Von was the last to rise and he looked like a child awaken from pleasant dreams only to be told to hurry, he was running late for school. He politely listened to Kyra’s update. When she finished, he excused himself; “to think”, he said.
Get out of the boat. Swim. Swim naked. Splash and laugh.
Believe the act, for in the act we see the heart.
Distrust those slippery messengers of language bred from bastards and whores of origins unknown.
White lies know a higher truth.
Unkind words are like thieves, only worse. They steal the most valuable gift we have—time.
We are like color. In light we exist. In twilight we fade. And in darkness, we all but cease to exist (we are born in light—as light fades, the very hue of our lives follows till the curtain of our days rises never more).
Every yes is also a no.
Von slammed his journal shut. “Kyra, I’ve got an idea.”
“On our way Von. Come on Em.” And the two moved like ideas were gold, not the platform for someone’s ego.
Categories: Story, Kyra, Von, Emy, Journal
15 comments:
Well, weyhey! Logging onto your page to see not one but two new chapters, now that is a rare and special treat. :-)
I'd love to have coffee with Von (or snazzle, or even snoot, as the case may be). Whatever he found in his own words, I'm as anxious to hear his thoughts as Kyra and Em are.
Very, very nice short chapter, a snippet of time and put across so well. This is another example of why it isn't just the actual writing or the story that keeps us coming back for more, but the style/manner in which they are written too - style of this is wonderful, so natural and easy.
Thank you Sweetest. I was quite proud of the segue on that last journal entry, which we will see, is where the idea he has comes from. Every yes is also a no, I love that to pieces and so glad Von stumbled upon it too. :-D
Saw an interview with Harold Pinter last week and taking a look at some of his plays, I've got a hankering to write a chapter as a play (or at least that format), so lookout. :-D
Looking forward. :-)
Was going to mention that part of the chapter, just with a simple comment of how I should like to know what Von was thinking as he wrote that - but since you wouldn't know, this being Von's journal, I didn't. :-D
Well, since there are no rules on my story, here is the aborted version of the chapter to come where you see the "yes" of a transmission and the attached "no" of six days with severely reduced heat. Enjoy:
Kyra pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as if she could keep her teeth from chattering. Her face, like Von’s and Em’s was pale, drawn, long. They looked waxy, grim, lifeless, but above all, they just looked damn cold. Together they had agreed. To have the power to make one transmission, one hundred and twenty seconds, it would cost them twenty degrees of heat over the next six days, at which time all power would be exhausted and heat and cold would no longer matter, since breathable air trumped both. So, they sat huddled in the numbing cold and looked blankly at the transmission screen as a fisherman stranded on the open ocean looks at his last sip of drinkable water.
The switch stood, firehouse red, stark in the haunting blueness of breath frozen in mock witness to hope stuck in a freefall of ineviviablity. Kyra’s trembling hand reached halfway, and then, as if the invisible hand of fate itself held court, she stopped. Looking with listless eyes, incapable of conveying the gravity of failure, Von, and then Em, nodded their heads. Her gloved hand continued its journey. Contact. 120, 119, 118, yet words were stuck and panic knocked on walls thin with fatigue and hunger.
“John, this is Kyra. Do you read?”
Static.
“Repeat. John, this is Kyra. Do you read me, over?”
Kyra glanced to her left and Von nodded.
“John, I’m not sure you can hear me, but we have been hit. We are living on auxiliary power. Best estimate, six more days. Repeat, six more days before catastrophic system failure. John, do you read me?”
This is a stunning fractal. I love the geometric design and strong colours. Very well done. The story is good too :)
Jenni, I did five or six variations of this image. Expect to see a few more with future Von Journal entries. :-)
Ahh, back to the confessional for this little Catholic girl - the image I am talking about.
its endless.
your talent.
must leave for the day - more catching up another time.
