Maggie, the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side was at a loose end in Another Tree.       "Did you know" said Maggie, "that Secret Messages can sometimes be heard on the wind as it blows through the trees?" and as the wind began to blow, Maggie listened to hear if there was a message for her    "Maggie, Maggie" whispered the wind, "Fearsome and Fearless are feared dead."  Maggie, the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side felt slightly sad.  "But how" she asked the wind "They say they were fried" the wind replied " having landed on a hot BBQ plate" and with that, the wind had gone, and the forest fell silent.  "Well almost silent" said Maggie high up in Another Tree.  'I am sure I heard a sort of muffled Parrot talk and another which sounded distinctly like a Moose"

Sorry I've spent so much time away. Been spending my time down Africa way. But soon I'll be back many hours a day. And Bear will come out with you to play. Warm weather will come when I am here. The salmon will run and so will the deer. Babies will follow and life will go on.

Fearsome and Fearless were making great progress. They had managed to fly to the airport close by and land on the back of a passenger's jacket.  It was a very lucky day for Fearsome and Fearless, wrote Maggie the RedBack Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side, not only had they escaped Maggie's web of intrigue, they had also discovered that the jacket belonged to a National Geographic Wildcam Producer and he was headed for the Top End, to Kakadu, near Darwin, Australia.  

As the plane sped down the runway, Mr Kakadon'tondis, the NGWP tightened his seat beat ready for take off.  Fearsome and Fearless blew rasberries at each other (Flies do that when excited) They blew rasberries at each other for 18 hours until eventually they arrived at their destination and Mr Kakdon'tondis alighted the plane with the Freeloading Flies with sore cheeks (Flies get sore cheeks after blowing raseberries at each other for 18 hours) - Well we all do I suppose, chuckled Maggie the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side.

Mr Kakadon'tondis knew exactly where he was headed.  He was regarded as a man of Great Integrity, that he would deliver what he had promised.  Speeding off along the dusty outback roads that eventually led to Kakadu, Mr Kakdon'tondis thought he felt something move on the back of his neck.  Fearsome and Fearless were dancing (Flies dance when nearly home)

"The Jabiru's and Brolga's look magnicent" thought Mr Kakadon'tondis "and the Lotus Birds, wading on the Lily Pads are divine" He had approached his destination. So too had the Aussie Bush Flies, .  A Kangeroo carcass was close by and they could see members of their family buzzing all around it. 

The team of Technicians greeted Mr Kakadon'tondis.  They were mighty glad he had arrived.  "G'day, mate and welcome to the Top End" the techies said, "Crikey, we'll get straight onto it, eh" beamed Steve from Irwincrocshire.  Mr Kakdon'tondis stared at the cables and said "It is a technical  problem at the relay point.  We need to stabilize the feed, Until we do we cannot control the camera, as it will likely bring the whole network at Kakadu down and we cannot enhance the quality until the technical problems are effectively resolved...

Steve from Irwincrocshire scratched his head "Crikey mate, I didn't know we had such a big problem, glad you're here to resolve it"  As Mr Kakadon'tondis leant over to investigate further, he could see immediately that it was actually very simple.  The camera would be up and running within a few minutes.  The Aussie Technicans were releived the answer had been found and stood back to admire the Great Man, from Way Over Another Side.

BUT WAIT ! OH DEAR WHAT IS HAPPENING ! OH CRIKEY ! OH NO ! DON'T YOU SEE ?It's Fearsome and Fearless. They are peeking and sneaking. (Flies dribble when being peeky and sneaky)  NO DON'T ! Maggie the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side cried.  Fearsomes dribble droplets dropped onto the points, the sparks began to fly.  There were crackles and pops and sizzles and bangs and camera burst into flames.  Steve from Irwincrocshire lept back.  "Crikey" he exclaimed  "That's it" he said as he turned to his new mate, "This camera is totally Kakadtus now, mate".  Mr Kakdon'tondis could only shake his head, but not because he was dismayed, it was because of two pesky Aussie Bush Flies that were incesently buzzing around his head.  He went to swipe them.  "Time to go?" shouted Fearsome as he ducked the swiping hand "Yeah mate, I reckon" and together those Aussie Bush Flies buzzed off (Flies buzz off when they are freed, remember? ) searching for the closest BBQ to join their family and friends. 

"So?" said the 659th VOICE, who was actually quite close to The Bear, "that's what happened to the Kakadu cam, then?" "Well that's how the story goes" replied the 660th VOICE, "but I don't know if it's true or not" 

"So what do you think?", asked Maggie, the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side,"do you think that story is true?'  Maggie had found herself in yet another tree, preparing to spin and weave another yarn into her intriguing web.  This tree seemed better, she had a much clearer view for Checking.  She could see those furry and feathery friends way off in the distance and wondered if their journey would ever end....................

The 1st and 2nd VOICE remained silent and the new 9th VOICE now more worried than ever.

So Roxy and SOME of the others moved further back. Karen said, "Phew, sorry Awesome O'Meagle but I just had to speak with you alone, or at least without Roxy's persistent insistent questions and that was why I sent them off. They are all sweet, really".  "Sweet? Yummy", said O'Meagle.  "Forget about  it"  said Karen, "they're my pals!" "The O'Meagle's never hunt close to their nests, you know that don't you?" said the Awesome one."Yeah, I think so" said Karen doubtfully, looking around for the nest.

 Meanwhile guess who had come back? " I'm wot wisteneeng, I'm gwoomeeng!" said Sebastian in some sort of muffled parrot talk."Aiyeeouch, be a little more careful"! said Kemoose,  "We LISTENERS need our ears, especially right now!" And what do you think Kemoose heard, will it help Roxy's great quest?

The Voices:  "You never said why Kurt was peeved."  No I didn't, but I think the Narrator is peeved now too.  "Ohoh, why?" "Well, she is getting confused over these  quote-marky things.  'Do you put them before or after the end of a sentence and what about in the middle.  Spell Checker is no HELP as usual' I heard her say...you know, when she was pounding her desk a few minutes ago." "Yeah, I didn't want to go near that!"  "I am surprised too...I didn't think Narrators had emotions."

Fearsome and Fearless were Frightened and Freaking - they could see that Maggie, the Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side, was indeed coming back. "Mate,  were done for" squeaked Fearless (Flies squeak when frightened)  "Yeah, Mate, I wish we were back in Kakadu" whispered Fearsome (Flies whisper when frightened)  "She'll be right Mate, since I have a plan" comforted Fearsome (Flies comfort each other when they are frightened) "Leave all the talking to me"  (Flies can sometimes be confident when frightened) As Maggie carefully made her way back across the delicate and intriguing web, she became increasingly annoyed with the mess those two Aussie Bush Flies had made.  The amptmosphere was tense.   Smiling, Fearsome spoke.  "Ma'am" he respectfully said (Flies smile and are respectful when frightened) "We know about your Checking and we can help you"  Fearless stared at Fearsome, because he knew that Flies also lie when frightened.  "If you set us Free, we can fly all along the Long Line of BAG's. We can discover what lies at the end of the Long Line and we can report our findings back to you.  Ma'am this will indeed save you much time"  Fearsome was really smiling now. Maggie the too trusting Redback Spider thought this to be a good plan.  "and you're definately reporting back to me?" quizzed she.  "Absoultley" nodded both Aussie Bush flies (Flies always nod when they are absoultley terrified and about to get away with it) So she set them Free:

"Hoo Roo, Maggie Poo we're off to Kakadu" and the two Aussie Bush Flies buzzed off (Flies buzz off when they are free'd)

"Well" retorted Maggie the duped Redback Spider, the Other Narrator from the Other Side, "Show's how little I know about Aussie Bush Flies"  Suddenly Maggie was laughing.  She was laughing so loud that her laughter could be heard on the opposite side of the Other side.  Why was she laughing, because she just realised she had to go and find herself a new WEB SITE.

http://www.redbackspiders.com/

"Gotta admit it" said the 109th VOICE, way down the line, to however happened to be listening, "That wiley ol' Kurt would be having a grin to that one" - another bow Maggie ?  Meanwhile the 1st and 2nd VOICE had still not said a word and the new 9th VOICE was worried.

