Appollinaire
(The Other Side of Nowhere)
By
Robert William Saul Harvey
Published by Robert Harvey
Copyright © 2016 Robert Harvey
The moral rights of Robert Harvey to be
identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses,
organizations, places and events in this publication are fictitious,
being figments of the author’s imagination; any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events and locales is entirely coincidental.
Appollinaire, Pol, Bizet is a disgruntled, solitary seventeen-year-old boy who thinks his parents in particular, and the whole world in general, are against him. No matter what he tries to do, it’s never good enough. The way he sees it, his only friend in the whole wide world is his dog, Tinker, a five-year-old black whippet cross breed with a white flash on its chest and a wicked sense of humor.
When he is accosted by a gang of boys whilst he is out walking with his dog Pol, being skinny, five feet eight in his stocking feet, and more of a pacifist than a fighter, does the first thing that comes to mind—he instinctively runs for it. After dodging through a gap in a hedge, into a field of knee-high grass, to the amazement of the pursuing boys, promptly disappears...
Prologue.
Blink. Blink.
Two suns, one bright, yellow-red, high in a cloudless sky, the other, duller, smaller, more distant, much redder, was lower down towards the eastern horizon. Both suns beat down mercilessly on the flat, arid landscape. A heat haze rose steadily from the hot, rock strewn, red sandstone, which caused the distant horizon to waver uncontrollably from side to side.
Blink.
Nothing moved in this desolate place, nothing, that is, apart from the small, six-legged, lizard-like creature, which was hurriedly scampering across the hot sand towards the shade of a large boulder where it hoped to rest for a moment to catch its breath before resuming its perilous journey in search of food and, hopefully, a little water.
Little more than three inches in length with a flexible tail as long as its body and a short, pug-like head, which sported two razor sharp horns, two side by side above each slit of a forward-looking eye, four in total, the lizard-like creature lived a solitary life only meeting with others of its kind for the act of procreation. Two eyes, one each side of a flattened nose, allowed the creature look ahead whilst two more eyes, placed behind the creature’s small, mouse-like ears, allowed it to see anything which might be trying to creep up on it from behind. The lizard’s long, snakelike tongue darted hither and thither, tasting the ground and the air as the young reptile desperately seeked out its next meal. It would eat anything, animal or vegetable, as long as the item was small enough for it to handle, especially if said animal was already dead.
Unknown to the lizard, something, which posed a danger to its well-being, was watching it from high above. The unseen form of a bird-like creature was perched upon a tall, jagged rock, from which it was able to survey the surrounding area. Its keen eyesight allowed it to spot the slightest movement, the smallest creature, in fact, anything larger than a small pebble within a one-mile radius.
Blink.
Suddenly,
Something appeared to spook the lizard and it stopped mid-stride.
Froze.
Unmoving, the small reptile listened as its four eyes independently surveyed the surrounding area.
Blink. Blink.
Although it could not see anything, a primal sixth sense caused the lizard’s skin to ripple and flex, the short, almost transparent hairs on the back of its neck stood up on end, and it automatically changed its skin colour to try to blend in with the surrounding landscape. Visibly trembling, the creature cowered down in an attempt to make its body as small as possible. A wave of fear ran down its spine as it waited, rigid, too afraid to move.
The two forward-looking eyes, turning independently of each other, continued to scan the area ahead, and the sky above, as the lizard tried to detect the smallest of movements. Its two rearward-looking eyes tried, unsuccessfully, to focus on the distant rocky outcrop from which the reptile had recently emerged, where it had spent the previous night hiding from any marauding predator that may have been sniffing around, searching for its next meal.
The lizard’s small brain posed the question, “‘where were you?’” as it fearfully searched the clear cloudless sky.
The frightened creature could see nothing.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
The ferocious, bird-like beast, which was watching the lizard, was far too high for the lizard to see because the lizard’s vision was limited to little more than twenty yards at most and was of little use in wide-open spaces, such as this arid desert.
The previous evening, the lizard had been happy as it greedily chomped on the remains of a large spider-like beast with twelve very hairy legs and a massive, eye-filled head. The spider’s head was almost half the size of its main body. This had been the first decent meal the lizard had had for three days. The mangled spider had filled his belly, but such a meal was soon digested and now he was hungry and thirsty, and needed to find something more nutritious to eat.
However,
For the moment, fear overcame hunger.
To the lizard, time seemed to stand still and a deep foreboding gripped its mind.
The frightened reptile remained motionless as it struggled to comprehend what might be causing this feeling of trepidation. Some deep-rooted sixth sense was telling it how, it the hunter, had suddenly become the hunted.
The lizard’s heartbeat increased and its muscles tensed, as it made ready for flight.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
The lizard’s two small, mouse like ears twitched as they tried to pick up the faintest of sounds. The wrong noise would immediately send lizard-creature scuttling across the arid, parched ground towards the safety of a nearby pile of rocks under which he might be able to hide, the location of which he had already made an unconscious mental note. The rocks were not too far away. No more than a matter of half-dozen or so yards, as the lizard runs, although it was a massive distance for a small creature to cover quickly when its life was at stake.
