The Invisible Papers (10 page)

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Authors: Agostino Scafidi

Tags: #Fiction & Literature

BOOK: The Invisible Papers
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One is not going to be pressured, guilted or forced into producing for you. There are certain things you just can’t rush! Limits, quotas, deadlines, how do you feel about it? One looks forward to seeing you again sharing coffee in warm surroundings. It would be nice if there were earth coloured drapes and darkly painted walls around us too, maybe if we’re lucky! He or she thinks you should slow down because you’re seriously freaking them out. The last thing he or she needs is a neurotic and clingy acquaintance scaring him or her half to death pretending they’re going to move in!

Do you need the worst beating you’ll ever receive? To be treated worse than you’ve ever thought possible? Why? What’s the real reason? What business is it of yours why he or she chooses to ingest this or that in one way or another? You need to learn when to mind your own business! It’s time to give you what you need. So many paths to choose from so don't try to climb onto a horse that’s too high for you to handle. It doesn’t look right and you might not be able to return from such an abandon of good conscience!

Unnecessary. What is? So many things! How can you know? First try looking at what persistently consists of the most nonsense. As soon as one has got the time and privacy he or she will visit you. They can’t wait! What’s frustrating is that you promised to pick up what’s yours yet you failed to do it! Will you keep your word tomorrow? They’re waiting expectantly however one seems to think that they shouldn’t hold their breath! How are you today? He or she is doing fine thank you very much, let them see what he or she can do for you instead. They’ll take that and raise you a big punch in the face followed by a smile and hopefully that’ll be enough of a lesson for you. So what are you saying? They’ve got to drink what you drink? Eat what you eat? No, thank you.

Chapter 18

 

One is absolutely appalled, dumbfounded, astounded, disturbed, surprised and revolted! Unbelievable! Never has one witnessed such monstrosity and such little artistic merit combined into one travesty. It’s a mockery of the medium that it’s delivered upon.

Now they’ll wait and see if their honesty and straightforwardness will be punished or simply accepted for what it is (a response). One knows it’s not the reply you wanted to hear but he or she didn’t want to leave you hanging or ignore your request. Hopefully you’ll recognize it in your own way and we can move past this without so much as a bump over a pebble on a road.

Wow it’s cold out there and everywhere he or she turns it’s dark. It doesn’t help that they willingly subject themselves to dark imagery in the name of research because none of it helps. Hopefully now they can move on and save themselves from more than a few nightmares. It comes down to pure sadism you see, it’s unclear whether sadism with or without a sexual element is the worst kind. One wouldn’t venture to prove that to him or herself (again) and they certainly wouldn’t urge you to find out for yourself either!

One is just going to soldier on no matter what gets thrown their way. They’ll raise their collar a little higher and avoid exposing their ears to the dirty rice being flung at them from the sidelines! Could one get an Amen? Could one get a friend? Hopefully someone who doesn’t expect a weekly pay check for services rendered. He or she gives back but to some it’s just not enough, you simply cannot refuse even one request or you will never be welcomed back again. Don’t test them! Don’t even step anywhere near their toes! You’ll pay a dear price if you do.

One wonders what’ll happen when the time comes. Are they are just waiting in anticipation to say no? Oh how they can’t wait for that glorious day! He or she considers it a great test of your strength, expectations and demanding nature.

What a wonderful day in the neighbourhood wouldn’t you agree? One hopes they’re not infringing on any copyrights here, who knows what sayings and phrases are owned by somebody out there! You’ve got to love realism and honesty, sometimes garbage makes its way into everyone’s home when it was never invited. Then when you ask it to leave it refuses! The only way to clean your home is to grab a knife, gut it and take it out with the trash. You’ve got to love nostalgia but modernism may be more auspicious, post-modernism may even be better! What about future-modernism? Does that even exist?

Could someone Google that for him or her and send over the results? Thanks in advance.

One really doesn’t appreciate being forced to hoard all of what you don’t want to hoard for yourself.

