dark times and a steam punk bear…

Today’s prompt from the Ultimate Blogging Challenge is to share a song lyric or phrase that has meaning to me.

My song lyric comes from “No Place Like Home,” by Stephen Schwartz and Cynthia Erivo, which was part of the movie, “Wicked: For Good.” It it’s about the value of a space, of one’s homeland, of a treasured place during dark and dangerous times.

Here is a link to a webpage that contains the song lyrics. This song really touches my heart, and the concept of the song plays a big role in today’s part of the steam punk bear’s story. https://genius.com/Cynthia-erivo-no-place-like-home-lyrics

Part three of the steam punk bear’s story

As the steam punk bear struggled to awaken, the cackling noise grew louder and more intense. The bear felt fear and he felt a heaviness in the air, almost as if he were surrounded by angry spirits who had been deeply wounded in life.

Suddenly, the noise stopped, although the bear’s ominious feelings did not. The bear opened his eyes and saw a very large ladybug next to him.

“You must not stay in this place,” the ladybug told him. “It is dangerous. Do not go anywhere near the humans who live here. They hate all outsiders.”

“I was born here,” the bear said. “This is the first of nine mountains that we must cross. It is the home that I love and the place that nurtured me.”

“The humans have never loved you,” the ladybug said. “I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But they have always hated anyone who was different from them. They saw them as outsiders and they hate all outsiders. I must leave. Please be careful.”

With that, the ladybug flew toward the forest in the mountain.

“Oh,” said the bear. As he watched the ladybug leave, he felt his heart shatter.

Just then, the seven ravens dropped a bunch of eggs at the seashore, where the bear was sitting.

“We shall have breakfast soon,” said a raven. “I need to scout out the human colony to look for fresh leftovers.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked the steam punk bear. “This ladybug said the people here hate all outsiders. Even me. Home is the place where my heart lies, but home has no love for me.”

“We will watch and be careful,” said the raven. “We understand humans, and they won’t notice us.”

All seven ravens took off and flew over the human colony before landing near a dumpster, where they found a copious feast of food that had been thrown out for no reason that they could discern. Sure enough, no one bothered them. Not far away, there were humans wearing all black clothing, with their faces covered by some sort of black cloth, standing over a man who lay on the ground. The man on the ground moaned in pain.

“You are illegal,” said a man in black clothing. “You do not belong here. Our justice is swift and merciless. No one likes illegals here. We all know that you are the enemy. Our king will run you through with a sword if we bring you to him. But he gives us the opportunity to exact justice against illegals. There is only sentence for you. No trial. We will take you to the top of the mountain and throw you off.”

“No,” the injured man cried. One of the unidentified men walked away and came back with an oversized cart, while the others held daggers in the air in a menacing way.

At that, six of the ravens flew back to the coast, carrying the copious feast. The seventh continued to watch. When the men in black clothing put the injured man on the oversized cart to carry him to the top of the mountain, the seventh raven flew away.

Six ravens, the mouse, and the steam punk bear ate all manners of fruits and vegetables and eggs at the seashore. The bear and the mouse collected seashells that lay amidst the vivid white sands and the large rocks at the edge of the water. The tide came in and the tide left as the ravens, the mouse, and the steam punk bear sang sad songs of a beloved homeland that had been taken over by a cruel and angry king.

As night fell, the seventh raven returned, with the injured man sitting on his back.

“We must leave at once. Though it be night, we must not linger here any longer. We are in grave danger. When the humans turned their backs at the top of the mountain, I picked up the man. As I flew away, I could tell that they were angry because they were deprived of the opportunity to throw this man over the top of the mountain and into the churning sea beneath them.”

“I weep for the land that I once knew,” said the steam punk bear. “Once we welcomed all visitors and we shared our homes. Now, cruelty has taken over and all visitors are to be feared.”

At that moment, a cart could be heard clattering over the rocks.

“Now,” said one of the ravens. The bear and the mouse and the man climbed on the backs of the ravens. The humans looked up and saw the group of ravens with their passengers flying away. The humans shook their fists and cursed the sky.

to be continued