Apollo was the epitomy of masculine beauty. His perfect body, longish curly hair and probably 'bedroom' eyes made him irresistable. He also had other attributes besides the physical. He could make beautiful music, was a master archer, never ever told even a tiny white lie. Naturally, he was in charge of the sun and drove it daily across the sky. His healing gifts were renowned and what more could a girl want; his animal was the gentle , lovely Dolphin(sigh!).
He was a really catch and had numerous love affairs, all completely above board, of course. Remember he was honesty personified!!!
Here he is, this paragon of virtue in all his glory!
Now for my Apollo......I was nine or ten years old, an avid reader of the
Children's Encyclopaedia. No doubt I had a crush on the delectable Apollo and thus a pet slug was named after him. Whatever entered my childish fantasies in adopting a slimy slug is incomprehensible to me today. It was probably a moment of rebellion against my mother (who loathed slugs). It might also have been a rescue operation when the slug was about to be fed to the neighbour's pet duck. Whatever the reason, Apollo Slug ended up living on the top of a water drum where he dined copiously on lettuce snitched from my mother's garden. He disappeared mysteriously a week or so later and the family dealt with my period of mourning with insincere sympathy.
TIP FOR THE DAY Remember some of the things that made up your childhood, sad, happy, fun, adventurous, a special pet, a special person. Sketch or paint that memory. You might be surprised at what develops. I was!!
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