Indigo by Clemens Setz

Author:Clemens Setz [Setz, Clemens]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Profile
Published: 2014-09-11T04:00:00+00:00

11. The Meaning and Secret of Second-Order Curves

I opened my eyes. A will-o’-the-wisp wandered at the edge of my visual field. When I clenched my jaw, it disappeared, but it returned when I relaxed it.

– Mmh, you’re awake, said Julia. I didn’t want to wake you.

– What time is it?

– Four-thirty, I think.

I checked the alarm clock. She was right.

– Oh, God, I groaned.

– The new alarm clock is too small, said Julia.

I looked at the alarm clock.

– Really?

– Yeah, I can’t make out the display.

– Shit, I have to get up soon, I said. Four-thirty, what sort of time is that supposed to be? I want most to set fire to everything …

– Like what?

– I want … oh, I don’t know … The students stopped taking me seriously when I burst into tears in front of them. That was my death sentence. They’re beasts. Do you know what they look like?

– Describe it to me.

I got up and pulled the curtain aside, which made the room a bit brighter. Then I turned on the light. Julia hid her glare-sensitive eyes behind her hands and waited until they had grown accustomed to the lighting.

– Imagine: Carnival booths. Okay?

– Yeah.

– Okay, carnival booths. And in one of them hang balloons. Balloons you’re supposed to throw darts at. In all different colors. That’s exactly what they look like.

– The students?

– Yeah.

– At the animal shelter I have a few blue rats, said Julia. No idea why someone has abandoned them. And another, it has a completely indefinable coat color. At least everyone is in total disagreement. Some say it’s brown, but I think it has more of a green tinge. Others think it looks red. Did I tell you where we found it?

– No, please don’t, I can’t hear that now. I …

– Really? You used to always want to know how the animals are doing.

– Of course, I … It’s just completely dragging me down at the moment. Everything’s so weird at the institute. Dr. Rudolph mentioned relocations. I don’t even know what that’s about. But yesterday I saw a student from another class, who was in a sort of … ah, what was it … well, some sort of harlequin costume, like a clown …

– I hate clowns.

– Yeah, anyway, he was walking around in some costume, and later the chauffeur drove him away, probably down to the train station. Another time it was a chimney sweep a student was … Oh, never mind. That disgusting mountain atmosphere up there, that country air, the grass … even the grass is hostile. It just grows. It doesn’t care about the people, buildings. Not like city grass. City grass is respectful. Like city pigeons. They’ve come to terms with us. But the grass there …

I stumbled around in one pants leg.

Julia got up too.

– But you know what? I said to her. Your advice helped.

– Which advice?

– To write. To imagine what those di … ah, kids would be like someday and so on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.