Capturing Time but Failing

Back into the World of Jaggedness

Chandni Rana

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Author’s Note: Today you will go on a journey. A journey through time.

Time is measured in memories; bits and pieces of floating wisps you can’t seem to catch – each one changing and shifting the more you focus, and sometimes straying farther the closer you get.

In the end it is never the ‘when’ that matters but the ‘what’ of all the moments lived. So, if the passing of time is irrelevant and memory sacred, why is the past recalled as long gone. If memory never dies, then the past never ceases to exist, but rather lives and breathes as we within it.

Today, I ask you to get lost in the world of memory and forget when you are.

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Our lives are composed of fragments. Fragments of memory that linger in the air of our minds, like ghosts in castles.

History is the ghost caught between the castle stones. As each one calls you to it, you must listen and learn their stories to set them free. But, before all else, you must complete the puzzle of time to solve the mystery that is history.

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ACT 3 RIGHT PLACE, WRONG MOMENT ACT 1 DESTROY ACT 6 YOU WILL NEVER KNOW ACT 4 DOUBLE EDGED ACT 2 FOLLOW ME ACT 5 YOU WILL DISAPPEAR HERE

The Book: Read me in order.

[Reader follows]

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“[A]s much as my rational mind rebelled against the idea, I knew in my heart that I was no longer in the 20th century.”

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ACT 3 RIGHT PLACE, WRONG MOMENT

Sites or scenes always remains consistent, but the stories within them shift. One moment you can go anywhere do anything and the next you can’t.

This act is stable, but the memories within it aren’t.

We are simply stumbling upon an unfortunate time.

LATRINE

[Laugh, gasp for air as you talk] Imagine [laugh] you’re pooping, [laugh] and the toilet, just [laugh] slides down the hill, [laugh harder] and then there’s poop everywhere!

[Laugh hysterically]

“Because you can die...”

“Why would they lock up this portion, you can’t even see the top half.”

NOWHERE

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ACT 1 DESTROY

In quantum entanglement, two particles, through a channel will communicate with each other regardless of location.

As the iron melts and becomes a tool, then melts again and gets reshaped… those memories of being do not cease, they continue to communicate and are embedded in the very essence that constitutes its purpose.

To exist in one reality is to break from another, but not completely disappear.

BURN

What for d’you yearn?

It’s the point of no return After everything we did, we saw You turned your back on me What for d’you yearn?

Watch that butcher burn At the end of my days when I’m through No word that I’ve written will ring quite as true as “burn!”

Burn, butcher, burn Burn, butcher, burn Burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn Watch me burn all the memories of you

AGAIN

to see

I still need

the isles.

POSE

“Can you just tell me what to do?

Where should I look? ...

Fuck! I got hair in my eye - wait.”

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ACT 6 YOU WILL NEVER KNOW

The architecture of the brain is intriguing. Small cues in the world around us spark vivid memories with senses that recall the smallest detail in about half a second.

But the brain is also easily manipulated, formulating its own sequence of events that often get distorted.

As we recall, I wonder if we have ever thought about this minute distortion and whether the memory has been perfectly archived or not.

Perhaps we will never know… will there always be these multiple faces to a single moment?

HIDE

Walls have ears, Doors have eyes.

Trees have voices, Beasts tell lies.

Beware the rain, Beware the snow, Beware the man you think you know.

SEARCH

Ask, and it shall be given you; Seek, and ye shall find; Knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh.

SHINTY

D: I taught you this game, lad!

J: Aye, ye did.

C: That didn’t look very fair.

J: That’s twice ye caught me napping!

SKIRMISH

“Did it work because of the spell? Or was it just plain stupidity...?”

“Maybe both, who knows...”

TOIL

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

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ACT 4 DOUBLE EDGED

Is it not ironic, that a memory is from the past, but when recalled it is the present and happens once more. Seems self-contradicting if one really thinks about it.

THE ROUND TABLE MINUS KING ARTHUR

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here!

THIS IS THE WAR ROOM!”

CONFESS, SIN, REPEAT

Yeah.

Do you know what they did back in the day? [Exclaim, excitedly] For confessions?

