The Hadrian

“The Hadrian”
(122 AD)

My name is Willy McWallace. I was born in the North Country on a cold winter night. Like the rest of my family, I was blessed with a sleek grey coat and I grew strong on a diet of porridge, short bread and shepherd’s pie along with any other morsels I could smuggle from the kitchen floor. Needless to say, I was not only content but plump as well. I led an idyllic life as a Northern field mouse.

I had a dear friend in the South country. His name was Sir Albert Jones. Although we were the best of friends, we were very different in many ways. Sir Albert had a spotted coat and dined on crumpets, Cornish pasties, and tea.

We loved to visit each other for many reasons. It was delightful to sample each other’s foods. I couldn’t get enough of his mother’s tripe and onions and he couldn’t get enough of my mother’s black pudding, Arbroath Smokies and Forfar Bridies. Sir Albert loved to come over on Hogmany (New Years Eve). We would dress in my country’s costumes and dance the Highland Fling through the night. If we were lucky we would celebrate by eating Haggis. I enjoyed visiting Sir Albert on the Summer Solstice. We dressed in his country’s costumes and danced the Morris dance around the big rocks in the moonlight.

Sadly our humans were always at war. My humans wore kilts and made a horrific noise as they blew into their pipes. Sir Albert’s humans were covered in metal and rode fearsome war horses. It was sad to see the fighting. It didn’t make any sense. Why did they fight? Why didn’t they share what they had? Why didn’t they get along? They had so much to offer each other.

One day, a terrible thing happened, a horrible thing - the humans built a wall. It was an awful wall. It was an enormous wall. It was an insurmountable obstacle. The humans named it the Hadrian.

I was terribly sad. I could no longer see my dear friend in the South. No sharing treats, no costumes, no dancing in the moonlight.

One lonely day as I sat looking up at the Hadrian I decided that if I ever wanted to see Sir Albert again I was going to have to overcome this giant wall. Although the wall was as tall as the sky, I started to climb. Inch by inch, stone by stone, paw by paw, up and up I went.

Near sunset, I reached the top. The wall was as wide as it was tall. I looked across the stretch of stone and saw a small figure coming towards me in the setting sun. I was overjoyed to see the familiar face of my dear friend Sir Albert! He had missed me as much as I had missed him. He had come in search of me. He had packed some Cornish pasties and crumpets. After a quick meal I pulled out my pipe and we began to dance in celebration.

We were so caught up in the joy of our reunion that we did not notice a soldier from the South riding up behind us on his war horse. At the same time a soldier from the North silently approached the wall. Both soldiers watched us as we celebrated - the last of the sun’s rays dancing with us.

By the time we noticed the soldiers they had already started to climb the Hadrian. Sir Albert and I froze in fear. There was an ominous moment as we watched both men reach the top of the wall, stand up and face each other. What happened next changed history. Both soldiers put their swords down, exchanged smiles and shook hands. Nervously I began to play my pipes. After exchanging their favorite recipes the soldiers began to dance with us.

From that moment on the wars ceased. The North and South came together once the word of the miracle on the Hadrian spread, both countries finally understood what they had been missing. Each had so much to offer the other as well as a lot to learn from each other.

Now, once a year, on the great day of rejoicing, the North and the South come together at the Hadrian to celebrate their diversity with song, food and dancing in the moonlight!

The End.