Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002 - 8:47 pm
"He was trying to teach them Geography - or so he said. He drew on the globe a black dot. It marked a town in Australia.
The town on the other side of the world plunged into darkness. No match would strike. No fire would burn. In terrified blindness, they all reached for the modern reassurance of electricity. The switches gave nothing. Together they rushed to their television sets and turned them on.
Blank.
There was nothing. Not even a dancing fog of black and white dots. Only a silent, menacing darkness.
They tried to tune their radios to hear some sound other than their own.
Silence.
The speakers hissed at them.
They thought that it was the end of the world.
He was trying to teach them Geography - or so he said. He spun the globe faster and faster.
Words which marked time were soon forgotten. Lifetimes dwindled to a passing moment.
Their suffering did not last long. They became accustomed to the dank silence which grew over them. They each held their own dark close.
He stopped the globe.
Time waited for him.
He wiped the black dot clean and placed the globe on the table.
On the other side of the world, the sun shone through the town. The radios spewed loud music. Brightly-coloured figures leered at them from their television screens. These sudden noises attacked them all.
They felt it was the end of their world.
He looked up and saw that the classroom was empty. He thought it was some childish prank. He stood up sharply, in his anger knocking over the globe. It fell and shattered into a thousand pieces."
-Elizabeth Garner
I wish I can get credit for such beautiful writing.
