Safe Cracker
Once upon a time there was an elephant in the room.
The elephant was an excellent safe-cracker. We never discussed that he was an elephant. Often we talked of how he was a tree, or a snake, or a wall. Even that he was a safe-cracker... but never an elephant. Such is the nature of the obvious. And we became excited at our cleverness of always speaking of the creature, but never stating explicitly what he was. This was the essence of our game and we both loved it.
And when we needed a safe opened, the elephant always delivered. He was that good. One day, he opened a vault and in it we found the most delicious perfume. Its scent was glorious. Just a single puff was enough to put our minds in a different world, become different people living different paths. Lives of wonder and passion devoid of the inhibitions of our own reality. This faint floating essence would last for days and we reveled in it. But like any dream, it always ended too soon and before we were ready.
Sensing our frustration, our safe-cracking pachyderm would sing like Barbara Streisand... “you never bring me flowers anymoooooooorrrreee...” and bake us lemon cakes that tasted of fresh lemons from southern Spain. When we would eat the lemon cake, we would fall into a deep stupor that was just as liberating and invigorating as that gossamer touch of the perfume, but lasting much longer and deeper.
So we spent our days doused in stolen scents and ordering tastes of lemon.
But real life never stops. Even when we can run away in our imagination. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Life ain’t lemon cake…