Well, let me tell you. [Giggle, as if you can’t contain yourself] They got the whole town together and they stoned the guy to death [Laugh, struggle to breath, laugh again before continuing] Can you imagine confessing and then they stone you?

[Laugh, hysterically] So, then they had to do something about it and this conversation was recorded in letters.

You might want to look into that. The recording aspect at least.

Did you know I had access to the Vatican Archives... [Wistfully]

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ACT 2 FOLLOW ME

All this while, you have been reading and hearing me, and I have taken you on a journey.

Each image, each line, and each page a portal to a multitude of memories and moments from the distant and ‘near’ past, as well as the present.

Through each you have followed me, and in some way, we have entangled ourselves together through this performance…

PORTALS

“I’ve never met another traveler. Only you. We share a bond...”

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ACT 5 YOU WILL DISAPPEAR HERE

… In this act, I am leaving you to get lost in these coming images as well as those before it.

You can go into the future from this moment and take the living past with you. But you can also go anywhere you want.

Remember that time you just walked into the field of cows and started mooing.

CATTLE

Can you actually feel anything, or sense something.

It just seems like you’re fucking around.

GHOSTS

Perhaps it is unreal, The way time will conceal, The death of a mere seal.

“I didn’t even know it was there, I literally turned around and ran back - ‘Let’s go to Aberdeenshire’.”

DEAD SEAL

“This is like the weirdest thing; you can’t even see anything.

There’s only grass everywhere.”

“They used to be here, at some point… just not anymore.”

SHEEP

“Back then it wasn’t a historical site. And... We used to romp around there.

I didn’t realize till I went there the last time, how massive the drop would’ve been, if we had jumped off the cliffs. Because you know… its precariously perched there on top of craigs of real rocks sticking out to the sea.”

DEATH

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Parti of Memory

Chandni Rana

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Memory is a complex thing, but so is time.

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The bar was dimly lit with no one inside.

A man hunched over his ale, stared out the window and then to the pair behind him. A coy grin spread across his lips. __________ The old man conversed on anything and everything, he knew of the ancients, the arts, music, and philosophy. He was strange to them.

Yet he didn’t think that of the pair.

A traveler meeting fellow travelers; the bar a stop in a vast journey.

He made them smile and laugh, and bought the lovely lady an ale a token of his fondness. But then, the clock struck and he wished them good faith, safe travels, and blessed their future endeavors.

The bar maid spoke sweet words of the old man who would come and have a drink, regardless of rain or shine. When the lady asked of his name, she suddenly looked bewildered.

She hesitated as if emerging from a spell and said she did not know nor remembered him quite well. The pair looked at each other and spoke no words, a silent speech passing between them. They looked back and realized, the old man had left the threshold but neither had seen the man walk in any direction.

It was as if he disappeared, and with him the spell he cast. The old man was a ghost out for a haunt.

A Bonnie Kilt I Once Upon a Time II The Place I Love and Hate III

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A Bonnie Kilt I

“I remember wearing a kilt, walking around, going in the dungeons, and the ghosts in the castle.

Lots of cows, we saw Lochness, and I stood on a barrel!

- Alistair at 6 years old -

JEFFREY

“Can I sit here?”

“No Jeff.”

“Oh of course he can!”

GABALDON “It’s out in the cow fields. It’s close. I can’t really remember, it was 35 years ago... But a lot of the sites are being ruined. These fans are crazy.”

BACTERIA

“Why is the water all weird.”

“There’s a gold mine nearby.”

“Do you think we’ll find some gold?”

PETTY

“It was commissioned by a guy who had to make a castle for his mother-in-law, so he made it far away.

I think you can understand why…”

WEDDING

“The kids were down there shooting things around and said it was like a dungeon.”

SHONA

“I feel like we did, but I can’t really remember.

I’m pretty sure we did...

I had to drive, and it was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road.”

FRIDAY’S

“We set the school on fire...

He called his priest...

And no one took the sugar cookies...”

SWEET SOUNDS

“Is that a record player?

Is that WALL-E? Is that a stapler?”

