The Chronicles of Widget (Phoenix Rising) Read online

  All Frixians are like that, spirits that are disembodied until they are linked with an inanimate toy or puppet. This used to be done by The Toymaker but he is long gone. So now there are just the two of us and we are only here because our spirits were woken up in our travelling device and there happened to be a couple of puppets nearby. Not something that happens every day so we were very lucky as it was a one in a large number chance.

  Not every adult has a puppet or two hanging around but then not every adult has a small barn on a smallholding in the middle of the countryside in Mid Wales. Not everyone of course has a camouflaged time, space and dimension travelling vehicle just out of dimension in their back garden either.

  Thankfully the owner has a good imagination and was able to cope with this but the day I first spoke to her was priceless. She nearly dropped me and wasn’t altogether convinced by my arguments that I wasn’t a demonic spirit inhabiting her toy. Not that the puppet is a toy, it is a working toy. It is supposed to visit places and entertain children and adults.

  So that is why we are incorporating the reality of the ship into the magical world of the stories and appearances and fun that is what is going on around here. This is all mixed up with the real things that are happening in our battle against the Goblians.

  So you know that I am a Frixian. You know that I came here with a time, space and dimension travelling device and you know that I have a sister called Gadget. So you know there are two of us and no more. What you may not know and I don’t want to scare you but there are loads and loads of Goblians. Goblians aren’t Frixians, they are nothing like us no matter what many people believe. They are nasty creatures who feed on anger, spite, jealousy and all those nasty things. So they have not left the world. They don’t need bodies in the same way as we do although they have bodies that they do use when they want to do some seriously physical mischief. Then they take broken and thrown away toys, rubbish and nasty things that have been discarded to make themselves something to move around in.

  They are everywhere and they are getting stronger as they feed on all the hate and violence in the world. We are getting fewer, well only two now, as we need toys that are loved and these are getting fewer and fewer. Where every child used to have lots of soft toys they loved, now they have computer games.

  We have what we call the TAVERN. In all ways it looks like a little stone barn to the very few people who drive by and the very few people who live in the valley. That is how it is supposed to look as that is how it has always looked. It is what is inside that is important. It isn’t supposed to look like a space ship but that is what it is. So for so many years it was rebuilt, used and re-used as people lived in the house and moved on. They didn’t know there was a space ship that was slightly out of step with the dimension as they couldn’t see it. They didn’t need to believe in it, why would they? It was only when it was owned by someone with an imagination that we were able to reach out from the cryogenic spirit storing unit and once those words had been heard we could reach out to find something to inhabit assisted by the ship which was powering down. Of course as soon as it was inhabited again it was able to syphon off some power and start recharging. This isn’t the normal way for our kind to be created but this was an emergency and the spirit of the TAVERN did what it could.

  The building is out of synchronization with the dimension it is in to allow the whole ship to exist in the same space as matter in the world in which it is parked. It also doesn’t fly much, it just shares the space with what is there already and teleports around the dimensions. I think that is a word you understand. The process is different and scientific but the result is the same. It swaps its position with other “shells” in different times and dimensions and originally it was tied to seven locations across the dimension and universes. But, recently I’ve been doing some work and I’ve made certain modifications so it can now move to other places and dimensions so that we can explore more places. This is important as the inter dimension war with the Goblians has become much more intense. That is what we do you see, we fight the Goblians.

  When I am in the TAVERN I don’t have to rely on the body that I use when I am outside the building and in your world as it is in the same dimension as I exist in. So I can make modifications. I don’t have to stay in the body but over the years I have got used to it. When I go outside the building I need the body to be solid as I am slightly out of phase with your dimension. That is limiting but I have got used to it over the years and I quite like it.

  I have decided to write about what is happening as I am worried about the people of this world. It has been a busy year and I hope you will be interested in some of the stories about what has happened.

  I am a lucky Frixian as my owner knows I exist and I can live quite happily along with her and her partner. Gadget is here too but she is very, very shy and would rather that people didn’t know she is around. I am lucky because I have been allowed to use a laptop. I’ve found Amazon and I’ve found that I can publish what I write, so I’m going to. I’m not just playing with the laptop, I am writing and hopefully creating something amusing. Not all true, I’m going to write some stories too but most of it is true unless I say otherwise.

  I may be as small as you or perhaps bigger if you are small or smaller if you are big. I can touch a tabletop with my hands but I can’t see what is on it without climbing on a chair. Perhaps that gives you an idea as to how big or small I am. My puppet has long black curly hair. A wig my owner sewed on to make me look special. I have long pointed ears and a cloth body. I have a big head with a large mouth and big eyes with lashes. These eyes do not close so I can never look away. This was very useful on the day I visited the Dr Who Exhibition as those Blinking Angels weren’t going to get me! I have a suitcase of clothes bought for me by Angel, the person who owns me and I have a baby’s chair it was hoped I’d travel in when they are doing shows. This is for next year though. A lot is for next year including being able to sit in a cart pulled by goats and Ginger Ninja the pony so I can go to shows and see people.

