Monday, May 26, 2008

Handlebars

- Enjoying the book? asked Kit, nodding towards the copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude in front of his fellow passenger, after the flight attendant had left them their beverages of choice. Tea with milk for his neighbor, black coffee for Kit.
- Yes indeed, exclaimed the neighbor enthusiastically with an english accent that Kit had somehow not noticed before. Have you read it?
- Yes, I have. One of my favorite books actually.
- Indeed! Kit liked the way Brits repeatedly used the word indeed. It spoke to their respect for Truth, meaning, as it did, in truth, in reality, in fact. And Kit believed in truth. Indeed, it was probably the only thing he did believe in. 
- What a storyteller, eh? If I could only write just the tiniest fraction as well as him!, continued the brit, dunking a tea bag in his hot water.
- So you're a writer then? asked Kit
- Well I try, but to be quite honest, I haven't written all that much for quite a while now.
- "Quite a while?" He hasn't written fuck all for eons! It was a deep, yet curiously sing-song voice harboring a transatlantic accent, neither American nor British, or maybe both - it struck Kit as strangely distinctive by its lack of distinction. The source of the voice, a head peering above the headrest of the seat directly in front of Kit, was also distinctive. Reddish-brown fur, pointy ears, white snout with whiskers - in short, a fox. Just like the one at the top of this page. Indeed, exactly like the one at the top of the page.
- Fuck me, a flying fox! Kit thought to himself.
- Fucking eons, I tell you. Repeated the fox, turning his head towards Kit. His dark eyes glinted playfully and it struck Kit that his eyes were the only means to tell the fox's mood. He seemed quite happy and decidedly friendly, but as Kit looked deeper into his eyes, he couldn't help but get a sense of something less than friendly - something sinister even. Of course, as anyone familiar with them could tell you, looks can be quite deceiving when it comes to foxes.
- I think you'll find that's spelt "aeons" actually, replied the writer somewhat defensively. Besides, how would you know just when and what I've been writing?
- Oh you know I know everything you've done, are doing and will be doing next, said the fox, to which the writer had no immediate reply. 
It was clear to Kit that the fox and the writer knew each other quite well. While the two of them traded barbs, Kit noticed two white wires, dangling from the fox's ears - he was apparently listening to an iPod. Indeed, he now saw paws on either side of the fox's snout rested on top of the headrest, the left paw tapping out a rhythm in synchrony with the tip of the fox's bushy tail which waved from side to side between the fox's ears. Kit wondered what a fox might be listening to and whether they made earbuds specially designed for fox ears. If they did, the noise reduction was not very effective, as Kit found he could hear music coming from them. It was a song that Kit knew well, a song he was very fond of in another place and time. 
"Me and my friend saw a platypus, 
Me and my friend made a comic book, 
And guess how long it took, 
I can do anything that I want cos, look, 
I can keep rhythm with no metronome, 
No metronome, No metronome"
- And I can see your face on the telephone, said the fox, head cocked at an angle, eyes locked on Kit.
- Oh, sorry, didn't mean to stare, its just.... said Kit, not for the first time at a loss for words.
- Its okay, I get it all the time, said the fox, waving a paw in the air. I was just encouraging my friend the writer here that he should make use of his current surroundings to fashion his next piece of writing.
- He suggests that I should write a story based on the lives - as I imagine them, that is - of our fellow passengers, explained the writer.
- So your friend should create imaginary histories for some of our companions, give them each a new life? asked Kit, turning from the writer to the fox.
- Not quite. I had more in mind the creation of real futures for our fellow flyers - after all, crossing the Atlantic seems as good a transition as any to do that, explained the fox.
- I see. But, continued Kit, I'm not sure what you mean by real futures.
- Well, said the fox, consider that the past and present are fixed and finite and that anything that deviates from what happened or what is happening is fiction, and always will be. But the future is fluid and infinite. Everything written about it now is fiction, but might one day be reality. It should be possible to weight the odds towards that reality. After all, its been done before. The fox looked down and nodded towards the book lying on the writer's table.
- Yes, I see what you mean, said Kit, remembering the end of the novel. The writer, not having got that far, looked on bewildered. 
- But that's just a novel - it never became reality, continued Kit.
- As far as you know, it didn't. But can you be sure? After all, you remember the day you discovered ice, don't you? The fox cocked his head and raised an eyebrow - it seemed to be his inquisitive look.
Kit was certainly impressed. It seemed the fox knew far more than one might expect a fox to know. (Of course, as anyone who knew anything about them could tell you, foxes always know more than you'd expect from them.) Could it really be that he had some insight into the future?
- Me and my friends understand the future, I see the strings that control the systems, Dr. Thomson, added the fox, as if reading and answering Kit's thoughts. And on saying this the fox slowly dipped down below the top of the head rest, 'til only the tips of his ears were visible above the seat.
- Well, my friend has had some pretty good ideas in the past, said the writer enthusiastically, I'm prepared to give it a go! Besides, he's quite right, I really haven't written fuck all in quite some time.
- Eons, came a muffled voice from in front.
- Yes, indeed, aeons, agreed the writer reluctantly.
- He seems quite a multi-talented fox, observed Kit, what else can he do?
- Quite a bit, actually, replied the writer. He even tells me he can ride his bike with no handlebars.
- Now that I'd like to see! exclaimed Kit.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jenn said...

~~waves at not so Cali, Cali~~ actually you can change your name. Edit your profile and where your name is change it. (LucyDDCF) now JennyC&F ;)

Herge Smith said...

That was very good indeed!.

I never speak to anyone on the place, except once - then never again.

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