The Testimony of Taliesin Jones by Rhidian Brook Read Free Book Online

dandelions are no longer
flowers. Their brilliance loses its identity in black. The rain paints
everything the same colour.
    At this cross-over time of day things blur and become
other things . Bushes curl into triffids, leaves flicker warnings, and there is
always someone behind him , sniggering at the passing of the light.
    Taliesin
walks fast without showing fear to any who might be look ing . Ifhe met something
along this path there would be no escape. But despite the rain he mustn't run
because then his fear would only follow him faster. He must walk quickly but
calmly a nd try to focus on 'normal' things;
things so mundane that even the creatures that thrive in a lively mind are not
stirred . He thinks about pencil sharpeners
and maths, but somehow the pencil sharpeners are too sinister, too suggestible.
He thinks about his mother b ut somehow that
brings him to snakes . He think s about sheep but that only leads him back to pigs .
    H e s tarts t o run throu gh th e r ain tr ying in va in t o d odge th e m illion wate r ar rows. H e thin ks h e c an h ear pi gs runnin g . upri ght
o n th eir h ind l egs c hanting,
'F our le gs goo d, t wo l egs b ad', -th at b ook i s ge tting t o h im.
Ev en a s h e run s th e d ark d escends. H e ca n ' n o l onger di stinguish th e s ky fro m th e e arth.
    He
wonders if God is angry. He wonders about God being in him. It seems that his
childhood ideal of the parting out s pread h ands
of Go d i s in nee d of upd ating and r evision- like so m any of h is c hildhood id eals.
    At
this cross-over time of life things blur: what to believe, what not to believe;
what to discard, what to keep; what to l earn, wh at n ot t o l earn; w hat t o r ead, w hat n ot t o r ead; w hether t o b e a c hild o r a Grow n-Up; wh ether t o b e af raid o f th e da rk o r n ot af raid. H e ca n't i magine a tim e w hen h e wo n't b e a fraid of th e d ark. H e s till l eaves the d oor aja r a t n ight e nough t o a dmit a thin eye of li ght from th e l anding . Wh en h e ca n s leep wi thout th e li ght from the landin g h e wi ll k now h e's a Grow n-Up.
    His
father's dog, Moss, smells him coming from a hundred yards away and starts to
bark as if he were a burglar. At fifty ya rds M oss
is s training a t t he c hain a nd t wisting h imself
i n a n effo rt t o ge t to him . On ly when h e is cl ose up d oes th e a nimal stop i ts lun atic b ehaviour. O nce it h as r ecognized h im it s tarts to wag it s who le b ody an d ma ke ecs tatic w himpering n oises . T aliesin i s wa ry o f th e d og's unpr edictability; h e fi nds i t h ard t o tru st a nimals a t th e m oment a nd accordin g t o Mr Or well d ogs are o nly m arginally m ore tru stworthy th an pigs.
    'It's
only me, Moss,' he says, like a tentative postman. He's never felt comfortable
talking to animals, unlike his mother who can h old who le co nversations
w ith c ats .
    The
certainty that he has felt all day ebbs away as he approaches his home. He
slows as he comes into the outside li ght of th e h ouse. T he r ain th at f alls in front o f th e l ight i s s uddenly b rilliant, fl ashing w hite. Rain is ri vering d own th e s lant o f th e roof , filling the g uttering a nd o ver-spilling o nto th e fr ont co ncrete. It splatter s l oudly a nd th e s pillage c reates a m oat a bout th e hou se, lik e a c astle. N ot so l ong ago h e ca lled hi s hou se a cas tle . It wa s th e ce ntre o f a kin gdom w hose l aws a nd bound aries w ere unque stioned. All th ings we re we ll in th e kin gdom a nd it seemed no e vil co uld com e t o it. Th en o ne day , th e qu een w as offered a shinin g r ed apple in whi ch s he sa w th e r eflection of the person s he w anted to b e. Sh e r ealized th at a ll thi s tim e s he hadn't b een h erself, not happ y a t a ll . S he o nly h ad t o t ake the appl e to b e h appy aga in. Alth ough th e l aws o f th e kin gdom forbad e h er to t ake th e a pple, it s s pell was t oo s trong. She abdicat ed h er t hrone a nd l