  When the goat kids were born this year there were three boys. Mistral was born first, he is an Arapawa. He is Angel’s pet and he is hopefully going to train to pull a cart although she has a challenge there as they can be a bit feisty. Then Victor was born. His grandmother is Symbel and his father is Orpheus. He is a lovely boy, really friendly and huge. He was big when he was born and just kept growing. He is Niall’s pet goat. Wagner isn’t quite as big. He is Angel’s choice as a pet goat and harness goat to match Victor. VW as a pair, like the car but both sounding like they start with a “V”. His mother was Makeda and his father is Orpheus. Makeda was sold this year along with Victor’s mother and many others. His grandmother was Enara, the lovely old brown goat who sadly died this year at the ripe old age of twelve. She is an old one who is sadly missed but she lives on in Wagner and Leia, her granddaughter.

  These boy goats are not useful and in the past some places would not have kept them and allowed them to grow up. Angel and Niall had other plans. They chose one each to be a harness pair and decided to keep the Arapawa because he is so rare as an exhibition goat. People may not have had the opportunity to see such a rare creature so it seemed only right to keep a goat just to be friendly and go and see them. He may be a harness goat but he’ll not be pulling a human, he’s too small. He’ll be pulling me and Gadget in our hundred year old dog cart which is on the list for renovation. If we can’t take him then the Ginger Ninja will take over. There are rules you see, rules and paperwork. So he can’t go everywhere. But she can.

  I am very worried about Wagner. He a gentle quiet soul, just like his father Orpheus, our lovely floppy eared male. He is also very playful and that was the problem. He jumped in and out of the hay rack and got his leg broken. Again, as a boy this may have been the end of him as if he has painkillers he can’t be dinner. That is fine as he was never intended to be. So the vet was called, he was given painkillers and was so, so brave while he was bandag
ed and plastered up. He hung there in Niall’s arms and held out his leg to be helped. We can only wait and see now. It has been plastered and we are all hoping he is going to be well afterwards. He may not have a completely straight leg and his chances as a harness goat are now over. The pressure on the weakened leg would be too great. Poor brave Wagner. No complaint, not a bleat. He trusts and lets us help. That is goat. Brave and true.

  Out of something horrible something good has come. I am getting a new body you see. It had been discussed and the new body is to ride in the cart as it may be raining or there may be mud around. My lovely material body doesn’t wash and I’d become a mess if I can’t be kept clean. I’ll tell you later about The Toymaker but now that he is around I can bond with another body and he is going to do that. It will be an experiment. I say that I can, we don’t actually know, we are mostly guessing. When the body is made The Toymaker will work his magic. He already has in a way as he has given Andy Rimmer the ability to make Frixian hosts. Things are different now as the power of the Goblians is so great. We can’t just jump into a body, we need to be bound.

  Andy has agreed to make my new body so that I can actually ride Wagner in public. You mustn’t forget that when people who don’t believe see me I will become a floppy puppet. That is the problem, my body is too soft. This new body will be rigid so that I can sit in a saddle and ride Wagner. I’ll be able to talk to him in his mind and Angel is going to lead me.

  Now Victor the other goat will have to pull the little cart on his own. That is not a problem as there will only be me, copies of our books and things to sell in the back and they are only lightweight.

  Wagner needs to have a purpose and he is a beautiful boy. So, he is going to be my goat. Not just a pet, he is going to be the goat I ride. I never imagined when for many years we were asleep in the Cryogenic Unit of the TAVERN that we would wake up to what is happening. We had been trapped by wicked thieves who stole the ship many years ago. It was when we were trapped by them after helping them for most of our lives that things changed. Things changed because the TAVERN came into contact with a semi sentient computer program known as NEMESIS. Nemesis spoke with the ship’s onboard computer and part of this program linked with it. That part saw what was happening and although the ship could do very little when we were trapped, it made sure that when the power ran down we were not killed.

  The wicked thieves didn’t last long. That is the way with evil people, they turn on each other and can’t trust each other. All it took was for them to hear of an easy way to make money. It was quite miraculous in many ways. But not at all when you know what is going on. Nemesis made sure that one of the thieves found out that there was a delivery of gold that they could easily steal. They of course went to get it and when they did the security services were notified and it appeared that one had been betrayed by the other. Of course being mistrusting they ended up fighting and that was the end of both of them. They never came back for the ship and it stayed trapped in this area for nearly a hundred years.

  That time passed very slowly and as if we were in a dream. Well actually it was a dream, sent to us by the Weaver of Dreams. She too is trapped somewhere, far from your reality, far from everyone’s reality. So now even you may be trapped by the mundaneness of your dreams. Don’t worry, one day she will be back. When she comes back dreams will be magical again. When she comes back into her full power magic will return to this world. That will be a great day for this world.