“No, it’s a …”

Once Upon a Time II

“Oh we had so much fun! Surprisingly the Chinese food at the golf course was the best thing we had all trip. And the scrambled eggs at Broomhall... And the whiskey!”

- James at 26 years old -

TREBUCHET

“Is that a catapult?”

“No, you uncultured imbecile.”

OYSTERS & SEWERS

“Oh I love mussels! Oysters not so much.

Where is the best place you’ve had mussels?!”

“Somewhere near the ocean...”

“Could you be anymore condescending...?”

JAMES III

“That’s how they make Babybel cheese.”

“But that’s Canadian...”

“Doesn’t matter, you still need a cow.”

SUN OR MOON

“Ferry’s canceled.”

“What’s wrong with this country?”

“I usually blame the government, but this one’s the weather.”

BUG, TRUCK, SCREAM

“Hey, how was your day?”

“Oh it was good! Had breakfast, did a tour, and ohhh yeah, my girlfriend got possessed. All good!”

ONCE UPON A TIME

In a land far, far away, Lived a King and Queen, Still talked about today.

PIZZA POSTO

[Curb crumbles underfoot]

“Ohhh, now you’re gonna have to pay for that!

Oy Rupert, the lass broke the curb, tell her she’ll have to pay for it!”

NESSIE

Somewhere in the wind, between the forests and seas; Or perhaps a portal...

MUSSELS

“OH! They have gluten free onion rings here; this is the best day of my life.

Are you enjoying your basic fish and chips?”

TENNENTS “Is this where your grandfather is buried?”

“Yeah.”

“We didn’t bring him flowers...

Should we bring him this orange instead?!”

[Tombstone has an orange on top]

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The Place I Love and Hate III

“It rains a lot, but the buildings are great.”

- Fiona at 55 years old “Oh it’s really nice, you’ll like it! There’s tons to see. Be careful getting out of Glasgow, that’s the hardest part.”

- Jeffrey at 56 years old -

FIONA

35 years later...

“Who let me wear this, I had terrible sense of fashion… what even is this?”

Fiona wore a set of pine green trousers, and a floral top with a navy coat to stay warm.

It was a cloudy day, and a faint mist had started.

While Fiona’s long blond hair began to tangle in the wind, she smiled warmly and continued to gaze at the olive-green staring back at her.

“Aren’t the colours nice? Where should we go first?” Mary asked excitedly.

Alan thought for a second, “How about we see them all? It is a road trip after all! A castle a day? What do you say?”

RIGHT

LEFT

35 years later...

“We were on our honeymoon.

We picked up an old cartoon-y map of these castles and decided to visit one every day....Not that I can remember, nothing really stands out.”

ANGUS

35 years later...

“That was our room in Broomhall, you can see the bed and the table. Wait, maybe that might be the bed … one second…”

“I totally forgot mochas come with chocolate here... But I am going to still drink it, even though I hate it.” James begrudgingly lifted the cup to his lips and turned his head to the side, the smell of chocolate making him wince.

RAIN

35 years later...

“Good, good, okay, good, hah that’s funny. Oh that’s a good poem I like that one.”

When the moon is full, And the haze of the night sky Clouds over the light, Walk to me.

When the wind howls, And the leaves rustle across the grass, Walk to me.

Walk to the edge Where the weeping willow watches.

When you long for me, Long after I am gone, Walk to the weeping willow And you shall find me waiting.

THE STONES THAT TRACKED TIME

35 years later...

“I liked that it wasn’t modernized, you could imagine the history easily. They had also filmed Hamlet there with Mel Gibson, so we came to see those parts as well.”

The smell of fresh bread and tomatoes wafted from the nearby tavern.

Mary forced Alan to stand under the arch, so she could take his picture. All the while, his stomach grumbled and the promise of a hot meal kept him going.

TILL DEATH DO US APART

35 years later...

“This is my favourite place. Did you know you’re not allowed to touch his snout? There’s a law.”

Sitting day by day, Sun or rain outside the church, Greyfriars Bobby.

CRESCENDO

35 years later...

“That is the dead seal, that is the soul of the dead seal encapsulated into a picture.”

We were at Doune, We were at Dunnottar, We were at Duffus.

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