Page 346 - The Grotesque Children's Book

Santi: written on it. He’s holding a blank sign? Perhaps displaying his ignorance.
Aurelio: Ignorance on a stick. Am I on the right track, Imaginary Santi?

Santi: (continued silence)
Aurelio:
You know, I liked you better when you were helping me. I’m stymied here. You
Santi: know a secret. Men are guarding it. And...and? I mean, I deduced as much when
Aurelio: you dropped the folio on my doorstep! That you were either dead or on the run.
Help me here, Santi. I feel like I’m close.
Santi:
Aurelio: (reluctantly hinting) That last figure. The last guard.

Santi: The last guard is different. He’s facing away from us. He doesn’t have a jug of
Aurelio: water. He’s not pouring out the secret. Why not? Because...he’s not one of them!
Santi: It’s you, isn’t it, Santi? That’s you, facing away from us, looking at...what?
Aurelio: Something we can’t see. You’re not looking at the fire. You’re looking at
Santi: something on the other side of the cage.

(non-verbal encouragement)

You, too, are carrying a sign. It’s blank as well. A life still to be written on?
What’s on top of there? What’s sitting on top of your sign? It’s a bird. A red bird.
A phoenix? You’re rising out of the flames of the caged fire, about to run to,
to....What’s that squiggle? Those tassels above your head, they have some threads
flying off of them, as though the banners are unraveling before your eyes, and only
you can see them. You’re looking at one of them in particular, there to the left of
the cage. That thread is making a clear shape.

(tracing the shape with his finger several times)

It’s an Omega! You’re about to run to the Omega. What does that mean? One of
those arches in one of your landscapes? One of those trees! You’re telling me to
look for a tree shaped like an Omega? Noted. I’ll try that.

One last thing.

Oh, you’re speaking to me now?

You’re observing now. You don’t need me to speak.

So, let me get this straight. When I needed you to speak, you wouldn’t. But now
that I don’t need you anymore, you’re going to join in again?

You’re losing the thread.

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