The Lady Lloyd was the name of a wall that separated the railway from the footpath to the beach. It was of Sharpoint design and was about eighty metres long
I was on the beach painting the White Tygers. I had no colour in my palette so my representation was dour
At thirteen minutes past ten a huge roar erupted behind me. The hill had motioned and the autumn trees were moving towards me at pace.
Its movement engulfed a passing train but the passengers survived and rode the startled tygers to the shore that was untouched
The grey fisherwomen there suddenly became maidens of colour and the waves were dyed in an instant
I was smothered by the falling trees and considered myself dead. When I awoke I was covered in leaves of many colours
I thought of the artic wastes and a trapped ship manned by chameleons watching the festivals of the glacier
They poured boiling water onto their frozen banners and tied ribbons to the sails. In the distance they could hear music and began to dance
It soon began to snow each flake was of a different colour. I counted many
Under the ice the deep currents were now translucent and the ship freed itself and began to sail southwards, its violet sails heavy in the wind
Soon we were in a mist lake without any breeze
The ship was becalmed and in the heat the chameleons began to melt and their moods stained the sea
I escaped in a boat made of their skins which changed colour every hour
Exhausted I slept once more and awoke covered by the leaves of many colours
I stared into a rainbow crater and dived into its centre
Deep under the surface of the magma I found fish but these were of no colour. Everything was black white and black
It was then that I became aware of the deception
I collected the fish and requested that they swim with me to the surface. We exited on low rocks and looked at the sun which was resting on the tops of trees not yet destroyed
With regret I told them that we must part as interviews are conducted on a solitary basis
One fish objected
The largest of the shoal
It waited as the other fish returned
One by one
This departure took six week and one day
The remaining fish, the largest of the shoal said nothing
I did not know its name so I called it Maetwan
As the sun dipped behind the crater, the fish I had called Maetwan spoke
It began to tell me a story about its aunt
The story was called
Honor Blake
Honor Blake
She lived in an apartment with commanding views of the sea. This apartment had three windows each with its own balcony. On two of the balconies there were deckchairs red and green, on the third balcony there was no deckchair although it was painted brown
On stormy days she stood naked on this balcony as she had a white body and could be seen by ships and this had proved to be an aid to shipping
On Tuesdays she stood naked on the other balconies
She could only be seen by ships travelling south
On Tuesdays there were none
On other days she wore a shift to protect her modesty
Between these windows were portraits of The False Dmitry’s
One, two and three
They could not see the sea as they faced inwards and considered that they lived in the countryside
Which did not explain the gulls
On Christmas Day 1912, the Lydia from Lowestoft collided with an unnamed Barque called the Lydia
It sank with all hands
The dead captain of the Lydia was lynched soon after for crimes against navigation. His ghost is said to haunt the shore in front of the apartment with three windows
On one stormy day the captain espied my aunt at the third window and immediately fell in love with her wildfire hair
They were married at once
The marriage is recorded in the book Ships and Ghosts written by Mary Craig on Saturday the 26th of January 1907
The apartment now lies derelict perched on the cliff open to the winds. The windows are vacant and the purple seaweed of the area has now trespassed into the rooms
There is an outdoor feel to the apartment
Yet the deckchairs remain in pristine condition in their original positions
On Tuesdays the captain sits in one and my aunt in the other
They only have eyes for each other
Such is eternity
As it finished the fish known as Maetwan collapsed and died. I watched it decompose for the next four years and was increasingly impressed with the colour of its scales which changed each day on the hour
On the first day of the fifth year I dived into the magma once more, but it was hard and cold and I bloodied myself on impact.
Soon I lapsed into sleep and when I awoke I found myself covered in leaves of many colours
As I rose from their transgression I noted that my portrait was being painted
By the White Tygers
This time in colour