The reptile’s whole body quivered with fear and a cold sweat might have broken out all over if it had been able to sweat. As it was, the chill horror that gripped the creature’s body made the need to cool down irrelevant. More significant was the need to survive.
Then,
The creature’s brain suddenly registered a large dark shadow as it blotted out the burning light of the yellow sun overhead.
Breathing in shallow, hurried gasps, the lizard’s heart pounded wildly in its chest, much faster than normal, and the poor creature feared its days, minutes, seconds, were limited.
Blink.
Panic!
Blink.
Blind instinct took over from reason.
Without waiting for an instant longer, the lizard’s coiled muscles released their pent-up energy and the creature fled, making a beeline for the distant rocky outcrop. As the lizard ran for its life, a low, rapid ‘whoo
shing’ sound filled its ears, in time with the beating of his heart, to match the emerald green blood, which surged through its veins.
Boom, boom, boom, went its heart.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, went the noise in its ears.
Suddenly, another sound drowned out the noise of the lizard’s pulsing blood and beating heart.
“‘Caaawww!’”
The primeval scream of the huge flying beast, fifty times the size of the hapless lizard, a true Beast from Hell, with a body similar in appearance to one of an ostrich-sized eagle, but with the head of a bat, two short arms each with three almost useless clawless fingers, and a saber toothed, two-foot long beak, split the silence. Its muscular legs, each sporting four claws with evil long talons were poised ready to grab the doomed reptile as it swooped down from its high perch.
Instinct!
Immediately, the lizard took off, upped a gear and increased its speed as it frantically dived for the cover of the small rocky outcrop, which was now a mere two feet in front of it. The terrified creature headed straight for a crack in the rocks, which it hoped would be wide enough for it to be able to wriggle inside to safety.
The terrified lizard almost reached the safety of the inviting crevice between two irregular rocks, but it was a fraction of a second too late. The flying beast hit the ground no more than half an inch in front of the lizard-creature and with such force, its claws rebounded off the hard-packed sandstone, catching the poor lizard a glancing blow on either side of its head, almost blinding it in the process. The force of the downdraft from the bird’s wings hurled the lizard backwards, knocked the breath from its lungs.
The lizard-creature squeaked in fear and gasped for air as it inhaled a cloud of dry, red dust; dust, which had been stirred up by its tumbling body and the bird-like creature’s beating wings as it rolled away into a softer, sandy patch. As the razor-sharp claws of the lizard’s attacker scraped along the bone-dry earth, the small creature, choking, instinctively twisted its body and frantically rolled away to the left in an attempt to avoid being speared by the bird-creature’s sharp, hooked beak. Microseconds separated the small reptile from the claws of the attacking beast and certain death.
The lizard gagged uncontrollably as it continued to tumble away to one side.
When it realized how it had narrowly missed grabbing its quarry, the angry Beast from Hell instantly turned its head to the right, and stabbed out with its curved beak. The tip of the beast’s beak missed the lizard’s body by the smallest of margins and raked the ground where the animal had been a fraction of a second beforehand.
As the flying beast passed overhead, the claws of its left leg instinctively grabbed at the lizard-creature’s still rolling body.
Missed...
... Almost.
The lizard screamed when it felt a sharp tug on its tail.
“‘Eeek!’”
A vision of gushing blood, a large gash, and trailing entrails filled the frightened animal’s mind. The thought of being ripped to bits and eaten by the gruesome nightmarish Flying Beast from Hell spurred him on.
The small reptile continued to repeatedly, roll over and covered its head with its forelegs, crying out, squealing in pain, and fear.
“‘Nooowowow!’” the lizard screeched as it managed to tug its tail from the bird’s ineffectual grasp.
The hapless reptile caught a brief glimpse of a precarious cliff-edge and the chasm beyond. It was approaching the cliff too rapidly!
The lizard frantically clawed at the loose earth in a futile attempt to stop from rolling off the edge of the cliff. Long sharp claws on all six of the reptile’s legs dug unsuccessfully into the soft sandy soil; merely scraped along the loose ground, leaving a network of uneven shaky furrows in the lizard’s wake.
Streaks of blood stained the disturbed sand as, for some inexplicable reason the poor creature was unable to halt his progress. With difficulty, driven by fear, the reptile wriggled in panic, and succeeded in turning its body slightly, so it was now rolling down the steep slope towards the cliff top. Vaguely wondered where the steep slope had come from, the lizard knew the yawning chasm had not been there before the giant bird had attacked!
Something big and red filled the lizard’s sight and it lifted its forward-looking eyes skywards where it beheld the Beast from Hell had began to make another steep dive, heading straight down towards the reptile’s unprotected body.
