And what does time mean to foraging lemurs?
- William S. Burroughs, Ghost of Chance
Heart of Darkness
The air inside the cabin was humid, foul-smelling, and thick with dust. A coterie of reptiles, monkeys, and birds with colourful beaks, all unheard of in the Old World (It's all old, Eric would say, unimpressed) stood tightly together in silent watch, their glass eyes opaque with oil of lamp smoke.
The Queen, or the closest this scarcely populated part of the world had to one, beckoned for them to come closer. Her gnarled, arsenic-stained hands sought Godric out, tangling around his cheek like one of her snakes, and turning his face up toward hers. Having examined him to her satisfaction, Tabitha finally said, in faintly accented Ancient Greek:
'You do not look so well these days, old friend.' Godric managed a smile. She released him, added, 'What brings you to this ungodly place? It is not to admire my growing collection, I assume?'
"Advice,' Godric replied, in German for Eric's benefit, 'if you would be so good as to give it.' Tabitha's dark eyes were large and curious, and she nodded, motioning for him to sit on a pile of heavy books. 'Speak.'
'Eric, wait outside.'
It wasn't a command, and Eric would always regret leaving Godric alone with her. But at the time, he didn't question it. As he went out the door into the unfamiliar smells and textures of the rainforest, he could hear their two voices start up again, in a language that Godric never taught him.
Nine days later, the two of them were in Texas, and Godric again gave him the choice. Either to go of his own free will, or to go despite it.
Eric knelt at his maker's feet, confused, unable to explain the sudden fear in his heart, and relented.
Thirty-eight years later, after completing, to the best of her knowledge, her exhaustive catalog of native animal species, Tabitha climbed naked above the thick forest canopy, and waited for the dawn.
Sixty-six years after that, on a rooftop in Dallas, Godric took off his shirt and followed her.
THE END
12 September 2009