It was a dreary Tuesday afternoon. The man gazed at the white canvas with a far away look, as though he could see right through the canvas, through the wall, past the garden walls and into the clean vacuum of space. It was deathly quiet. He snapped out of his stupor with a grunt, and with a long weary sigh released the brush he had been tightly gripping in his right hand and let it drop onto the nearby coffee table.
The sound of the brush hitting the wood table echoed through the silent studio and throughout the house. The man wandered out of the room with a distracted demeanor and dropped onto a dusty leather couch, crossing his arms in preparation for a very purposeful doze.
The sound of the brush hitting the wood table echoed through the silent studio and throughout the house. The man wandered out of the room with a distracted demeanor and dropped onto a dusty leather couch, crossing his arms in preparation for a very purposeful doze.
An ear-splitting crash startled the man awake and upright. He squinted and raised his arms against the yellow light. He looked up at the ceiling but the source of the light was not there. The room was positively yellow with some ethereal illumination. It seemed to fill his entire body with warmth, from the center of his belly, extending out to his limbs, toes and fingers. He dropped his arm in surrender to the strange light. Just then another crash resounded through the room. It came from the studio.
Before the man could lift himself off the couch to investigate the intrusion, a diminutive figure appeared in the entrance. It wore a red and blue mask and bore a long protrusion out of the top of it's head. It had a short, whitish torso with a long curving neck like an elephant's trunk. The ethereal light shone right through a sizable hole in the figure's torso and a long handle bar mustache quivered when it spoke.
“There you are!” it nearly screamed. The man at upright and aghast at the creature, immobilized with awe. Before he could react, the figure turned back into the studio. Shouting and crashing followed it's departure and the man moved with disbelief to the studio entrance.
The studio was transformed. Nothing remained as he had left it moments ago. In its stead, a wondrous display of light and color was unfolding. The light and the sound assaulted the man's eyes and ears but strangely came welcome to his spirit. A mob of creatures danced, moved and sang about the room to a wild, cacophonous beat. He saw music floating toward him. The strange light permeated the walls and bathed the scene in yet more wonder. He saw cat-like creatures, dressed as carnival folk toying with a ball of yarn. He saw lines and shapes bounding through the space and wondered if they were real, physical objects, or extensions of his mind reaching out of him in order to join the festivities.
The long, whitish figure appeared again and it's red and blue face extended toward his. It wore a neutral expression and yet gave the man a sense of warm belonging when it approached him. It invigorated him with purpose and then it spoke.
“Where have you been? It's not a proper carnival without you! Now, quickly go and climb the ladder!” it bellowed intensely. It's mustache nearly flew off of it's face from the force of it's command.
A ladder? The man looked about the room for a ladder. The excitement and noise made him feel full and dizzy. He saw a half-full moon and felt its cold and distance. He saw a large gloved hand and followed the arm from which it came trailing, curling out a small white sphere. He saw an object shaped like a cone upon the floor, a blue and yellow fly, a blue shooting star leaving a trail of solid blue upon the walls, still pulsing with light and life. His eyes swam about the room in a delicious daze and he became aware of his body, still in the entrance to the studio. Then he saw the window.
Beyond the window, something called to him in a voice that pulled at a string from within his core.
Out of the small window was a blue shroud, a sort of blanket which the ethereal light could not penetrate. The man felt his body sucked through the carnival and toward the outside. He turned his head to see the sight within the room and caught the harlequin's gaze. It wore a challenging expression, questioning his purpose, his senses and his qualities. It's face seemed to ask “are you leaving already? Do you dare to reject what defines you?” The man heard the harlequin's brazen voice resonating within his sinuses. He considered the harlequin's challenge deeply. He could feel the mechanical gears within him working through the difficult question. “Do you abandon what defines you?” it asked again. The man eased himself away from the harlequin's gaze and looked back out the window. Everything within him moved toward the window and slowly the music quieted and the light faded and the man floated above the carnival, watching the creatures and the objects diminish into air. He looked up and took a sharp breath.
Out of the small window was a blue shroud, a sort of blanket which the ethereal light could not penetrate. The man felt his body sucked through the carnival and toward the outside. He turned his head to see the sight within the room and caught the harlequin's gaze. It wore a challenging expression, questioning his purpose, his senses and his qualities. It's face seemed to ask “are you leaving already? Do you dare to reject what defines you?” The man heard the harlequin's brazen voice resonating within his sinuses. He considered the harlequin's challenge deeply. He could feel the mechanical gears within him working through the difficult question. “Do you abandon what defines you?” it asked again. The man eased himself away from the harlequin's gaze and looked back out the window. Everything within him moved toward the window and slowly the music quieted and the light faded and the man floated above the carnival, watching the creatures and the objects diminish into air. He looked up and took a sharp breath.
He was floating above a vast landscape surrounded in blue. Beyond him for miles was a dark tower. Further still, he saw a curling red tower and above it in the sky, a shape like a star, in which an eye gazed toward him with perfect clarity and control. The man felt overwhelmed by the sight. The land was dark and vast. Against it he was a mere fly, an insignificant shape followed by an imperceptible line. The eye followed to him and spoke.
“You're here. Now you can see.” It spoke softly and wordlessly. It spoke to the man's spirit and he felt his purpose as if he were physically clothed within it. He looked about and saw barren nothingness and felt at ease. He alighted onto a rock and lifted his eyes to the eye, which remained perched in space above him. “Stay. Don't move. We can watch the future unfold from here” it whispered. The man sat perfectly still, allowing only his breath to move in and out of him. He watched the beautiful landscape moving, shifting, changing and yet remaining perfectly immobile throughout. He watched for days and weeks and months and every day he felt more and more as though his heart and his breath would cease; overwhelmed by it's beauty.
