NOWHERE TO RUN SOMEWHERE TO HIDE

KELVIN

Kelvin always liked to escape in his canoe, and was always heading towards the west end of the city. Passing the labyrinth hill and the grand cathedral-founded on top of ancient Geyser-where elderly ladies gathered every afternoon to worship the gods, he was reaching the fishermen quarters. Enjoying a well-earned status in the city, the fishermen lived in one of the simple but beautifully crafted houses in the neighbourhood far away from the crowded centre, overlooking the sea that surrounds the city as far as the eye could see. Kelvin knew that there was nothing more than eternal water around the city. He knew that if he was to circle around the world, he would meet nothing but the city again, yet he was treasuring this escape possibility with all his soul. With the last fishermen’s houses behind and with his eyes fixed on the horizon, he was dreaming of an impossible getaway

MARINA

Marina hated the sunset and its inescapable melancholy. She hated all the reds and pinks of the sunset. Yet, even in bright midday light the city was summoned in colours of warm bricks and pink- soiled hills. Even the fishermen’s wooden houses were homage to the warmth of sunset spectrum. Working all day at the centre, she was feeling immensely suffocated, as if those colours were fire threatening to burn her.  Walking across the Maastricht bridge, reminisced of god knows which ancient or legend city, and passing the abattoir that was standing vigilant across the bridge, she was reaching the east end of the city. Trying not to look behind her, towards this reddish town which she hated so much, she was steadily pacing to the end of docks, towards a glacier coloured in almost bearable champagne pink. She could stay there for hours, breathing deeply and trying to forget, at least until the inevitable sunset would come again and spoil the blueness of the sky and the sea, smudging them with dirty shades of the city.

AIDAN

The visit to the Supreme Court was Aidan’s only way to sanity. Situated on the top of the city, the magnificent domain of justice could only be accessed by a steep path traversing the heart of the city. Framed with beautifully crafted facades, the narrow cobbled path was ascending to the higher levels of the town concealing the inevitable and painful realization, the one that Aidan was trying to forget:  that water was unavoidably surrounding the city. While climbing his way up, Aidan was oblivious to the cathedral, the dome and the architecture, and only lifted his legs in order to climb the steps and have his gaze fixed upwards, towards the sky.  While entering the Supreme Court, he did not care about the paintings, golden wallpapers and statues inside, but simply stood under the golden dome, whose skylight was offering the only undisturbed and direct view to the sky. Engulfed in the walls of the city’s most important building, he was secretly hoping for an upwards escape. The only way is up, he was thinking.

Text and paper-collage by Synthetica.

Proof-reading by Ivana Stepanovic.