Godot and all our other furry/feathered friends & teachers
Godot
Godot is a magical dog who teaches people about how to live.
He is especially fond of Blizzard the Time Wizard.
He teaches Skye a magical lesson.
Godot is based on the most beautiful labradoodle who lived his time on earth as Campese with the lovely Rosie Crumpton-Crook and Flick Crook. Once when Diane had been badly bullied at work, Campese heaved himself up onto the couch and lay with Diane for hours.
We know he’s now bounding across the endless beaches of Heaven, having a marvellous time, undoubtedly with Steve.
Darlington Jones
Darlington Jones here.
Captain Stella asked me to write some thoughts for you.
So, I did.
You must know by now that I LOVE creating feasts.
I love everything about it from designing the food, to sourcing the ingredients, to cooking each part of the feast, to decorating the party area (the tables, the chairs, the atmosphere), to serving, to cleaning up … I just love it! I’ve even started a garden so that my feasts are made from the very, very best ingredients.
Feasts are my favourite part of every month and I usually do quite a few.
I also love creating healing blankets for people who’ve been frightened or bullied or traumatised in any way. I use enchanted yarns to make sure that each blanket brings its owner the best and most personal healing ever. The intuition of a flamingo is very powerful so I’m usually guided by that, but if Miss Jax is around (or Angel or Migal or Captain Stella) I might ask for advice.
I have always wanted to train as a Kindness Wizard, but today I was honoured by Angel at a special ceremony. She said that it would be foolish for me to train as a Kindness Wizard because I already know so much about it. Instead, she said, I should become a Professor of Kindness Wizardry and start teaching at least one lesson every week!
I was overcome with happiness, and I must admit that my flamingo legs gave way and I nearly fell over. I made some gurgling flamingo sounds to comfort my heart which felt as if it might fly away. Then I closed my eyes and dreamt of flying with my brothers and sisters when I was young. After a while, I remembered wonderful dances we used to do as a family. You can watch some similar flying and dancing here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLV_K7DVeyU
And I felt my whole body smile.
What a wonderful honour to become Professor Darlington Jones.
Tonight, I will write to my family and let them know.
They will be very pleased.
Soon, I will give you my first lesson on kindness.
But, for today – please wish me well as I come to terms with being Professor Darlington Jones, Mistress of Feasts, Kindness Wizard and Famed Knitter of Magical Healing Blankets.
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Molly
An excerpt from Chapter 7.777 of The Time Virus
As we continued to walk, I started thinking about Angel creating the Black Pond.
‘What happened to the boy — the one who was blind?’ I asked. ‘Did he ever get better?’
‘He was at the Black Pond for a long time,’ said Blizzard. ‘He was a very sad boy.’
‘Still blind?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ said Blizzard, ‘but Angel gave him a special helper called Molly.’
‘Molly,’ I repeated.
‘Well, her full name was Blackboy Singapore Sling,’ said Blizzard. ‘But the boy named her Molly. She was the best and most lovely of sandy Labradors.’
‘Like a Guide Dog?’ I asked.
‘Yes, and she had magical powers, so she gave the boy an invisible cane to help him feel his way around the pond and not fall into the water. And the cane doubled as a magic wand with a very special ability to create food — especially grilled chicken, which was Molly’s favourite thing in all the world. Well, grilled chicken and her toy dog, Smollette which came from Small Molly, Smolly and then Smollette.’
‘Very convenient to have a magic wand that creates grilled chicken,’ said Jax with a smile.
Panda
An excerpt from Chapter 1.111 of Time Wizard:
Just as we were nearing the outer edges of the schoolgrounds a black and white border collie bounded up to us. She was covered in mud!
‘Panda!’ yelled Migal, kneeling down. ‘Oh Panda, my old friend! How good to see you.’
He didn’t seem to care that Panda was getting mud all over him. She wagged her tail wildly while she licked Migal’s face all over, and then she greeted each of us with a short bark and a more wagging of her tail. Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth and she was grinning from ear to ear.
‘Who’s Panda?’ I whispered to Migal.
‘It’s complicated,’ he replied. ‘In a way, she’s Blizzard.’
‘Does Blizzard shape-shift?’
‘Not exactly,’ said Migal. ‘Panda’s like Blizzard’s spirit, and when Blizzard’s caught up in a terrible place … or back in the day, if he was in pain after being punished at school, his heart and soul would simply race out of the building and leap into Panda.’
‘Sort of like splintering?’ asked Skye.
‘Definitely,’ agreed Migal.
‘So, Panda’s not actually real?’ I asked.
‘Oh, she’s as real as any of us,’ said Migal, ‘but whether she’s actually Blizzard, or whether she just carries his spirit around when he’s terrified or sad, none of us could ever be quite sure. Maybe she simply lives in his imagination … and ours as well, who knows?’
Panda leapt up at Migal as if to say, ‘I’m totally real!’
And then she bounded away as fast as she could.
We were all left standing there, feeling as if something completely magic had happened.
And, in a way, it had!
The Princess of the Magic Sea-Dragons
The Princess can be as big as a small whale or as tiny as a sea horse or a sea dragon. It’s her choice!
An excerpt from Chapter Minus Six of The Magic Time Pirates:
The highlight of the holidays was Tole’s encounter with the Princess of the Magic Sea Dragons. It was unheard of for anyone to actually talk to the Princess, let alone a boy. Once it had happened, it was all anyone could talk about. Everyone was extremely excited. According to the adults, Tole was the first person to be singled out for an interview with the Princess pretty much ever! Most of the adults had been taken out into the deep to see the Princess at least once, but she’d never spoken to anyone.
People were asking what it could mean.
