Continued from PART 5I was drawn by a table of assorted laminated posters of varying quality. Some were laid out in an organized line, and others were just thrown on top of each other as if the stall owner had given up the fight to maintain order. One poster showed the Serenity Boy meditating, with his eyes closed, under a tree; I recognized the image was a frame taken from the famous internet video and blown up so it was slightly pixelated. Under the image in a thick black Gothic style lettering were the words, “Believe in peace”.
A hand flicked a different poster into my line of vision, “This one also good!”, said a high toned voice. I swung my head up to see a frail topless man in his early thirties, a cigarette hung from his lower lip. He dropped the poster in front of me, “Buy two get one free!”
This time it was a cartoon print of the Serenity Boy, again in the meditative position, floating in outer space among the stars with a rainbow aura around him, the slogan read, “Reach your goals!” There was a black speck on the poster among the bright colours, at first I thought it was a printing error, but upon closer inspection I noticed that a small fruit fly had been squashed under the plastic laminate. I couldn't be bothered to look at the others, so I smiled at the man, and moved on.
The next table was stacked with DVDs and music recordings that had nothing to do with the Serenity boy. I picked up a DVD case and examined the sleeve, the printout was quite blurry to read as it looked as if someone had printed them on their own cheap home computer printer, there were three translations from the original language, the English text read “This awe inspiring, raw and unedited two hour video captures the world famous Serenity Boy practicing his meditation.” Several similar screen shots accompanied the description. I flipped the case around in my hand, repeatedly checking the front and back of the cover as if it would improve my chances of enjoying the movie.
“It's a hard choice, ain't it?” chirped a voice from behind my shoulder.
“Huh?”
“They're all really good,” replied the voice excitedly, “I have the one that you're holding, bought it the other day – watch it on my portable DVD player.”
“I don't know, they all look rather …” I turned my head to land my gaze upon a chubby, child-like adult male face. I could feel his warm breath on my face, it stank of stale milk, “… boring.” The fat man seemed to have a fixed grinned, he leaned towards the table and with his fat hand procured a red cover DVD, he lifted it to the side of his sweat covered face, and his pupils gestured towards its cover. The halitosis was becoming unbearable to be around, I had to lower my head slightly to point my nostrils away from the smell, and I hated the stranger for testing the limits of my civility. This beast of a man had invaded my personal space, a biological stink factory which oozed with bacteria infested slime; I was trapped, he did not smell bad enough to cause me to gag, although I wish that he did, then my body would have no choice but to pull me away from this wretched situation and revive me with glorious clean and unadulterated fresh, delicious, life preserving air! Instead, I just stood there and smiled, taking in as little air as possible, trying to time it so I wasn't inhaling on his exhale.
“I think you will like this one, it's very good, not boring at all.” Particles of spittle launched out of his mouth onto my face as he spoke. He dabbed his leathery double chin with a handkerchief, “Phew, those steps, eh?” Out of courtesy, I looked at the DVD he held in his hand. I smiled, nodded, and blinked – mechanically, in that order whilst trying hard to conserve the oxygen in my bloodstream. “So you wanna go for a few beers later?” The guy was lonely, I could see that he wanted company, and he found it in these ridiculous DVDs.
“I gotta get going ... before it gets too late ... for the ... things!” I pointed randomly, away from him, and my hand walked me backwards, away from him. Fresh air! I breathed and let out a sigh of relief as I waved, his shoulders slumped as he waved his handkerchief back at me; I felt like a ship leaving port, no longer moored to the quay. I walked towards a path that led into the grove.
To be continued ...
No comments:
Post a Comment