Maggie the Narrator from the Other Side, shared similar qualities to Roxy the Raccoon, she was insistant and impatiently persistant.  When she was in the mood, she just had to keep on going and as her 8 sleek (!) legs began to spin, she wondered why not one of them could sketch or draw or paint.  Since the last post, Maggie had moved to another tree.  She had not forgotten about Fearless and Fearsome, she was leaving them for later.  Why had she moved onto another tree? She needed to keep checking but as far as she could see and hear, all seemed to be going quite well.  

"Very clever of Kurt" said the 1st VOICE - "What's that wiley ol' mouse been up to now?" queried the 2nd VOICE "Kurt found Red" beamed the 1st VOICE. "Hmm, very clever ol' Kurt" agreed the 2nd VOICE.

"Excuse me" came another VOICE, "but can anyone hear me?"  "We can" replied the 1st and 2nd VOICE, "but you sound a bit muffelled" (Help Spell Checker) "Well" retorted the 9th VOICE "I am new to all this you know - this brightly coloured BAG I find myself in, is made of such thick material, I can barely hear myself think"  "You'll get used to it" giggled the 1st and 2nd VOICE - "Pardon, I didn't hear you?" said the new 9th VOICE - "WE SAID, YOU'LL GET USED TO IT !" shouted the !st and 2nd VOICE in unison.  "Thankyou, I hear you now - CAN YOU TELL ME WHY WE ARE HERE".  "You don't need to shout" said the 1st VOICE, "No you don't need to shout" giggled the 2nd VOICE and both burst into laughter.  The new 9th VOICE was getting slightly annoyed.

  "Why are we here" asked the flustered 9th VOICE, "Because we love The Bear" replied the 1st VOICE slightly dreamingly.  "YEAH WE LOVE THE BEAR" shouted the cheeky 2nd VOICE.  "Well I agree, I love The Bear too" said the 9th VOICE calming down and listening to their reason. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here in the first place"  The 9th VOICE continued  "So all these brightly coloured multi shaped BAG's which are lying here, there and everywhere are filled with an individual VOICE?"  "Yep" agreed the 1st and 2nd VOICE. "and all these BAG's with VOICES can't be seen?"  "Yep, we are anonymous, The Bears Anonymous Group" replied the 1st and 2nd VOICE.  "Who love The Bear?" asked the 9th VOICE  "Yep" again 1st and 2nd VOICE absoultley agreed with that one. "but why are we all in this long windy line?"  asked the new 9th VOICE .  "Not all of the VOICES in BAG's are in a line" said the 1st VOICE.  "No, some of the BAG's are much closer to The Bear" said the 2nd VOICE.  "Yes, some of the BAG's are right next to The Bear, but we all play just as an important part"  said the 1st VOICE.  "Which is..........?" sighed the new 9th VOICE, growing more impatient by the minute. "Which is to show the animal friends the way to The Bear" said the 1st VOICE "Yep, that's why were all lined up and leading to The Bear" beamed the 2nd VOICE, slighlty amazed by the fact that the 9th VOICE didn't know that. "but the animal friends aren't following the line of the BAG's" said the 9th VOICE. "They seem to be just wandering about talking to birds in trees!' For the first time in their pequliar llittle lives the 1st and 2nd VOICE fell silent.  They said not a word, for they had nothing to say.

Just then, Maggie, the RedBack Spider,  the Narrator from the Other Side was interupted.  She turned her head to notice two black shapes dangling from the web she had just spun in the far off tree.  She realised she was getting hungry. With her checking done, she moved toward the far off tree.

Maggie chuckled to herself "What a clever peice of hardware, that Kurt is -  I knew there would be Red and I look EXACTLY like me.  If Kurt ever comes to the Other Side, I sure better introduce myself" (sneaky chuckle noises)

From high in the tree, Maggie the Narrator from the Other Side could see for miles. Perhaps not as far as O'Meagle, she needed to be higher, but she was hopeful Kurt would work on that.   She was checking on something.  Something the animal friends hadn't noticed.  Can you imagine what that could be? Before the Narrator from the Other Side could go on to explain, two buzzy flies, landed straight smack into her silken sticky web.  It was Fearsome and Fearless

"Oh Crikey" cried Fearless "We're done for mate"      "That's what I usually say" whispered Fearsome, "but don't worry mate, She'll be right" The two Australian flies wondered how they arrived here in the first place.  "It's all Maggies fault" grumbled Fearsome, as he dangled by a thread "She probably wrote us in,  because she was hungry and wanted to amuse herself" The Aussie Bush Flies were left dangling.  Maggie watched them for awhile and began to think what a good Pantomine this would make.  Fearless trembled and Fearsome consoled his friend, which was really quite a change in character for these two Aussie mates. 

