The Freedom Artist by Ben Okri

Author:Ben Okri [Okri, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788549585
Google: HdxkDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 41447134
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2019-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

23

The flower-shop woman said:

‘I am one of those people that the Hierarchy moves into houses taken over from trouble-makers. Some of us are carpenters. We only use wood supplied by the state. Some of us are butchers, but we only sell meat provided by the state. I sell flowers provided by the state. I’m not really a flower- seller.’

‘What are you then?’

‘I work with the dead. Now I sell flowers meant only for the dead.’

‘How does that work?’

‘The flowers aren’t meant to last long. The dead don’t need them.’

‘How did you get to be here?’

‘I was given orders to move here. On the day I came the police had just been in and destroyed all the furniture.’

‘What about the girl?’

‘What girl?’

‘The girl who used to run the bookshop?’

‘I don’t know anything about the bookshop. But I did see a girl that day. She was watching the shop from across the road. I think she had something to do with the place.’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘By the way she looked.’

‘How did she look?’

‘Like she was leaving her life behind.’

‘And what about the bookshop?’

‘There wasn’t much left when the police came in. They found this strange machine, but no books.’

‘Manuscripts?’

‘No manuscripts.’

‘Printing presses? Paper?’

‘No printing presses, no paper. They found no one.’

‘No one?’

‘No one. Just the tables, shelves, ink pots, chairs, and the machine. They destroyed it all. I moved in the same day. A van brought furniture and flowers to last a week. The walls were repainted and they put up a new sign.’

‘What happened to the girl?’

‘Ask those dangerous people.’

‘Who?’

‘You know, the ones who are always putting up those words everywhere. When the police had gone I saw the girl across the road and I went outside to see what she was up to. Then I found these plastered on my door.’

‘What?’

She pulled open a drawer and took out two leaflets. Each one had the same design, a red rose, a star, and the legend:

SLEEPER, UPWAKE!

‘I didn’t see her again.’

Karnak dropped the knife on the table. He stood in thought for a long time. He was about to leave when the flower-shop woman said:

‘There was something strange about her.’

‘What?’

‘Something I’ll never forget.’

‘What was it?’

‘Her smile.’

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.