Appearances by Nicolas D Sampson

Author:Nicolas D Sampson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: reality, alternative reality, layered reality, dream, dreamworld, dreamscape, hyperreality, supernatural, metaphysical, more than meets the eye, things are not what they seem, cause and effect, big brother corporation, city riot, political correctness, evil technology, helping, altruism, friendship, modern human condition, postmodern human condition, postmodernism, fractal relationship between ants and humans, ant colony devastation, Africa, utopia, have a nice day, racism, reverse racism, liberalism, oppressive liberalism, skeletons in the closet, confrontation, social confrontation, fable, animal fable, spontaneous combustion, mountain, mountaineer, animism, banter, mirrors, reflections, distorted reflections, appearances, phenomena, science, science v religion, scientist, middle Europe, abandonment, self-reflection, transformation, automated menu, telecoms corporation, all-seeing corporation, witch-hunt, extraordinary perception, under the surface, behind the veil, removing the veil, look behind the mirror, revelations
ISBN: 9781849890489
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2011
Published: 2010-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Snarling Beast

April 17, 1984.

The six of us had been up since four in the morning, marching around all day, chasing up weather shots for the Arctic-spring-day part of the documentary, and were very frustrated and exhausted. It had been a difficult day, gusts pounding and slashing across the plains relentlessly, pinning us down at every step of the way. There was no visibility at all, which of course hindered our mission, providing a mere ten minutes of filmworthy shots, out of which we could only use two for the entire documentary, max; the rest of that section had to be filled with sweeping shots of endless plains and stretching, glorious days, which we didn’t have. By afternoon, all we had on film was haze, mist, wind and sleet devils, which didn’t come across as good on camera as to the naked eye, so, drained and disappointed, we headed back for camp.

It was around four when one of our snow sledges broke down, not far from camp. We got working on it right away, eager to fix it and get moving. Leaving it there till the next day would have only complicated matters, while splitting up to get tools from camp was absolutely out of the question. Our instructions were clear: when in the field stay together at all costs, for the arctic had a way of swallowing up broken parties. The sledge had to be fixed there and then. We had to at least give it a shot. We hoped it would be the fuel pump like last time, which with a little patchwork could get working again, but it was far worse this time. It was the transmission and we couldn’t do anything about it without the proper tools. We soon gave up and made the rest of the way back alternating between sledge and foot. When we finally arrived at camp it was almost dark, even colder, and late, just after midnight.

Smashed, we cooked something up in a flash and guzzled it up like wolves, planning out the next day.

Things were not looking good. The weather seemed to have it in for us all the way, throughout our stay, and tomorrow was geared to be the worst day yet, or so the forecast predicted. The temperature was going to drop and the gusty winds were to turn blustery, our chances of shooting good film minimal. We had to decide whether we were going to attempt to fix the second sledge and venture out again, or whether we would stay close to camp and take our filming chances there. There was no option to stay in; the cameras had to keep rolling because you never knew what extraordinary shot would creep out of nowhere for a few fleeting seconds. Plus we could always take still pictures for the magazine spreads.

We talked it over for a while, deciding to go for the sledge first thing in the morning.

Then we hit the sack.

As soon as I closed my eyes I started drifting away.

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