The exercise:
Write about: the interrogator.
Had a nice family morning, thanks to there being no berries needing to be picked for local orders today. All I had to do was weigh up some apples and nectarines this afternoon and then wait for a few customers to show up.
Anyway, we went for a walk at Haynes Point then did a bit of shopping for the boys. Came home and had lunch together before Max (and then a bit later Miles, after we realized he wasn't planning on napping) went to Kat's parents house until dinner time.
I've got the boys tomorrow while Kat gets some work done, so I should probably rest up.
Mine:
What? No, no. What a horrible word. Please don't call me that. I much prefer interviewer. It has so many fewer... negative associations with it.
Sure, I have a talent for uncovering truths which people wish to keep hidden. But that is my job. You cannot hate me for doing it well.
You want results? I get you results.
My methods? Inconsequential. Don't be so concerned for my vic... for the people I interview. These are no innocents. They would not end up in my care if they were. They have done wrong and it is my duty to reveal those wrongs.
Maybe you should stop asking so many questions. You don't look like you have the stomach for the answers.
That's okay, though. That's what I'm here for.
Just, please, don't call me an interrogator. It's such an... unpleasant term. I am an interviewer, that's all. I ask the questions which need to be asked. I get the answers we require. That is all.
That is enough.
3 comments:
The question
Of the
Day, like the
Day before, is Why?
Let me know the answer
Exactly, please. Why?
Rich and detailed, give me the history of the world.
Why, now!
Why not now, please.
Tell me why the world spins
What makes us cry and the trees grow?
How can you not have ev'ry last answer?
I want to know the reason why
And you will not tell me now
No is not right
Now, why?
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My 'dog' acrostic on the victimless crime prompt (Thurs, Aug. 31) was about my dog climbing the apple tree, not me! :)
@morganna: your poem today feels a little like two poems combined: the first verse's acrostic adds to the nuances of the poem, and the second verse has a back-and-forth motif that builds to a crescendo and settles down with (for the protagonist at least) ever resolving anything. I like it, but I think I'm a little disappointed that the second verse didn't have an acrostic too.
@marc; I like the image you put in my head that if the boys aren't going to sleep then they're going to be sent away :) I'm sure that's not exactly how it is, but still....
Hmm, there's a lot of denial going on in your piece today, and while I agree completely with the second and third paragraphs, I think that there's a thinly veiled claim here that the end justifies the means. And I would not like to attend an interview with this person. At all.
The Interrogator
"Welcome to Westrill." Joachim's voice is as sonorous as church bells at midnight and as he stands up and holds his hand out he seems to be right in front of me and a million million miles away at the same time. Well, I say time. Joachim's kind are... let's say they're standing on the walls while the rest of us are standing on the floor. He tried to explain it to me once: time and space are all part of the same structure, and for him mortals are falling through time at very close to the speed of light. The faster you move through space the slower you move through time, so relativistic space-travel slows you down in time, personally. But he and his kind are somehow at right-angles to that and can choose how fast they move through time, and very often they stay still. This room is one of those still places.
"Time was, and time will be."
It's a ritual greeting and I know the answer. "Time waits for no man."
Joachim smiles again and sits back down, cross-legged. I sit as well, copying him and wishing now that I'd found some underwear. These trousers chafe just a little bit. The floor is slightly warm which helps, but not enough. The chain around my neck feels oddly cold against my skin as well, and I rub my shirt over it, trying to move it somewhere more comfortable.
"The periapt of Lodi," says Joachim, "is now in your possession. You will take that on to New Zealand wait for the earthquake. After that you go to Easter Island and wait for... Easter?" He quirks an eyebrow at that last date, and I smile.
"Yes," I say. "The timing is important. For us, anyway, I don't really know how it affects you."
"Not very much and impossibly importantly," says Joachim. He frowns. "It's not that we couldn't just wait for the next alignment, but the tangency available at this one is so much better that missing it would be practically negligent. And considering all that we're being asked to do here is ensure timing, not doing so would be so gratituously stupid that we probably should be forced to be mortal for a few thousand years if we don't."
"Mortals don't live for thousands of years," I say.
"Trees do," he replies. "They're mortal too." And with that the most important part of this meeting, for me at least, is over. The guarantee of timing is given as casually I blew a kiss this morning when leaving the hotel. "But that's not important," he continues, and his voice lowers and reverb comes in from nowhere as though I'm at a prog-rock concert. "You killed an angel and there are questions to be answered. I am not your interrogator for this, but I have been asked to bear witness."
I open my mouth, but before I can speak there's a tap at the door. I turn, as Joachim stands, and there in the doorway is the Schedim from earlier, and behind him is a unclothed seraphim, a blaze of brilliant white light and fury. My chain chooses this moment to try and strangle me.
Morganna - I can relate to this far, far too well. I feel like the two stanzas could almost stand on their own, which would remove the seeming contrast in styles between them. Either way, I like it (them?) and I think that Max would appreciate it as well :)
Greg - hah, if only.
Thanks. I think? :)
Ooh, so pleased you've continued this. Things continue to build to a crescendo that I'm currently unable to imagine but eagerly look forward to.
Also: I don't think this interrogation is going to go very well for your narrator... It's certainly not off to a good start at any rate!
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