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Masks, by J. Iner Souster

27/1/2023

3 Comments

 
He wore masks created from the bones of the dead, sent into exile on an island built from hand-carved stones and blocks. The water was surprisingly impossible to pass, as a river ran on both sides.

There was never a cloud in the sky, and the inhabitants were usually smiling and dressed in vivid colours—lots of reds, greens, blues, and yellows.

Snow lay to the east of the island. To the west was the land he came from, but his memories were spotty at best. He has flashes of interiority and thoughts of massive towers interconnected in a mind-boggling and ever-changing maze. The place was very theatrical—the theatre of the absurd. Art, film, sculpture and plays were the norms.

One of the most striking things he remembers is a stop-motion film about a man who wanted to leave this place. The young man, no older than twenty-five, was on a soundstage, and the backdrop was a bustling urban street. He stood in front of the gathering and tried to explain his reasons for leaving, but they did not understand what he was saying.

People on the street became enraged as the man turned to leave after his monologue. There was no comprehension; it was as if he were speaking in a language they had long since forgotten. Are they the players, the spectators, or perhaps a little of both? They were not making it past three steps when the crowd turned.

Everything in this scene, including the young man, was composed of Post-it notes—an entire world arranged into coloured squares. With jagged transitions between frames, the scene played out in stop-motion. As he turned to leave, the enraged crowd set him ablaze.

The man watched as the yellow notes on his head and shoulders slowly turned oranges and reds, then, as they engulfed him, browns and greys, each grain fluttering away in the afternoon breeze, getting lost in a blue sky of perfectly aligned squares.

He kept walking, without sound or complaint, as the notes he was composed of flapping in the wind, one by one, making their way toward the sky. He seemed content, and the last of him fluttered away.
​
3 Comments
Pamela Kennedy
27/1/2023 01:46:25 pm

Interesting story within a story...

Reply
J. Iner Souster
27/1/2023 02:05:57 pm

Thank you, Pamela.
I might need to expand on this story.

Reply
Sue Clayton
28/1/2023 02:42:31 am

Truly theatrical words. A person made out of post-it-notes. Now that's novel.

Reply



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