On the Case

What to distinguish him from a corpse this angle? Nothing whatever. In the history of art a figure was never painted from this perspective. Whorled strands thinly covering the baldness; waxy enough and without any suggestion of respiration. Was there a heartbeat? As in the case of a real corpse, difficult to tell whether HDB uncle unable to afford aircon luxuriating in some precious cool shut-eye; or else retiree getting out from under his wife’s and maid’s feet at a more salubrious residence. Without the snoring the Shelf-stacker need not intervene. (Strictly speaking there is no sleeping allowed in the library, offenders tweaked by the ear and duly informed, even the ancients.) Usual crowd in the Basement. Hardly a student, to say nothing of a student of life. Couple of keen graphic readers noses buried.  More than a couple in fact. (Once and for all, to hell with the keen promoters of that art-form. Even the NYRB has joined the ranks!) Sleepers marginally in the majority. One little champ irritated to have his concentration on BATMAN distracted by some junior somebody by the far shelves that he can’t quite make out. Craning his neck with an appropriate look of disdain etched prematurely on his youthful face…. How a grown man allows himself to be decked out in HUSH PUPPIES like that really beats this author all ends up. Really does defy understanding. Does the man have any shred of self-respect? (This same moment within a hall of learning in a parallel world in a galaxy not so distant from our own a man in that same get-up is taken by the shoulders and shaken like a tree for its fruit: My dear friend, please take a look at yourself here in this rock-pool by the entry....) Refreshing in fact to see the lass sharing the couch submerged in ancient Egyptian artwork, Mandarin text. Not pursuing Biz. Fin. to please her parents, for all the straight up-and-down appearance. Might have been AUTHENTIC next in the same colour tone and design as the Puppies sandwichboard. (Cruelly diminished nobodies and ghost apparitions in the concrete jungle here are forced to declare themselves Limited Edition, Authentic and Superman in disguise. Global high numbers per capita massification labels.) Correction: screens of course clearly in the majority; most definitely. No contest, winning hands down. (Facing away from the main row of couches swiveling round needed to check properly.) Picasso and Truth suddenly broke like a thunderbolt from the least likely hands of a Zeus in the row directly ahead. Wow! You would never have picked this fellow, not in a million years. Australian possibly; no brand blue polo. Hair-cut and steel rims signaling mid-range Exec; boating shoes, but not the expensive leather. (Fessing up now, coming clean: you once wanted a pair of those handsome dark tan shoes didn’t you, with the stiff laces that stood up from the tongue? Yes you did. And very nearly bought too.) Nice Try was bought by mum for the tousle-haired young teen looking like a lost sheep in the aisle; or was he allowed to choose from the rack himself, induction into the consumer paradise? Didn’t even notice Creativity and Literary Arts. Plenty of graphics will be found on those shelves in there no doubt, Batman for a cert. How much more creative can you get than Bat & Robin in their cave hideout? Someone on some sort of device had a kind of rubber-duckie timed monitor or alarm hooked up.... Lap-top overheating, implicit apology offered by the fellow owning up immediately. Ear-piece, phone and lap-top. The man had tapped the latter; Indian-Chin best guess. When you have been an observer all your life, set questions and quandaries from early on, this is how you end up.