*
Repetition
**
Rice
“And now, step into the water,” the tour guide says, “and plant your bundle of rice.”
The group tour, it had sounded okay at first. At this point, I wish I could skip it.
“Such fun,” someone says.
The guide waits patiently like a droid until all and everyone has planted their bundle of rice. There is neither escape from the ritual, nor from the obvious symbolism: our bundles will grow together from this day on.
We move on, to the next task points. We construct a paper bridge. The droid walks across it. We follow, one after another, like sentences in a story.
We learn to say rice in alternating tongues.
“Reis.”
“Riso.”
“Arroz.”
“Riz.”
“Baikoku,” I add.
No one answers.
When we are finally done, there is a buffet waiting for us. White bowls, filled with steamed, stir-fried, sauteed combinations of rice and other stuff. There are drinks, too, and the usual speeches.
We sit at round tables. I try to play along. I even pretend that I like the jackets we are all wearing now, a liquid green fabric with a pattern of solid white paisleys.
*
R-Notes
Repetition is a colaborate visual, created with Jeff Crouch. it was first published in HA&L magazine: repetition.
Rice is a short story that is based on a dream fragment. the story was first published in Metazen, where it is still online: Rice. more about it, including a short story: rice words
**
A to Z
this A-Z walk through the archives started here: A to Z Blogging Challenge upcoming, the collected entries are online as life as a journey from A to Z
...and 2 extra links: AtoZchallenge tagboard & AtoZchallenge / twitter
...a list of all r-words, from 2 letter ("ra", "re") to 20 letter ("radiotelegphically")
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