Lippy the Lizard

by Alistair Briggs, Feb 14, 2009
About someone who has to make the ultimate sacrifice as they give up on their life for that of every other living thing. Seen through the eyes of Lippy the Lizard.

Lippy was a lizard from Lizardonia,
who had a special talent.
His lips were so big
he could blow bubbles the size of houses.
All the other lizardshad normal size lips.
All of them could blow bubbles
but just normal size ones.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
had the special talent
of blowing huge bubbles
that were lighter than air.
All the other lizards
could blow bubbles too
but just normal ones,
bubbles that burst straight away.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
blew bubbles like houses,
that were lighter than air
and impossible to burst.
All the other lizards
were wary of Lippy's bubbles.
Although they were so big,
they could see them coming.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
could keep it under control.
Whenever he felt like a bubble
he would go outside.
Out in the open air,
the bubble that Lippy had created,
floated up in the sky.
No one was harmed by it.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia,whose lips were so big
and blew bubbles the size of houses
had never thought of this before.
"I wonder where they go?!
He pondered to himself.
"They must go somewhere,
somewhere in the sky."
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia,
had never thought this before.
He had been making bubbles
for many, many years.
He had to find the answer,
so asked some other lizards.
"We do not know" they said,"Where your bubbles go."
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
asked every single lizard
and not one in the whole of Lizardonia
could tell him where his bubbles go.
But one of the lizards told Lippy,
that there may be someone who could help.
"The wise scorpion of the sea,may be able to help you."
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
knew what he had to do.
Find the wise scorpion of the sea,
to find out the answer.
It took nearly 100 years to find,
the sea with the wise scorpion.
Nearly 100 years
and over 4,000 bubbles.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
asked the wise scorpion of the sea,
"What happens to the bubblesthat my huge lips make?"
"The ones that are as big as houses
and impossible to burst?"
The wise scorpion of the sea
thought and then gave him the answer.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
had never thought of this before,
but he hoped the scorpion was wrong.
If he wasn't, then the end was nigh.
The bubbles that he produced,
that were impossible to burst,
had all floated into space
and were now building up.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
had asked how big space was.
The wise scorpion of the sea
had said that space was expanding.
"So space has no ending?" asked Lippy.
"It has an ending" said the scorpion,
"One that is getting further away."
Lippy asked if it was ok.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia,
was not the smartest lizard
but if he understood right,
his bubbles could be filling space.
His bubbles were as big as houses,
producing them for thousands of years.
They had been building up in space
and space could not keep up.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
was now quite worried.
If space was filled up with his bubbles
there would be no space for others.
He needed to find out what to do,
was there a solution?
He hoped there was,
but feared there wasn't.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia,
found the smartest lizards
in the institution
where the lizard scientists worked.
Hopefully they could help him out,
find a solution,
to the house size bubbles
that were now filling space.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
told the 5 lizard scientists
all about the problem,
each of the was shocked.
And from that very moment,
the 5 lizard scientists
went away to work
on a solution to the problem.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
had to stay in the institution
but only with one condition,
he had to go outside to make bubbles.
Four thousand and seven years ago
was when Lippy was born.
Lizards from Lizardonia
had an average age of ten thousand years.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
was not even middle age yet.
All the bubbles he had ever produced
was not even half the number he would.
Now he was getting worried
about the lack of space in space.
He hoped the scientists would find
a cure for the problem.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
waited many years in the institution
for the scientists good news.
"We could just kill you"
"That would fix the problem"said the first 2 scientists,
at the same time in unison.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
hoped they were joking
but feared that they weren't.
The third scientist burst out laughing.
"They are joking" he said,"We may have found a way
to burst your bubbles
and save the day."
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
sighed a sigh of relief.
The end was in sight,
a solution was near.
The fourth scientist spoke for the first time,
"Your bubbles are fascinating,
near impossible to burst,
but only if you are outside of it."
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
could not understand.
How could anyone get inside his bubbles?
If that was the only way to burst them.
The fifth scientist would have spoken here,
but he couldn't.
The work that had happened had killed him,
there were only four left.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
pouted his big lips,
as if to make a bubble.
He now knew the answer.
He blew the bubble as big as a house
and just before it bubbled away.
He jumped in the bubble
and started to float away.
Lippy the lizard from Lizardonia
had never been a brave lizard.
As he floated away into space
he knew he had saved the day.
No more bubbles would be produced
after the air in the bubble had gone.
Lippy would die soon,
but the problem was solved.

