Geographers say there are two kinds of islands. Continental islands are accidental, derived islands. They are separated from a continent, born of disarticulation, erosion, fracture; they survive the absorption of what once contained them. Oceanic islands are originary, essential islands. Some are formed from coral reefs and display a genuine organism. Others emerge from underwater eruptions, bringing to the light of day a movement from the lowest depths.

Some islands rise slowly, like the characters in this excerpt. They are desert islands. Some islands disappear and then return, leaving us no time to annex them. They carry an invisible trace. The encounter between Géza and Xenia, was born out of accident. They were both waiting, enjoying that possibility of waiting, when nothing is to appear, but waiting itself appears. Two desert islands, carrying no trace of their past.

Instructions and characters

They met at Hotel Belvedere in Prague. Géza is a doctor. Xenia, daughter of a Ukrainian art collector and photographer by profession. Both in their 30’s.

As is the premise of deserts and islands, they do not move. Géza and Xenia placed in the baroque lobby of Belvedere in Prague. Statues in the entrance, pale, not white marble, but pale.

DESERT ISLANDS

Victor Chakravarty

Excerpt

Géza: What happened?
Xenia: You fell asleep
Géza: For how long?
Xenia: a week
Géza: just like in the fairy tales
Xenia: I’ve been up all week to make sure, that when you opened your eyes, I would see you see me
Géza: Eyes as lonely and empty as the moon
Xenia: what makes you think that the moon is lonely?
Géza: I’ve never thought why it shouldn’t be
Xenia: Well, I can tell you – because I’m not there! Who wouldn’t feel lonely without me?
Géza: Mythweaver, truthweaver – you are
Xenia: You’re speaking in codes
Géza: Have you ever received a letter written in codes?
Xenia: Yes, and it was from you
Géza: Are you sure?
Xenia: I’ll tell you more
Géza: Do you remember these early coded languages in school?
Xenia: When you did a grimace, only one other person understood
Géza: Yes
Xenia: Or knocking the wall of your neighbour’s room, communicating through the amount of knocks
Géza: Another good one, I’m just astonished!
Xenia: Now I do not know what to say
Géza: That’s coded language
Xenia: You’re too elusive
Géza: Is this coming to an argument?
Xenia: What do you prefer having an argument over?
Géza: Things that doesn’t matter to me, fx pizza
Xenia: That’s very reasonable
Géza: Could you live with that?
Xenia: I’m still suspicious – behold yourself
Géza: Are you blaming me of timidity?
Xenia: Sure
Géza: I must say, I feel like a tourist in your mind
Xenia: Tell me something that will surprise you
Géza: As in a fairy tale by a danish author, we’re looking at each other from each our window –
Xenia: One day one of us won’t turn up
Géza: You say it with splendid American accent
Xenia: Your breathing is erratic
Géza:
Xenia: When you said this of the danish author, I learned something Scandinavian about you
Géza: Oh lord, it had to happen – so I haven’t gotten entirely rid of that yet?
Xenia: No, still there
Géza: That Scandinavian misanthropy?
Xenia: Oh, sure
Géza: I never quite understood why the two children in the fairy tale didn’t just walk over and said: Hello, you’re marvellous, let’s walk, it’s really beautiful out!
Xenia: The humidity of the Scandinavian weather is engraved in the minds of those populating it
Géza: This part of life is less entertaining
Xenia: I’m being rude
Géza: I’m taking us nowhere, you must be bored by now
Xenia: You’re elusive, bloody bastard!
Géza: Okay, I resign
Xenia: Here’s the document
Géza: I didn’t mean it literally
Xenia: Read it and you’ll understand
Géza: It’s all written in codes
Xenia: Yes
Géza: Wait, is this your handwriting?
Xenia: My handwriting is non-existing
Géza: I don’t believe you
Xenia: You’ll be surprised
Géza: It’s not your handwriting
Xenia: I create illusions all the time
Géza: I should learn from that
Xenia: Look at me for a second
Géza: I see surprises at every corner, you better put a knife, so I come safely through
Xenia: What do you think
Géza: You really do look incredible
Xenia: You’re giving me a dangerous look
Géza: Are you having a good time?
Xenia: I enjoy my own company, so oh boy, I’m happy
Géza: What happens next?
Xenia: You should ‘polish’ your language
Géza: I know, it’s not that tantalizing, is it?
