The Line

Sighing he shifted to his left foot. The line in front of him seemed almost to threaten with its length. This foot was no easier. Every muscle in his back seemed to be protesting, and yet. Yet, it was worth it. Surely it was worth it. He shifted to his right foot.

“Distance is an illusion”

The statement was bold and backed up by a tight smile. The smile said more than the words. It was a don’t mess with me smile. It was an, I will ignore your reply anyway, smile.

He smiled back. “Time is the illusion, surely?” The question was more a statement. The lilt at the end was politeness, embodied in tone. His smile wavered as she removed hers. Wiped from her face, as if some noisome rag had been smoothed over it leaving a cloying residue behind.

“Distance is a consequence of time!” her disgust evident in every part of her body. Without moving she seemed further away. Time slowed. “How can you be so fooled by your senses?” There was an answer in her question. Not very well hidden by her eyes. They would not meet his now. They seemed to be interested in something off to his left. Something even his peripheral vision could not see.

“But, without distance we would not be able to measure time. Surely it is the change in our perspective that determines interval.” He no longer tried to win by smiling. This was his integrity on the line.

“Yes, but you assume distance comes first! Why? WHY? Can you not see beyond your limitations? If time did not exist OUTSIDE of distance, then distance is meaningless” now she grimaced. A twist of features emphasised by a flick of her hair. She seemed eager to rid herself of the conversation altogether. Yet she had started it, he knew his inner moaning fell on infertile ground.

The line moved forward.

“Very well then. Distance is dependent on time. A relative supported by cast off consequence perhaps. But they are co-dependents surely. One without the other is like fish without water, dying breathlessly while gasping for life.”

Her movement was perfunctory. A full stop to his sentence. She was facing away from him now. Her attention fully on being distracted from him.

“Whatever.”