O l i v e r B e n j a m i n
We lend you our ears!
Eyes are the mirrors of the soul,
but ears are the hearers of the whole.
We lend you our ears!
Gimme an “E!”
Gimme an—”A”—
“You
must
be kidding,” said Harvey, interrupting.
“Hey, I didn’t write it,” explained Hopkins. “There was this
weird-looking fortune cookie on the beach and—”
Before he could finish, they were interrupted by the totally
unprecedented sensation of having four hundred fish fly seemingly
into one of their ears and out the other.
It took a long time for each fish to travel through each of their
heads and share their secrets, so when it all was over, everyone was
extremely tired, not least of all the fish. Wearily, the fishy notions
returned dreamily to the ocean, leaving the three wizened men to fall
into a heavy slumber. But this was not slumber as we know it, laced
with images of dancing sugar plums and surreal impressions of
falling or of flight, because when a visitor falls asleep in the
Dreamtime, they don’t dream. They wake up, back in the Meantime.
The gods had finally pinpointed their whereabouts.
•
In the Meantime, there was some commotion on the fourth floor of
Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. Deaf Lemon Hopkins had just
come out of his coma.
“Welcome back, Mr. Hopkins,” said the physician.
“Thanks,” the patient replied.
“You’ve made a remarkable recovery. In fact, I’ve never seen
anything like it before. We didn’t think you would make it.”
“Hey, what’s for dinner? I’m starved!” Hopkins said. The room
erupted with laughter, and he looked around to see a group of his old
musician friends standing all around. Also there were a few television
reporters who were capturing the moment on film and relaying in all
over the country.
“Hey fellas. Well, as long as you’re here, let me say this one thing
before I throw you all out.”
The television crews frantically adjusted their cameras to frame
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