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Saturday 21 February 2015

WordPress Daily Prompt: Tourist Trap 2

What’s your dream tourist destination — either a place you’ve been and loved, or a place you’d love to visit? What about it speaks to you?



Pond in Feldbrunnen

“Are they your holiday photos?”

“Yes, take a look and in the meanwhile I will make a cup of steamed wab.”

“Wab?”

“Yes it’s a drink the locals made, it is very popular, they say it puts hairs on your teeth.”

“And does it?”

“No, just a joke, don’t be worried, although the first sip does give you a forked tongue, but it passes away with time. Look, mine is now normal.”

“Where was this place you visited.”

“It was an island in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. The climate was great. Now and again they say the island disappears, but we did not notice anything.”

“Jabby, be quiet and on your best behaviour, we have a visitor.”

“I was going to ask, what is in that caged on the floor. It makes strange noises and now and again seems to put a curved beak through the bars.”

“Oh that is Jabby, a little souvenir from the holiday. The place was teeming with them. It was a bit difficult catching enough toves and bandersnatch for his food, but eventually we discovered we can order them online with www.sargassocreeps.com. They are quite reasonable and deliver once a month. I have a whole fridge full of them. They survive under cold temperatures and Jabby loves them fresh and still alive.”

“Do you think it is hungry, it is making strange noises and there is saliva dripping from his beak?”

“Its a female, so it is a she and she is always hungry. What are you doing? I would not go too close with your finger, she has taken to fingers.”

“You mean that is why you have two fingers wrapped in plaster.?

“An unfortunate accident. I wanted to feed her by hand, just to tame her a little bit and show how much we love her. Unfortunately I forgot to read my tourist handbook about Jabberwocks. It seems they are short sighted and cannot see the clear difference between a finger and a tove. That is why we have that fishing rod next to the cage. We now feed her that way and it works quite well. Look. Come Jabby, feeding time.”

“Oh.”

“It’s OK, she cannot get out of the cage. No reason to be shocked.”

“Yes but it has a long blue tongue covered in red dots which it curls around that slimy thing you call a tove and the tove disappeared into one of those red dots.”

“It’s part of the biological construction of a Jabberwock. They digest everything on their pretty tongue. Come, come Jabberwocky, behave, it’s feeding time. You know how you like a nice fresh tove, or would you prefer a juicy frumerous bandersnatch? I think you have upset her, but she will soon get over it.”

“Are these animals everywhere on that island you visited.”

“More or less, although they only come out at night.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“No, not at all, they are such loving creatures. You should see them at mating time, they are so romantic. Unfortunately the female eats the male afterwards, that is why you can refer to her as “she”. It is only the females that survive to ensure that they continue to exist. They lay their eggs all over the place. Actually that is why she is now here. Her mother laid an egg in the suitcase and when we arrived home and opened the case it only contained a Jabberwock, she had eaten everything else in the case. Would you like to see her fly. Look.”

“Are you opening the cage?”

“Yes, just for a short while, she has to get some exercise now and again, otherwise she gets excited and starts eating the bars of the cage.”

“But they are metal.”

“She can bite through anything. She seems to love computers, I have to lock it away in the safe, although I now have my fourth safe since arriving home. So come on Jabby, time for an exercise. Where are you going. 


You havn’t drunk your steamed wab. Oh dear what a shame, I wonder why she fled like that and even left her coat here. She seemed to be in a hurry.”

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1 comment:

  1. I can think of many places I've visited that I wouldn't mind a second visit to....but many more places I haven't yet visited for the first time.

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