Welcome to The Fire Circle ( the story so far copied from original closed group)

What is a cooperatition? I hear you ask. Well I am not quite sure yet either,
I do know that there are no losers!
Everone wins!!
First prize is the JOY of taking part!!!


Here's how it goes... I'll start a story.
Anyone who wants to can send in thier continuation.
There may be any number of continuations.
Anyone who wants to can continue on from any of the continuations.

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY ?

GOOD!

THEN I WILL BEGIN.


There was once a supervisor of an immense National Park in Africa, who was given the task of training new members of the 'Park Patrol'. On the first day of instruction, he began his class by providing general knowledge, which would build a firm foundation for later lessons. The recruits received basic information for patrolling and protecting both the human and the animal populations of the region. He then imparted specific instruction by saying:

"Whether you are in the jungle or on the grasslands, success depends largely on your sense of hearing. Be alert to various sounds at all times. Listen as if there is something there, you do not as yet see."

He then went on to explain his advice:

"Become aware of the sound of an approaching storm... of the growl of a dangerous animal. Also notice friendly sounds, including the trickle of an unseen stream, or the call of a rare bird we may be seeking. Alertness to the sounds around you can prevent problems from arising, also it guarantees your own safety wherever you patrol."

That evening, after supper they sat around a camp fire, gradually the chatter (from the recruits and the jungle creatures) settled down and they sat in the growing silence, gazing into the flames. And out of that silence, very gently came the voice of the supervisor:

"One of the ways we learn, is by listening to, and by telling stories....
Listening...
and being listened to....
And we all have stories to tell....
Some of the stories are true...
Some are fiction....
Some are truth disguised as fiction...
Some are fiction disguised as truth...
Many fall somewhere in between.

I am going to start a Story...
When I fall silent, any one of you can pick up the thread and continue the story in any way that you want... There is no right or wrong way.
But don't make your contributions too long or too often,
let the others have a fair go.

NOW

Listen with your eyes...
Listen with your nose...
Listen with your fingers...
Listen with your toes..
"Listen as if there is something there, you do not as yet see"...

There was once a community of porcupines who lived in a cold country.
In order to escape the wintry weather, they agreed upon a plan of action.
On the next particularly cold day, they came together and huddled as closely as possible. At first it looked like an ideal arrangement, but a problem soon arose. Their very closeness caused them to poke each other with their sharp quills, making everyone pained and irritated. So the plan was cancelled, with each porcupine going their own separate way. But the cold was so distressing, that they were forced to meet and huddle once more, and once more they poked and injured each other. So because at that time, they knew of no other way, the confused porcupines repeated over and over, the painful pattern of huddling,stabbing, dispersing and huddling once more."

And the supervisor fell silent and waited,

to see who would

PICK UP THE THREAD.



Reply by Phoenix Fairchild on November 27, 2008 at 11:41am

One day, a porcupine called Curly, had an idea. He had been missing the consolations of the 'BIg Huddle' , spending his time alone. At nights he curled up tightly to keep warm. So he wondered, how could the porcupine community learn to live happily toghther, without provoking each other's spine-raising tendencies.

Isn't it funny he mused, that our defence systems, meant to save us from our enemies, should come to be used to seperate us from our friends. So the puzzled porcupine began to ask himself how porcupones could change their anti-social habits.

he noticed at the next 'Big Huddle' that a few of the hyper active porcupines had spinal erections without the least provocation. These bristled everyone else close by in the huddle. Soon the whole community was raising points of order at their meetings. It was then that Curly thought of repacing the collective huddle with the 'Community HUGgle'

And this is how it worked out....

Reply by melissa sweet on November 27, 2008 at 12:08pm

Now that he was more relaxed after basking in the morning sun, Whiffy was quite pleased to see the others approaching.
Curly spoke first:
"Why did you run away Whiffy? We were all so snug and cosy, and enjoying your company."

"But you stink!" Said Whiffy.
"I couldn't stand it any longer, I needed some space."

"I guess we ALL must smell like 'Porcupines-after-a-long-huggle !" Said Curly.
"who fancies washing and nurturing each other in the waterfall?"

"good idea!" said Pongy. "Then we could sit around the fire, and take turns telling each other what dreams we had during the 'Long Huggle" said Shitty.