They’ll take whatever you give them and they act like they could use it all. He or she guesses they’ll just play along! They look around and are not afraid of the demands coming at him or her, they all bounce off effortlessly. Would you like to see? Test out this claim of theirs? One is quite confident it’ll work out just as they’ve trained and they’re not afraid to prove you wrong. One is not afraid of anyone, not even a fight to the death. If one is faced with such a situation he or she guarantees there’ll be no backing down. No. One
won’t
back down.

Get your motor running and move on down that highway. Don’t stop for the peddlers, it’s for your own good! Thanks a lot for trying your best and maybe one day it’ll matter. Until then they’ll try to send you the occasional postcard.

How do you feel about death? How do you feel about life? Could one ask a more general question? Could one get any more vague? Let him or her hide behind the mist and inside the cave, it sounds like a fun place. Quiet though, it might give them a cold. He or she doesn’t want to get sick over this, it’s not worth it! How about they take a peek out at the sunlight? Could they share in your sunshine? What will it cost them and is there a tax? If there is could he or she refuse to pay it and how will you punish them if they do? Is there nothing in this world that is without consequence?

You might disagree with one’s outlook, predictions or perspectives but ultimately this matters little to him or her. Honestly it does rub them the wrong way (and everyone dislikes being rubbed the wrong way) however it’s impossible to avoid being rubbed any way at all unless you hide away in a cave!

Are you a feminist? Is there a, well the word he or she is trying to find is, a complement to feminism? The “ism” that would describe man’s perspective. Does such a word even exist? Would you consider those two “isms” to be opposites? Is one mistaken to assume they are complementary? He or she guesses it would depend on the type of feminist you’re addressing.

Churning, churning, dredging things out and drudgingly soldiering on. Not stopping until we’ve reached the mark, maybe somebody will thank us for it someday but that seems highly unlikely. He or she guesses something can be said for hope and faith though!

Here they are but where are you? They’ve decided today to go their own way. There really is no reason to supplicate to entities that steal, rebuild and profit from something created by nature or a lone inventor. He or she won’t waste his or her time trying to convince people whom they don’t even care about to begin with. All you’re doing is slowing down one’s progress and chipping away everything he or she should hold onto and pursue for themselves! They aren’t going to rush even though they have a small number of items on their list. Take a breath and put one foot in front of the other, no need to run babe, take a chill pill dude.

They forgot a page! They skipped a page! It’s okay because they’ve got lots of pages where that came from.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head.” Isn’t that a really condescending thing to say? Oh you know it is! Don’t let he or she keep you because we all know you’re busy, much busier than him or her. “Keep on truckin’!”

They’ve got to stay organized, no shortcuts for any of ‘em! One doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing although he or she does get the gist of it. What are your expectations of them? Let’s lay them all out on the table. They’ve got a list of various concerns and he or she is always being reminded of their existence! If one sees you then one sees them all. One sees you and hears you but just doesn’t care. We surrender! We won’t fight you, we promise! Go ahead and try, you’ll see. Provoke him or her and you’ll see for yourself that one will no longer be bullied! It’s amazing how an image can be amazing. A quiet yet powerful image can amaze. A loud but at the same time weak image may trick a few though it won’t fool many. Does it fool you? Go ahead, you can admit it! We won’t judge!

One wonders what you’d do if you held the reins and how far you’d go if you felt something was right. Or forget “right” and let’s say “necessary”. Could you deal with it and handle the consequences? One appreciates all of your help but please let him or her be, let them live in peace! You’ve given them what they needed now let them enjoy it.

Please give him or her the strength to get past this and whatever else comes their way. Guide them please and help them learn what they need to learn, help them grow.

It’s nice to have visitors. Have you ever enjoyed a tall glass of happiness? They sell it in containers and it comes frozen solid! You need to thaw it out in the sink and then empty the container into bottles. After that you’ve got to keep them in a cool and dark place. Then you can crack open a bottle once a week and take a shot or two every night after dinner. At that rate with one bottle per week you could moderate and regulate your happiness consumption! Stretch out that supply and “Boom!”, you’ll be on easy street from here on in. Don’t believe it? Here, have a taste of one’s own special brew and if you aren’t completely satisfied he or she will send you off to Hell because that seems to be a place more suited to your preferences!

