Link insisted he had a treat for us today, and I had to agree with his verdict. We got to visit the stock room. Somewhere I walk past every day, and dream of going inside.
A whole world hides behind the blue door past the tanks. Cans of cherry ice. Crates of packets of dried seaweed. Sugared fruits and sesame mochi in tubs up to the ceiling, all in a room colder than a cave.
The far wall was fascinating. Flies in one half, ants in their other. All either moving around their tiny warrens, or buzzing behind pink glass. Hundreds of tiny electrical signals powering the whole complex. Mum says they used to be pests when she was very young. Blows my mind. Like ripping out your lights because you do not like the colour of the shade.
Link stood in front of us, blocking the treats inside.
‘Now, I trust you not to steal anything Venus, so seems fair enough we get you on stocking the machines,’ Link said. ‘But be warned. A few years ago one of our temps decided to pilfer two full bags of seaweed. They forgot to account for the resident of 2093 and their seaweed loving claws. Fours hours to get down.’
He took off a key tied to a string around his neck, and placed it around mine like a medial.
‘One key mind. We lose that, and we have to ask Mr Chamson directly for a replacement. I hope you understand what that means. That said…I think we can have one treat.’
He held out his arm with his palm open, and I think he felt like a circus ringmaster.
No issues over what to pick of course. Straight for the pint cans of cherry ice. The can went from lukewarm to glorious frozen within seconds of cracking open the tab.
Link hoisted himself onto a crate of tinned soy, and opened a peach mochi with an almost professional level of joy. We watched Deni tear at a packet of seaweed. They pushed the pieces against their mouth, which broke and crumbled into a confetti of green sludge.
‘Deni, why are you eating this if you can't actually eat?’ Link said. Not sure if this is how I would have phrased it.
'You said...I could have... something to eat.' Said Deni . 'i thought...I had better not…’
A long pause. I thought they might have stopped talking.
‘Miss out.'
I had to cover my laugh.
Link might have continued to challenge her had one of the pink seals from 1810 not poked its head around the door. A good diet and all this nice weather meant they’ve been jumping higher than usual. We have found them in all sorts of corners. Does not help they make a sort of laughing noise. Feels like they are deliberately hiding, or playing peekaboo.
‘Dammit, when are these things going to leave?’ Link said. He threw down his mochi, and ran back to the glorious sunshine.
Deni and I sat together in the store room. If we were going to rob the Stitch of comestibles, this would have been the moment to action our crime. Instead we sat in a silence impossible to confirm as comfortable.
Dried bits of seaweed wafted around their mouth like birds in the rain.
They said, ‘I like…not eating…food with you…Venus.’
We are going to the mall again at the weekend.
Clip: More footage of the Mountain. Some music. I wish I could ride here for real.