The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (43 page)

He ha
s
run
g
B
illy
t
o ge
t
co
nfirmation but th
ere
was
no an
swer.
And
n
ow, as
he
crac
ks h
is egg,
hold
ing
t
he sp
oon
with p
earl-smooth
hand
,
h
e
sees
th
at to
day
i
s
lik
e a
ny
o
ther: hi
s
broth
er's
di
sdain
i
s
i
ntact, hi
s fa
ther's
esca
pi
sm as
opp
ortune
a
s e
ver
a
nd hi
s
m
other's
a
bsence p
ain fully co
nspicuous. P
eople
don't r
eally
ca
re
a
bout his
expe
rience b
ecause it's
h
is
e
xperi
e
nce
a
nd n
ot
th
eirs
.
H
e s
hould h
ave
kn
own
b
etter.
It
was
l
ike
r
eading
a
b
ook a
nd expe
cting
o
thers to sh
are
h
is
e
xact
exc
item
ent.
It n
ever wo
rks
.
Th
ey
h
ave
to r
ead i
t
for t
hemselves. Ev
en
if h
e
h
ad
ca
ptured it on film h
is
broth
er
and
fa
ther
wo
uld
h
ave b
een
d
iffident.
The
y'd acc
use hi
m
of tr
ick ph
otography o
r worse. P
eople
d
on't
eve
n bel
ieve
th
ings
wh
en
th
ey
see
th
em Wi
th th
eir
o
wn
e
yes, l
et
al
one
som
ebody
el
se's.

Hi
s fat
her
a
nd br
other a
re b
ehind
pap
ers a
nd h
ave
n
ot yet
n
oticed
h
is S
unday b
est
of woo
l ti
e, c
heck
s
hirt
a
nd
bur
gundy co
rduroy tr
ousers.
T
aliesin s
cours hi
s
fath
er's
b
roadsheet
f
or
h
eadlines
s
uch
a
s
'
Miracle
i
n W
elsh
Vill
age:
In
terview
wit
h l
ocal
b
oy,
Ta
liesin Jon
es,
in
side'
o
r
'
Wart W
onder:
W
orld
E
xclusive'.
But th
e
ma
ssive
eve
nts
o
f th
e
wo
rld
take
pr
ecedence,
fill
ing a
ll th
e
column in
ches
th
ey
ca
n.
T
hat w
ar
i
n th
e
d
esert
is s
till raging on th
e
f
ront
of J
onathan's
sec
tion,
w
hilst
i
n b
etween
his f
ather's
h
ands
th
ere
is a
ph
otograph of
fl
ooded
fa
rmland in Am
erica w
ith h
ouses
up t
o
th
eir
b
edroom c
urtains in
wa
ter. T
ops
o
f tr
ees
br
eak
th
e surface of
t
he
wa
ter
a
nd
wi
th th
eir
bulk
co
ncealed th
ey
r
esemble
s
hrubs. A
fa
mily
s
it m
arooned o
n th
e
r
oof o
f th
eir
h
ouse,
u
sing
t
he c
himney
as a sofa, wa
tching
h
elplessly as a
r
escue boa
t pull
s
up
a
longside.

H
is war
ts b
ein
g
h
ealed ca
nnot
co
mpete
w
ith th
is
kind
o
f n
ews
.
P
eople wa
nt d
ispatches o
f d
isaster a
nd bull
etins o
f bl
ood
fr
om
pl
aces
f
ar eno
ugh
away
n
ot
to w
orry
th
em.
Th
ey do
n't
wa
nt
to
h
ear a
bout
o
bscure
a
nd hear
say
l
ocal
h
ealings
.

H
e ex
pected
mo
re
from
h
is fa
ther. H
e
l
ooked ge
nuinely
s
urprised
a
t
first
but h
e c
hecked th
e
i
nstinctive a
nswer h
e was going
t
o g
ive
a
nd m
odified
it int
o a
m
ore co
nsidered
a
nd m
ean res
ponse
.
Wh
y co
uldn't he
si
mply
ac
knowledge it
? 'T
hey
can come a
nd
go
l
ike
th
at,'
h
e sai
d
.
And n
ow
it i
s a
lready
o
ld, d
ead
n
ews.

'
It's
a goo
d
jo
b
we
d
idn't em
igrate t
o
Ameri
ca,'
hi
s fa
ther
says
,
t
rying t
o claim so
me
o
f th
e cre
dit for th
e
d
ecision
n
ot
t
o go, a
d
ecision
t
aken, as fa
r
as Ta
liesin rec
alls,
un
ilaterally
b
y t
heir m
other. '
Mind
you,
th
ese
Am
erican fa
rmers
get
m
ass
ive
com
pensation,
'
h
e co
ntinues.
'T
hey're w
ell
in
sured against acts of God
.
'

This
annoys Taliesin. Acts of God shouldn't be limited to headline-grabbing
disasters. The weather is not God's only means of communicating with people:
for every flood sensation there might be a hundred small miracles passing unreported
rel
ying on
th
e
t
estimonies of
p
eople fa
ithful
enough
to
beli
eve
their
ey
es. His f
ather
put
s
d
own
th
e
p
aper a
n
d
mumble
s so
mething
a
bout p
eople being
lu
ckier t
han :h
ey
r
ealize.
H
e
th
en
n
otices
hi
s
son
's a
ttire
.

'So yo
u're
s
till thinkin
g
of
go
ing th
en?'
h
e says. '
Have
yo
u
c
hecked th
e
t
imes?
You
've
prob
ably m
issed
it
b
y
n
ow.'

'
It
s
tarts
a
t t
en, '
Tali
esin
repli
es. '
I
c
hecked
w
hen I
we
nt
to
B
illy's
.
'

‘So, yo
u r
eally
ar
e
qu
ite ser
ious
abo
ut
a
ll
of
thi
s Go
d bu
siness,'
hi
s
f
ather
g
oes o
n, h
alf
r
eading.

'I'm
j
ust
go
ing to se
e w
hat i
t's li
ke,'
Ta
liesin
says
.

'Do
n't
e
xpect t
oo
much
,'
h
is fa
ther
says. '
Just
a
l
ot of o
ld p
eople
in h
ats.
It'
s
ne
arly
t
en
n
ow,
d
o yo
u
want a
lif
t
th
ere?'

Ta
liesin
wo
uld pr
efer to go
und
er
h
is own stea
m
.

'
It's
okay,'
h
e say
s.

'C'm
on, I'll
r
un
yo
u up,
i
t
wo
n't t
ake a min
ute.' An
d
h
is
f
ather
i
s a
lready mo
ving
tow
ards
th
e
d
oor.