Psychology & Art

penumbra . 23

Figure in Profile ~ Ray Donley

Not all of the culture that once bolstered MantraRay’s sense of self-importance has been lost to circumstances. Works of art remain in almost every inhabited room in the city. Unselfconsciously they play out their lines; lines that, for the most part, have been spoken before, and by better actors than they.
Nevertheless it allows them access to a reality that is less primal than that being suffered by the approaching tide of refugees.
“I keep asking myself why I’m not inclined to head for Carpathia,” John breathes green smoke into the room. “Assuming they’d let me in, that is.”
“And... why haven’t you?”
“Pride maybe”
“Pride? I’ll tell you why you haven’t headed off -” Anna-Marie untangles the plasma tubes that run up her arm. “You’re afraid of what you already know.”
It is most often unnecessary to understand the workings of the mind in order to understand psychology.
“And what do I already know?”
“That you’re a reject, a deadman.” She gifts him a smile, her teeth, beautifully imperfect, fascinate him, “Same as me baby.” she says.
He turns to the window to watch, or feign watching, the latest Leviptron offloading flowers at The Great Station Hall.
“You make everything sound so simple” he says to the night.

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