One loves to discuss odd and obscure topics. He or she made a list today, checked it twice, then threw it away and instead used a computer to keep track of it all! Sometimes he or she wishes they were a comedian. One wonders if it pays well but it probably doesn’t. They’ve got a manageable to-do list with very few worries, isn’t that nice? Don’t fret, everyone arrived safely and timely. Through snowfall they made it, the weather be damned! Coughing can put a dent in your comfort level but sometimes it’s just the body expelling toxins which is a good thing. The weather can inspire a great release, so here’s to health! One likes to collect pictures of you, the very best they can find. You’re like a treasure to be preserved and protected!

They’ve got a lot riding on this right here. They’re pushing away the chains that they thought they wanted. He or she came so close to wrapping them around their own throat that if “hand over fist” could be accurate enough as a simile then that would be applied here. Nerds can sometimes annoy more than charm. Geeks are popular, more so than ten years ago. He or she doesn’t see it as anything to worry about though, don’t get them wrong, they neither support nor condemn!

Catching up to the invisible bar that is the standard. Standards can be irrational and unreasonable at times and in this case they are downright vicious! Thanks for all the love, friends can let you down but art is forever! Is this making sense? Maybe they’re reaching and grasping for the stars. Would one need a space ship to succeed? What if he or she can’t fly the bloody thing, would you help?

He or she is gearing up to revisit and review the things they hold dear. Not entirely all the things they hold dear but just a few things. One hopes they’ll find the time for such a sojourn. Who should he or she plead with to be granted this permission? Who should he or she beg? Maybe they’ll take their chances, do what they wish and then deal with your wrath if you catch them!

Now’s the time to rise up and do nothing, now’s the time to posture but retreat after only a few minutes of scaring your opponent. Now’s the time to lay it all out on the line then stomp it to a pulp. Now’s the time! What a wonderful era we are living in, give him or her everything you own and get nothing in return. How fair, we all thank you, what a great deal! Thank you for giving us one day of reward per year and taking much more from us every other day. We are guilty and we feel guilty. We love guilt! We take this business very seriously because it will feed us, clothe us and shelter us. Please don’t throw it away, you’ll never get it back and if you do it won’t be quite as good (it never is these days).

Chapter 19

 

Take the wind out of his or her sails and your own sails too. It’s fun to do, sit there dead in the water. Let someone rush to you and rescue you like they always do. They’ve managed to obtain the permission necessary to orchestrate his or her environment exactly the way they wanted it but for just a couple of days. That’s more than enough anyway, well probably not more but indeed enough!

When the moment arrived that he or she received your news they were completely in awe. Not only were their first thoughts negative but they still haven’t subsided! It seems like his or her unwilling attitude has been mounting up steadily and with no end in sight!

They’ll let sleeping dogs lie and wait to see if things clean themselves up. If they don’t then at least he or she won’t be chasing their tail more often than one should. After all isn’t it unavoidable to have to do a modicum of tail chasing at some point in life? He or she has been lumped unwittingly into the boat labeled “Confidante”. They help people by listening to them and discussing things but they won’t say they dislike it even though it has been thrust upon him or her. One doesn’t worry about what they receive as payment because they always seem to have what they need (although not necessarily what he or she wants). It’s okay though, what can you do? What can you say? Just let it be and be thankful which may sound cliché but it does have some good sense.

One loves the smart use of colour; the way you can pop a few things into a frame, give it some hue or saturation and then voilà! you have the proverbial “thousand words”.

One intends to research this as deeply as humanly possible. You might be wondering what the subject is but it doesn’t matter. It could be apples as easily at it could be the tactics of surveillance! Feel free to fill in the blanks for yourself. One vows to turn over every stone they can. Information, information, information.

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