False Handed Wanderers

Inside the van, these are the sleeping arrangements.

Rosamunda in the top bunk.

Kong Fu-Zi in the lower one.

Gaius on the floor.

The window is open.

A night breeze ruffles the newly washed curtains.

Ringtail possums breathe heavily outside in the trees.

Huuuuurrrr! Huuuuurrrr!

Are you awake? says Rosamunda.

Yes, says Kong Fu-Zi.

And I, says Gaius.

Let's talk in the dark, says Rosamunda. Who'll go first?

Huuuurrrr! Huuuurrrr!

Hear that?, says Gaius. Ringtail possums. Pseudocheirus peregrinus, which means false-handed wanderers.

They sound hungry, says Kong Fu-Zi.

They eat their own faeces, says Gaius. But only the soft faeces that they produce in the day. It's high in protein. You would know that, Rosamunda.

Oh yes, says Rosamunda. Shit-eating possums.

There is a short silence.

It's called coprophagia, says Gaius.

I think we've exhausted the subject, says Rosamunda.

Huuuurrrr! Huuuurrrr!

What's the Confucian view of animals? asks Rosamunda.

One cannot herd with the birds and the beasts, answers Kong Fu-Zi.  If I can't be a man among other men, what can I be?

Well, yes, but what about their treatment? asks Rosamunda.

Only catch fish with a rod and only shoot birds in flight, says Kong Fu-Zi. There it is in a nutshell.

There is another short silence.

Outside, an owl flaps its wings before taking off in search of a chimney.

Tell us a story, Rosamunda, says Gaius. A true one.

The best time of my life, says Rosamunda, was when I was a Moon Goddess in China.

There is a profound silence.

The moon shines in the dark sky streaked with stars.

I fell into a pond from a bridge and was captured by a camera, says Rosamunda, sleepily. Ming Rong's camera. He was my lover....

She sighs, and pretty soon she is dreaming.

Gaius and Kong Fu-Zi remain stiffly awake.