Sondranos: The Narrative of Leon Bishop Read Online Free Page B

the absurd, then it also gave us
the ability to make that same comfort a first world concern: hence,
the shorthanded AAM Generation Literature, which lasts for around
two hundred years, from 1991 to 2250. Their motto: We are always
the centre of our own story. Over four-hundred years, one
Technological Revolution, the distribution and monopolization of
the space program, and hundreds of paradigm shifts later we can
still look back and consider these works unique. Why?”
    The boy, Jamie Bell, slouches
in his seat while the girl next to him cocks her head to the side,
giving Leon her attention. Leon can see a small phoenix emblazoned
across her wrist, the fire tipped wings reach around like a
bracelet of orange and yellow. On it, the name ‘Zen Koriyama’ is
inked in cursive. Lacey Barks.
    “ They’re the
same story, but from an individual point of view? But how does that
account for symbolism and metaphor on the grander scale?” Lacey
asks.
    A door opens at the back of the
classroom.
    The creak of the hinges is
enough to cause Lacey to turn her head along with the rest of the
class, and gives Leon time to step forward and pick up a newspaper
he’d bought at the Duty Free Shoppe across from campus.
    The culprit of the interruption
takes a seat at the back of the room, five rows behind the other
students. Leon instantly recognizes the black, shoulder tousled
hair and the mascara stained eyes of Casey Hayes. Leon ignores her,
but can’t help feeling the same way all professors must when the
Director of Academia steps into his or her classroom.
    Leon ruffles the pages of the
newspaper to grab the class’ attention.
    “ What does
this look like to you?” He asks Lacey.
    “ I don’t know
– a period newspaper?”
    “ It has no
meaning to you.” Leon steps closer to her desk and sets it in front
of her. She watches it, then watches Leon.
    “ Should
it?”
    “ No. You
haven’t experienced anything with it yet. If you were to write
about this newspaper, right now, your story would be called
emotionless, bland, and without a founding in reality,” he
says.
    Leon picks the paper up and
hands it to the student sitting next to her. Jamie Bell looks
annoyed that Leon has chosen to pick on him again. “But if Jamie
here lost his data pad, was denied access to his credit source, got
kicked out of school, maybe kicked out of his flat with no place to
stay, nothing to eat, and no connection to his much valued
electronics, then this newspaper would be his only chance at
regaining the world he once knew. A long time ago these things were
invaluable. With government regulating print publications ensuring
they have all the amenities of electronic print, he would instantly
travel back hundreds of years technologically. His story would be
filled with emotion. It would have drama, humour, and maybe a few
adult situations. Either way, it would be his story because he
experienced it.”
    Leon picks up the newspaper and
tosses it back to his desk. It flutters before falling off the
edge, and he can hear a trio of students stifle a laugh at this.
“His story would have to be selfish; otherwise, there would be no
story. Symbols give that to us.”
    Leon looks at Jamie, who’s
turned his attention – possibly for the first time since the
semester began – inwards. Jamie contemplates what Leon has said in
a way that Leon understands. He prompts Jamie to speak, to finish
the example for him, “and what does that mean to you, Mr.
Bell?”
    “ What’s
important to me should be important to everyone?” he
says.
    “ Not should,”
Leon laughs. “Could. Potentials. Could be important. Which leads to
the next lecture: why everything I have just said can be taken as a
compliment and with a grain of salt.”
    Casey Hayes clears her throat.
It echoes from the back to the front. Leon looks at the digital
interface lining his desk and recognizes the time just as quickly
as he recognizes the sound of the students shuffling to pack up
their