In the village of Stunbury an old pile of stones that were shaped like a human had occupied the top end of a street for what seemed to be forever; there was no wall or grass around it. No one you asked could tell you when or how the stones were placed there or whose statue it was meant to be.
The stones formed like the focal point which people assumed must be a traffic island. Apart from faint white lines leading the traffic on the R 42 that led into the village, there was no signalling of direction when you got there, but everyone walking or riding along the road would observe an unspoken rule to keep a wide distance from the statue and act as if it was the hub of a roundabout.
Although no one knew whose statue it was, many had their own nickname for this anonymous structure. One day Council was renaming some streets and local points of interest including the R42 road which led all travellers past the said statue into the Stunbury village. Everyone wondered what that landmark would be called and at the primary school the English teacher decided to do research by asking her students to give her one name they had heard used for that statue.
Only the acceptable names are listed. She had to make a final decision: submit to Council a choice of ten names for that road’s noticeable fixture either in the order of originality or to list them in the order in which she had collected them. Because it was her project she chose her preferred sequence:
1 Bonny Prince
2 Statue with no name
3 The secret guest
4 Unknown human.
5 Mystery monster.
6 Cockeyed Stones
7 Nameless rabble.
8 Uneven Stones
9 The Enigmatic
10 Cryptic Stones
For a couple of months the teacher kept looking for any sign going up against the stones when she drove past on her way to school. So that summer it came as a shock to her when she saw the council workers installing a blue road sign stating the words “Cockeyed Bonny Road”. My time, she said, was not completely wasted.
The stones formed like the focal point which people assumed must be a traffic island. Apart from faint white lines leading the traffic on the R 42 that led into the village, there was no signalling of direction when you got there, but everyone walking or riding along the road would observe an unspoken rule to keep a wide distance from the statue and act as if it was the hub of a roundabout.
Although no one knew whose statue it was, many had their own nickname for this anonymous structure. One day Council was renaming some streets and local points of interest including the R42 road which led all travellers past the said statue into the Stunbury village. Everyone wondered what that landmark would be called and at the primary school the English teacher decided to do research by asking her students to give her one name they had heard used for that statue.
Only the acceptable names are listed. She had to make a final decision: submit to Council a choice of ten names for that road’s noticeable fixture either in the order of originality or to list them in the order in which she had collected them. Because it was her project she chose her preferred sequence:
1 Bonny Prince
2 Statue with no name
3 The secret guest
4 Unknown human.
5 Mystery monster.
6 Cockeyed Stones
7 Nameless rabble.
8 Uneven Stones
9 The Enigmatic
10 Cryptic Stones
For a couple of months the teacher kept looking for any sign going up against the stones when she drove past on her way to school. So that summer it came as a shock to her when she saw the council workers installing a blue road sign stating the words “Cockeyed Bonny Road”. My time, she said, was not completely wasted.
