This is the setting.
December. Candy Canes on everyone's mind, a crisp in the air, syrup flowing in rivers. Patterns fall from the sky; no one picks them up. Women turn to snow and children turn to ice while men flow downhill as water.
Elephants live in underground tunnels in Siberia making toys for children. They are mathematical beings versed in physics. They inherited a human. They left it alone. The elephants debated. They gave up. Into the abyss they decided to go. The human slept and awoke as Santa.
Seasons passed, the holidays ended, Christmas lights blinked hollow. The New Year was born. Its name was Damian, the Omen foretelling the fate of 2022. Mold in January takes control, creeping, crawling, alive with legs and feet and claws. The black-greenness devours the living and the dead, digestion from the inside out. Fear escapes and hides, trapped by itself within itself to avoid anything not itself.
Horns blasted! The moon ate the sun. Night swallowed day. Hours defecated minutes. Open-air bellows, from belfry to Blair. Frolicking and wheezing, they did too much blow. That woman, Sally, ate so many donuts!
Willow wisps in the air as mist shrouds the dust. We play schnozzles for an hour before every meal. It's not over until a purple orb arises from the middle. You try to get Dairy Lemons and Persnickety Supreme. No fair looking before you die. Interested bystanders approach and became participants. They all ate under the tree. The heat was just right. There was so much sweat. No wonder they lost track. Everyone knew it was a matter of time.
A flick of the nose counts as twice.
This is the Dialogue.
What’s the matter with time? Takes too long. You’re counting
the seconds. I’m experiencing the firsts. You are the alpha. I am
simultaneously the past, present, and future. So why the problem with time?
It’s not who or what I am. How is the past, present, and future not time? It’s
a misinterpretation. How so? Takes too long to answer. I have time. *sigh*
There are buildings everywhere. Except here. But they are
here. Where? All around us. Yeah, but far away. Why do you describe distance in
such emotional terms? Emotional? Yes. “Far away” is a problem? Of course;
you’re determining distance exclusively in spatial terms in relation to
yourself? How should I do it? By saying it’s a day away from us. That’s hardly
a difference. A difference is a difference.
Why are we operating in quantitative terms? There are eight
elephants. There are eight lovely
elephants. So? I want to combine quantity with quality. That’s a waste of time.
It took no time at all. It took some time. Very little. A little is not none.
Close enough. Not close at all; the difference between something and nothing is
everything. Everything but something and nothing, apparently. You’re mad.
This is not working for me. Try it that way. I tried it that way; it didn’t work. I thought it worked fine. That’s because of your relationship to it; it’s not as easy for me. You’re not trying hard enough. I’m trying too hard. You’re hard at trying. Enough of trying. That’s hard. Hardly. Enough already! That was just enough. Just enough to make me leave you. Tomorrow? Today!
