Late Archives - The Pure Life of Dreams

March 21, 2024June 7, 2024

King Minos and the Showgirls

A tall thin man with dark hair and a blue apron stood on the steps of the lecture hall.

“I’m Minos,” he said, “Do you have a token?”

“No, I don’t, King Minos,” I replied.

“Well you need one to go there,” and he pointed further down the steps towards a blue hospitality tent.

So that was where the Tibetan woman had gone to, I thought. She had joined me at the back of the lecture hall just as the math professor was wrapping up. (And despite the many spaces available, she’d picked the seat next to mine, on the back wall of the hall.)

The Tibetan woman felt very close. Her white feather boa had brushed my face as she sat down. She was heavily made up, and even though we both faced forwards I could see that she wore fake black eyelashes; she also wore a red and black patterned tunic that I assumed was Tibetan.

I had just gotten back from the bathroom a second time, and had seeked out a space at the top of the stairs, squeezing further along the row, past two lanky young black men who’d spread themselves across the closer seats. I saw that the seats beyond the men were different, they had burnished gold seat cushions, they were wider and they looked comfortable enough so I chose the furthest along the row.

I’d had to go back to the bathroom after realizing that I was without my trousers and my jacket. Yes, I had been walking around with just my socks, shirt and boxers! And I realized that, though I had made a point of being early for the lecture, instead I was late; and now it would be worse for having to return to the bathroom to fetch the jacket and trousers.

Missing so much of the lecture I realized, wouldn’t impress the girl with the pulled back blonde ponytail, neither would the ‘walking around without my trousers on’ part.

Later, when I saw the ponytail woman on the steps, leaving the lecture hall, she looked quite blanched, her face almost as white as her hair. I realized then, that she was quite plain, with her books tucked like babies in her arms.

Before the class had begun I’d gone to the bathroom to take a poo, and although the water level was up to the rim of the bowl, and although I was guaranteed to get my bum wet, there was lots of paper and the bathroom itself was quite clean.

The poo, as well, came out cleanly, one small black pearl-drop, and I was able to wipe myself quickly. Even so, I’d missed the start of the lecture, and with it being the first lecture of the semester, the best chance to make an impression was gone.

When I returned to the toilet to get my trousers, I wondered whether to return to the hall again, but I figured I would not be noticed if I took the side steps to the back.

Indeed no one noticed me except for the ponytail woman who glanced over, and, of course, the black men I’d passed when trying find a new seat.

The students dispersed quite quickly once the lecture had finished, so did the Tibetan woman. And that was when I encountered Minos.

Minos pulled out a token for me and said. “Or you could visit the showgirls instead.” He gave me a sly wink, or at least, that was what I thought he did.

He held up a simple drawing on a large piece of paper. It had a pencil line across the bottom representing the floor, and on the right side of the page, on two pencil line steps, stood two shadowy figures, their smudged shading knee-length skirts hugging their hips, their faces obscured.

The figures stood poised outside the outline of a door.

An exercise in reverse chronological order.
Photo of the ladies at the court of King Minos’ Palace of Knossos by Tony Hammond via Flickr.

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023

Floating towards the End of Days in Guatemala

It was our last day in Guatemala and it was clear we could not carry on.

Alexis and I had argued for most of the holiday and we would split up upon our return. It was a fait accompli.

That day I decided to go off by myself on a two-hour walk to the next beach over. We would have one last dinner upon my return.

I headed out through the mall, passing first through Harrods, and I thought it a shame that they had these same stores here now, that the world was becoming so homogeneous.

And at the end of the mall, I came out onto a rocky beach and realized then that I was barefoot and maybe I should have brought my shoes. The rocks were hard on my feet but it was too late to go back and fetch them. I would have to manage.

As I continued on I thought back at how we had agreed on Guatemala. We had spent many evenings at the hotel restaurant but even though she was a good traveler we had always argued about some such unimportant thing or other, and we knew we couldn’t continue.

I stepped up and over huge flat beige boulders buried partially in the sand. Pools of seawater collected in the natural dips of the rock. It was a shame we were splitting up but there was no way we could continue.

By then I had taken off my shirt and was holding it along with a spare pair of shorts in my hand and to make climbing more efficient I bundled both into my back pocket. Even so, by the time I got to the end of the path, it was getting towards dusk and it had taken a bit longer than I expected.

And at the endpoint, I found a small red house, far end of the path, and next to it lay a short boardwalk that followed the line of the water’s edge. The boardwalk lay out to sea a few feet as if stranded by the low tide. And the path was now reduced to a bland dusty road that split a promontory of small rocks and gorse. Alexis would say it didn’t look like much, but that would be just like her, right?

The clock on the house said quarter to five and I would have to hurry in order to be back for dinner. And I could imagine her getting cross, so I set off immediately back.

As I neared the mall, the crowds started to thicken and I knew I would have to push past them.

Inside the mall I found myself stuck behind two people who were especially slow. They were young and at first, I did not recognize that they were together. The girl had a condition, a long spindly arm that required she hold onto the rail of the steps. I was back in Harrods and I had to duck under her arm to get past, and only then did I realize that they were a couple, or a brother and sister.

Still, I pushed on at a frantic pace. I waved my hands, palms together in front of me so that I could slice through each group I crossed. Speeding now, I came to a full flight of stairs in a dark ornate oak hall with curled gold finial posts at the top of the bannister, and I grabbed one of the posts and used it to launch myself in the air.

I floated high over the steps, just as the post buckled under my grip and I thought that it could not have been made of gold after all, but must have been made of some cheap plastic instead.

And I floated over the crowd, over all five steps, and gliding steadily to the floor, it was then that I thought I stood a chance of returning on time.

Photo via PxFuel

November 25, 2021October 22, 2022

Lost in a Bus Station in Hong Kong

We have just gotten off the island. It is bright and sunny. The car ferry docks at Yung Shue Wan pier and our bus drives off the ferry and pulls into the bus station. We still have to switch buses.

The four of us are trying to get out but we are at the back, and there are more people doing the same. And when it is our turn, others are already getting on.

Liam, Lizzie, Siobhan finally leave when I see a shopping bag left behind. I pick the bag up but a black woman says to me, No, that is mine!

October 11, 2021October 22, 2022

Supermarket Eggs and an Ex

At the supermarket buying eggs.

I’m walking around with a girl I used to go out with. She has long black hair, greasy or unwashed I am not sure which, but I do not recognize her and besides, she’s in her twenties; she has a new boyfriend now.