The bird’s hooked beak was wide, and its two evil-looking saber teeth were ready to spear its prey, whilst its razor claws were spread apart, ready to grab hold of the poor lizard should the beak miss its target. Once the bird-creature had the lizard in its claws, it would carry it off to who-knows-where, presumably somewhere the beast would be able to devour the lizard at leisure and in safety.
“‘Nooowowow!”” repeated the terrified lizard as it continued to slide uncontrollably towards the sheer drop. Seconds later, before the bird could reach it, the small reptile tumbled over the edge of the cliff, its legs clawing helplessly at empty space.
The flying beast was almost upon the lizard-creature and its roaring cry filled the terrified animal’s mousey ears, but, again, the bird had misjudged both the distance and the speed at which the lizard had dropped over the edge of the precipice.
“‘Caaawww!’” cried the frustrated bird, certain it had been about to catch its quarry, and infuriated at having missed it.
Sharp grasping talons missed the lizard-creature’s head by no more than a whisker as it tumbled backwards, into space. The flying beast swooped upwards, soaring high, and screamed in anger as the lizard-creature plummeted downwards into the ravine, the bottom of which was over five hundred feet below.
“‘Caaawww!’”
The lizard’s claws still grasped at thin air in a futile attempt to slow its rate of descent and it watched in horror as the top of the cliff, the sky, and the Beast from Hell all receded at an alarming rate.
And...
... Then,
Everything changed.
Time slowed down, almost to a stop, as the cliff gradually blotted out the light from both the yellow and the red suns, and wrapped the hapless lizard in a deep dark shadow.
Blink.
Lazily floating downwards, as if in a dream, the reptile watched in horror as the remaining seconds of its life passed by in slow motion. The Beast from Hell gracefully flew around in a wide circle whilst it rapidly assessed its chances of catching the lizard before it hit the razor-sharp rocks, which were lying just below the surface of the roaring river, rocks upon which the unfortunate creature’s body was bound be ripped to pieces.
Hunger is a powerful persuader. Against its better judgment, the Beast from Hell decided to chance it and swooped down towards the still falling lizard-creature. Even in slow motion, the speed of the bird’s dive would have put a peregrine falcon to shame.
To the lizard-creature’s dismay, the size of the beast’s body rapidly grew larger, the nearer it came.
Blink.
The terrified reptile, its eyes transfixed in horror, watched, watched, and timed it perfectly as it waited until the very last moment before it frantically wriggled its body enabling it to turn slightly, enough, to one side.
Not a moment too soon. The lizard’s timing was spot on but the bird’s timing was far from perfect; it did not make it. This time, the bird had completely misjudged both its speed and the distance involved. It had been too intent on catching up with the falling lizard-creature and had not taken account of the agile creature’s ability to turn over in mid air, as would a falling cat, plus it had misjudged its own need to leave adequate room to enable it to pull away from its steep dive before hitting the river below.
An instant before impact, the flying beast realized it had failed.
“‘Awwwgh!’” screamed the doomed beast as its body hit the river and a sharp, searing pain shot through its brain. Its backbone instantly snapped in three places, felt as if it had been pushed up into the beast�
�s head. The pain was excruciating, but mercifully, for the bird, it lasted for less than a second. Death was instant.
Swiftly, the swirling icy, waters folded over the broken bird, and hungrily covered its whole body. The tumulus, angry current rapidly dragged the dead bird away from the razor-sharp volcanic rock, which had pierced its skull, cleanly splitting the wretched creature’s brain in two, and dashed the body against numerous other jagged rocks. In less than a minute, the beast was nothing more than, a host of small, disjointed pieces of broken bones, flesh, and feathers, all of which were washed along in a furious deluge of bloodstained water.
The small reptile hit the water a fraction of a second after the flying beast and, as luck would have it, was fortunate enough to miss being impaled on any of the deadly rocks hidden beneath the surface of the enraged river. Taking in water, as it tumbled over, and over in the foaming river, which unceremoniously carried the defenseless flailing body further downstream, the lizard coughed and spluttered, gasping for air each time its head broke the surface.
Miraculously, the river guided the struggling lizard safely around and away from any of the jagged, razor-sharp rocks. The grateful lizard was eventually deposited into a small shallow inlet on a bend in the river. It quickly scurried up a small bank and disappeared into a clump of tall yellow grass...
Chapter 1
Of course, he had always thought ‘Appollinaire’ was a stupid name. Whoever invented the bloody ridiculous name ought to be shot! It was so embarrassing. No wonder the other kids at school used to make fun of him. Some still did. He cringed whenever anyone called him ‘Appollinaire’ and this was the reason why he had insisted, once he had left school, everyone should call him Pol. He always signed himself as Pol Bizet on anything and everything requiring his signature and deliberately ignored anyone who refused to call him Pol, although he tended to forgive those who mistakenly called him Paul.
Appollinaire: (The Other Side of Nowhere) Page 1