Mark
And Deena
by
Per Jespersen
Mark and Deena
live with their mother in a surburban area in a large city. They are the same
age and used to be very free. They love to discuss things, which they have
learnt in school. Here they have their beloved teacher Mr. Smith, who is always
ready to listen to them, if they have some kind of problems. And his way of
teaching is very special: he always uses materials of his own, and the children
in class are used to participate in the teaching. Once a week they have a
so-called “Open Lesson”, in which they discuss how the week has been, and if
something has happened in the world, they discuss it in a profound way, and Mr.
Smith never tells them his opinion. Mostly because he knows that they know him,
as he has been their class teacher for 7 years now.
Deena has an
adult friend, Dolphia. She is an artist and paints all day without being able
to sell anything. But she says, that it does not matter, because she will not
sell anyway.
“But you have to
make a living,” Deena said one day.
“What do you
mean?”
“I mean, you need
food, new clothes, and ---.”
“Stop a second. I
have my clothes, which I inherited from my mother. They are very good.”
“So did you
inherit food from her, too?”
“No, not really.
I am really mad at her because of that!”
“Dolphia, you
cannot keep food fresh for years.”
“Oh, I didn’t
know that. Is that something you’ve learnt in school?”
Deena sighed.
“Sure. We learn a lot.”
“But don’t
believe everything you hear,” Dolphia said.
“I don’t. But I
love to learn new stuff.”
“Don’t you forget
history – it’s very important.”
“Oh, I see – you
are living history, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m proud
of that. Besides – maybe you never thought about that, but my Mom was a very
rich lady and she left me a fortune.”
“How fortunate!”
“Don’t you be
funny, my housealf. Without that I couldn’t live.”
“So why do you
paint, then?”
Dolphia sat down
on a wooden box, which was the only piece of furniture she had. “It’s something
I have to do.”
“But you always
paint sunsets.”
“Yes, I hate when
the sun rises, because it means a new troublesome day.” Dolphia was close to
weeping. “Artists have very troublesome days, you know.”
Deena laughed.
“Mark will be here in a minute.”
“So you decided
to meet here without asking me first? Well, it’s OK. You have a marvellous
brother. I do hope you appreciate that.”
“Oh, I love him.”
”Great feelings.
But you can’t trust boys!”
“You can trust
Mark, and you very well know that. But Dolphia, have you realized what kind of
day it is to day?”
“There are seven
different days during the week. I can’t look after that, too.”
“That’s not what
I meant. It’s a very special day to day.”
“Oh yes, I
haven’t had any troubles so far.”
“And Mark is
coming here, because we decided to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?
What? That the sun is shining? That
it’s a warm summer day? Or is it school holiday?”
“Dolphia, you are
hopeless!! Do you remember the day you were born?”
“Yeah, somebody
shed water on my head.”
“You don’t remember
that, do you?”
“Sure, I was very
mad at him.”
Now there was a
knock at the door.
“You’d better
answer it,” Deena said.
“I don’t answer
doors.”
“OK, I’ll do it.”
She opened and saw Mark standing with a package in his hand.
“It’s no use,”
Deena said. “She doesn’t know what day it is.”
“That’s not a
surprise,” Mark said, laughing. “Let me come in, anyway.”
“Oh, my dear
Marky,” Dolphia screamed. “How nice of you to come!”
They sat down at
the floor, as Dolphia was still sitting on the wooden box.
“How old are
you,” Mark asked.
“You don’t ask a
lady about that,” Dolphia said, very insulted.
“Well, I just
wondered what time is.”
“It doesn’t
exist,” Dolphia said. “You very well know that. Some people say that it is
practical that we all know what time it is. But I don’t care, because I do
know, that time is a human invention, so it’s not my business.”
Mark laughed.
“But we are younger than you! Or what do you mean?”
“You look
younger. But it doesn’t mean that you are younger. We all have the same age, as
we live different lives.”
“Oh Goodness,”
Deena said. “You really said something very deep.”
“It’s a habit of
mine.”
They all laughed.
Now Mark got up.
“Dolphia, it’s your birthday, and we have brought you a present.”
“My birthday. How
do you know when time doesn’t exist?”
“Oh, just a
feeling. But you will accept a present, won’t you?”
“Sure, “Dolphia
said. “Artists are very poor, and I do suffer from it.”
“Why don’t you
sell one of your paintings,” Deena asked.
“They are too
valuable.”
“Exactly,” Mark
said. “I have a customer.”
“Dont’ you sell
my paintings. They’re not for everyone. Let me see that present.”
“Only,” said
Deena, “if you invite us.”
Dolphia got up in
a rush. “Oh yes, do come in, you’re my best friends.”
“We are in,” Mark
said laughing.
“Good, do sit
down.”
“We are sitting
on the floor.”
“There you go
with the poorness again. It’s a heavy task to be an artist.”
Mark gave her the
present, and Deena smiled secretly.
Dolphia had tears
in her eyes. “Oh you two turtles – you give me presents. It must be brushes. I
could do with some new.” She continued unpacking, until she saw, what it was.
Then Dolphia was the one on the floor. “A cell phone,” she whispered
desperately.
“It’s on time you
get a cell phone, Dolphia. So we can call you.”
“How can you do
that, when you don’t know, where I am?”
Mark could not
stop laughing. “The phone will find you.”
“Oh, is that how
it works? Exciting.”
“And you can
write messages on it. We’ll show you.”
“I would not be
able to,” Dolphia said. “I can read a little bit. But write on a phone. That
was not a subject, when I went to school.”
Then the phone
rang. “My goodness,” Dolphia screamed.
“I guess people
want to wish you a happy birthday.”
“Who knows about
this phone?”
“Henry,” Mark said,
“As you know he is my best friend, although he’s a grown-up man. But he likes
you. Answer the phone.”
“You want me to
answer doors and phones. When will you answer me?”
“What?”
Dolphia breathed
heavily. “As you are so nice, I’ll invite you for dinner here in this residence
this very evening.”
The two children
gazed. “How do we know when to come, when time doesn’t exist?”
“That’s easy,”
Dolphia said. “I’ll phone you!!”
Questions to discuss:
What do you think
about Dolphia?
How do the
children behave?
They talk about
time. Is there something called time?
What is it? Try
to give a definition.
How would the
world be without time?
Is time the same
here on our planet and in the space?
Give examples of
human activities, in which time does play a role.
How would they be
without time?
Again: What is
time??
Dolphia talks
about living different lives. What do you think about that?
Is she thinking
about reincarnation?
Do you believe in
that?
If reincarnation
is a fact – what is reborn: the body or the soul?