‘Is it death that secretly troubles us?’ said Mistletoe aloud, quite suddenly, without knowing why.
‘I was asking myself the same question,’ said Lao.
They were both silent for a while. Alive in time and timelessness. The train bore them towards Arcadia.
‘Is it death that secretly troubles you?’ asked Lao, eventually.
‘No,’ replied Mistletoe.
Then, dreamily, she added:
‘It’s life that ought to fascinate us.’
‘And make us hungry for more life.’
‘More joy.’
‘More fun.’
‘More love.’
‘More laughter.’
‘More freedom,’ said Mistletoe, daughter of Pan.
‘More justice,’ said Lao, the mental outlaw.
‘More light,’ said both of them, in chorus, laughing gently.
Then they fell silent again, and stared wistfully out of the window of the train. To a world looking in, they could be inscriptions.
September 2001
London
We hope you enjoyed this book.
Head of Zeus are proud to be reissuing a collection of Ben Okri’s best works alongside his brand new novel, The Age of Magic:
Ben talks about the collection here.
For an exclusive preview The Age of Magic, read on or click here.
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