Between a Shadow and the Moon

The title of my story invites the reader to search for a mystical place that is far away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives: a place where we can tune into another dimension, and see the natural world from ground-level: in this case through the eyes of a snail. It is a humerous story with an underlying philosophical seriousness: a search for answers for some of the deepest questions we can ask. Our snail is called Alfred for some unaccountable reason. He wants to know why? He comes to the conclusion that he cannot find the answer at home, so he travels out into the great wide world. His journey to the Continent and home again leads him to places and encounters that he had never dreamed of. He ends up in France, and is first held capture in a snail farm. Luckily for him, and for us, he is rejected. However the experience opens up his mind, and a host of other questions are added to his why? He meets all kinds of friends that supply him with new knowledge. The moon, the wind, Mother Earth, the sun and the river tutor him about the role they play together, and teach him that everything is interconnected, and that we all share the same life. He learns of the harsh realities of life, but that it is human beings that have been busy changing the face of the world, and have consequently disturbed a vital balance in the short time they have been in existence. Can a mere snail help us each find a new respect for our fellow creatures, and open our eyes to the miracle of life that is right in front of us?

The story came to her under convalescence from a long illness. She was born, the youngest of three on the outskirts of London in 1948. Her father, like his father before him, worked in the Bank of England: you can guess she was brought up with a particular veiw of the world. She went to public school, and it seemed like the future was cut out for her, so how did she end up in Denmark, feeing neither English or Danish? It began with an operation on her throat that left her with a semi-parallized voice, at a time when a girl is most sensitive. It followed with a move to the other side of London, where she was quickly brought down to earth. A degree at Bristol University should have set her up for a settled career, but the times were changing for her generation, and she was restless, and already felt like a foreigner to her background. We can get the feeling that it is her subconscious that has found a way for her to express her search for answers that cannot be found in book-learning: she uses a mere snail for her project. She too threw herself into the unknown, without a safety- line, and with no preconceptions of what she would find. Several trips over land to India showed her life's raw realities; in India a humanism and an awe of nature that has marked her ever since: the earth- bound natives and the grandeur of the Himalayas. It was there she met her husband-to-be: a Dane: a soul-mate. She has settled down now with two children; that are now grown, and are on their own journey of life. She is ultimately expressing her concern for the kind of world their children will inherit.