Vagaries Of Obsession

Nose is bored.

She is sitting in the basket, next to the swimming pool, with Kobo.

Kobo is keening.

Aaaa!

The Reverend Griffith Hughes stirs from his rum fuelled dreams... and goes back to sleep again.

Aaaa! says Kobo.

What's the matter? says Nose.

Ageless has left me, says Kobo.

That's no great loss, says Nose.

You are right, agrees Kobo. But he was my means of getting about in Barbados.

And Terence was mine, says Nose.

I don't think so, says Kobo. You can't rely on someone who thinks you're a parrot. And who calls you his blood sister, yet plans to relieve you of a claw.

True, says Nose. You are wise. Let us get to know one another better. What is your story?

A long one, says Kobo. Or a short one. A clam, soft and creamy, full of the joys, then a landslide and a gradual fossilisation. I was uncovered. I lay there on the beach. That is the long part of the story.

Did you dream? asks Nose. I sometimes dream.

Yes I dreamed, says Kobo. I dreamed I was running along the beach on fat legs. I was with another woman, the wind in our hair, our bare breasts bobbing.

Wow, says Nose. Is it a gay dream?

No, says Kobo. It's a painting, by Picasso.

Wow, says Nose. I don't even know Picasso.

He fell in love with a woman who played the knife game, says Kobo. She played it till her fingers bled through the roses on her black gloves. He asked for the gloves as a memento. For nine years he loved her.

It's too much for Nose. It is too much for Kobo.

They are silent, contemplating the vagaries of obsession.

Griff snores in his banana lounge.

Reception sweeps up tiny dates that have dropped from a date palm.

Snore! Swish!

The pool hums and gurgles. (It's the filter).

Want to hear my story? asks Nose.

Yes, dear, says Kobo.

I was happy in the hills, as a young endangered bandicoot, says Nose. But then I got wind of the plan to build a tunnel. The tunnel was to funnel us into unknown territory where there would be male sexual predators.

How do you know? asks Kobo.

I just know, says Nose.

(Because all the girls said so).

So here you are now, says Kobo. A pretend parrot in Barbados.

And here you are now, says Nose. All alone without Ageless.

Sigh. Sigh.

Why don't we go shopping? says Nose. I'm meant to be getting new shorts.

Shorts? says Kobo.

Shorts, says Nose. Want to come with me?

Yes, says Kobo. I will, yes. Can you transport me?

Yes, dear, I think so, says Nose.