Meg
Thanks Meg. Now that you mention it, the colors (I'm catholic too) and the design do so very much look like what one might see in a confessional. Mmmm, I might have to work that into the story somehow. Maybe Von has some training we don't know about. :-D
As always, your kind words Meg are very, very much appreciated. Thank you. :-)
I felt the need to comment on everyone of Von's entries - each one gave way to ideas of what he could mean, but like I said to you at the time, I probably would have written pages upon pages and I took pity on your eyes.
Besides, more than that need, I just wanted to sit back and smile, and did, almost like a sweet thought that one wants to keep secret and not add any more words to. They as thoughts are enough in themselves if that makes any sense, it's not what he means so much as he writes them, but the scope of what they could mean, of how interpretations might differ or be similar depending on a range of factors, how it could show how outlook differs from person to person, or at the very least, how one person to another interprets based on what they know, think and feel and how that too might have been changable depending on where they were at that moment, when reading. It's personal. Not sure how else I can explain that, what I think each person might get from reading those statements and that causes the smile spoken of above along with what I found in them.
Direct influence is one thing, indirect is another, and I wonder how much if at all my initial interpretations of the content of Von's Journal #3 has changed. This is another reason why it is best to write a comment on the very first wave of thought after reading.
That first one initiates further smiles. And it is perhaps the 'easiest' among the bunch, or rather the one where though worded differently perhaps, most would gather the same meaning. I see it as both about life in general and us as people, a jump into realness, naturalness if you will, to get out of the comfort zone, to be more aware, to shed all layers and protection and whatever else the boat could be a metaphor for, to respond in the closest way possible, actually in the 'water' and naked. To respond, splash, laugh.
There's just no way of explaining it better, when the words in regards to my interpretation of them are said best as they are here. :-)
There was one comment from you that I read that without doubt added a little more to this than might otherwise have been seen through my eyes solely. These three entries from Von have just been such a pleasure to read and to ponder. The way in which he words things, so simply sometimes, so suprisingly at others, and always (seemingly) so straightforward. "Believe the act, for in the act we see the heart." I guess, another way of saying that would be the ever-popular, Talk is cheap, but Von says it so much better. And broader.
Distrust those slippery messengers of language bred from bastards and whores of origins unknown." I hardly dare touch that one, for I know I have definitely been influenced here, as when I start to write about it, I hear a voice that I am not sure is my own. :-) Not that that matters, but there would be no reason to recount what I think of this one here. Other than to say that Von outdid himself on the wording of this one. I just imagine him, or even anyone else quoting him, saying this to someone else and the kind of responses that would prompt. And it is more the first part than the last, when he writes "those slippery messengers of language".
"White lies know a higher truth." White lies signifies at least to me, lies told in order to avoid something unecessary, mostly hurt or upset in another or to avoid problems for oneself, but generally it would be to avoid upset of some kind, which then would be the higher truth so to speak. I.e. for the greater good, in the name of avoiding the unecessary in a life that is short, to push a bunch of cliched phrases together.
"Unkind words are like thieves, only worse. They steal the most valuable gift we have—time." I can almost hear an audible sigh around the room (the DT readership) as the truth of that becomes especially apparent when memories/knowledge merge to create understanding upon reading.
We are like color. In light we exist. In twilight we fade. And in darkness, we all but cease to exist (we are born in light—as light fades, the very hue of our lives follows till the curtain of our days rises never more). One could reign this in and apply it to other specifics, for example relationships. I'm reminded of a programme I watched once about how infants respond to contact and how very quickly their expressions and manner will change depending on whether they are being related to or not. Kindness could be another, with the concept of Karma entering into the equation too. Hope too is something the light could be a metaphor for, if one wanted to apply it again to something other than life on a grand scale, hope in as much as whatever else one does not have, so long as there is hope, there is a chance of light spreading and the darkness receeding. Even the tiniest spark means there is not complete darkness.
I'm rambling, and I'm not finishing each part, but it is an indication of what I was saying at the very beginning about how these statements just make one want to sit back and smile and just roll around within them, this way and that.