For more from Alistair Briggs click here

Calling on Jenny

by Allison Jae, Aug 12, 2008
Cree and Reese go on a vacation to Chicago to visit their friend Jenny.
“Are we almost there?” Reese asked, jostling me awake from my sleep.
Groggy and annoyed by his boyish behavior, I said, “I don't care where we are.”
“Come on, Cree, wake up.”
I lifted my head and looked out the window. “I think we're there.”
“I just hope Jenny's here already,” Reese said, looking over my head. “I hate waiting.”
“And hate hearing you complain.”
“Last stop, Chicago, Illinois,” the driver shouted over his microphone.
Reese howled out a loud hurrah, sending my ears ringing. With his outlandish behavior, topped with the smell of gasoline and the incoherent chatter of the other passengers, even I would be relieved to be off this bus.
When we finally pulled into the depot, I was the one secretly nominated to carry both our suitcases. I felt like a porter as I watched Reese fly off the bus with nothing but a piece of paper.
“What's that?”
“Well, could it be a letter?”
“Very funny, Reese?” I mean, who's it from?”
“Just Jenny pledging her undying love for me.”
“Don't listen to him Cree. Your boyfriend can be full of himself.”
“Jenny,” I shouted, turning to see her just behind us. I set the bags down. Mine, the heavier one landed on Reese foot. We embraced, squealing out our hellos while Reese howled in pain. Jenny and I both laughed at Reese.
“Hey, that's not funny.”
Still laughing, I said, “Oh, yes it is, and that's payback, mister.”
“For what?” he asked, still nursing his foot.
“For not being a gentleman,” Jenny said, let out a giggle. “Shame on you for making Cree carry your bag.” Pointing at him, “You should be carrying hers.”
“Okay, okay,” Reese said, picking up both suitcases. “Girls!” he fumed.
We walked out of the depot talking about our days at the Drell Institute. Reese and I had become best friends with Jenny. We were known as the three musketeers. Although it had only been a few months since Jenny moved to Chicago with her father, I was amazed at how much she had changed.
“So what's with the make-over?” I asked her.
“I'm in disguise. Dad says we can't be conspicuous. The big city isn't the best place to be a blue-faced teenager. It would too weird.”
“Why not? There's nothing weird about that.”
“Sure, Reese,” Jenny said, “whatever you say.”
Suddenly a gang of boys approached us. “Hey, demon girl, what's with the disguise?”
“Sorry, Freddie,” Jenny said, stepping up to him, “but you'll have to find somebody else to play with.”
“You can't turn us down, freak. When we want something, we get it.”
“Wanna say that to me?” Reese said, stepping in front of Jenny. “Take me on and leave the girls alone.”
“No deal. It's me and the demon.”
Suddenly, Jenny shed her disguise, showing her true form. With the presence of her bluish pigments and razor-sharp claws, she lunged at Freddie, slamming him against a brick wall.
“Haven't you learned, Feddie? Violence doesn't solve anything.”
She walked away from him, but he sneaked up on her toppling her to the ground. Reese and I would have helped her, but the rest of gang surrounded us.
“So,” I shouted to Reese, “I thought this was supposed to be a nice boring vacation.”
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“Not for us, Cree,” he said, forcing his way through the wall the gang boys created with their bodies, but they tugged him back before he could make any leeway.
An idea popped into my head. I dropped to the ground, placing my hands on the cement. I remembered that the first thing we learned at the Drell Institute was focus. Using my special gift of matter transformation, I concentrated on the ground around me. Suddenly, it started to moisten, sending the gang boys under.
“Help us,” one of them shouted.
In the tiny circle of liquid cement that was more like quicksand, Reese looked at me and said, “We can't kill them, Cree. You've got to stop them from sinking.”
“All right. Give me a second.”
I concentrated further, putting my hands on the wet cement. Suddenly it started to dry, fusing the gang boys into the ground.
As I looked up, I saw that Jenny was still fighting Freddie.
“Haven't you learned, Freddie? It's not nice to beat up on girls, because we beat back,” she said, raising him up and throwing him in the center of his trapped friends. “I don't join gangs. Understand?”
“Pathetic,” Reese said with a laugh. “So what do you do for fun around here?”
We walked down the streets of Chicago, showing our true selves. A few people stared, but we didn't care. We were used to it. Even though we were born with special talents, Reese and I had always had been able to blend in with normal population, but Jenny was forced to wear disguises when mingling with normals.
As we turned down the street leading to her home, I wondered what other surprises we would discover calling on Jenny.