Xenia: I suggest musicals
Géza:
Xenia: And get a hair cut
Géza: So, polish language with “grease” and “hair”
Xenia: You’ll have a fun sunday afternoon
Géza: Afternoons are prettiest in the summer
Xenia: You live in eccentricities; if it was possible, I’m sure you would wear a mirror in front of you, so your never missed a single motion of your face
Géza: You said in an interview: how many lives am I capable of living in one body
Xenia:
Géza: One could fall in love because of that sentence
Xenia: Did you?
Géza: My opinion is still being shaped
Xenia: Beware for the future then
Géza: I saw a man on his knees
Xenia: Where, who, when – was it you?
Géza: He was not on his knees to propose – he’s going to court this friday, he is in debt, 50.000 €. He can’t remember where they went
Xenia: What horrible memory he must have
Géza: And then I stood looking out the window, and then someone passed, dressed to impress, and then I was impressed
Xenia: Why do you say: and then – and then – and then
Géza: I heard a child doing so, when I looked out the window, I thought I would try it out – und dann, und dann, und dann
Xenia: People speaking like that just want to get it over
Géza: You’re right, they disapprove beauty
Xenia: When you say: I looked out the window – I think of Kafka and The Trial – I have not been able to look out the window since, without thinking of him
Géza: It’s an act of perfection
Xenia: Looking out the window only to consider what you were doing was worth continuing
Géza: Finish this sentence for me: Every artist
Xenia: Has a formular
Géza: Why she shouldn’t try change her way
Xenia: We’re speaking in codes
Géza: We’re veiling our words
Xenia: I’ve seen the most nude parts of you – your hands and your face
Géza: I’m so happy that I’m not named after something pre-existing, just imagine me as Jasmin or Genthian
Xenia: Your life would truly be ruined
Géza: Your name on my lips
Xenia: Your face in my mirror
Géza: Do you have a story in your hands?
Xenia: You’ll tell my fortune?
Géza: How many lines in the left one?
Xenia: Three main ones and a texture of small routes
Géza: What do you see?
Xenia: If I have a story, it’s because I stage my life –
Géza: That’s inspiring
Xenia: An act
Géza: I reside in what you’re saying, your words are truly comforting – my limbs on a pillow, all for you
Xenia: I’ve thought of what you said – I saw a man on his knees – That’s a very New York thing to say
Géza: Yeah, you’re right, and this guy was just a random somebody living in a suburb in Europe
Xenia: You shouldn’t portray the world so incoherently
Géza: It was out of laziness
Xenia: Do it better
Géza: I’ve never understood money – those euro notes on my table, a bunch of them, very unimpressed if this is what rules the world
Xenia: It’s never the money
Géza: It’s always sex
Xenia: I’ve never understood this renaissance of skateboard and roller skates; What pleasure could possibly be found in spending your life dragging one leg after the other, pushing a board in a random direction?
Géza: I have no clue
Xenia: Have you ever tried it?
Géza: The only time I did try it, I was beaten up because they found my style so hideous
Xenia: I bet it was colourful; People usually respond to style as being greatly pretentious
Géza: Whenever the main interest is political, and people completely abandon aesthetic expressions as building worlds, everything turn grey
Xenia: We’ve been sitting here for a very long time
Géza: You’ve been looking at me at a distance for a while
Xenia: How come you slept so long?
Géza: To see if you would stay by my side
Xenia: What’s the reward
Géza: Loyalty
Xenia: You’re pulling my jacket
Géza: It’s a way of showing interest
Xenia: What is most suitable for me is to listen to an encounter between two people I have no what so ever knowledge about, speaking about something that’s very important to them, of what I have no interest, but pay great attention to
Géza: How life could be different
Xenia: Your name has more letters in it
Géza: It comes with extra costs
Xenia: How do you measure your ambitions?
Géza: Oh good god, don’t ask me
Xenia: Why, what
Géza: Oh, gosh, I don’t want to answer
Xenia: Come on
Géza: No, it’s too outrageous
Xenia: Géza, come on, say it
Géza: You’ll leave
Xenia: No
Géza: You must promise you won’t leave
Xenia: Sure
Géza: But it is very disturbing
Xenia: Go on and say it
