Our Bodies Guard the Sea
Squinting her eyes, Mary stared to the northwest. She regretted lending her telescope to Robert. First he had lost his own and then he lost hers. She did not even notice that Jacques Paganel was standing behind her. “What are you staring at, young lady? Is there something I cannot see? Perhaps a sea monster?” “Monsieur Paganel, I am not sure, but I have a bad feeling that I have just glimpsed the silhouette of an island.” “Mary, here? There is nothing here but the vast ocean. Don’t be sad about that.”
(Jules Verne: The Children of Captain Grant)
Naked Dinner
Using the chair, he slowly shoved himself towards the door, and then let go, throwing himself against it, and holding himself upright against it. The balls of his feet had some sticky substance on them. He took a moment to recover from the exertion. Then he applied himself to turning the key in the lock. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he had no real teeth–what then could he grip the key with?–but his jaws, on the other hand, were powerful. With their help he started to turn the key. He paid no attention to the fact that he was obviously doing some harm to himself in the process–a brown discharge came out of his mouth, flowing over the key and dripping onto the floor.
(William Burroughs: Naked Lunch)
atlas 1.0
Twenty seconds after the jet took off, Case turned and glanced at a myriad of lights through the rear window. In the same way as the data representation, which he had got to know more intimately in the last few weeks, the lights of the city were disappearing beyond the horizon of sleep. It was very fast and Case broke through a black limbo. The last thing he saw was the reflection of orange spots in Molly’s glasses.
(William Gibson: Neuromancer)
Warped Ján
We emerged from the canyon at dawn. I was woken by wheels rattling on a twisting road full of small stones. The village was on the other side. We arrived as breakfast was being prepared for those who were just passing through. Which apparently did not happen very often. At the door of the inn in which we were supposed to spend the night, a hunched old man was waiting for me. He handed me a letter. I supposed that the sender was the count. I was right.
(Bram Stoker: Dracula)
Pots
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Absence
At a certain point speed becomes a vector with a fixed point in the past and an infinite line aiming at an unattainable future. However, that fixed point is also moving onwards, even if there is a considerable delay. So the past is disappearing gradually, but the more we expect new oblivions, the faster it disappears. Constant rejoicing is becoming a catalyst for disappearing. To replace the place, to make it invisible. To become stiff in a movement.
(Paul Virilio: The Aesthetics of Disappearance)
Birdwatchers Wife
She felt real surrender. She could hear a creek on the other side of the forest; smoke from a fire beyond the gate of the fortress on the hill was tickling her nose; in her hands she felt pollen from flowers which flower only in the morning. After a while she realized that a bird was sitting on her shoulder and another one was nibbling dried apple peel woven into her hair. “Libuše, here, behind you,” someone whispered from low bushes two steps away. A shiver ran down her spine and the hairs on her calves stood up. (Miloš Urban: Field and Palisade)
Signs
After following the red signs and gently descending 400 metres, a view of the valley, the north part of which is German, opens up on the left. At the intersection the yellow sign points to Velký Šenov. We encounter a neglected little monument dedicated to the victims of WWII. We enter Šluknov from Dr. E. Beneše Street. We recommend having a bath in the local pond on the other side of town.
(Tourist guide to Czech-Saxon Switzerland, Šluknov region)
Make Some Noise
In 2004 two girls from Beijing, who had publicly mocked their bosses, were sent to a work camp along with a bus driver who had been late for work three times. After several weeks held inside, the girls were allowed to walk around the prison buildings and it was then that the driver beat the girls to death with an iron bar. No one has ever found how he got into the female part of the camp.
(Patrik Ouředník: Europeana)
Spell of Forgetfulness
I was sitting alone in the train coupe. I don't know, whether there was anyone else travelling in the other coaches, but I doubted seriously. I wasn't surprised that we were staying in the station, waiting for the train technician, who wasn't talking, since he was red-haired. Then I left into the desert.
(Benoit Sokal: Syberia)