A Perfect Counterpart: Chapter 3

Jump to Comments

While the document was dangerous, filled with amazing revelations, and could change the course of world events, it was soporific, at best. Details, details, details. Unremitting lists of names, events, objects, places, foods. References and cross-references littered the pages, all 118 of them. The page to which the sheaf was opened was 54; the very next page contained the central piece of information, the very central piece of information which would bring down governments, empires, businesses, homes, churches, dogcatchers, sheriffs, mayors, governors, senators, dictators, kings, queens, teachers, generals, privates, and traffic cops.

That bit of information, however, was left unfound, unread, and ignored; breakfast intervened. Sausage and eggs, toast and jam, the Monster Express Golden Dish at Robin Wood Breakfast House, only $3.95 for the meal, with an additional $1.50 for unlimited cups of coffee — three were consumed, and the plate was left clean, an additional $2.75 left beside it as a tip, a newspaper, partially read, abandoned in the booth. No documents were read during breakfast; just the paper and the information concerning the history and progress of Robin Wood Breakfast House and the chain of restaurants sharing the same name, logo, ownership, menu, and central warehouse.

Back in the apartment more documents were consulted; notes were taken, linkages found, but page 55 was left unread; the guiding piece of information, still unknown, kept many things from being understood, things which would have made life much easier much sooner for all of us. Special interest was taken in the most recent documents, documents made up of words, concepts, and thought-structures dependent upon the words, concepts, and thought-structures found in the older documents. The unintelligibility of the later documents was troublesome; it was only after many hours of labor that the older documents were consulted, and light began to spread across what had been so much darkness and seeming madness.

At sundown things needed to change: a trip to Wal-Mart, for paper, for writing implements, for food, for a chair and table, as sitting on the floor and leaning back against the wall was far from comfortable. A sleeping bag, some sheets, some pillows, and some foam upon which to place the sleeping bag were also obtained, and also obtained was clothing, toothpaste, and the like. The car was full on the trip back to the apartment, and it took quite some time to unpack. Welcome sleep came soon after.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized