Zodiac Island
by
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King Codzia (pronounced Co-zia) twiddled with a gold laurel leaf on his crown, pulled a face and stood up sending his chair flying. He placed his hands on his head and strode around the table, where he presided over the twelve members of his Inner Council. The twelve exchanged glances, as they knew their King was bored, which usually meant they would have to come up with something to keep him amused. The King walked over to the window of the Great Inner Chamber and stood, arms folded, brooding at the clouds outside. He suddenly roared and a bolt of lightning shot across the window lighting up the whole room and causing the Council members to cringe in their seats.
“I wish he wouldn’t do that, it really gives me a headache,” whispered Lord Virgo to Lord Leo.” Lord Leo laughed softly and said, “I don’t know, it alleviates the monotony of these meetings, I think it’s great; our Lord and Master needs a diversion; it all adds to life’s rich tapestry!”
The King marched around the table once more, raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Surely we, with all the power we can muster between us, can think of something interesting to do or create today, I’m sick of thunder bolts and lightening.” He scratched his chin and looked angrily around. “Just look at you, you might as well be twelve stuffed dummies; has no-one any fire or imagination? PLEASE let me have some suggestions.
“May I speak your Majesty?” said the Lord Aries, sitting in the first seat of the Council.
“Feel free,” said the King in exasperation. Lord Aries arose and moved towards the King. “Wouldn’t it be a grand idea to choose a representative from each one of our lands, and watch their progress as they live out their lives together on an island created just for their occupation?” he said thoughtfully. The others looked at him and frowned, then shook their heads. It sounded novel but would it be another hair-brained scheme ending up being more trouble than it was worth?
“Just a minute,” said the King looking much more interested. “It would be a challenge, but what kind of representatives are we talking about?
“Well, we could chose a living being either in our own image, or like the symbols we use to represent our section of the Galaxy. May be, we could chose any living being we feel appropriate to display the individual characteristics endemic in each of us; even a mythical one,” said Lord Aries, eyebrows raised in anticipation.
“It would certainly give food for thought. Let’s have a show of hands; who’s in favour?” said the King. The Lords knew that even if they were a little lukewarm over the idea at present, their King would still expect enthusiastic support. Therefore, up went twelve hands with varying degrees of reluctance.
“Good. Now then, I want all your suggestions and ideas as to how we should create our “Zodiac Island.” said his Majesty.
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About the Book
Life begins for our characters on an island created especially for their occupation by the twelve Lords of the Zodiac and their King. Although continuous, the story is split up into six episodes, each one being an adventure set around two signs of the zodiac with their responding characters. I have brought in a little mythology, albeit with a generous helping of poetic licence, but feel that it works! The idea is to highlight the way two very different beings behave in various circumstances and their interaction with one another. Hopefully with each adventure, individual personality traits emerge as a chain of events unfolds. The story reaches a crescendo with the most important event of the year, when the King of the Zodiac visits the island to oversee the New Year festivities. A prologue explains how the island came about; how the Lords of the Zodiac found their ideal beings and its occupants are introduced one by one. The full thirteen representatives of the zodiac, when not ‘starring’ in a tale, all play supporting roles to extend their influence on the plots. I have tried to make the pairing up of the zodiac signs interesting, which in itself was a challenge.
Read on and enjoy!
Emma Dil
About the Author
My name is Emma Dil and I was born in the Isle of Wight, but brought up mainly in Liverpool. I now live with my husband in Rochdale, a bustling town surrounded by the Pennine Foothills, or as they are geographically known, the ‘Backbone of England.’
The notion for my stories has been hovering around in my head for many years, so I decided to start writing and see how it evolved. Astrology is such a vast subject that it is difficult to know what to put in and what to leave out. Therefore, with young folk in mind, (possibly between 8 – 13 years), I have concentrated on the most popularised traits of each star sign to keep things simple and tried not to become too enmeshed in the many in intricacies of the subject. I have tried to make the pairing up of the zodiac signs interesting, which in itself was a challenge. The object of the stories is to ‘whet the appetite’ of the reader, who may wish to delve further into this fascinating angle on life, besides it’s FUN! Hopefully astrology will be taken more seriously, as it develops a firmer link with its counterpart, astronomy. It would be wonderful if potential readers of these stories derive even a fraction of the pleasure I have enjoyed from writing them. I would like my characters to ‘live on’ and have many more adventures, as I am very fond of them all, particularly Molly, with whom I have a natural affinity!