early

a woodland space, but denser, across which small birds with long tapering wings flit, dance and dive, their markings tricking the eyes with streaks of russet orange and the blues of night-skies

then, three fine and beautiful owls are gathered, not in the trees but at ground level. Standing in a semi circle and listening... very still...in the owl meeting.

(their feathered smooth forms also give them the appearance of Russian dolls)

Ah, no, actually there are five or six in the gathering, as now I note the two half-size Russian doll-owls also on the ground at the feet of the others where they hadn't been just that moment before.

The owls are no more. Instead a hill bordered by the woodland. Really more of an extended ramp, half runway and half artificial ski-slope, I guess about 400m long. Small planes - about 2m in length - shoot up and off the runway in elaborate formations, fast and leaving trails like those at air displays. gone. gone, gone. a little girl wearing a red cardigan is getting snatched as she rides her scooter along the seaside promenade. gone. looking down on the top of the hill now, a circular clearing, and calm tension returning to a circus ring with the woodland surrounding, tall, on all sides - mid-day blue sky its own skylight ...and i can't quite tell, remember...me, or another, partner to a bear-like figure standing tall. It's not clear what is about to happen next, figures remain poised, maybe about to dance or be eaten ...the confused moment malingers, as a humid summers day is waking me.