Micro Trip 4

(Written in greek only)

Αν μια επιφάνεια είναι σκληρή σαν πέτρα ή μαλακή σαν σφουγγάρι, κάποιες φόρες, δύσκολο να ξεχωρίσω... Τι πρέπει να κάνει κάποιος για να το βρει με σιγουριά? Να αγγίξει? Να ζουλίξει? Να γευτεί? Να ακούσει? Να κοιτάξει? Να κοιτάξει καλύτερα? Ή μήπως... να κοιτάξει πέρα από την επιφάνεια? Πολλά μπορεί να ανακαλύψει σε μια τέτοια περίπτωση. Μάλιστα, υπάρχει μεγάλη πιθανότητα από πίσω να δει μεγάλη φωτιά να καίει μαύρες σακούλες γεμάτες σιχαμερά σκουπίδια. Μη μπεις στον κόπο να ρωτήσεις ποιανού είναι. Όλοι θα σου πούνε ότι δεν είναι δικά τους, ότι άλλοι τα παράτησαν εκεί. Λίγο αργότερα, ένας περαστικός θεός τους έβαλε τη φωτιά, με φλόγα που βγήκε από μια εκπνοή του.

Αυτά μάθαμε τον παλιό καιρό. Τον καιρό που οι αισθήσεις ταλαντεύονταν με φρενήρεις ρυθμούς. Ζεστά υγρά έτρεχαν κάτω από τα ανέμελα πόδια μας. Και κάποιες φορές αιωρούμασταν για λίγα δευτερόλεπτα, λίγο πιο ψηλά, λίγο πιο ψηλά, έπειτα πάλι κάτω. Σήμερα μπορούμε να στηριχτούμε και στο ένα μας πόδι για αρκετή ώρα. Όμως φαίνεται γελοίο.

Ένα βράδυ, δε πάει πολύς καιρός τώρα, έπιασα τον εαυτό μου να παίζει κουτσό με κάποιους ξένους. Πέντε άτομα ήμασταν και άλλοι οχτώ με δέκα, γύρω γύρω, παρακολουθούσαν με βλέμμα αποχαυνωμένο, κάποιοι με στόμα ανοιχτό, στέκονταν καμπουριασμένοι, ξεχασμένοι. Θυμάμαι να κάνει υπερβολική ζέστη, σαν ψεύτικη αλλά πρέπει να ήταν σαν αυτή που δημιουργείται από τη μοχθηρία του συνολικού μυαλού. Ένα αλματάκι εδώ και μετά εκεί στο ένα πόδι ήταν όλο και όλο αυτό που έπρεπε να κάνουμε. Μου φάνηκε πανεύκολο και όταν ήρθε η σειρά μου γρήγορα τα κατάφερα. Μετά έμεινα στην άκρη να παρακολουθήσω και τον τελευταίο συμπαίκτη μου. Ήταν ένας μεσήλικας, γκριζομάλλης με φουσκωμένη κοιλιά. Ένα, δύο, τρία άλματα, καλά τα πηγαίνει, λίγο θέλει για να τερματίσει. Ένα ακόμα, όμως αβέβαιο και ταλαντεύεται επικίνδυνα. Εκνευρίζεται και βρίζει δυνατά. Και τότε αμέσως, όλοι πετάγονται, γυρίζουν και αρχίζουν να τρέχουν προς κάθε κατεύθυνση με όλη τους τη δύναμη, όσο πιο γρήγορα μπορούν κι ακόμα πιο γρήγορα. Εξαφανίστηκαν. Μη ξέροντας πώς να αντιδράσω, απλά έμεινα εκεί που ήμουν. Απέναντι μου είχα το συμπαίκτη μου στο ένα πόδι να με κοιτάζει με παράπονο αλλά και οργή. Έπειτα σήκωσε το κεφάλι του όσο μπορούσε προς τα πάνω, κοιτάζοντας τον ανύπαρκτο ουρανό και έκλεισε τα μάτια. Έμεινε έτσι εκεί για πάντα...

Φυσικά το παιχνίδι συνεχίζεται, αναμένεται απολαυστικό... Και μετά σου λένε να μη φοβάσαι να ανοίγεις τρύπες στη θάλασσα... Πολλοί το λένε. Παντογνώστες. Όπως κι εγώ, χτες το πρωί.

Micro Trip 3

He was bored of every aspect of his life. Still, he didn't know what the cause was, neither what to do. Often, as he was watching several items, he felt the urge to get inside them, to keep company with the atoms and their cores. What a lunatic desire! Yes it was. He was...

Once I joined him... inside an atom called Excit. Nice and gentle atom it was. But, unfortunately, it had a very annoying habit. It liked moving all the time and the worst of all, it couldn't help keeping a steady pace. One time going slower, then faster, then even faster, then even slower. Really annoying! Like listening to music with a tempo that changes every few seconds... can be great, only sometimes. He made some tea. We talked for a few minutes, about past times. He reminded me of so many things I had mysteriously forgotten about. He asked me if I could see the end. Yes! No... I wasn't sure. I could see many ends. Looked straight ahead, looked at my back, above and below, left, right, there was an end everywhere. More ends than I had imagined before. He pointed out that these ends were common ends, anyone could acquire such ends. I felt ashamed and disappointed. What was wrong with me? But he wouldn't tell me! He did not want to help me! I should have known from the beginning, he wasn't a true friend anyway, only caring for himself.

When we were near above some plains of grass I asked Excit to land so I could get off at that place. There was a forest nearby with lots of oaks among the other trees. On the other side there was the sea. Not of water but one of captured expressions. Like recorded on limitless tape, imprinted forever, there roamed thousands or millions of expressions. Created through time by both dumb and genious existences, in teams or lonely.

