Chapter 62: Líran – A Matter of Elbows
There were too many elbows in the Plume that evening. And yet, Líran was sitting all alone, wearing her purple, hand-made hat from Sejo Tíen. That morning, Vivianne had asked why the clown Lecoeurge had left the hat behind.
‘I thought it was common for humans to give gifts to other humans,’ said Líran.
‘It is common, but there are different types of gifts,’ said Vivianne. ‘Lecoeurge loves that hat, never lets anyone near it.’
‘So why did he give it to me?’
‘A gift could be a declaration,’ Vivianne said, ‘Of respect, of friendship, of love.’
Líran placed the hat on the table. A declaration. Of love. Líran had become mortal to experience these things. Love, adventure, the pressure of knowing your death was out there looking for you. Líran looked back on all the time she spent with the arm-less clown.
Lecoeurge taught her how to build a fire, to sew clothes, to make tea. The Caravan people liked her, but nobody came near. Lecoeurge, if he had elbows, would be here, elbowing her now.
Not like all these people in the Plume, who came to see her, but were terrified to touch her. They were all crushed in a sea of elbows, but she had a bubble. Líran’s back began to hurt from sitting on that bench without a backrest, but she didn’t want to stand, fearing the silence that followed her every move.
If Lecoeurge were here, she wouldn’t be alone. Was that what love meant? The possibility of touch? Someone once wrote that another person’s touch was the real outside of the skin. Love lived on which side of the skin?
Someone sat beside Líran. Vivianne pulled one leg over the bench and said:
‘Turn your back to me.’
Líran obeyed and Vivianne leant back to back with her.
‘I don’t like benches,’ said Vivianne. ‘I like chairs with backrest.’
Could that be love? Those skins, clothes and bones touching, leaning on one another? Líran couldn’t tell. She was in the center of a story, but not in an adventure. She knew the real outside of the skin, but couldn’t tell if it was love. Líran was lost. At least that she was doing right, because she remembered looking on all those mortals so lost in life. Back then it seemed all so easy. So obvious.