Calling on Jenny

by Allison Jae, Aug 12, 2008
Cree and Reese go on a vacation to Chicago to visit their friend Jenny.

“Are we almost there?” Reese asked, jostling me awake from my sleep.
Groggy and annoyed by his boyish behavior, I said, “I don't care where we are.”
“Come on, Cree, wake up.”
I lifted my head and looked out the window. “I think we're there.”
“I just hope Jenny's here already,” Reese said, looking over my head. “I hate waiting.”
“And hate hearing you complain.”
“Last stop, Chicago, Illinois,” the driver shouted over his microphone.
Reese howled out a loud hurrah, sending my ears ringing. With his outlandish behavior, topped with the smell of gasoline and the incoherent chatter of the other passengers, even I would be relieved to be off this bus.
When we finally pulled into the depot, I was the one secretly nominated to carry both our suitcases. I felt like a porter as I watched Reese fly off the bus with nothing but a piece of paper.
“What's that?”
“Well, could it be a letter?”
“Very funny, Reese?” I mean, who's it from?”
“Just Jenny pledging her undying love for me.”
“Don't listen to him Cree. Your boyfriend can be full of himself.”
“Jenny,” I shouted, turning to see her just behind us. I set the bags down. Mine, the heavier one landed on Reese foot. We embraced, squealing out our hellos while Reese howled in pain. Jenny and I both laughed at Reese.
“Hey, that's not funny.”
Still laughing, I said, “Oh, yes it is, and that's payback, mister.”
“For what?” he asked, still nursing his foot.
“For not being a gentleman,” Jenny said, let out a giggle. “Shame on you for making Cree carry your bag.” Pointing at him, “You should be carrying hers.”
“Okay, okay,” Reese said, picking up both suitcases. “Girls!” he fumed.
We walked out of the depot talking about our days at the Drell Institute. Reese and I had become best friends with Jenny. We were known as the three musketeers. Although it had only been a few months since Jenny moved to Chicago with her father, I was amazed at how much she had changed.
“So what's with the make-over?” I asked her.
“I'm in disguise. Dad says we can't be conspicuous. The big city isn't the best place to be a blue-faced teenager. It would too weird.”
“Why not? There's nothing weird about that.”
“Sure, Reese,” Jenny said, “whatever you say.”
Suddenly a gang of boys approached us. “Hey, demon girl, what's with the disguise?”
“Sorry, Freddie,” Jenny said, stepping up to him, “but you'll have to find somebody else to play with.”
“You can't turn us down, freak. When we want something, we get it.”
“Wanna say that to me?” Reese said, stepping in front of Jenny. “Take me on and leave the girls alone.”
“No deal. It's me and the demon.”
Suddenly, Jenny shed her disguise, showing her true form. With the presence of her bluish pigments and razor-sharp claws, she lunged at Freddie, slamming him against a brick wall.
“Haven't you learned, Feddie? Violence doesn't solve anything.”
She walked away from him, but he sneaked up on her toppling her to the ground. Reese and I would have helped her, but the rest of gang surrounded us.
“So,” I shouted to Reese, “I thought this was supposed to be a nice boring vacation.”
“Not for us, Cree,” he said, forcing his way through the wall the gang boys created with their bodies, but they tugged him back before he could make any leeway.
An idea popped into my head. I dropped to the ground, placing my hands on the cement. I remembered that the first thing we learned at the Drell Institute was focus. Using my special gift of matter transformation, I concentrated on the ground around me. Suddenly, it started to moisten, sending the gang boys under.
“Help us,” one of them shouted.
In the tiny circle of liquid cement that was more like quicksand, Reese looked at me and said, “We can't kill them, Cree. You've got to stop them from sinking.”
“All right. Give me a second.”
I concentrated further, putting my hands on the wet cement. Suddenly it started to dry, fusing the gang boys into the ground.
As I looked up, I saw that Jenny was still fighting Freddie.
“Haven't you learned, Freddie? It's not nice to beat up on girls, because we beat back,” she said, raising him up and throwing him in the center of his trapped friends. “I don't join gangs. Understand?”
“Pathetic,” Reese said with a laugh. “So what do you do for fun around here?”
We walked down the streets of Chicago, showing our true selves. A few people stared, but we didn't care. We were used to it. Even though we were born with special talents, Reese and I had always had been able to blend in with normal population, but Jenny was forced to wear disguises when mingling with normals.
As we turned down the street leading to her home, I wondered what other surprises we would discover calling on Jenny.