I knew experiencing so many expressions at once could easily kill me, so I tried to focus on one which I randomly chose. Wow! It was a very simplistic one, yet exciting in an unusual way. Not too hard to describe. First of all, a small old tower made of dark stone. It had no windows. On its top there was a man standing, playing a flute. His choice of melody was a truly hopeful one. He kept repeating that melody as far as I can remember. The sun had almost set so the place was rather gloomy but not spooky at all. There was a wooden pole standing out from the wall at a height far beyond man's reach and a big sack tied up, hanging from it. It was tore at a point by the blade of a sword which was the only content visible outside. I guessed that sack could be containing several weapons. Those weapons were taken away from man's reach... A rabbit showed up running behind the structure. It disappeared behind a bush. Not knowing why, I run towards that bush and looked around. The man suddenly stopped playing his flute. I raised my eyes to the position he was standing and saw him riding a bicycle. He was riding down the tower's wall towards me... As he reached the ground he gently stopped and looked at me with frustration. "Look what you have done!", he said, "This is the end!"... "Is it?", I asked like a fool, probably looking like a fool. Then he told me, "Have a look in your pocket, the right one". I put my hand in my right pocket. There was something there I wasn't aware of before. I pulled it out... it was a small pump! A pump for bicycles! "Now don't just stand there, use it!", he said. And so I started inflating and inflating and inflating... inflating my dreams and the dreams of my beloved. There was only one thing that confused me a little. Was that air pure?

Micro Trip 2

(After 7+ years, another micro trip... This time written in english.)

Once, on top of wheels, my small thoughts widened. Still hands always rooted in common realities, holding fast, in fear.

Then all of a sudden, it found itself facing the gigantic entrance of a cave. Snow all over, all around where it stood, gazing the monstrous opening with icy walls, floor and ceiling. So much ice that no rock was ever visible anywhere inside. Like a huge transparent white tube leading to the heart of the mountain or perhaps the heart of the planet itself. Just a step forward it took and it slipped on the ice. The cave sucked it in so abruptly. A perfectly designed slide, a long journey ahead, sliding and sliding, always gaining in speed, wildly turning suddenly here and there, top to bottom, bottom to top. No light all along, only darkness ruled down there. Until now. With its descent the tube-like corridors got a strong radiant blue light. For miles it lighted the way, descending futher and further when it came to a dead end. There laid a small pool of dark water. It dived in the water with tremendous force (but not a drop emerged). It disappeared. It was, of course, just another blue ball of light, no one would miss it.

A dog chased me down the road trying to prove fearsome to me. I didn't care at that time because my small thoughts became even smaller, tiny, until they were barely existing. I should start heading home, it was time. After taking a couple of turns on my bicycle I came to face the big sea again. It stood on my right as I was riding anxiously. I stopped to take a breath at the side of the road that overlooked the great deep blue waters from some height over. After ten breath ins and outs or so I thought I saw a small ball of light emerging from the water. In less than a second it reached the height were I was standing and I reached my hand to get hold of it. It grasped my hand and raised me (with my bike) in the sky. We travelled fast. I was in Venus then. She seemed happy at that time. Balls of blue light around everywhere the eye could reach and several kids riding their bikes. When I came across a group of those kids, they stopped and looked at me. I stopped too, wondering. "Will you shut up! Whining all the time...", a short, fat kid said to me.

Micro Trip 1

(This is one of the first things I've ever written. First version is the original in greek. A rough translation to english follows.)

[Greek]
Μια σαΐτα έσκισε το φεγγάρι στα δύο. Ο Ωρίωνας φώναζε... έβριζε ασταμάτητα. Τις βλασφήμιες του άκουγε η όμορφη Αφροδίτη και δάκρυσε. Οι σταγόνες των δακρύων από τα μάτια της έπεσαν πάνω στη γη και έπνιξαν όλους τους ανθρώπους. Μόνο εγώ απέμεινα ζωντανός... Έκανα ένα σύντομο ταξίδι μέχρι τον ήλιο και από εκεί πήρα το τρένο για την Ανδρομέδα. Ήταν μια παλιά ατμομηχανή, βαριά και επιβλητική σαν ένα φύλλο βελανιδιάς...
Δεν έφτασα ποτέ στον προορισμό μου. Ή δεν είχα αρκετή θέληση ή η φαντασία μου έφτασε στα όρια της. Πόσο με γοητεύει η απεραντοσύνη του απείρου, πόσο με ελκύει η Αφροδίτη... θέλω να αγγίξω τον πυρήνα της.

[English]
An arrow tore the moon in half. Orion was yelling, swearing non-stop. His blasphemies were being heard by beautiful Aphrodite and she burst into tears. The tear drops from her eyes fell over the earth and drowned all humans. Only I was left alive. I took a short trip to the sun and there got onboard the train to Andromeda. It was an old locomotive, heavy and imposing as an oak leaf...
I never reached my destination. Either I did not have enough willpower or my imagination reached its limit. To what extent am I being enchanted by the immensity of infinity(?), to what extent am I being attracted to Venus(?)... I want to touch her core.

Mikruli

Αστέρια υπάρχουν. Το ξέρω, το πιστεύω, το ελπίζω. Είναι να έχεις τη δύναμη να σηκώσεις το κεφάλι σου για να τα κοιτάξεις. Και είναι φυσικά, πρώτα απ΄ όλα, να ξεφύγεις από τα μέρη όπου ο ουρανός είναι κρυμμένος πίσω από δυστυχίες.