The Stone of Truth – The Enlightened Spaniel - Book 3
I am delighted to inform you that the final book in The Enlightened Spaniel Trilogy will be published in September 2021. It is titled The Stone of Truth and you will all get to find out if Half-Sister actually is the reincarnation of the Buddha’s dog Right Nuisance, or not. All the usual suspects will be present including Wandering Mind and The Moggy Meditation Group, plus a few new characters that our wise spaniels meet along the way. The book is again illustrated by Toby Ward.
Here is a little excerpt from Chapter 1.
The Stone of Truth – The Enlightened Spaniel - Book 3
(copyright Right Nuisance Publishing 2021)
1
After the End Comes the Beginning.
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
T. S. Eliot
Today is a crisp spring morning with just a touch of frost. The bamboo, standing tall in the back garden, is expressing its bamboo-ness by quivering in the gentle breeze. Perhaps it is excitement at the thought of another day, or realistically, it may just be shaking the iciness from its delicate leaves. The Buddha, positioned beneath, has acquired an overnight smattering of frost that is delicately positioned on his head. He will as usual remain unbothered by this occurrence, just as he will pay little heed to the snowdrops that have arisen to pay homage to the blessed one.
I am half-tempted to pay our place of reflection an early morning visit. A pre-breakfast meditation can set you up for the day. However, the mystical charms of my favourite cushion, combined with the warmth of the central heating has resulted in paralysis. I will make do with an intermittent view from the living room window caused by wavering eyelids. The morning can wait a while longer.
It has now been several weeks since Amara took his leave and ventured to pastures anew. We hope he is faring well, wherever he happens to be in this precise moment. Knowing Amara, that could be anywhere as his previous tomcat treks have often led him to the farthest reaches of our beautiful planet. Half-Sister thinks he will not have simply gone for a happy wander but will have a destination and mission in mind. He will have been guided no doubt by one of his premonitions that manifest in a dream. Considering the amount of time he snoozed under the radiator he will not be short of options. I don’t know if we will ever be blessed with Amara’s presence again. However, Half-Sister’s famed spaniel intuition is telling us that his influence in our quest to discover the truth about the reincarnation of the Buddha’s dog Right Nuisance remains intact. Either way he is missed by us all, especially The Ginger One Next Door, who is still clinging to the faint hope that he has just gone to the shop for milk. In the meantime The Ginger One continues to practice his meditation diligently alongside his compatriots in the moggy meditation group. They have become so proficient in the ancient art that Half-Sister guides them less and less. Sometimes she just leaves them to practice a silent meditation, even I know the words to that one.
As I peruse the back garden from the comfort of the living room sofa my attention is drawn to our latest addition - a weeping willow tree. Dad planted it a little while ago and dreams of sitting underneath the dangly branches on a wooden bench reading his book. As the tree is very small I wonder if any of us will still be around when it’s big enough. Now a spaniel with legs spread out in assassination pose could squeeze under no problem, but Dad and his garden bench seems a distant possibility. When I asked Half-Sister, she simply shuffled her paws and let fly with a quote.
‘The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.’
Nelson Henderson
To be continued …….
If you haven't read book one or two yet make sure you get yourself a copy before September. Find out more about book 1 and 2 HERE
Gary Heads
