The Eye of Love
Extract
I see many blindfolded children, each holding a spoon upon which is balanced an egg. I could have said: “Many blindfolded children are each holding a spoon upon which is balanced an egg,” but that would have been exactly the same as me saying: “I see many blindfolded children, each holding a spoon upon which is balanced an egg,” because I see the truth. Do you see?
The blindfolded, spoon-carrying, egg-balancing children are all standing motionless in Oppington Park. They are all facing in different directions. They are all dressed in white. They are all waiting. Although I can see the children, they cannot see me. I love each of the children.
Around the perimeter of the park is stood a crowd of adults, all facing the children. They are also all dressed in white and also all waiting. Despite not wearing blindfolds, the adults cannot see me either. I love each of the adults.
In the blue sky above the park, a metal sphere painted to look like an eyeball hovers. This is the Mechanical Eye. It contains a camera. The camera looks through the hole in the eye’s pupil at the town below and relays pictures to the town’s televisions. The people of Oppington believe the images that appear on their televisions to constitute the truth.
Above the Mechanical Eye, drifting clouds constantly change their forms. Beyond the clouds, both the sun and the moon are visible.
In the centre of the park is a bandstand. Stood upon the bandstand is the Mayor of Oppington dressed in his ceremonial regalia: a white, three-cornered hat and white tunic. He is holding a megaphone in one hand and a frying pan in the other. I love the Mayor of Oppington. On the bandstand floor in front of him are two small, metal cages, one containing a hen and one containing a cockerel. I love the hen and the cockerel. Behind the Mayor is a two piece band called “Nice and Lovely”. “Nice and Lovely” consists of a middle-aged married-couple called Mr and Mrs Petting. Mr Petting has a drum hanging around his neck that he is lightly tapping with his fingers. Mrs Petting is softly playing a recorder. They smile at each other as they play their gentle, polite music. I love Mr and Mrs Petting.
Standing in front of the bandstand is an elderly, emaciated man wearing a dishevelled, white suit. Each of his fingers is tied to a piece of string that is attached to a wooden marionette. The marionette is a miniature representation of the Puppeteer; it too is wearing a dishevelled, white suit. The marionette is dancing to the music. I love the Puppeteer.
The Mayor raises his megaphone and shouts into it:
“Go!”
The crowd of adults cheers and the blindfolded children begin to tentatively walk, holding their egg-filled spoons out in front of them.
As well as being able to see the blindfolded children’s exteriors, such as their blindfolds, their spoons and their eggs, I can also see the blindfolded children’s interiors, such as their feelings, their thoughts, and what they themselves are each seeing, which at the moment is the dark insides of their blindfolds.
Each of the blindfolded children walks as if they are carrying the whole universe inside their egg. That is exactly how they walk, and I mean exactly.
TO BE CONTINUED...