-chat in the virtual social-sphere.  I’m doing my best to keep up with you all, but let’s just say, I’ve bitten off more than I can comfortably chew in learning curves this year!

At least now you’ll know it’s not because I’m sleeping on the job 😉

Do you have any wild dreams you’d like to share?  Maybe a goose that got away?  How did you handle it?

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Credit for images not mine is as follows:

Comments

  2. says

    I had to read your links to fill myself in about Pepi. What an exciting project to be working on, Alarna and I don’t think it’s a wild goose chase…one that is always in motion. Good for you. And…thanks for introducing us to Pepi.

    Reply

    • says

      It is fun, there’s no doubt! Thanks so much for the encouragement…I’ll keep everyone posted from time to time. Pepi says “wrooowroo”, which means, “that’s right, so I should be the center of the universe” 😉

      Reply

  4. Deliberately Delicious says

    Looking forward to hearing more about this dream that’s coming alive for you! I love the illustration!

    Reply

  6. says

    What a fascinatingly symbolic dream – brilliant! And Congratulations on your wonderful new project! Don’t let anything get in the way of it, and enjoy every minute of doing what you really want to do Heaps of energy going your way from noo zilland XXX

    Reply

    • says

      Haha, ‘noo zilland’…that’s excellent. Thanks so very much Valerie – you’re positive vibes reached me in waves. I promise to keep at it 🙂 (and glad you enjoyed the wacky dream…I love dreams!) *big hugs*

      Reply

    • says

      Thanks so much, Susie! Those dreams are weird, aren’t they? I’m not sure what all those things really symbolise – but I love trying to interpret them 🙂 Have a wild week filled with happy dreams 🙂

      Reply

  12. lynnkelleyauthor says

    Woo hoo, Alarna! What awesome news! I’m excited for you, and I think that illustration is darling. And so is the real Pepi! His pic makes me smile! So cute. Uh, I hear you loud and clear on the formatting issues. I found a great formatter whose prices are super reasonable. Let me know if you want her info. I had to learn how to add my illustrations to the Word doc with the manuscript (which isn’t hard at all) and she’ll do the rest, get the formatting correct and she formats the cover for no extra charge. She’s only charging me $30. It would probably only be $20 if the ms didn’t have illustrations. It can save you a lot of frustration. I had a horrible time with the formatting for Kindle, too. Horrible time = meltdown. Bad.
    Your dream is very cool. I have strange, detailed dreams, too. I love the photos you added!

    Reply

    • says

      Dreams are great fuel, don’t you think?! 🙂 The Kindle formatting is no joke! I’m not using CreateSpace, just figuring it out as I go from Word. Between the verse and the images (took me a while to figure out the best size for that) it has been doing my head in! So lovely of you to offer your contact – her charges are VERY reasonable (the pricing I’ve seen is $300 upwards). I might email you on that. ‘Horrible time = meltdown. Bad.’!! No truer words could be said! Glad you got through that hurdle.

      Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement, Lynn 🙂 xx

      Reply

  13. says

    Ooh boy, that is so exciting! Congrats on your ‘pet’ project. 🙂 I don’t blame you for not wanting to share the news too soon. I do the same thing. I’m a little superstitious, I guess.

    Love that picture of your dog. Those eyes!

    Reply

  16. says

    What a great post Alarna! I know all about your goose! I too have struggled with kindle formatting my short stories into a compilation book. Ugh! I wish I had someone like you have!!! I’m not very up on computer stuff and illistarations… Oh well, I guess I’ll just keep writing 🙂 JW

    Reply

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