A Story about reforestation and conservation. It's great to commit to a cause, but sometimes - if, maybe, probably and possibly - you get carried away in the pot. I must say, that's going to far, isn't it? Would you mind being part of a grove, or wouldn't you?
Posted on the website.
CYPRESS GROVE
3 comments:
This is the email that gave me the idea:
This was the idea that inspired the wrok. It came in an email from a friend:
There was a film some years ago say around 20 odd.. It was an Arabian Nights sort of tale. The hero on a quest with various tests and traps. There was a scene when he came upon a man in a very large oil jar. The character was Ugly in "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" -- Eli Wallach I think. He invites the hero to join him in the oil jar for company. The charactor had been that long in the oil jar his lower body started to unravel and become like roots I think. The hero did not take him up on the offer. A story idea would be what would have happen if he had taken him up on the offer. The guy in jar being very handsome.
This is the draft opening of the story:
The opening:
“This looks like a large pot decorating a mall,” Joshua said, tapping the pot.
“No these are just catalog specials from a garden center. We wanted old-style, clay amphorae from the museum, but the curators wouldn’t give us anything that old, that delicate or the quantity we needed,” Corey answered. He gestured to the dozen or so planters large enough to hold a man’s body inside.
“And these fiberglass things will do as replacements?” Joshua asked. He touched the black volcanic ash, rubbing it between his fingers, wiping it on his butt.
“Sure, we tested the material in the containers and it’s inert. You have to sit in it like a tube rather than stand in an extra large amphora but the results should be the same. Actually, pointy-bottomed Amphorae require balancing on stands. These planters sit flat on the ground. The prisoners sit rather than stand,” Corey explained.
“Prisoners?”
“We recruit prisoners from the local penitentiary volunteer. They get out for a day or two and don’t complain if the experiment doesn’t work. We’re thinking of ways to use this as rehabilitation. If we can reconstruct their bodies maybe we can modify their behavior,” Corey said.
“What’s your experimental design?” Joshua inquired. He studied the water taps and sluices on the apparatus. Warm water seeped into the large pots through an intricate watering system.
“Systematic variation of the ingredients, the papyrus didn’t specify how much of each ingredient. I’m doing six pairs and a control. Only two men will get the maximum benefit – musculature without exercise, improved health, long life. As I recall, we’re submerging you in acanthus and olive oils mixed with myrrh, lotus root, palm extract and several plants found only in the Nile. The papyrus says it will add strength, clear up acne, toughen the skin against cuts and bruises,” Corey said, smiling through his lies. This was no experiment. He knew exactly what was going to happen to Joshua and the other volunteers.
12/18/2006 7:03 AM
Well...... All from a seed of an idea from an old film. I never did find out the title of the film
:o)
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