For more from Allison Jae please click here https://www.triond.com/users/Allison+Jae

The Ice Queen Frolics

by Allison Jae, Oct 30, 2008
Erika and Emily had never seen snow, but when these strange white flakes came falling from the sky the people of their village saw it as a sign of death,remembering the old legend of the evil winter witch.

“It's the end of the world,”a man shouted through the village. Emily ran to her window to witness the commotion. She giggled, her blond curls bouncing back and forth. She jumped up and down while kneeling on a tiny wicker chair.
“What's so funny?” her older sister Erika asked.
“Go away. I'm watching the clown,” Emily said, still bouncing up and down.
Let me see,” Erika said,pushing her sister out of the way. She got a good look at what intrigued Emily so much. “What's that white stuff?”
“Snow,”Emily sang. “Snow! Snow! Snow!” she sang,while dancing around the room.“Snow, snow, snow,” was all she could say.
“Emily,stop saying that,”Erika shouted.
“I don't have to,”she said.”It's not my fault I know what the white stuff is,and you don't.”
“Do so,”Erika fired at her sister. “It's snow.”
“Yea,you know,only 'cause I said so. Erika don't know. Erika don't know.” Emily continued to tease her sister.
Emily was right that her sister didn't know what the white stuff was. No one in the village of Danue did. For as along as legend proved, once it did,the world would end.
Erika noticed the mayhem filling the people of Danue. To five year old Emily, it was a game. The snow, the frightened villagers,even the forbidden woods. Emily liked wandering off into the woods to play, claiming that she heard voices. Twelve year old Erika never believed her, but now she wondered.
The next morning when Erika woke she found her sister gone. Erika looked out the window only to see the blinding blanket of snow, but no people filled the once happy village. Erika made a run for the door, but when she opened the door, a rush of cold air chilled her senses. She never felt winds like this before. She went into the bedroom and piled on as many clothes as she could.
Never having experienced cold weather, her wardrobe made her unprepared for the winds that would nip the skin. She ignored her shivers as much as she could, instead worrying about where Emily might have run off to.
“Emily,” she called, trudging through the woods. The snow had reached her knees making it hard for her to walk.
She could find no footprints to help her search, but she did find something of color peeking out from the snow. She ran towards it to see what it was.
“Emily's rag doll,”she said.
Erika staggered on until she reached a clearing. She heard the laughter of a little girl and knew instantly that it was Emily, but when she reached the sight where the child was playing she beheld a lady in white with light blue skin and eyes of night wearing a crown of ice.
She looked into the face of her sister to see that she had changed. “Emily,”Erika cried. Emily had changed. Her face was pale and her hair was the color of snow. “Emily, help me.”
“Who is Emily?” the little girl asked. She looked up at the lady in white. “Mother, who is Emily?”
“No one, dear child,” the lady in white said, kneeling down the look into the child's eyes. She stood upright and took the child's hand. “Come, now. We must go.”
“No, Emily,”Erika cried. “Help me. Please, remember.”
“We must help her,Mother.”
“No, she wishes to take you away. Begone, evil one.”The lady in white conjured in her hands sharp ice javelins and threw them towards Erika.
“Please,Mother, don't hurt her.”
“Emily,make her stop. Please, ma'am. Don't take my sister. She's all I have.”
A tear came into the lady's eyes as Emily ran towards her sister.”Oh, Erika, I hope you're not hurt.”Emily looked back on the cold creature with pity.”Please,don't be sad. Erika needs me.”
“If you go you will not return.”
“Why not? Do you not want me to return?”
“Of course, Emily, and do bring your sister if she wishes.”
“Yes, Ma'am,” Erika said, staggering towards the lady.”You are the Ice Queen, the keeper of Winter.”
“Yes, Erika. Emily had awakened me from my sleep. Winter now must consume the land as it did not for so many years.”
“Please, your majesty, return the land to its former self.”
“But winter must come.”
“Then let it come,” Erika said,suddenly kneeling before the ice queen.”But at the proper time. Now, it is spring, so let it be spring. When it is winter let it be winter.”
“So be it. Leave me to my rest, but I will return. Winter will come as it should. Take this candle. The flame will burn until winter comes. Then you must return to wake me. Good-bye,sweet children.”
The Ice Queen returned to her cave where the sisters could hear her blissful sounds of sleep. Slowly, the snow started to disappear and the warm air of the sun embraced all it touched.
The sisters returned to their village to witness a joyous celebration in the streets. The people were happy again. Winter would return,but there would be no grim death the people once feared.
The sisters carried the blue flame of winter, happy in their task as helpers of the Snow Queen.

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The Initiation of the Werewolf

by Michael Degenhardt, Oct 25, 2008
Happy Halloween.
The pale moon shone brightly through the naked branches of Briarwood Cemetery. It, being an odd time to go in and pay respects, due to work and other obligations, this became the only available time. Thank goodness for that moon and the light it cast, as I could actually see better, almost clearer in the moonlight. The only thing I didn’t see was that dog that greeted me fiercely when I approached the gate. It took a bite, but ran off before I could even swat at it. Funny, the blood seems to have stopped flowing and my hearing, too, has become more acute.
I remembered where her headstone was and what turns needed to be made to get there, but for some reason I didn’t make it there with the flowers and prayers. In fact, what had happened next can not be remembered, but there was this smell. It’s hard to describe, but this smell was putrid yet so tempting. I remember feeling like I had to find the source of the smell, but it seemed to be moving. Wait, there was a face and there, too, was screaming, but the smell, I can’t place. Wait! Blood. That’s it, the smell was blood and it was fresh. Then after that all became hazy as I watched the moon transform into sharpened focus.
Now, I’ve just awakened near to my car. There’s dry blood on my face, but I do not feel hurt or injured and my clothes, well they’re tattered and torn. I hear sirens in the distance and can’t figure out if I should run or stay, but my gut feeling, almost like an animal instinct tells me to run and hide, perhaps to return later.

