LEO

Labyrinth - Narrated Texts

Try to ignore, blank out the sound of machinery.

The light is beginning to fade outside, inside the light from this pathetic lamp seems to become stronger, and the shadows cast from the lampshade create a pattern something like a dramatic cliff face along a coastline.

The bedroom is now nearly dark.

There is a pain in my shoulder that will not go away, it is the same pain that has existed for weeks, maybe months. Stop thinking about it, it will go away.

The sound of a chair scraping across the floor, was it real or only in my head? Could the sound of machinery also just be imaginary? No, it is sure that by leaving this room it is possible to locate the noise, by going to the door which has no handle and which can not be opened, there see light shinning through the keyhole and probably also from under the door, the noise would become clearer.

(pause)

A large cupboard has been moved from this room to the front of the door in the hall, but it is not large enough to make any difference to the noise. The sound of machinery is not so constant as before but there is now someone walking up and down behind the door, it is also possible to hear voices. Those on the other side must be aware of my presence on this side too. There is a light shinning under the door.

Remain focused, do not become distracted by these things.

It is now nearly dark outside.

(pause)

The path to this room from the train station:

walk directly out of the station and along the road, join the street which bends to the left. The next turning on the left, about 300m, is a long straight path crossing a small frozen river connecting two frozen lakes, the one to the left has two boys standing on it. They have cleared an area of snow from the ice making a small pitch on which to play hockey. Seen from the bridge they are not playing but talking. At the end of this path turn right, cross the road and enter the first gate. Through the gate take the path to the back of the house, the first door, approached by four descending steps, opens with a key onto another three steps leading into a narrow hall.

This room is connected to this hall and it is from this hall the sounds come.

The experience of this room is new, as is the hall and all the rooms, but the journey is well known. The curves in the road, the straight path dipping down to meet the river and up again to join the road. The house I can not be so sure of but the path that runs between it and the garden, bringing one to the steps and entrance of this basement, is also very well known. It would be easy to connect it to a childhood visit, a memory from long ago but this is not possible. Maybe it is similar to some forgotten place once known.

The path here is very well known but returning is not so certain. It is now completely dark outside and it’s impossible to see further than the bars on the windows.

It is very cold outside.

(pause)

I do not know what the time is.

The sound of a light being switched and the gradual fading of footsteps and voices. It is now quiet except for a low humming noise, like that from an electrical installation. It is impossible to pin point for certain where it is coming from, though again it seems to be from behind the blind door.

(pause)

Sometime later in the same room.

The journey from the station:

There has been a change in the weather which is now much milder. The ice on the lake has nearly melted, though there must still remain a thin layer as a shadow of the area which the boys cleared still remains on the waters surface. It is now dark and very quiet, no sound comes from the door in the hall or outside, except for a brief time the sound of a dog barking.

(pause)

It is again dark outside.

It is quiet as it was before.

There have been a few changes made to the space. There is now a small rug in the bedroom and a table has been moved from one side of this room to the other, there is also dust on the floor beneath one of the windows which did not exist before, it seems the window has been opened and the dirt blown in. It is not possible to be completely certain of these changes, they are slight and somewhat imperceptible like the movement of the hands of a clock. There is no clock in this space.

(pause)…..

The room has been flooded and lies under about one inch of water. In the bedroom, probably because the windows were open, a little ice has formed in some places. Beside this dramatic change everything else is as it was; table with lamp, chair, carpet, all still in the same places.

It is quieter and more still than ever before.

(pause)

Two windows look out onto a bright and green space.

The floor in this main room is wooden, painted dark brown, the walls are white but have not been painted in a long time. There are only two items of furniture, both old leather armchairs in two corners of the room, one next to the right hand window, one opposite. There is no decoration.

Two doors lead from this room, one into the hall and the other into the bedroom. The bedroom contains a large wooden bed and a wardrobe, there are clothes hanging from everything and scattered over the floor. The hall has doors to the outside, a small bathroom and a small kitchen. The apartment is situated on the second floor.

(pause)

The door has been wide open for some time, obvious from the collection of dust and trash keeping it open and stopping it from moving very much. The door, the frame, the supporting walls and window frames all look as if they might collapse at any moment, plaster is, and has, fallen in lumps from the walls, revealing the slat structure beneath. Paint has flaked from the windows, ceilings and doors, and the floor looks like a mountain-scape; deformed, twisted and buckled from the leaking roof and windows. The flakes of paint on the wooden floor give the impression of a winter landscape. All is ruined, though it hasn’t yet collapsed and it wont for some time, the thickness of the outside walls, the weight of the building, it is still solid, the rot is internal and to an extent superficial.

I would like to close the door to keep out the draught but this is impossible, not only because of the rubbish, which could be moved, but the door frame is noticeably twisted, the door will not close.

However much I want to, I will not create anything here which is in any way comfortable.

(pause)

Through the window, distorted by imperfections in the glass, a tree so black that it might have been painted on the other side of the window. The tree gives no sense of a three dimensional form, a flat dense trunk leading up to an entangled web of branches.

Leo 2008