Eyes wide, Deirdre looked at Jumbly, whose eyes had widened too. This was a big step but, but, “Let’s do it!”, she declared, startling everyone, herself included. That emphatically decided, they all settled down around the fire and enjoyed their tea and cake.

All was quiet. The birds were silent. The animals were not moving. Even the insects seemed to have ceased their drone. Jumbly came alert just as two filthy men stepped into the path.

Exhausted by her ablutions, she sat abruptly on her bed and stared at the pot. Jumbly rumbled a laugh and Deirdre turned to look at him.

Once, the Jumbly Man was returning from washing his woes, striding along, deep in thought. It was coming close to night and he began to look about for a camp.

Lauren Higgenbottom had always been Lauren Higgenbottom despite her efforts to change it. When she moved to Jumbly’s village she became Mrs. Lauren Higgenbottom, never thinking that anyone would notice, just hoping for a change in reputation.

The Jumbly Man. Where did he come from?

I sat down one day to write a blog and fully intended to include a totally different story but The Jumbly Man arrived instead

Stashing his gear, Jumbly ran down the dunes to the soft soft sand. Across the sand and into the waves, he threw himself into the sea.

Katid was born on the river. In her family’s flat boat that floated softly down stream, rocking gently side to side. Then they’d float upstream again, and the boat would slap against the current.

The river waters swished and swashed all the way down to the sea. There was often so much water that backwaters had carved their way, angling away from the flow. The waters there grumbled about which way to go.

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Mrs. Higginbottom came to live in the Jumbly Man’s village. She didn’t know anything about Jumbly at first but everyone knew just how important she was because she told them.

When my son was three he lost his hearing, when he was four he received a cochlear implant. The implant is truly remarkable technology. With artificial processing in one ear, I do wonder how much he misses out on, then I think don’t we all?

Once upon a time, long long ago, there was a man who was unable to speak clearly. Every word came out backwards and every sentence jumbled but he was so earnest and of such good cheer that his neighbours and friends always spent time with him.