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The Ghost

by Rebecca Anne Grant, May 10, 2008

When I first told my family about the occurrence, they didn’t believe me. It wasn’t until they had their own experiences with the ghost that they realized, I wasn’t crazy.
It all started when I was washing clothes one day. As I turned to leave, I turned off the light and it came right back on. I just stared at it in amazement. I knew something wasn'’t right.
Later, I told my family and they were just like anyone else would be. Saying, “Oh there must be a short or something.” They turned the light on and off.
That night, my son came screaming out of his room, “My TV turned on and off by itself!” He was then too scared to sleep in his room.
The next morning, my son returned to his room to find all of his toys piled up in the middle of the floor. He then had it in his mind that he wasn’t ever sleeping in his room again.
Lights would come on in the middle of the night in our home and shadows could be seen on the walls coming from the rooms that were lit up. Toys would go off when no one was playing with them, and I awoke one morning to find my jewelry box standing wide open.
The telephone would ring several times a week with no one on the other end answering. The caller ID would say “Out of Area”. The toilet would flush while we were all in the living room watching TV.
Dishes would rattle in the sink, and things would fall from where they were sitting. Our alarm clock would get turned off while we were asleep making us late for things.
We would wake up to our front door being unlocked when we had locked it the night before. We could hear popping noises coming from my son’s room and the bathroom all the time.
One night when all my children were asleep, I heard someone call my name that sounded like my mother even though she lives 45 minutes away.
Things in our home would be moved from where they were originally put. I liked to light candles but the candles that I lit kept getting blown out right after I would light them.
I went to my parents one day and while there, a paper flew off the top of the TV for no reason. On the way back home something kept pulling at my seatbelt and when I asked my daughter to stop she just replied, “I am no where close to your seatbelt.” That’s when I knew, this ghost could touch you and make things move.
My husband worked the night shift so I took a nap with him and my baby in the mornings while my other children were at school. One morning while I was in bed it seemed to get deathly cold all of a sudden, so I covered my head trying to get warm and that’s when I felt something rubbing the covers over my head. I knew it wasn’t my husband or my baby who slept in the middle of us. They had been asleep for a while. I was terrified, too scared to move, look or even breath. Later when I told my husband he asked, “Do you want to move?” I said, “No.” I couldn’t see just letting whatever this was run all of us off from our home.
A week or two later the TV in the living room came on right after my husband returned to the bed from going to the bathroom. My daughter was even getting scared because she said, “I can feel something touching the top of my covers at night.”
Late one night I heard a little girl singing. There were days when our children were at school that my husband and I could swear that we heard someone getting up out of our daughter’s bed. Her room is next to ours.
We all went out one day and when we returned we found the swing set thrown across the yard on the property line. “How could a wind have done that?”
We asked a preacher about ghosts and he said, “They can link themselves to material things.” That’s when we remembered the used couch we had bought when all this had started and the little girl’s picture we had found in it. And that’s how I ended up buying a new couch.

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10 Things You Should Never Do When Faced by a Dark Wizard

