The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (80 page)

Th
e
d
octor
d
oesn't
lo
ok as
th
ough s
he will h
ave
th
e a
nswer t
o any o
f th
ese
qu
estions.
H
er
j
ob is
n't to l
ook
b
eyond
th
e
th
ing
that
's
l
eft
b
ehind. S
he
exa
mines
a
nd
assesses
th
e
b
ody
onl
y.
Sh
e
i
sn't
qu
alified to
dis
cern
the wh
ereabouts of
the
s
pirit. Th
e
m
edical evi
dence
is ov
erwhelming and und
eni
abl
e
.
T
he d
octor says so a
nd th
e
pr
eacher
a
grees.
Bill
y is
d
ead a
nd th
at's a fac
t.

T
aliesin
f
eels
hi
s o
wn li
fe
buz
zing.
It is th
ere
no
w, elec
tric in
side
him
. T
here
a
t th
e
b
ack o
f hi
s
h
ead
-but n
ot
p
art
of
h
is
b
ody.
B
illy
sa
id th
at
th
e s
pirit d
oesn't
di
e.
It d
oesn't
d
ie,
h
e
s
aid
..
.
It d
oesn't.
Wh
ere
will I b
e w
hen I
a
m not m
e?
H
e
w
ill b
e s
pirit.
T
hat's h
is s
pirit no
w
i
nside him
.
Th
e o
thers ha
ve
i
t: th
e
d
octor,
t
he pr
eacher,
h
is
fri
ends,
h
is
f
amily,
t
hey h
ave
it t
oo
but it o
nly
trul
y
bu
zzes
wh
en
it com
es
i
nto
co
ntact
with
Go
d
.
Wh
en
it r
ecognizes
H
im, i
t l
eaps
a
nd r
eaches o
ut
as
s
urely
a
nd firml
y
as a
h
and
pi
cking
a
n ap
ple
fr
om
a
tr
ee.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

H
E TR
IES
TO C
HEAT TIM
E
b
y
w
alking s
lowly t
o catc
h hi
s
bu
s. Of co
urse, hi
s s
low p
acing
m
akes
n
o
impr
ession o
n th
e ticking of
t
he seco
nds
a
nd th
e
p
assing of
th
e
minut
es.
A
s
h
e reac
hes
t
he h
alfway
p
oint o
f t
he wa
lk, wh
ere t
he h
ill
l
evels off a
nd b
egins to
d
escend,
h
e
l
ooks
int
o t
he
s
un
a
nd h
olds
h
is gaze on i
t
for as
l
ong as
he
ca
n b
efore
b
eing fo
rced
to d
raw
away a
nd
b
link
.
Eve
r
s
ince h
is fa
ther
to
ld h
im
th
at a pe
rson
co
uld blind
t
hemselves b
y s
taring dir
ectly at
th
e s
un f
or
l
onger
th
an te
n
s
econds, T
aliesin
h
as
tri
ed
t
o
l
ook a
t
i
t,
a
lways pullin
g
hi
s gaze aw
ay
a
t th
e seve
nth
o
r
e
ighth
seco
nd
a
nd
seei
ng
ye
llow black sun
s
hadows in hi
s
h
ead
f
or
m
inutes af
ter.

H
is a
tlas t
ells hi
m th
at we
c
an't ac
tually
see
th
e s
un. It
says we o
nly
see the
l
ight o
f th
e s
un
.
W
e
kn
ow
th
e s
un
is
th
ere
b
ecause we see
th
e
light testify
ing
t
o
it
s e
xistence
.
G
od
is
lik
e
t
hat, Ta
liesin
t
hinks
.
H
e ca
nnot kn
ow
for
ce
rtain
w
hat
Go
d
is or
l
ooks
l
ike b
ut he
ca
n look at th
e
li
ght
th
at Go
d
gives a
nd
g
uess
a
t th
e c
haracter
a
nd
s
ubstance
o
f th
e so
urce. H
e ca
n
fo
llow th
at
li
ght
back t
o
th
e
pla
ce
fr
om w
hich it r
adiates.

Six
,
seve
n,
e
ight, nin
e
.
.
. th
e
bri
ghtness
f
orces
h
im
t
o
l
ook
away a
nd cl
ench
hi
s
eye
s clo
sed.
Y
ellow
bl
ack s
uns
fi
ll hi
s
h
ead a
nd
w
hen he
o
pens hi
s eyes
th
e
sun
s a
re
s
till
o
bscurin
g
h
is v
ision, blurrin
g
eve
rything. H
e
l
ooks
dow
n
a
t hi
s
fee
t
a
nd
sees
suns; at w
hat h
e
think
s
i
s t
he p
ath
a
nd
sees s
uns;
bac
k
a
t th
e s
ky
a
nd
sees s
uns. Fo
r
a
s
econd h
e
th
inks
th
at
h
e
mu
st
h
ave
b
een co
unting too
s
lowly; th
at
h
e
did in
fac
t p
ass
th
e
t
en
seco
nd m
ark
.
H
e
blink
s s
ome mor
e,
lik
e
s
omeone tr
ying
t
o
r
id
th
emselves o
f a
s
plinter. Still th
e
bl
ack o
rbs p
ersist.
Ah
ead of
him
s
uns bl
ock
th
e
p
ath
and h
e
think
s
h
e ca
n
see someo
ne. H
e
b
links
r
apidly
t
o see w
ho
i
t i
s.
Still
o
nly bl
ack
bl
inking s
uns. H
e ca
rries on w
alking, a
l
ittle
un
sure
of hi
s
tr
ead.

Wh
en
h
e a
rrives at th
e g
rocers h
e sees a
m
an
b
ending i
n f
ront of
th
e f
ruit
s
tand
a
nd turn
ing,
with
a
n
a
pple in th
e
p
alm o
f hi
s ex
tended h
and.
Th
e
fi
gure
i
s s
tanding in fr
ont o
f the
s
un and T
aliesin
i
s
forc
ed
t
o s
quint. H
e
h
ears a
v
oice a
nd l
ooking
u
p
h
e sees
th
at
th
e g
rocer is h
olding o
ut th
e
fru
it
t
o
hi
m a
nd
say
ing
so
mething.