Chapter one – The Triangle.
A short (pre final edit) story about the first encounter with the spirit called RumpJack. The inspiration for this tale comes from being a teenager and hanging around with friends in Hangleton, a suburb of modern housing at the back of Brighton and Hove, with the remnants of ancient village at its heart: A manor house and the old church of St Helens.
The idea of Rumpjack came after recalling ‘The triangle’. This was a small dozen acres of uncultivated woodland at the center of the farmland which Hangleton pressed up against.
Discovery of the wall paintings.
Below is an extract from Wikipedia about the unexpected discovery of pre-reformation wall paintings while conducting renovations in old St Helens church — “During the restorations of 1949, ancient wall paintings were discovered on the north wall of the church, along with some scrollwork on one of the windows. The scrollwork was found to date from the early 13th century, while the wall paintings were 14th- and 15th-century in origin.[5][9] Some restoration of this work was carried out in 1969,[9] at which time some blocked-up windows in the nave were rediscovered.”
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Upon learning of these paintings I wondered, what if in those images there was a depiction of Hangolton itself and outside it, in the woodland a distinctive a half man/half dear creature, later to be known as Rumpjack.
The chapters begin with the creation of the A27 ring road in 2007 which cut through the ancient woodland in which the urban legend of Rumpjack is said to reside. Then the following chapters are recollections collected up by the narrator who first encounters the spirit in that initial tale.
So here is the rough draft of chapter one. It still needs work but there’s a core there worth sharing at this time of year. Hopefully you enjoy it. Let me know!
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If you like this work check out my non fiction collection Sea Sores on link below..
LIGHT ON LIGHT 