by Aaron Hanlon, Mar 31, 2008


I have been fighting Dark Wizards since I was old enough to suck on the handle of a battle axe, and over the years I have learned a thing or two about dealing with those pointed hatted fellows.
I have been turned blue, green and on one occasion poker dot pink. I have been cursed with Dragon tail, Dragon scale and Dragon breath (not good when you're trying to get a roll in the hay with a village wench). But now in my knobbly years I have decided to let all you young warriors out there in on a few of the secrets of surviving a life against the hat.
When faced with a Dark Wizard:
Never say to a Dark Wizard, “Is that a wand in you pocket or are you just happy to see me.”
Dark Wizards are notoriously lacking in any sense of humour and will, in all likely hood, show you exactly where they can stick that wand.
Never look up a Dark Wizard's dress.
Trust me, there's nothing up there you want to see.
Never snatch the hat from a Dark Wizard's head and run away laughing with your friends.
Dark Wizards are Dark for a reason. Most will have been bullied and made fun of at school. They will, more than likely, have had nick names like, Spotty spot spot, Fatty fat fat, or Greasy ass wipe. And in some instances all three. There will be a lot of built up rage lurking about and you and three friends having to share the same bottom for three months is not something I would recommend to anyone. Although it does bring you all a lot closer.
Never ask a Dark Wizard if he borrowed his dress from his aunt Deirdre.
For a start you'd be surprised just how many Dark Wizards actually have an Aunt Deirdre and they tend to be very protective of them. Most Dark wizards never got on with their parents and suffer from abandonment issues. Aunt Deirdre is probably the closest thing to a mother they have and after a hard week of death and destruction they still go around on Sunday's for a nice cup of tea a bit of cake. Oh and yes, they probably did borrow the dress from aunt Deirdre but not her best Sunday one of course.
Never walk up to a Dark Wizard (even if very drunk) and give him a big hug.
They tend to have personal space issues and will not appreciate it, no matter how many times you tell them you love them.
Never ask a Dark Wizard if you can date his daughter.
Although Dark wizards don't see their children very often and even then it's only ever to tighten the noose around their necks they can still be very funny about their daughters dating. As a side note I would have to say that considering the kind of women Dark Wizards tend to have children with you'd be best not dating their daughters anyway, (no matter how good looking they are). Inevitable tentacles appear when you are at your most venerable.
Never ask a Dark Wizard if you can borrow money from him.
They work very hard to gather there horde and then lock it up in a Dragon guarded maze of terror. And even if they say yes (unlikely) it's really not worth the bother of trying to collect it.
Never ask a Dark Wizard if you can see his Wizarding license.
Even if you have disguised yourself as a member of the Wizard licensing board they won't show it to you. Dark Wizards are by their very nature rebels and will balk at any interference by government in their dark ambitions. They have a tendency to a quick temper too.
Never poke a Dark Wizard with a pointy stick.
They won't like it.
And never, never, take a Dark Wizards wand!
Even if you escape with it a Dark Wizards wand won't like you and will quickly explore your inner most bodily cavities as a means to express its displeasure at your actions.

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Raining Animals and Coins: Mystery of the History

by valli, Mar 7, 2008
