The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (81 page)

'
Hello? W
ell,
d
o yo
u
w
ant the
a
pple,
o
r n
ot?'
T
aliesin
t
akes
th
e a
pple
a
nd h
olds i
t firml
y,
p
ressing
it
s
h
ardness agai
nst h
is c
hest t
o
s
ee i
f it i
s a
n
a
pparition
.
'
You
're
of
f in
yo
ur o
wn
world
.
Yo
u've
b
een
r
eading o
ne of
yo
ur
fa
ntastic b
ooks
a
gain,'
the gr
ocer says
.
'
I lo
oked a
t th
e s
un for mor
e
th
an
t
en seco
nds,' T
aliesin ex
plains.
'
It's
s
trong, that li
ght. '
'Summ
er is
n't that far off,
'
the W
alrus says,
t
widdling
the
e
nds of hi
s c
urling moustach
e.

'M
y
m
other
i
s g
etting m
arried i
n th
e s
ummer
,'
T
aliesin says
.
'
Not
i
n
a c
hapel, thou
gh.
It
's
in
a
kind
of of
fice
.
S
he's not
go
ing t
o
h
ave a
ny
g
uests.'

Th
e g
rocer
says
n
othing,
h
e
just look
s a
nd tak
es s
tock of th
e
bo
y. Ta
liesin th
inks
h
e is
goin
g
to s
ay s
omething l
ike, '
You h
ave gro
wn,
y
ou know
'.
But if the
g
rocer i
s
thinkin
g
it
,
h
e
k
eeps i
t t
o
h
imself
.

T
aliesin s
queezes th
e
apple
a
nd thanks him f
or
it. Th
e
bla
ck s
un
s
tains in hi
s
he
ad
have disapp
eared
.
E
verything
h
as
a p
erfect
cl
arity aga
in; the outl
ine,
th
e s
ubstance
a
nd th
e c
olour
,
a
ll
v
ividly
ce
rtain. Th
ere
i
s
a
w
hole p
ageant o
f fruit
i
n
fro
nt;
a c
urving
s
ky above
;
det
ailed g
round b
eneath.
The
g
rocer h
as
pin
k
l
ips
,
th
e
ro
ad
is a sm
oky g
rey, th
e a
pple i
s
th
e
r
ight we
ight
i
n h
is
h
and.

THE END