Harmonious Rumblings

Hello Gaius?

Who is this?

Kong. I'm in Adelaide. Can I come over?

Certainly. But there's not much to eat in the......hold on Kong, I hear the doorbell.

That will be me.

Sure enough it is Kong at the door, wet and bedraggled.

Come in! says Gaius. Terrible weather we're having. I say, Kong, you look different from last time I saw you.

More modern, would you say? asks Kong.

I suppose so, says Gaius. Not being a judge of modernity, although I do try, I often wear chinos and polo necks and those rubber clog things. So comfy.

Pshaw! says Kong. You mean Crocs?

That's it, says Gaius.

No one wears those any more, says Kong.

Gaius looks at Kong's feet. The Great Sage is wearing blue Havaianas.

Last time I saw you, says Gaius, you were wearing billowing robes and a high pointy hat.

I know, says Kong Fu-Zi. I ditched that look last Wednesday.

Only last Wednesday? says Gaius.

Yes, says Kong Fu-Zi. It was the 2567th anniversary of my birth. I was in Beijing, watching the celebrations. All these chaps in billowing robes and high pointy hats. I went straight to Beijing Friendship Store, where I bought this outfit.

The outfit is a Hawaiian shirt, and drop crotch trousers.

Would you like a cup of tea? asks Gaius. You look like a man who needs warming.

The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man thinks of comfort, says Kong.

My thoughts exactly, says Gaius. And now that I think about it, there's no tea in the cupboard.

Nil desperandum, says Kong. I have brought some. Do you like Rooibos?

I don't know it, says Gaius.

African tea, says Kong. Red tea, very earthy. My new favourite.

African? says Gaius. You surprise me.

Modernity is always surprising, says Kong.

Gaius puts on the kettle.

Kong Fu-Zi opens the red box of Rooibos tea.

Here for the Confucius Institute Lecture? asks Gaius.

Yes, says Kong. I'm not giving it, only attending.

I too am attending, with a lady, says Gaius.

Katherine? asks Kong.

Hope flickers.

Margaret, says Gaius.

Hope dies.

Moments later, the power goes off.

Fwoooz!

Drat, says Gaius. Where are the candles? Sit tight, Kong!

He stumbles around the kitchen feeling for cupboards and drawers.

Aha. A candle. Now where are the matches?

Ageless is heard, scratching his way along the window sill.

Ooh! says Kobo. Ageless! Get off!

A match fizzes. The candle flares and flickers.

Gaius and Kong Fu-Zi sit in the inadequate candlelight drinking lukewarm Rooibos.

The rain pours down. The wind rises and swoops in unexpected directions

The belly of the Great Sage rumbles harmoniously.