You Should Be Anxious

Nietzsche the investigative scientist. It's not his thing. At school he came top in religion and German.

However.

Sitting on the sand dune in the Coorong, hatless, in the hot sun, he is determined to get to the bottom of the back pack.

ZZZip.

He opens the top.

That's one mystery solved. The rattle.

It was the rattle of the sloughed-off shells of Ageless lobster and the Catcher.

Nietzsche discards them.

They lie unwanted, in the warm sand.

The drumming has ceased.

Nietzsche stares into the void.

What else is in there?

A long shrivelled up black thing.

Not touching that.

Nietzsche is tempted to put his head in.

Will he? Won't he?

He weighs it up. As a philosopher will.

Will I/ Won't I.

What the devil? He sticks his head in.

At last he sees Faint Outline.

Hello, says Faint Outline. I've been waiting for you to stick your head in.

Have you? says Nietzsche, surprised.

I have one thing to ask you, says Faint Outline. In return, you may ask me something.

May I go first? asks Nietzsche.

Go ahead, says Faint Outline.

Nietzsche hopes it's not cheating to ask a double barrelled question:

Does the accelerated moulting of Ageless lobster and the Catcher have anything to do with the drumming?

Good question, says Faint Outline. The answer is yes.

Is that all? asks Nietzsche.

My turn! says Faint Outline. Will you please remove this banana skin from my premises?

That's hardly a question, says Nietzsche.

He does nothing.

When? asks Faint Outline.

When you explain, says Nietzsche.

Oh all right, sighs Faint Outline. This banana skin is a case in point. It was an unripe banana this morning. A GREEN one.

Nietzsche is quick on the uptake. The drumming causes time to speed up. Things ripen quickly. Or moult in a hurry. But who does the drumming?

Who does the drumming? asks Nietzsche, risking a rebuff.

Anyone who is anxious, says Faint Outline. I detect you are anxious.

I am not anxious, says Nietzsche.

You should be, says .......who is this....? The Catcher!

The Catcher has completed his arc and fetched up at the sand dune, drawn by the scent of banana.

Tch! All alone in the sand dunes with no hat on, says the Catcher. You could die here.

It is only now Nietzsche realises the gravity of his situation.