Chapter 102. Goodbye Coo Pigeons, Hello Banjo Badgers
The Coomageons put on a fine feast for us. We thanked them with full contented stomachs that rumbled no more. They sensed our satisfaction, and said it was the least they could do, after I’d shown the Coorowgeons the utmost respect.
English: Draft of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We offered to do the dishes, but they would hear none of it. Patricia was eager to show us their library, which was open twenty-four hours a day. The Coomageons were very proud of the renowned local poet, Samuel Cooleridgeon, and one room was devoted entirely to his works. One of his most notable poems was called The Coomplaint of Ninathoma.
Tara to Cooma
At the end of the night, we were escorted to lofts they’d converted for us. They had done a grand job, and I couldn’t remember sleeping anywhere as coosy and coomfortable.
In the morning, they coooked us up a coolity local delicacy they call pigidge. It was oat so delicious. As we tucked in, I told Patricia how impressed I was with the loft. Her response was most humble; she said they had been working on them for many moons.
English: Old pigeon loft On the side of the track that links Oozewood Road, Royton to Bridge Road, Street Bridge, near Chadderton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, I suppose they had had a lot of time.
My mind split into two halves. One imagined the pigeons working on the lofts, and the other remembered notable events from our Ozyssey; times when I had never heard of Cooma, didn’t know where we were going, or if we’d survive.
Angry noticed I wasn’t eating and asked if I was alright. I thought it was a very perceptive use of his mind. I said, ‘Yes, Angry, never been better… as one half of the Greenygrey anyway.’ Angry laughed, and the others joined in.
Patricia said I had a ‘good sense of coomour.’ I laughed, and said she did too.
It was then time to say goodbye, and we left Cooma with a heavy heart and stomach. We could hear them cooing their farewells until we entered the Badja State Forest, and the chattering of badgers took over.
Deliverance Minimalist Movie Poster (Photo credit: Michael Branson Smith)
It was nice to walk through the thick forest at first, but then we reached a swamp, and it looked like it could get tricky. The dust sandy path was hardly visible at times, and we struggled to make much progress. I was contemplating asking the others if they could think of a quicker way through, when Angry said he could hear a banjo in the distance.
I thought he’d turned more crazy than angry for a minute, but it wasn’t long before we could all hear it. We followed the direction of the sound, and emerged into a clearing where we could see a badger picking at a banjo. Angry pulled out his bagpipes and started playing along, and they were soon raising the canopy with their badger blues beats.
