1. |
Lirazel
06:14
|
|||
2. |
Samaris
03:45
|
|||
3. |
Hlāford
06:01
|
|||
4. |
Helvetios
04:54
|
|||
‘The Star’ by Alasdair Gray
A star had fallen beyond the horizon, in Canada
perhaps. (He had an auntin Canada.) The second
was nearer, just beyond the iron works, so he
was not surprised when the third fell into the backyard.
A flash of gold light lit the walls of the enclosing
tenements and he heard a low musical chord. The
light turned deep red and went out, and he knew
that somewhere below a star was cooling in the night
air. Turning from the window he saw that no-one else
had noticed. At the table his father, thoughtfully frowning,
filled in a football coupon, his mother continued ironing
under the pulley with its row of underwear. He
said in a small voice, “A’m gawn out.”
His mother said, “See you’re no’ long then.”
He slipped through the lobby and onto the
stairhead, banging the door after him.
The stairs were cold and coldly lit at each landing
by a weak electric bulb. He hurried down three
flights to the black silent yard and began hunting
backward and forward, combing with his fingers
the lank grass round the base of the clothes-pole.
He found it in the midden on a decayed cabbage
leaf. It was smooth and round, the size of a glass
marble, and it shone with a light which made it
seem to rest on a precious bit of green and yellow
velvet. He picked it up. It was warm and filled his
cupped palm with a ruby glow. He put it in his
pocket and went back upstairs.
That night in bed he had a closer look. He slept
with his brother who was not easily wakened.
Wriggling carefully far down under the sheets, he
opened his palm and gazed. The star shone white
and blue, making the space around him like a cave
in an iceberg. He brought it close to his eye. In its
depth was the pattern of a snow-flake, the
grandest thing he has ever seen. He looked
through the flake’s crystal lattice into an ocean of
glittering blue-black waves under a sky full of
huge galaxies. He heard a remote lulling sound
like the sound in a sea-shell, and fell asleep with
the star safely clenched in his hand.
He enjoyed it for nearly two weeks, gazing at it
each night below the sheets, sometimes seeing the
snow-flake, sometimes a flower, jewel, moon or
landscape. At first he kept it hidden during the
day but soon took to carrying it about with him;
the smooth rounded gentle warmth in his pocket
gave comfort when he felt insulted or neglected.
At school one afternoon he decided to take a quick
look. He was at the back of the classroom in a desk
by himself. The teacher was among the boys at the
front row and all heads were bowed over books.
Quickly he brought out the star and looked. It
contained an aloof eye with a cool green pupil
which dimmed and trembled as if seen through
water.
“What have you there, Cameron?”
He shuddered and shut his hand.
“Marbles are for the playground, not for the
classroom. You’d better give it to me.”
“I cannae, sir.”
“I don’t tolerate disobedience, Cameron. Give me
that thing.”
The boy saw the teacher’s face above him, the
mouth opening and shutting under a clipped
moustache. Suddenly he knew what to do and put
the star in his mouth and swallowed. As the
warmth sank toward his heart he felt relaxed and
at ease. The teacher’s face moved into the distance.
Teacher, classroom, world receded like a rocket
into a warm, easy blackness leaving behind a trail
of glorious stars, and he was one of them.
|
||||
5. |
Exordium
04:54
|
|||
6. |
Liquorice
06:53
|
Streaming and Download help
LAN Formatique recommends:
If you like LAN Formatique, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp