The creation according to Jonah, a radio-play

(You can listen to the text in Dutch  following the English translation)

An explosion.
Jonah does not hear anymore.
Or maybe he hears everything , but has decided not to listen any longer ?
While his “inner–city “ is besieged , he retells the account of the creation, putting the “explosion” at the centre.
People from the outer-world try to conquer his inner-city. They play diflerent roles: a nurse, his mother , the snake in the garden of Eden. Do they really exist? Are they his super-ego?
Birth and death , lie in a direct line continuously.

Is Jonah in the twilight-zone after his death , or just before his birth ?
Childhood memories figure in this new storie of the creation.
Or are they expectations?
The strength of the spoken word is surrounded by a composition of sound and music.
To tell your own story , whatever others may think.
Using the oldest virtual medium called radio. Enjoy.

44’31”

1. SOUNDS PRODUCED IN REVERSE, THUS STARTING FROM SILENCE TO A CHAOS OF CITYNOISES, GETTING FIERCER IN REVERSE TO AN ENORMOUS
CRESCENDO WHICH REMAINS HANGING IN SOl\/IE SORT OF LONG CLOUD,
THEN ABRUPTLY CUT OFF. SEENCE. IN THIS KIND OF INNER BOX , TI-IE
NARRATOR SPEAKS. HE TELLS THE STORY TO HIMSELF , IN HIS HEAD.

NARRATOR
Everything that would ever be created
was already present in god’s thoughts.
Everything.
Yes , indeed . Everything.
Take for instance the phrase “ curved high-angle fire “.

2. EXPLOSIONS OF MORTARS , HOWITZERS.

As soon as he thought about it, mortarfire
changed the marketplace into a blood-bath.

3. EXPLOSION IN SLOW MOTION IN WHICH EARTH AND DEBRIS CRASH CLOSE
TO OUR EARS.

“ The Word became flesh “
so the Bible says.

4. SCREAMING PEOPLE», APPROACHING AMBULANCES , SHORT , VERY
FRAGMENTARY , ALMOST [N JOLTS , OUT OF A DISTANT l\/[EMORY ALMOST
TOO FIERCE , A TRAUMA. SILENCE.

In a flash of a millionth of a second , god created everything that would ever exist.

5. OUT OF THE SILENCE GROWS A CRESCENDO OF SOUNDS IN THE RIGHT
ORDER: FAST BUT RECOGNISABLE , SEA , INSECTS , BIRDS , A COCK , A SHEEP ,
A COW , AN ORGAN , A RITUAL DANCE.

From the end of time , he then
rolled up everything
~ in reverse order –
until he came to the first fluffy thread :
the spinning out of nothing.

6. THE FORMER PIECE OF SOUND , NOW IN REVERSE , FROM FIERCE TO
SILENCE.

This story was also part of it
( as were the nine lives of all cats ).

The dead ran to the bellies
of their mothers,
until all forefathers and mothers
could shelter in Eve’s belly
and Eve became part of Adam’s rib
and Adam turned into silt
in the ancient sea above which god’s spirit would float.
SILENCE NOW.
THE FIRST TWO SENTENCES IN AN EMPTY SPACE.

All this
lay waiting for creation in the emptiness.

That is how it went.

In the beginning there was everything.

God thought of rolling out creation
like a red carpet onto which people
could walk into time , arm in arm.

But god’s alter ego , Lucifer,
loved pandemonium.
Out of the first tiny thread he made a fuse.
With a sparkle of his name
he took care of the big bang.

7. A GIGANTIC EXPLOSION THAT REVERBERATES FOR A VERY LONG TIME
8. IN THIS , IN A VERY NATURAL STYLE , ALMOST AS A DOCUMENTARY
DRAMA . IN THE FOREGROUND , NOISES OF OTHER PEOPLE , SOME OF THEM
SHOUTING IN THE DISTANCE , OTHERS YELLING.

MAN
One could say that he did not ‘want “to hear any longer. Also
he did not speak . His lips did move though , but then again it seemed
as if he was talking to himself, as if far away from us , he said something
to himself. Look , he is smiling.

Sometimes he writes some letters on a piece of paper.
This he wrote yesterday . In capitals.
GARDEN. Maybe he wanted to sit in his garden.

9. AGAIN WE ARE IN THE INNER SPACE OF THE NARRATOR FROM WHERE WE
HEAR THE MAN TALKING AS IF FROM FAR AWAY . POSSIBLY WE HEAR BOTH
OF THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR A MOMENT.

NARRATOR
Sometimes he writes a few letters on a piece of paper.
This he wrote yesterday. In capitals.
G .A. R. D. E. N . Garden.

10. CD MUSIC INSULAE FEMINARUM: 3 WAVES CLEARLY COME INTO VIEW. IN
BETWEEN EVERY WAVE , THE NARRATOR SAYS – OFTEN IRONICALLY – IN HIS
INNER SPACE

NARRATOR
Only now can I hear you.

FAR AWAY A HEARTBEAT IS HEARD.
MUSIC

NARRATOR
Nine months in your aquarium.

11. UNDER THIS THE HEARTBEAT HAS BECOME LOUDER AND LOUDER AS THE
MOMENT OF BIRTH APPROACHES.

12. THE BIRTHCRY COINCIDES WITH THE LAUNCHING. AFTER THE MUSIC :

NARRATOR
The big bang of my birth.

13. SOFTLY DURING THE LAST WAVES.

NARRATOR

Lying on her belly.
On the peel of my galaxy,
I knew I could never return.
My anger.
My nostalgia.
My abandomnent.

14. CRYING OF THE NEW-BORN BABY IN CENTRAL IMAGE, CONTINUES FOR A
WHILE , BECOMES RHYTHMICAL , ALMOST HOUSE MUSIC. THEN FADING ,
ECHOING FAR OFF. BREATHING CLOSE BY.

15. BREATHING IN FOREGROUND AND CROSSFADES INTO A QUITE SEA.

16. IN THIS SEA ONE CAN HEAR A VOICE, A WOMAN CALLS OUT TO THE
NARRATOR BUT SOUNDS AS IF FROM BEHIND A SOUNDPROOF SHIELD.

WOMAN
Mr. Jonah , you’ll catch cold. The evenings are still far too chilly for you
to sit outside in nothing more than a shirt. ( etc.)

16B. THE VOICE SOUNDS FURTHER AWAY AND LOSES ITSELF IN A SMALL DOT
THAT IS ONLY SOME SORT OF TUNE THAT FINALLY FADES OUT COMPLETELY.

NARRATOR

Actually , the earth was god’s ear.
God screwed creation by lending it an ear.
That ear was the earth.
According to good nuns the stars
were god’s eyes,
But nothing is less true.
The stars are god’s acne. God’s pimples.
The stars still date from the time when god
was an adolescent.
The rhythm of the stars is clearly recognisable.

17. PURE HOUSE-BEAT VIBRATES ALONG.
Whoever listens to the pulsars , will hear god monkeying around.

BEAT IN FOREGROUND..

l8. OUT OF THIS RHYTHM APPEARS THE VOICE OF A MAN OR A WOMAN, FIRST
A DOT THEN MORE AND MORE AUDIBLE , BUT NEVER CLOSE.

WOMAN
Come , you can watch the stars from your room. The night will be
clear. Do you realize , Mr Jonah , that the stars are actually god’s eyes ?
Yes , he can follow everything that happens on earth. He even sees the
silly way you are shaking your head right now. He thinks what on earth
is that deaf Mr. Jonah shaking his head about! Perhaps you want to
shake the plugs out of your ears ? Do you want me to shake along with
you ?

MUSIC STOPS

NARRATOR
Can you hear this music too ?

THE VOICE OF THE WOMAN STILL SOUNDS FAR AWAY. THE MUSIC STARTS
AGAIN.

WOMAN
But Mr. Jonah , you  you spoke. Say it again ? Say it again ? I’ll do my
best to understand you. Come on , be brave. You are really making
progress. I told them so. Doctor , I said . Mr. Jonah understands
everything that is being said. He does not want to hear us , that ‘s what I
said. But the day will come ,doctor , I said , the day will come when he
wants to be born again and…

19. THE MUSIC SUDDENLY STOPS. ALL KINDS OF DOORS ARE CLOSED SO THE
WOMAN’S SENTENCES BECOME INAUDIBLE AND ULTIMATELY DISAPPEAR.
SILENCE.

NARRATOR
( very agitated , a whispered psalm)

God can close his ears.
Just the way I can close my eyes , so god
can close his ears.
He shuts thousands of doors until he hears nothing more.
He ‘s become too old , you see .
He cannot stand it anymore , you see..
First that horrible big bang
and then the calling out for him.
Shut up , says God . Shut the fuck up .

20. SOME BITS OF RELIGIOUS MUSIC: PSALM , MANTRA , INDONESIAN
APEDANCE I A WAVE OF PRAYERS AS IT WERE.

Enough of this crap , sort it out yourselves.
Yes , I created you in my own image.
You should know then that you are all ears.

20B. ANOTHER WAVE OF PRAYERS , MIX.

I gave you a mouth to breathe and kiss , not to wail.
Or are you hard of hearing ?

20C. A FINAL WAVE OF PRAYERS.

Stop hurting yourselves , Be productive.
Put your ear to rest on the body of your beloved.

In this way god might continue for another hour.
He was really furious.
Those prayers and songs , OK , it was well meant
but that wailing , that rattling,
that continuous imitation of the big bang
that childish pang- pang – pang and boom- boom -boom
even in the combustion engines in million’s of cars.
even in the harsh words , just you wait and I’ll get even
and who do you think you are
you son of a bitch , faggot , whore , dirty Jew !

You turned my ear into a sewer , said god.
I lent you my ear , well give it back now.
The ear of god is closed.
The ear of god is closed.
The ear of god is closed.

21. DOORS SLAM SHUT UNTIL THE LAST SENTENCE HAS DISAPPEARED
COMPLETELY.

22. FAR AWAY IN THE SOUNDIMAGE A DOOR OPENS UP AND THE WOMAN
SAYS THROUGH THE THICK WALL OF INACCESSIBILITY .

WOMAN
Mr. Jonah are you still staring through the window ? It is past midnight.

NARRATOR
He also closed my ears.

WOMAN
Do you want to say something ? Are you in pain ?

NARRATOR
I did not survive my birth.

WOMAN
I see your lips move , but I do not hear you. Come on , get undressed.
Yes , it is a clear night . Millions of stars.

23. ONE HEARS HOUSE MUSIC.

NARRATOR
Before the big bang when God was still a boy

MUSIC

The lack of creation roared in his ears .

MUSIC

This is going be something , god thought. This is going to be
something.

MUSIC

He could hardly wait. He started creating and creating and

MUSIC

The universe jumped out of his eyes.

A LONG BOOMING SOUND AND IN THIS

No , not a universe as dark and obscure as it is now , but a mountain of
light , what am I saying , a fountain , an orgasm of colour and taste.

THE MUSIC RESUMES

No , not colours meant for the eyes nor taste for the tongue
but pure rhythm and sound,
music of the spheres , ladies and gentlemen.

A LONG BOOMING SOUND AND IN THIS

In the end , man was made out of sand and not out of clay – that is a
later version that we invented ourselves – out of sand , white sand , and
what is made out of white sand after a fierce heating ?
Indeed . Glass . Glass . Glassssssss.

25. THE WHOLE SOUND PATCHWORK RESULTS IN A BEAUTIFUL SUITE FOR
GLASSHARMONICA . (MOZART )

Adam was a man of glass.

Adam was a man of glass.
as transparent as sand can be.

I admit. It was in a boy’s dream .

26. GLASSMUSIC REMAINS HANGING

WOMAN
Have a good night’s sleep Mr. Jonah. Do you want me to switch off the
light?

26B. SILENCE.

27. IN THE SILENCE WE HEAR SOFT AND REGULAR BREATHING; THIS
BREATHING TURNS INTO A SURF ON WHICH THE NARRATOR SOFTLY
WHISTLES , THEN

NARRATOR
As a child , I used to whistle myself to sleep.

WHISTLES SOME MORE THEN CROSSING TO SURF , THEN BELOW WATER

I wanted to hear myself as long as possible.
It was a waming for kidnappers. ( whistles) Watch out , even as this
person is lying in bed , he remains watchful. (whistles ).

If this did not help , I let myself sink. Twenty thousand leagues under the
sea.

THE UNDERWATERSOUND IS VERY PRESENT NOW.

This was my glass world.

28. SONARSIGNALS ARE HEARD.

Atlantis.
Glass houses , that – as I grew older – , took on the colour
of lead.
Glass gardens that darkened with the years.

29. THE WATER GLIDES INTO A FIERCE GAMEE OF HIDE AND SEEK OF
CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE WOODS , UNTIL “ PETER , YOU’RE DEAD “.

CHILDREN
(recording of children playing hide and seek)

-Here , 1 , 2 , 3 You’re dead ! l , 2 , 3 You’re dead!
-I saw you ! Sit down , do not show yourself!
-I do not know the new one.
-I ‘ve found another one.
-That new one , what’s his name ? Peter!
-Peter , you’re dead!

NARRATOR
Afier each visit to Atlantis , the cries grew more and more scanty
Words got stuck
in the bald branches of forgetfulness.
Did I have to fill them in myself.
Did I have to melt down their leaden bodies
until I could blow glass again –
cracked maybe, but still transparent –
till the day would come that of all this playing around
I could only write down the inventory:
2 children. Summer. Pines. Hide.
Stay where you are and do not peep ! Peter , you’re dead!

A SHORT REPETITION OF THE FINAL FRAGMENT OF CHILDREN PLAYING.
GIGANTIC EXPLOSION WITH CLUMPS OF SAND THAT FLY UP.
30. IN THE SILENCE THAT ARISES , WE HEAR THE NARRATOR WHISTLING
ONCE AGAIN.

NARRATOR
If I could turn the film back now.
Thousand pieces of Peter would
become a boy again.

31. EXPLOSION IN REVERSE , ALSO THE LAST WORDS I “ PETER , YOU’RE
DEAD“ , THEN CUT OFF.

NARRATOR
In a flash of a millionth of a second god
created everything that would ever exist.

32. THE CHILDREN BECOME AUDIBLE AGAIN UP TILL I “ PETER , YOU’RE
DEAD“. THEN IT REMAINS SILENT. A PIECE OF GLASSHARMONICA.

NARRATOR
God shook his timeless head.
He wrote in the sand : lads , he wrote , you are
made of glass.
At least , you were meant to be.

32B. ONE HEARS AN AEROPLANE.

I wet my divine fingers and try to make audiblemy
melody out of you.
But I am still at the first note, childhood as it were
and you’re at it again.

33. AEROPLANE IN SLOW-MOTION WAVE THROUGH THE SCREEN.

And what do you say then ?
“ For god’s sake “ , how is this possible , that ‘s what you say.
“ For god’s sake “ , how is it possible that god allows such a thing.
But what do you expect ?
That I hold you by the hand?
That I shoot my lightning bolts through your trigger-happy bodies?
That I turn back time after every war?
That I melt the sand with all that boy’s flesh back into glasspaste again
and that for the hundred millionth time I start blowing
a glass man?
Hey , it’s my seventh day . And what did god do on
the seventh day ? Right , on the seventh day god rested. Toodeloo.

34. ALL KINDS OF DOORS SLAM SHUT AND A DEEP BREATHING COMES TO THE
FOREGROUND.

MAN
Did he take a sleeping pill?

WOMAN
No. But it was past midnight when I took him to his room.

MAN
His sleep is very deep. Like a baby’s.

WOMAN
That’s it. He awaits his birth.

MAN
He’d better stay here.

WOMAN
When he’s awake, his lips move all the time.

MAN
He talks to himself.

WOMAN
He can hear us, but he doesn’t listen.

MAN
Does he still write?

WOMAN
Sometimes he draws.

35. AT THIS POINT ONE HEARS THE UNDERWATERWORLD AGAIN, ALSO
SONARSIGNALS COME INTO THE SOUNDIMAGE AND INCREASE AS THE
DIALOGUE UNFOLDS

MAN
So? And …?

WOMAN
Look, doesn’t this remind you of a submarine?

MAN
Yes , it does.

WOMAN
He submerged. He’ll never want to come back.
MAN
There must be an entrance somewhere.

WOMAN
He sends signals , but we cannot decode them.

36. THE UNDERWATERWORLD BECOMES STRONGER AND THE VOICES OF THE
MAN AND WOMAN SOUND FURTHER AWAY, BECOME SCRAMBLED SPEECH
AFTER SOME TIME , UNTIL THEY GLIDE INTO THE MAN ’S DREAM.

MAN
I did not know that the walls would be this high…

WOMAN
He smiles a lot.

MAN
He ‘s retreated into his inner city.

WOMAN
We could stop the siege.

MAN
But how did he react when you played the role of nurse?

WOMAN
I heard him speak for the first time.
Unintelligible , but he spoke.

MAN
So he reacts to our stimuli.

WOMAN
Do you want me to play another role?

MAN
Try being his mother.

NOW WE ARE TOTALLY UNDER WATER. THE SIGNALS ARE CLEARLY AUDIBLE
WHILE THE VOICES HAVE DISAPPEARED.

37. THE SONAR TURNS INTO DROPLETS THAT SLOWLY FALL IN A PUDDLE.

NARRATOR

Plink.
Plonk

This is the watery ballad of Turnhout city.

Pang
Plonk.

In the dried out swamps of Taxandria lay
Tumhout city.

Pong .
Plink.

All the nations of Europe have marched through it.
Now the Dutch have colonised it.
Shops like Blokker, V & D , C & A , P & C.

I was a kid there before their arrival.
The wet summers
with the hundreds of kids in the holiday camps.

38. THE DRIPPING INTENSIFIES, SOUNDS AS IF WE ARE IN A CAVE.

I , the storyteller.
No chip remained of the desolate town.

Together with the last child gangs we went on a crusade, just ad
television began emptying the streets.

39. SMALL BELLS ARE HEARD , MUSIC FROM THE LAUDAE , THE NARRATOR’S
VOICE SOUNDS AS IF HE IS IN A CHURCH.

The wooden angels in St Peter’s spoke of far away flights.
I saw them move.
Under the pulpit the life-size Christ really walked over the wooden
water while the apostles, after centuries of waiting, finally hauled in
their nets .
I sat with them while they distributed the miraculous catch of fish.
We made a fire and talked a mixture of Turnhout dialect and Aramaic.
Jesus’ and Mary Magdalen’s bastard , that was me.
While captain Nemo sat at the organ , we made trips twenty thousand
leagues under the sea for the time of high-mass.

40. TOCCATA FOR ORGAN NR 18 ( FAST VERSION) UNTIL 49” MIX WITH
BREAKING STONES AND WAVES, SO WE GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE
CHURCH REALLY SUBMERGES.

41. IN THE FOLLOWING TEXT WE HEAR SNORTING HORSES WITH THE FAST
MUSIC, FIRST SOME AUDIIBLE HOOVES IN AN EMPTY SPACE, THEN BEATING
OF WINGS. ORGAN.

Once we came to the surface , the merry-go-round horses galloped into
the church. Come on men , I shouted . Into the saddle!

My streetgang rose high above the angry crowd until we emerged
trough the louver-holes into the air.

42. IN THE ECHO 1 THE NEXT SCENE.

43. INTERIOR. ROOM. NOW AND THEN SHE SOUNDS LOUD AND CLEAR, THEN
AGAIN FAR AWAY.

WOMAN
And look here what I have made for my little Jonah ?
Fresh fruit-juice. A soft-boiled egg and two crispy toasts. Or does my
little boy prefer to take his breakfast outside?

NARRATOR
Has it not yet occurred to you that god is a trickster, an impostor?
WOMAN
It is a beautiful day. Shall I open the window?

NARRATOR
It sounds disrespectful , but it is the truth. I have been deceived.

WOMAN
Is my sweetheart feeling better? Listen ,the garden is filll of
blackbirds. Come and sit here at the table near the open window.

NARRATOR
In a millionth of a second he had created everything. paradise and
therein god’s ear , the earth and the glass people that would caress his
eardrum with pure sounds.

WOMAN
And what shall we do today? Take a walk ? Watch out, that is a…

44. GLASS FALLS TO PIECES,LOUDLY IN FOREGROUND.

But my darling little Jones. What are you thinking of?

NARRATOR
Then , carefully, he rolled up everything, beginning with the end of time
up until the light and darkness…

WOMAN
Mummy will clean this up right away.Stay there. Do not walk around.
There are glass splinters all over the floor. Be a good little boy now
and eat your egg.

NARRATOR
And then he gives his alter ego a free hand. Lucifer.
Bang. Boom.
All the glass people still to be born , splintered.
Only their eyes were spared.
And in the front row Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden , without a
single tiny crack. As if nothing had happened.

Do you get his problem ?
As transparent as THEY were , as splintered their offspring would be.

WOMAN
…oh , now that is a good boy . You’ll soon grow into a big, strong
boy. Now lift your feet up.

NARRATOR
Questions force themselves on me.
Why did god give his alter ego a free hand ?

What was he supposed to do with those two glass people without a
future?
How was he to justify his secret longing for pandemonium ?

WOMAN
That’s right . Now put your feet back on the ground, Jones dear. Do
you want mummy to leave you alone ‘? Or do you want to take a nap
and do you want mummy to sing you a lullaby?

45.SHE SINGS A LULLABY. SOME DOORS SLAM SHUT. SILENCE.

NARRATOR

God’s wrath , his decision to close his ear , do you understand it now ?
It wasn’t that divine , now was it?

God’s seventh day , that so called well-deserved rest? That wasn’t so
divine,now was it?

And the script that he invented later? That wasn’t so divine either, now
was it? Listen. It all started so beautifully.

The garden of Eden in the East.

46. WE HEAR THE RUNNING OF A RIVER , THE BLOWING OF A SOFT WIND.

Out of the garden’s soil, god let several splendid trees shoot up ,
carrying delicious fruit.
And there rose a river that irrigated the garden.

And now we’ll have it.

Between all those cherry-trees and mango-bushes, between the apple-
trees an coco-nut palms , between the chestnut-trees and banana-plants ,
god put the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And unto this very first glass man, Adam, he said : You may eat the
fruit of all the trees, but that of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
you shall not touch.

Mind you , god spoke in “you“. The somewhat more archaic “thou” he
kept for later.

47. AS THE STORY UNFOLDS , A STAGE SET OF ANIMALS COMES TO LIFE.

And it is not good that you walk here alone, said god.
I’1l give you a help-mate fitting for you.
And out of the same glasspaste he blew paradise’s animals.
Go on, give them names, said god.
And Adam gave them names. That animal over there is a …horse, and
that four-legged creature here, I call um… a cow. These here are…
chickens, yes. There, in the branches of the atlascedar, sit …mag-pies
and, – let‘s see now – um blackbirds.

48. ROARING OF LIONS.

Yes , yes , a bit of patience please. You see that little bird with the red
breast over there. That is a robin redbreast.

48B. FIERCE ROARING.

Oh , please ! Your turn will come.

49. TRUMPETING OF ELEPHANTS.

And you, what if I called you …um…pigs. No. Wait. I know
something funnier. Elephants. Yes ,that ‘s it. You will be elephants.

50. ROARING OF LIONS , VERY CLOSE.

OK OK
Now you. Em….lions. You ‘ll be called lions. One lion, two lions.

51. THROUGH ALL THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE : THE BLEATING OF A LAMB.

Of course, how could I forget you, you’re the little lamb. Come and lie
down with this lion.

52. WATER ANIMALS, PARADISE IN SHORT ,A WAVE OF THE INSULA
FEMINARUM CROSSES INTO THE QUIET BREATHING OF THE NARRATOR .

53. SURROUNDINGS IN WHICH WE HEAR AN OMINOUS TONE , THE EXISTENCE 
OF TIME. THEN VOICES IN A CLOSED SPACE.

MAN

Look , the film of someone’s lifetime gives him or her the chance
to wipe out what is past, to be ready for the next time around…

WOMAN

He doesn’t want to.

MAN

HE has nothing to want . We want.

WOMAN

He not only has trouble with the “wiping out ” , he also resists our
 mythology.

MAN

There is enough choice.

WOMAN

He wants to break away from the ancient stories.

MAN

He is not Jesus, nor Buddha.

WOMAN

He wants to be the architect of his own inner-city.

MAN

To pluck the apple so to speak and then be unhappy when he is exiled
 from paradise.

WOMAN

Well , he is one of the “off” their mind people.

MAN

Autism or schizophrenia ?

WOMAN

You get me wrong. The truly delusioned ones , I mean. People with a
 highly developed sense of illusion.

MAN

You think I’m scared ?

WOMAN

Scared ?

MAN

…because he comes uncomfortably close to our neighbourhood.

WOMAN

Right. After all , he isn’t god , right ?
54. A LONG SOUNDWAVE , ALREADY INITIATING IN THE FORMER SCENE,
 GROWS INTO AN IDYLLIC LANDSCAPE.

NARRATOR

He found it was glorious to name the animals.

I am talking about “he” but in fact the first glass person was as much
a she as a he.
All he had to do was look for his reflection in a clear pool to find a 
mate.

Big ones and little ones were not foreseen because time wasn’ t running 
yet.

And that Eve was part of Adam’s rib , well, that came afterwards ,from
a male era.

55. THE RIVER IS HEARD [N THE DISTANCE. NIGHTSOUNDS.

Adam – what’s in a name – the first glass person – looked into a bend of
 the big river that irrigated the garden on a moonlit night and then he had 
only to stretch out his hand to pull unto the land his mate , who was
 just as much a he and a she as he or she was.

Mind you , he wasn’t a duplicate , although they were very similar. They
 were each other’s mirror- image.
What was right for one , the other called left and vice versa.
Thus depth came into being.
The coming together of left and right in a timeless perspective.

56. A WAVE OF HOUSE MUSIC BEATS , FOR A MOMENT ONLY.
It seemed as if god’s boyish dreams had come true.

SOME MORE MUSIC , THEN SUDDENLY CUT OFF.

The phrase “ boyish dreams “ comes from fractured time. I’m sorry.
 Boyish and girlish dreams , to keep the peace.

SOME MORE MUSIC AND THEN IT STOPS.

57. THE MAN ‘S VOICE THROUGH A MEGAPHONE.

MAN

If you are listening now , I promise you the life of a prince. What do you
 say ‘?
NARRATOR
Just imagine. The prototype of god’s creation , the demo of his
prehistoric plans, the original of his dreams avant la lettre , the
watermark of his divine spirit .

MAN

If you’re not interested in wealth , you might found a new world
religion.

NARRATOR

Just imagine. The etemal reflection of his beauty. And in that scenery in 
which the lamb and the lion are each other’s mate , in which the 
masculine and the feminine don’t even have a name because they are 
made of mere light.

MAN

Or do you fancy a scientific career ? Or an artistic one ? Listen to me
 and take your pick.

NARRATOR

In which big ones and little ones cancel each other out as left and
 right. In which the garden of Eden was still called the garden of the 
Here and Now. One instant . Hic et nunc.

MAN

Or can I ofi‘er you the power over all nations ? A kingdom of a thousand
 years ?

NARRATOR

And because everything was already there at the beginning , god knew
 what was soon to come. The time of fracturing. The work of his alter
ego who would keep the fire of Auschwitz burning – to give you but one
 example that suddenly pops to mind.

MAN

Or do you want sanctity, or the strength for topsports , or a body for a
 thousand pleasures?
 Open the gates of the city and the choice is yours .

NARRATOR
And instead of pleading guilty , he placed the responsibility on the 
glass shoulders of the first human couple. The snake in service comes
 along.
 Hand over the megaphone !

58. NOW HIS VOICE ASSUMES A HISSING SOUND THROUGH THE MEGAPHONE 
WHEN HE PLAYS THE SNAKE AND IS NORMAL WHEN HE IS THE OTHER VOICE.

So much divinity allows you to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil , ‘now doesn’ t it ?

– Who are you ?


You named me yourself .

– That wasn’ t me , that was my mirror-image.
- Yes that was me. You are a snake . Because you speak with an S
 and your sting gives an ache , so 1 S & ache – snake.

Come , pluck an apple or a mango.

– The tree gives us shadow. When you climb its branches , you can see
 the river.

With this kind of poetry , your god tries to keep a tight hand over 
you , believe me.

