RUPERT & THE SONG OF ORPHEUS
It was April and Rupert was more than ready for spring to properly arrive. There had been too many teasing promises of warmer spells broken already by Mother Nature with cold snaps and biting winds marshalling the end of winter with a stubborn persistence.
"Why don't you just wrap up and go out anyway?" said Rupert's mother, who was stirring porridge on top of her duck egg blue stove for breakfast.
"Perhaps, but all my friends are busy today so I'd have to go on my own."
"Sometimes, our greatest adventures come about when we're alone," Mrs Bear suggested. "I remember the first time I went rock pooling on my own. I found the biggest starfish with long branching arms to put in my bucket. No-one could believe it when I told them about it later that day."
"Why didn't you bring the starfish home with you?"
"Because I thought it would be cruel to take Mr Starfish far away from his home."
Rupert nodded as his mother poured some hot porridge into a bowl and presented it to him with a large spoon.
"Would you like syrup with it?"
"Yes please!"
Rupert loved watching the almost slow motion way the syrup fell off the spoon onto his hot porridge, creating spirals of honey gold across it. If perfect contentment could be captured as a feeling then it must be this.
"So have you decided?"
"Decided about what?"
"Going off on an adventure today?"
"Yes. I think I will."
"Just make sure you're back before dark then."
"I will!"
Heading to Woodchester Valley in the Cotswolds where he often like to roam, Rupert felt energised by the fresh air and occasional smattering of rain drops carried by the brisk winds of April that dampened his furry face.
The rain wasn't yet so bad that he felt the need to find shelter, though the distant rumble of thunder which he knew wasn't his tummy growling worried the little bear a little.
Whenever he began to feel nervous, Rupert would often whistle or sing to himself. Somehow music always calmed him down. He remembered his father singing to him late at night when he couldn't sleep.
Oh, you know all the words, and you sung all the notes,
But you never quite learned the song, she sang.
I can tell by the sadness in your eyes,
That you never quite learned the song.
Noticing a formation of starlings flying away from the ominous looking cloud base ahead, Rupert sensed that maybe he should move away from the exposed fields he was currently walking across.
"If the rain should get heavier, then it might at least be useful to have somewhere to stay dry," he said sensibly to himself.
Uncertain where to go next, Rupert, suddenly heard a sound in the distance which sounded like a man's voice. He intuitively followed its direction hoping it would lead him to safety.
Finding himself on the verge of the woods, Rupert slipped between the trees and sat down on a nearby tree stump and waited for the approaching storm to pass.
As the lightning cracked the skies all around, he noticed various woodland creatures scurrying for sanctuary from the encroaching tempest.
He tried to remember another song his father would sing to him at times of stress.
Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
But it wasn't working today. Rupert felt increasingly upset and was suddenly reminded of the starfish his mother spoke of that stayed close to his home. He now wished he done the same.
"This is your fault, Mother. If I hadn't listened to you and just stayed at home I wouldn't be in the middle of this storm right now."
Burying his face in his hands and waiting for it to pass, Rupert listened as the wind roared all around him and the rain fell through the leaves above.
Then slowly, he could hear a strong distinctive note sung by a perfect counter tenor voice. Somehow it cut through the wind and rain and like a dazzling sunbeam and filled Rupert's heart with courage.
Slowly, he lifted his little bear head and looked up to find his close friend, Bill Badger, standing next to him.
"Bill, what are you doing here?"
"I came to find you."
"How did you find me?"
"I followed the music."
"You can hear it too, then?"
Bill Badger nodded his head.
"I wonder where it's coming from."
Pointing to the direction of a larger forest clearing, Rupert followed Bill's lead as they slowly made their way toward where the beautiful sound was coming from.
And the closer they got to the music, the more the bad weather increasingly began to abate and they felt the thrill of a great protective energy all about them, more potent even than nature itself.
Sitting on a smooth rock, singing and plucking the strings of a lyre, was a mystical looking figure who it appeared had calmed the storm with his beautiful song.
"I wonder who he is?" Bill whispered to Rupert.
"Sssshhh."
Waiting for the man to finish his song, Rupert finally spoke up.
"Excuse me Sir? But who are you?"
The handsome looking figure looked up at the young bear and smiled.
"My name is Orpheus and I am friend to all little creatures. Some big ones, too."
Rupert and Bill were intrigued by the figure and felt completely safe in his comforting presence.
"Mr Orpheus. Why did the weather change when you played your song?"
Orpheus looked down at the ground.
"Because I am the spirit of music."
Rupert felt honoured to be in the presence of this man and offered his yellow patterned scarf to Orpheus, which he duly accepted.
"Thank you, young bear."
Rupert wanted to ask the man another question but hesitated until his friend Bill suddenly interjected himself.
"Why does your song sound so sad?"
The man in the Thracian garment took a moment before answering the question, which seem to hang in the air.
"Because it is the song of loss."
Bill looked at Rupert; both were equally mystified.
"When I lost my Eurydice, I was consigned to tell my tale of sorrow in musical form. But in my song, I create harmony of the spheres and for the world."
Much of this was clearly going over the little badger's head, but Rupert understood the mysterious man, if not directly, then indirectly, like a feeling inside of him.
"You must truly love her."
"I do."
Although Rupert had never fallen in love, he knew the power of his own love for his friends and family. He imagined Orpheus's love for Eurydice would be even greater.
"Will you come back?"
"I will."
Bill felt sad to say goodbye to Orpheus.
"How will we find you?"
"Look down at your feet."
Both Rupert and Bill looked down at their feet where amongst the earth they could just make out a tiled mosaic depicting the story of Orpheus.
"Think of it like a talisman, except for music. When the world seems uncertain you will hear my song if you listen for it."
Bill was still confused by the mosaic.
"Do we just stand here until you appear then?"
Orpheus laughed.
"Just know that part of me has made his home here and that I'll never be far away. My song is in the air and within all of your hearts."
The three of them said their goodbyes as Bill and Rupert headed home, excited by their meeting with Orpheus.
"He seemed a nice chap," Bill said to Rupert as they chased the sunset all the way home across rain soaked meadows.
As Rupert's mind reflected on the strange experience with the storm and the figure, he couldn't help but reflect on the unusual sadness he'd never experienced before.
Later that night, Rupert was tucked up in his bed.
Having spent some of the evening reading more about Orpheus, Eurydice, and the underworld the little bear became strangely fearful of the darkness of his room. He had never considered the concept of death so profoundly as he had today as a direct consquence of meeting the mysterious man in the forest earlier.
Calling out to his father, he was greatly relieved when he saw the silouhette of Mr Bear in the hallway outside his room.
"What is it Rupert?"
"I don't want you to die."
"Where is this coming from?"
"I met a man today who sang a sad song."
Mr Bear was intrigued. Rupert explained about Orpheus and the mysterious mosaic.
"Music has the power to draw out of us great emotion, Rupert. Both happiness and sadness and everything in-between."
Rupert nodded as he felt a tear fall from his eye.
"How about I sing you a happy song to make up for his sad one."
The little bear nodded.
Mr Bear fetched his guitar and sat on the edge of his son's bed where he began to sing a familar song.
Come all ye starry starfish
Living in the deep blue sea
Crawl to me I have a proposition to make thee
Would you walk the north sea floor
To Belgium from England
Bring me word of a banjo man
With a tattoo on his hand.
It occured to Rupert that his father was just as talented at calming his nerves as the man in the forest with the lyre.
Perhaps, he thought, they're both Orpheus.
Come ye starry starfish
I know your ways are caped
Maybe its because your astrologically shaped,
Converse with the herring shoals
As I know you can
Bring me word o' the banjo man
With a tattoo on his hand.
Rupert fell asleep, his heart and mind relaxed as he dreamt of sparkling blue lagoons and sea weed filled rock pools.
Get better soon Mr Bear! ❤️
04/04/2022