"and make plans for the spring and summer" said Fart-Breath.
"and I, for one, would like to choose a new, less smelly name for myself" said the one who used to be known as Whiffy.

"Me too!!" they all sang out in harmony.

You can imagine the splashing and cavorting which went on by the waterfall that day.

And in the evening around the fire...

Reply by Michael Ellner on November 27, 2008 at 2:01pm

In terms of "Fables" some are more or less pointed than the ones above and we can only wonder about their meanings-- Which is how it has been since the very first gathering.

"A COOPERATION" is the very good-man's modern adaptation of these ancient gatherings of fire-side healers who would periodically meet at sacred places. These meetings were kind of like ancient equivalents of the internet, for the purpose of exchanging healing and teaching stories, the chance to enjoy each other's talents and skills and to partake in the wild sex that spontaneously erupted around the fires -- And that's when the truck hit him...

Any one wanna pick up on this?

Reply by Glen Hoyle on November 28, 2008 at 7:12am

Silence sat easily and comfortably around the dancing fire with the other members and the supervisor.
Silence could not make out how many others were here including the supervisor, but it mattered not.
Silence shone and sparkled in the reflected firelight, because as we all know,
Silence is golden.
Silence thought to itself,
"Maybe one day I'll be a supervisor too" but then quickly realised it already was, and that it had already supervised much more of the time at this particular gathering of trainees than the supervisor himself.
Silence then decided to pick up the tantalizingly waiting thread...

"The porcupines became sick of pricking themselves each time they huddled together. There must be a solution to this problem. So they held a meeting to discuss what to do and to share ideas about their future.

One of the porcupines admitted that what he had been trying to do each time they attempted to huddle was to offer his warm fluffy underside to the others, as he thought that would be warm and snuggly for others to cuddle up against. But as soon as he got close enough he would come in contact with another who had simply rolled into a ball, putting their own comfort first, and so presenting only sharp spines to all the others. So they either ended up prickled and spiked or not close enough to one another's body heat to benefit from it.

Another porcupine remembered a story about two mules who were tied together between two heavily laden apple trees. The rope tying the two mules was not long enough for them to reach the tree nearest to them, and they pulled and pulled in a long tug of war, each eager to get at the apples on their particular tree, but neither suceeded because the other was pulling equally hard in the opposite direction. The porcupine remembered that the solution for the two mules was to both share the fruit on one tree, and then to both share the fruit on the other, instead of fighting each other and neither getting what they wanted. Maybe the solution was the same here.
Male and Female porcupines manage to mate without hurting each other.
Mother porcupines have babies which cuddle and suckle in their mother's soft downy underside.
If all the porcupines were to offer their soft and warm undersides to each other, then they could cuddle up and share each others warmth.
It had to be worth a try!"

Silence then carefully replaced the thread on the ground, it was now glimmering with new life and possibility, maybe someone else would pick it up?

Reply by Antonio on December 10, 2008 at 4:18am

After a while Silence became too much for the forrest to handle...and it decided that a nice heavy wind would bring new life back into the forrest. With a huff and puff, massive winds started to sweep through this once gentle forrest. Soon, everything in the forrest was in upheaval, leaves rustling, streams rushing, animals scurring. Mind you, everyone sleeping in their tents beside the campfire were woken up, wondering...."What is going on...what is going to happen if the fire goes out? If the fire goes out, will all of the stories stop?" Everyone jumped with anticipation out of their tents and began to huddle around the fire, contemplating on what needs to be done to keep the fire going and the stories going...

Then someone blurted out "What if he unravel our clothes and use all of the threads that come from our clothes...Maybe we can use all of the threads from our clothes to keep the fire going and the chats going...we might end up naked, but we could keep the stories going on"

Reply by melissa sweet on December 10, 2008 at 5:17am

One brave person heard the truth in what was being said, and started to unravel her warm jumper, and feed it to the flames... eventually she was completely naked, in front of the fire, and the fire was blazing anew.

In the light of the fire she looked radient, and there was a truth in her beauty. and as she started to speak, she spoke with the voice of truth.

And everyone who heard, was captivated.