  When we first were awakened we were very confused. It was a strange world, especially as we found ourself in a murder mystery game run by a friend of Angel’s, Kevin Rutter. It took a while for us to realise that it wasn’t real but it was lovely to meet the people. They were people who helped to put the place together, the building that exists in this dimension that is. It was transformed from an empty barn full of bits and pieces to what now looks like an old fashioned, old world, pub. Then there is the land. This has been transformed from a flat field to a place where goats can live happily. Not quite the smallholding that was first thought of but then things didn’t go according to plan. It had been a good plan but it didn’t work out. Angel didn’t come to Wales alone, she came with a man who became her husband. He didn’t really want to be in Wales so he found someone in London and decided to stay there. Angel’s mother had moved to Wales and as Angel had a bad hip it had to be replaced so she moved in with her mother. Sadly her mother died and now she is back at her original house and back with us. It was a sad time while she was away and I was very lucky to survive. Many things didn’t as they were stored in boxes and the rats got in. Nightly they munched their way through Angel’s clothes and things. Her sofas and everything else was ruined. Nested in and destroyed.

  She has a new friend now, Niall, and we like him. He likes us too. That is perfect but all those years were wasted and what could have been a thriving smallholding is good but it could be better. It has been marking time and on her own Angel couldn’t do all those things that would have made the place self sufficient both in food and power.

  When she came here she wanted to create a place where people can find the serenity to dream again. A place where they can talk, tell stories and write. A place where they can investigate the magical things in life, be it spiritual or just meeting amazing people. Then to her everyone is amazing in their own way, until they are proven to be nasty. She got very fed up with the world for a while but that didn’t last.

  When I originally spoke to her it went really well and now we get to live in the house as well as the TAVERN which is much more interesting. We still sleep in the Tavern with the Band. The band are amazing, small but amazing. They are mini androids, created to maintain the TAVERN’s basic functions. It is a shame they don’t come in too as they would find it interesting as there is a television set and music. They move around when nobody is watching, fixing the engine and working on the mechanics of the place. When a human is around they look just like dolls standing on little stage like a band. Two of them have their own story which I will tell you about in a bit.

  I call where we live and our machine “The Tavern” as that is what those who created it called it, “The Time Inn Tavern”. They think they created it and it is unique but in truth their minds created what we encouraged their spirit to see. When they had created what we wanted them to, we shifted the interior shell of the building into the ethereal momentarily and linked the two, the dimension travelling device and the play tavern they had built in the barn. The barn is the structure of the travelling device as well as an ancient place for keeping animals. So what was out of phase was added to by a physical component and the physical component gained the properties of the time travelling device. This is much better as it is hard to sit on a hologram chair. That didn’t come out right. The travelling machine is like a shell in different places which we use to lock on to so we can move so that nobody gets surprised or hurt when we move the machine. It can move independently of these shells but there is the possibility of scaring someone or squashing them if they happen to be in the space it wants to occupy.

  It occupies a fixed space and shape when it moves and that space is defined by a building which exists in all the time and space zones we can go to. The rest of it is out of phase and safe for the inhabitants. That is the safest way to travel unless we are moving it to a totally uninhabited area. The interior space swaps but the outer shell stays were it is and looks the same. The inner space is within another dimension but it is defined by how it was originally built. It has many rooms on many levels, all out of phase and in the basement. All that humans can see unless they have help is the tiny barn.

  The time travelling machine is silicone and chrome based creature which lives on the particles created by time and dimension travelling. Eion particles are scooped up when it travels and these power the systems. So it is sort of a symbiotic relationship. It also needs crystals or it gets confused and can’t store up enough power to move. So it has to use these as well. The creature
provides the core of the machine, the machine provides its food. We get to use the machine and everyone is happy. It was a developing machine until it met with Nemesis. Nemesis made it a sentient being and in return it melded with Nemesis which is a bit like a hive mind. What one Nemesis unit thinks, the rest know about.

  We have stopped tinkering with the controls since we got ourselves into all kinds of trouble a few years back. We also don’t tinker unless we have to as Nemesis tells us off and that entity can play some awful tricks. The original problem that happened was mostly because the heating system wasn’t working and we were trying to put it back on. Our engineers couldn’t work it out as it had been installed by a previous bunch so we tried to link up with Mission Command. That of course wasn’t permitted by the protocols as Earth is a closed system and we weren’t really supposed to know about the organization. Nemesis and our on board computer seemed to know a lot about it as apparently there had been a Mission Command operative trapped in the cryogenic unit until she was removed. I assume she went back to work for Mission Command, nobody knows. I tried to track her down but there seem to be no records after the thieves left her on a planet in the Hisveksius System.

  We couldn’t find the manual and we ended up all over the place when we tried pushing random buttons. Since then we have recovered some of our lost memory, that got realigned while we were in the cryogenic unit and we think that was something to do with the thieves. Nemesis helped to unlock parts of our memory that had been shut off due to awful things we had seen. It turned out that someone close to us had actually designed it in the first place but with all the freezing, that part of our memory didn’t wake up so quickly. That was what we first thought but now we have been told that the memory of a Frixian in the unit had been accidentally superimposed onto us. We’d remove it but it is too useful so Nemesis edited out the personal memories and left us with the technical ones. Now we rely on heating given to us by the house owners rather than trying to investigate how to put the heating on. It is a strange building and although it fits with the surroundings outside, inside it is like a world of its own. Which I suppose is an ironic way of describing it.