We meet the The Kandinsky at the leaving point. Our final photo is of the famous X that signifies you will soon leave the snow, and return to the surface. Not many people know it’s organic. The vessel is back to a cruise ship, one quite at home in the Pacific or Mediterranean. The crew know this is a return journey, and set the tone by pretending to get on with some work.
We returned to the snow wilderness. Tiny flakes spilt into my mouth with the consistency of freezing sand. A never ending wind whipped up in every direction. A path surrounded by palm trees was under out feet somewhere, but the snowbank hid the point where the road ended, and the landscape began. White dust frosted the tops of my shoes. Every so often an unexpected drift meant my leg vanished all the way up to the knee.The Butter Mouse padded along on the snow next to me, a pastiche of an artic hare.
The Kandinsky is peeling. Whole crops of plants have turned to dried reed, and scaly patches of rust spot the dying meta. Uderneath, like the shell of a new egg, was a fresh sheet of steel. We are back to the beginning. The ship will be a cruise ship by lunchtime tomorrow. We still have time to enjoy Hulsenbeck.
Way back at the start of this journey I told you about the wooly mammoths, and how they like to eat butterscotch. At the time it was one of the things i was most excited about seeing. But we’ve travelled so far since then, and seen so much madness. My own puppet has changed. I’ll be honest, I had forgotten about our massive furry friends. Until now.
The end of our journey is in sight. Well, that’s a bit dramatic. But there’s only Hülsenbeck left on The Kandinsky’s itinerary, and the first drops of snow have started to fall. Winter is falling over this land, turning the forests and buildings into a Christmas card. Not that the robots minds. They are busy working on a new project.