Did you ever see animals raining? Raining animals is a rare phenomenon with occurrences in many countries throughout history. These occurrences may be evidence for the transport of the victims to high altitudes, where the temperature is below zero, and they show how powerful meteorological forces can be.
Raining fishes:
In 1859 fishes had rained in Glamorganshire, England. Thousands of fishes were jumping to the surprise of the people. Later the fishes were released into water. Another incident took place in Louisiana, America in 1947. But the fallen fishes were dead and some were frozen in ice. In 1969 a big fish had fallen from the sky on a church father in Sydney, Australia and immediately it floated along with water. In 1989, 800 small fishes had fallen from the sky in the corridor of a house in Ipswich, Australia. Very recently raining of fishes occurred in Kerala, India. These are some of the examples of raining fishes.
Raining frogs:
Frogs had rained in Chalon sur Saone, France very long ago. In 1901, frogs had rained in Minneapolis, America. According to local people, the sky appeared green as if it wore a green blanket before raining. In Naphilon, Greece, people saw hundreds of frogs jumping from trees in 1981. Later Weather Department of Greece announced that a big storm carried those frogs. But interesting news is that all those frogs belonged to North Africa.
Raining crocodiles and lizards:
In Silvertown, America, Dr. J.L. Smith observed some big objects falling from sky. Later he found that they were crocodiles; each one was 12 inches long and they were safe even though they had fallen from the up. This incident occurred in 1877. In 1857, lizards had rained in Montreal. Then people found lizards everywhere.
Raining of other animals:
An unidentified animal, may be a cow, fell in California ripped to tiny pieces in 1869. Similar incident occurred in Bath County, Kentucky in 1876. Jelly fish fell from the sky in Bath, England in 1894. Assorted dead birds including ducks, wood peckers and canaries fell in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1896. People from Matagalpa, Nicaragua reported that they found some turtles fallen down from the sky in 1990. In 2007 worms had dropped from the sky in Jennings, Louisiana.
Raining coins, money:
There have been many incidences of raining money down from the sky. In 1940 nearly 1000 coins fell in the Meshchera region of Russia during a storm. To our surprise, all those coins belonged to 16th century. In 1956, pennies and half pennies plopped down on children in Hanham, England as they were heading home from school. In 1957, numerous 1,000 franks currency notes had showered on gathered people. In 1976, two clergymen watched as 2,000 marks worth of bank notes fluttered down from a clear sky in Limburg, West Germany. In 1982, number of children in Manchester, England ran to a nearby shop to buy chocolates. Shopkeeper suspected the children that they had stolen money from the fund in Church. But the children told him that the coins fell down from the sky. At last he believed after verifying the fund. These are some of the incidents that are very amazing.
Raining blood:
In 1846 red rain fell in Li Yan, France which frightened the people. Later they found that it was due to the mixing of red sand of Sahara Desert in water because of a strong wind. About 300,000 kilograms of sand was found there at that time. Later, in 1890, Popular Science News published a story that real blood had rained in Calabria, Italy. People believed that strong winds tore the bodies of flocks of birds and their blood was showered as rain. But there was incidence of neither the strong wind nor the dead bodies of birds. This stood as a mystery in history. In 2001, red rain fell in Kerala, India. According to Scientists, it was due to red algae.