Reply by Phoenix Fairchild on December 10, 2008 at 5:41am

And Truth's story began:

There was once a man, who was successful in all things. He had a fine wife, a loving familly, and a craft for which he was justly famous. But still he was not happy.

"I want to know Truth. " he said to his wife.

"Then you should seek her", she replied.

So the man put his house and all his worldly goods in his wife's name (she being adamant on this point) and went out on the road, a begger for Truth.

He searched up the hills and down the valleys for her. He went into small villages and large towns; into the forests and along the coasts of the great wide sea; into grim wastes and lush meadows piled with flowers.... He looked for days, and weeks and months.

And then after a year and a day, on top of a high mountain, in a small cave he found her.

Truth was a wizened old woman, as old as the hills, with just a single tooth left in her head.

Her hair hung down to her shoulders in lank greasy strands. The skin on her face, stretched over prominent bones, was as brown and as dry as old parchment. But when she signalled to him with a hand crabbed with age, her voice was low and lyrical and pure and it was then that he knew he had found Truth.

He stayed with her, a year and a day and learned all that she had to teach.

When the year and a day was up, he stood at the mouth of the cave ready to leave for home.

"My Lady Truth," he said, "you have taught me so much and asked for nothing in return. I would like do something for you before I leave. Is there anything you wish?"

Truth put her head to one side and considered....

She then raised an ancient finger.

"when you speak to others about me, " she said, "don't forget to mention, that I am still young and beautiful !"

Reply by Antonio on December 10, 2008 at 5:52am

This man thought to himself "How can I tell people truth is still young and beautiful if she is not so", and let out a big sigh and screamed to the skies "What shall I do, I can lie to no one, I must tell the truth about truth, as truth will set you free." Then from the depth of the valley he was standing above, he heard a wise voice say to him

"I am the Wizard of time and change
a problem to me you propose
have faith in me to re-arrange
the problem with some lines of prose"

And this young man asked the voice "What do you propose?"

Reply by Fable Goodman on December 10, 2008 at 6:41am

And the voice which was neither male, nor female, neither loud, nor soft, neither young nor old, said clearly.

What you saw in the cave, was merely what was already in your own mind, a reflection of your old outdated thoughts and feelings about age and beauty, and truth.

You are now free to drop all of your old attachments to youth and beauty, and see people as they really are.

Truth is forever young fresh, beautiful and benign.

Now be off with you, before I kick your ass down this mountain!

Reply by chris naish on December 13, 2008 at 11:16pm

"Why should I?"
The man Giggled to himself under his breath, believing the old wizard wouldn't hear him.
Without a word the old wizard took 4 steps back, held his hands out in front of himself in the magical kick sign which was so well known to all ex rugby playing wizards and began his run up. skipping forward slowly at first and then with increasing pace he approached the ass and proceeded to toe punt it straight in the knackers causing it to roll wildly down the mountainside.
"EEEEE AWWWW!"
Screamed the ass as its cranium dashed against a sharp rock.
"What in the name of arse are you playing at wizard?"
Shouted the terrified man as he watched his as tumble towards a sheer drop on the mountainside.
"I know who this is a job for!"
the man said as he realized the fall would surely kill his ass.
"good job that I am no regular man."
he mumbled to himself as he hopped into the nearby telephone booth.
The wizard watched in awe and rising fear as he realized who he had been meddling with. It was Superman's second cousin, famous for his drunken rages. It was the master alchemist, the man of lead. Superalchy.
As fast as a speeding arrow Superalchy hopped out of the phone booth and prepared to take off, his team of bards right behind him belting out Superalchys theme tune as they always did during exciting times like this one.
"Da da da da daaaaaa, da da daaaaaa. Da da da da da, DA DA DAAAAAAAAH!!

Reply by Antonio on December 16, 2008 at 1:40am

Da da da da da, DA DA DAAAAAAAAMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNN..."I have drunken too much wicked ale this time to know how to fly in a straight line!!!"...thought Superalchy...With every passing second, Superalchy thought that he was closer to death...barely escaping deaths door. Too drunk to control up and too drunk to control down...he mused the thought..."If only my buddy super hero friend Beer Bouncing Belly could cushion my falllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" as he fell to his eminent? doom.