Maggie the Narrator from the Other Side had been distracted from her original purpose.  She turned her attention away from the Aussie Bush Flies, to concentrate on checking out the "something" the animal friends hadn't noticed.   She chuckled to herself again, much louder this time, as she realised she was the only person in the whole world who knew what it was.  Or was she.  Do you know what it could be. What was intriguing Maggie up to, was she about to spin her web again ?  

"Nice colour Red" she thought to herself, as she went on her way.  But wait, she's forgotten about Fearsome and Fearless - her dinner in the web.  What will become of them, we'll just have to wait and see.

"Further back" commanded Karen.  "Hurry!" warned Sylvan the blackbird. "O'Meagle can be dangerous!"

Here by popular demand, our hard working Kurt.  Take a bow Kurt. 

Karen saw what was on the tree snag over there and reluctantly decided to visit the Awesome O'Meagle.  "Why reluctant?", they asked. O'Meagle can be very powerful or very cranky or both at the same time.  We must be careful.  So stay back a ways and that means you Sebastian and you Roxy and especially you sweet Sarah.

THE VOICES:  "Not done with black and yellow is he!" exclaimed the 1st VOICE. "Shush, Kurt will hear you", worried the 2nd.  "But I found out what peeved him anyway", replied a 3rd."Hey do I see red?"

Karen trodded along listening to Roxy's persistent/insistent chatter, speaking mostly to herself as to why she couldn't find anybody in Alaska who knew where THE BEAR went!  Sarah, as sweet as she is, was a good and faithful companion, who always let Roxy know they'd certainly find an answer soon.

Meanwhile...Karen, ever watchful for danger, noticed something in the tree snag. She sniffed the air, but the breeze was blowing from the wrong direction.  So she started off in the direction of the tree and the others came along, too. Would there be answers there?

The Spirits of the Wind spoke of a golden morning that was dawning on a new day of adventure. The WindSpirits said the answers would come soon and to be patient.  The treetops bowed to the knowledge of the WindSpirits. The forest was quiet, except for the footsteps of the BearWatchers in their quest for THE BEAR.

Roxy's "tale" was dragging alright and she had no idea how she was going to pick it up !  Maybe her tale/tail would catch up later.  The Spell Checker had not noticed. Roxy had noticed Karen was quick to notice things. Karen had noticed the snag of the tree.

Meanwhile on the "Other Side", Maggie, the Other narrator, was mumbling something about not being able to draw and grew frustrated by mature memory moments which prevented her from weaving the brightly coloured BAG's into her plot.  What was her plot, she wondered.?  She wanted the printer to work.  She had pages to print out.  Maggie a Red Back Spider, liked to weave plots. Her intriging webs were spun from some of the most delicate silk, which as everyone knows, can only be found in the Other Side. 

Maggie wondered if Kurt had Red or would there be a Yellow Back Spider lurking in the snag of another tree one day.

"This might help Recycling", cried a VOICE, "the change of font.  It will seperate the flow of narrative"   "A background colour would be more desirable" mumbled another VOICE "No facility" replied the first VOICE "so lets try this and see if it works" since absoulty none of the VOICES wanted Kurt to go off in another peeve.  All the VOICES unanimously agreed on one point only but ALWAYS, that Kurt was brilliant.  They all loved Kurt, for some it was the Mona Lisa Owl eyes, the bear reading under the blankey.  For whatever the reason, Kurt kept the VOICES talking and the VOICES loved it!

But where are all these VOICES coming from?.  Does anyone know? Could they be coming from over there? Don't you see ?  Look closer ! There, right there. Look at all those brightly coloured strangely shaped BAG's.  Don't you hear VOICES coming from them?

The Red, or is it Yellow, Back spider had begun to weave again. Kurt thought that was clever and so Maggie took a bow !

Yes, Roxy was draggin'  tail once again.  Even Sarah, sweet as she was felt a bit discouraged.  After all, Goldie had been her idea!  Did Roxy even know Karen was there, watching over her?  No, of course not.  But wait, what is that on the tree snag over there?

"Boy Kurt sure likes that yellow" said a VOICE.  "Yellow AND black...must be part of the angst thing" spoke another.  "No, that was the narrator with the angst thing" replied the first VOICE. "Let's get on with the story already" whined a third VOICE.  "Lets not discuss yellow and black either, Kurt might go off in another peeve and it will all get recycled again!"

THE BEAR was in a deep sleep.  Suddenly the film stopped reeling and Goldie said " That's it folks.

FINIS. EXIT. SAYONARA."  and flew off.

THE VOICE said...""She's recycling."  "I know" said another, "but I thought that was supposed to be good""....

"Onward and Upward" screeched Sebastian, jumping up and down, thoroughly approving. Sarah, sweet as she was, could hardly believe her eyes!  But Roxy, persistent, insistent Roxy, was left with an unsatisfied feeling.  She now knew the bear was asleep, but where?  And for how long?
 

Only...way off in the distance could be heard some soft, melodic sounds.

"A Little Nachtmusic" a VOICE said.

 Closer by some even more soothing "Who Whoooooing" was heard. "That was me" said Goldie, interrupting herself. ("Is that allowed?" asked Roxy.)  THE BEAR sighed with the contentment of a warm blanket, a LONG SLEEP and a LONG DREAM about thousands of jumping salmon.

"Time for a break" said someone.  "Yawn" said a VOICE.  And then, silence. 

Goldie remembers/sees/tells that THE BEAR went to sleep and began to dream a long dream about the salmon jumping at McNeil River Falls. (You knew we had to work that in, didn't you? said the other narrator.)

(Kurt came back for a moment and threw that on my desk!  Now he has stomped off again on his vacation.)

"At last" said THE VOICES. 

THE BEAR decided to go to bed for a while. At first there were a lot of good things to read but THE BEAR soon became unaccountably sleepy.

"Yet again" said the chorus. 

And continued:

The days and nights grew too cold for THE BEAR and no one was around to talk to!

"How pathetic"they said. 

Nonplused for a moment, Goldie then continued:

 Eventually cold, lonely reality started to sink in.

"Yep"said THE VOICES in unison. 

"Ahem", said Goldie 

When the snow began to fall and the temperatere began to plummet, THE BEAR was nothing if not happy.

"Saw that too" remembered another VOICE. 

As you look with her into the filmscape passing quickly before her eye-memory, this is what she/you see.  Saw. See/saw. (The Convenient Spell Checker no help here.)  And now Goldie begins to speak:

"The Great, The Wise, The Ever Watchful Goldie remembers/sees and tells that when it started to get cold in the early winter, THE BEAR got ready.

"Hey, I saw that before!" said one of THE VOICES.  Yes, this is the mysterious way of remembering but  also, Kurt just went on vacation. I think he was peeved about something.

"Look into my eyes." Goldie (predictably) said.

"No, closer." said Goldie. 

Oh do you see what I see? Kurt has done a fabulous job on Goldies' eyes.  They follow you everywhere.  Thank you Kurt! Kurt is bowing!  He says he got it from studying the Mona Lisa.

Meanwhile Goldie is watching a slow film reel and as they stared into her eyes, they began to see it too.   

Ah who is the narrator?  How Brechtian! Who is the Weilly mouse Kurt, who doesn't do all he is told and has a mind of his own? And who is the Spell Checker?  Is the sardonic voice the real narrator or the observer? Does the narrator know everything about the story she tells?  What roll does the reader/viewer play with their directives to the narrative?  And the non-linear telling of the tale, which can be so confusing, what is that about?  Filled with angst, I go on but first a reprise to remember where we are:

But that isn't the same drawing you say..."WHY" asked Roxy.  The morning started to come over the hill as they were speaking, that's why.  We asked would Goldie know the answer to Roxy's question...the one about where THE BEAR was or is.  Not the other ones.   Maybe.          Maybe.