Raining without clouds:
We know that clouds cause rain. But rain fell without clouds in Charlotte, America in 1886. There it had been raining without clouds for three weeks. In the same year another strange incident happened in Ikin. There it was raining from morning to night continuously only at two graveyards but no where else.
Strange rain from over hundred years:
In Honduras, Middle America, fishes fall from the sky every year between the months of May and July for three hours. This has been happening for over hundred years. There is an interesting story regarding this. In 1864, a church father prayed God for three days and three nights to redeem the poor from hunger. Since then this rain is falling every year. In 1970 experts from National Geographic Society tested and found that those fishes are blind having the length of 6 inches and they live only in under ground water.
Scientists say tornadoes are the reasons for these strange rains. But how African frogs rained in France and how the coins rained from the sky? Still it remains as a mystery in the history!

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Curiosity Kills

by jenny ellen, Sep 25, 2008
Curiosity, cats and catastrophes.

They say that stupidity killed the cat and curiosity was framed; yet I am inclined to disagree. Perhaps it would be more apt to say that the cat was merely accustomed to circumstances involving danger or hazardous conditions and simply followed instincts that it had always owned and did, therefore, throw itself into the boiling cauldron of broth. It is feasible to say that the people claiming that it was due to the cat’s own penchant for finding trouble and diving straight into peril that it was killed could also be those that had surrounded it and taught it- subtlety and intention not being the issue- that it was right and good to follow such intuition. Then there is the question of why, exactly, the cat was placed in such a situation in the first place. After all, it is not predominantly common for a cat to land itself in a position of risk. Maybe it saw a little mouse- the bait- and chose its prey without knowledge of what lay beyond. It is even plausible to consider the fact that the cat wished to help or save something: a kitten or its favourite toy. However, personally I would say that it is not the cat’s fault at all and that the owner- loving, caring, feeding, guiding- was the one to seal its fate. Certainly the cat is no unintelligent being; it understands the ways of the world and knows in most cases not to soil the rug or take pleasure in clawing through its master’s best clothes. Communication is seldom a problem for most cats and they have the ability to get a point across with little trouble simply by performing and action or meowing. Surely if the cat is not regarded as a creature of stupidity then it should be able to care for itself, should it not? But, of course, what if the cat’s plight was that it was so intelligent that an owner saw fit to train it to become obedient and influenced the ways in which it reacted to situations. If the cat was taught to be curious or of little credibility when it came to making decisions that might actually matter in its life (rather, of course, than not fouling the floor or chasing the birds) then it may well be because of that that the cat ended up lifeless. If a mad instinct was forced into the cat’s mind then perhaps it would be impossible for the creature to ignore it and this is what sent it spiraling onto hot bricks as it were. In the end we will never really understand what it was that killed the cat because it is too late and the cat is dead. Perhaps, then, in the future when more of these cats are to be put in such situations then their owners and care givers would do better not to misguide their pets and then contradict their teachings or feign complete and utter blissful innocence when their cat is to the pan.