Happiness could be another, optimism, outlook...
"Every yes is also a no."
This was the one that struck me most at the time, for it was the one for which I had no specific answer, or rather I couldn't see enough to hazard a guess of where Von might have been coming from with this one, or even enough to offer a clear interpretation. I'm sure it could be applied to many things, but trying to actually visualize a situation where this is the case, clearly the case, wasn't so easy. The most general, wide-open, of the bunch and since this is the one that was highlighted, and the one after which he had 'thought' enough, it was also pretty obvious that this was the most significant (at least in as much as one building upon the other), the one that took the idea to conclusion.
(Explained in your comment of course, transmission and 6 days.)
'Don't say anything unless you mean it.' - we could do the same with that statement and apply it to your writing, mould it a little and the interpretation of course would be, very little if anything is there for the mere sake of being there. There's a queue behind each word, so it seems at times (one of the main reasons, I (L) DT), and one has to swim naked, splash and laugh within to really see all. Reckless abandon, a perfect state - I think, I may still be wearing my bottoms (sigh).
:-D
Coffee time!
Now imagine if I had really let loose. (ROFL + rolls eyes)
Not even kidding!
Afternoon Sunshine. I have a lot to do today work wise, so I'll respond in snippets, as I have the chance, to your "raining down so much comment love" upon me. :-D
Here is one way, and the way I usually explain "every yes is also a no" concept. If I say yes to dessert, I'm saying no to my diet. If I say yes to a late night of carousing, I'm saying no to a focused and productive day at work tomorrow. To choose one thing is to deny another, for in every choice are the aborted connections to other things we leave behind. No decision stands alone, in a vacuum. I could craft many more examples of the yes/no but I think you get the idea. Ask yourself today, when you choose one thing, what are you denying? If you choose to watch TV, are you saying no to reading a book, or going for a walk, or working out? Yes is one side of a coin and there is always a no on the backside. I think knowing our "no's" helps us chose better "yes's". :-)
Loud and clear, what a great way of looking at it, no doubt there is truth to that last part. Have a good day ahead!
Turned a different corner and we never would have met.
One of my favourite thoughts to ponder, or at least one to which I never seem to be able to find a satisfactory answer is the concept of fate and how far we are active in creating our own lives. There are so many arguments, examples that occur in each our lives where it feels as though things were fated to turn out the way they did, at least looking back in hindsight one can see the path or the pattern or whatever one wants to call it. I do like the thought that there is very little that is random when it comes to the people that enter into our lives, at the very least, it seems quite often as if they do precisely at the right time, for either them or for us. I've written post upon post about this, so I won't bore you with it now, besides which I would have to give equal measure to the responsibility that we have, to the direction we take as we come to each continual fork in the road and to, as I wrote here recently, how narrow choice often seems to be, in other words, though we may have freewill and anything is possible, more often than not, there are limited choices open to us as individuals since there are only so many of them that we would seriously consider.
How often do we sit back and wonder, about the significant events at least, the ones that were life-changing or slightly less important but still very clear, what would and could have happened had we made a different choice. Pointless of course, after the fact, but I do very much like what you wrote here about knowing what we are saying no to will help the choice to which we say yes be a better option than it might otherwise have been. Just taking a minute at that intersection to look aways down that other road(those other roads). It's forefront the way you describe it here, rather than something we know in the background, but to remember that even those small and seemingly insignificant decisions that we make a ton of every single day each have a no too, well, that could only be beneficial to keep in mind. You showed me something in this comment, or at the very least, you made me think about it clearer and I thank you for it. That thought, I know it, shall stick in my mind now, those words.
Every yes is also a no. Maybe one decision will have been changed due to that - now that's a thought in itself. :-)
Intrigued... OK, what's the idea?? How you love keeping us on the edge.
Karen, nothing quite like going to the edge and backing off and then back to the edge and backing off. :-D
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