– Why would he ?

Because you do not even know right from wrong . Now do you ?

– Right and wrong . True enough , we’ve never heard the like.
You ?

Voila . One bite of his fruit and you know. Then you are god’s
 equal.

But we are now. We were created in his own image.

I mean you will not remain a copy , but turn into a mirror-image
 the way you are mirror-images of yourselves.

– But it is forbidden .

That’s just one of his jokes, a surprise. Surprise, surprise ! If you
 weren’t be allowed to eat from it , he would just have skipped
 creating it , don’t you think ?

– Well , I suppose so .
And shit , it was too late . They fell into the trap as foreseen.
A true Fall.

59. AN ENORMOUS SERIES OF SOUNDS OF SHATTERING GLASS UNTIL 
EVERYTHING HAS FALLEN APART INTO SMALL SPLINTERS.

60. A DARK WAVE WITH OSCILLATING TONES IS HEARD. IN THE SOUNDIMAGE 
THE WOMAN IS PRESENT IN DIFFERENT PLACES.

NARRATOR

Now left was positively left and right irrevocably right.

WOMAN

We can send you into time with a not so appreciated sexual preference ,
if you prefer.

NARRATOR

The masculine was desperately looking for its feminine complement and 
vice versa. Ridiculous mating rituals were recommended as the climax of
 beauty and love.

WOMAN

A long stay in gaol or on a psychiatric ward is also one of the
 possibilities.

NARRATOR

For god’s sake , the eternal , his creatures murdered one another.

WOMAN

To be hungry for a lifetime, to be a slave , the victim of exquisite 
executioners ?

NARRATOR

Their white dreams about innocence , their praising to the skies of one’s
childhood, the misty longing for the transparent.

WOMAN

Endowed with spasms of slowly creeping diseases, well camouflaged
 poverty or as mother’s darling with the future of a serial killer.

NARRATOR

Their blind faith in leaders , their foolish hope for better times , their
 frightened love according to the books , their well played repentance.

61. NOW THE MAN SPEAKS VERY OPENLY , DIRECT , WISPERING , AGITATED

NARRATOR

Once upon a time there was a man. 
A boy who had taken the shape of a man 
but who – underneath his skin – had remained a boy.

A story-teller.
A delusional one. 
A dreamer.

All the ancient stories he chopped to firewood
 to warm his fractured soul.

Orphan. ( pray for us. )
Leaderless . ( pray for us.)
Unbelieving and hopeless . ( pray for us. )
Endlessly in love. ( pray for us.)
Without repentance. ( pray for us.)

A head too big and filled with stories
 as only luggage.

62. AN ENORMOUS EXPLOSION, SAND INTO OUR EARS. SILENCE. DURING THE
 FOLLOWING TEXT , WE START HEARING A HEARTBEAT.

WOMAN

We dangled his wretched youth in Tumhout-city before his eyes.

MAN

We promised him the earth.

NARRATOR

Only now can I hear you.

WOMAN

Impressed him with all kinds of disasters.

MAN

It was to no avail.

NARRATOR

Nine months in your aquarium.

MAN

We try to appease him with grants. Now and then a prize given by the 
establishment will put him out of the running.

WOMAN

No one will listen to him.

NARRATOR

The big bang of my birth.
63. THE CHILD WEEPS , FADING IN THE DISTANCE. SILENCE. THEN WE HEAR
 THE WATER OF THE SEA AND THERE IN

NARRATOR

When god had separated the water from the land , he thought:, it’s 
time to take a swim.
He knew that soon the waves would be populated with jelly-fish and
 sharks.

He knew that its beaches would be filled with people sunbathing.
 That giant tankers would leave their sludge in it.
That submarines would hide in it.
 That ships would find their grave in it.
 That in it ,wales with prophets in their bellies would set course to post-
modem cities.

He let the water run over his divine toes and walked upon the water into the sea.

64. THE WATER LOUDLY IN THE FOREGROUND AND THEN IN THE DISTANCE ,
A VOICE

WOMAN

Jonah ! Jonah , stay with granddad !

65. THE WAVES ARE DROWNED BY THE LAST WAVE OF THE INSULAE.

Translation : Dirk Van Vaerenbergh