Crooked Valley

Chapter One

The sky was grey, splashes of rain bounced off her bare toes and the wet leaves glistened on her skin. Her wrist lay somewhat awkwardly against the trunk of the tree and a small mouse poked it's snout out between her fingertips. A second later, it scurried over her palm and then close to her stomach where it stopped and tentatively sniffed at the dried blood. She gasped and the way she stretched would have made Picasso proud.

She gasped and his neck snapped for the second time in his life. The mouse scampered behind a tree.

It was hard initially to live with a broken neck, but he had to adapt and so had built a sort of wooden cage in which to encase his head. It had worked quite well so far, although it was difficult to look down. This was something he could work with for now, but ultimitely he would have to speak to Guido about it. He attempted to look down, but could only see the top of Guido Moonshine's head, down at the base of the hill. He called, but Guido didn't hear. Then, something struck Salvador hard across the only exposed part of his neck.

The body in the woods stretched and began to contort in ways perverse to the laws of nature, fingertips searching, discovering and closing over something left behind. She stretched her newly found legs and both his crumbled.

He stumbled and tripped, landing head (or rather cage) first on the cobbles, "Guido!"

Guido continued to prune a beautiful, red rose bush in the centre of the garden. He heard not a word from his master and stepped back as if to admire his work.

"Guido, help me ... my legs have gone!"

"Salvador." A whisper, his name on the brim of the wind.
"No!" he cried, then to himself, 'I am imagining things.' And then, "Guido, where in God's name are you? Moonshine, you shit, I neewed you! I can't spweeak pwop-arwy, Guweedo ..." He smacked both his hands over his mouth, but still felt it loosen and as he released his grip, his lips dropped to the floor. Frantic, he felt around where his mouth should have been, but indeed it was gone and his top and bottom lips lay swollen and still on the wet ground.

"Go and eat his lips", thought the girl. The mouse looked at her for a few more moments and then scurried off into the shadows.

Guido Moonshine leaned back and clicked his spine. He felt satisfied, a good day's work had been done. He bent down and picked up his bag, shoving his tools in and strapping up the buckle. Then he swung it onto his back and looked towards the house.

Her hands gripped around the branches and she too stretched out her back, each vertebrae clicking into place, one by one.

Salvador Gorde lay at the foot of a huge Oak tree. His mouth had effectively fallen off, his legs were useless, no more than shrivelled roots and now his arms were misbehaving. He could see Guido, but had no way of reaching him, unless he moved like a caterpillar. He gave that thought.

Guido considered heading back to the house on the hill, the rain seemed to be easing however and he knew that he wouldn't get a moments rest once he returned. Dinner would need preparing and he wasn't in the mood. Perhaps if he waited until dark then Mr. Gorde would be asleep and then Guido would be free to sneak into his own sanctuary, the Bunker, at the back of the main house.

Meanwhile, Salvador wondered what was creating the confusion. It felt like a new kind of chaos, not the everyday type. He sensed something more primal at work and this worried him deeply. He was used to a certain level of craziness around here and he was usually able to reconcile to the change in circumstances, but loosing body parts was actually quite new.