Géza: Write on this piece of paper, that you won’t leave
Xenia: I don’t know if you’re acting or being childish
Géza: Just sign here
Xenia: Signed, here we come
Géza: By the length of my cock
Xenia: It must be great then
Géza: Oh, thank you
Xenia: You’re tacky
Géza: It’s the very words we used in the swimming pool as kids, boys showering
Xenia: I feel polluted
Géza: I knew, I knew, I should never have said it
Xenia: When you say: I knew, I knew, it had horrible sound quality
Géza: Sensible or intelligible?
Xenia: Again, sound quality so poor no one would understand you
Géza: You understand out of will
Xenia: At this moment I support your words with my will, yes
Géza: Intrinsic
Xenia: You’re looking at me
Géza: When you notice someone looking at you, a window opens where you have the chance to change
Xenia: You’re the fabbiest
Géza: Fabbiest?
Xenia: Yeah, it’s vernacular – fabulous, wonderful, you know
Géza: How do you go incognito in Vienna?
Xenia: I don’t, I change personality
Géza: How?
Xenia: If I read a Greek newspaper in the metro, Greeks speak to me, if I read a French magazine, the Frenchs speak to me
Géza: Have you ever tried no one encountered you?
Xenia: Yes, it was with a Norwegian newspaper
Géza: So, I’ve heard, nobody understands anything of that language
Xenia: I rarely buy them, cause they cost 10€
Géza: You can get three French papers for that or seven Greek
Xenia: Yes, one piece of information for 10€ or seven pieces
Géza: You must certainly be fluent in Greek by now
Xenia: A word, twice a word I know, but usually I use the occasion to explore and dive into people’s matter, even though its nasty
Géza: I’ve always liked weird stuff
Xenia: You’re putting your hand on your knees
Géza: They needed rest
Xenia: Such decisions showcase your grandeur
Géza: Your face looks fragile
Xenia: You shouldn’t say that – even if it’s true, you’re making me aware that I’m getting older
Géza: Just that slight movement you did, with your lips turning sideways, you exhibited sorrow
Xenia: Please, stop –
Géza: What if I go on
Xenia: I’ll punch you
Géza: You’re weary
Xenia: You’re dull
Géza: What are you then
Xenia: Your future…
Géza: Well, I look like you
Xenia: Then I must look terrible
Géza: When I met you in Vienna, be prepared: move closer to me, if you allow, I want to look good in Vienna, I believe your beauty is contagious
Xenia: Unscrupulous suddenly has a positive sense
Géza: Mark me with your beauty brush and turn my life into something powerful
Xenia: Have you ever been on a submarine?
Géza: No
Xenia: I’ve had a submarine sandwich
Géza: How?
Xenia: It was such a canny day – I was walking at the harbour in Nice, when a submarine rose to appear – out of it came a group of French chefs – can you believe it, all chefs ! – they’d been freed from hostage, they’d been taken by some Russians or so – doesn’t matter – they had been living on these submarine sandwiches during the long journey back – sick as they were of them, they simply handed them out on the harbour – it had great impact – everyone came and greeted them and eat and laughed
Géza: Und dann – und dann – und dann
Xenia: You’re right, I just wanted to get it over, I couldn’t stand looking at your hands resting on your knees – a pain for the eyes
Géza: I know of three girls with chest pain
Xenia: Your ex-lovers
Géza: Do you have messianic thoughts?
Xenia: No, I find people who do extremely annoying
Géza: Do I seem tired to you?
Xenia: You’re not tired, you’re passing a tiring passage of your existence
Géza: I’m thinking of time..
Xenia: Thinking of it will remain weary, it won’t take you far
Géza: Didn’t I once tell you that time remains only as potentiality?
Xenia: It’s night, it has become night, and I imagine these thoughts are occurring because of that exact event, that we’ve reached night – a point in the day, that neither belongs to night or day, but is a promise, unable to redeem itself
Géza: Saying so..: Do I seem tired…
Xenia: Only someone prioritizing death prior to life, would say so…
Géza: I don’t remember much; I would be a terrible museum – nothing there really
Xenia: Memory is to comprehend form to a certain degree
Géza: I heard someone the other day, it must have been in the subway, you know these random foreigners in the metro in Berlin, with their mediocre dreams and anxiety, in their rainy clothes they stood, a man and a woman, the woman probably had tattoos, the man some piercings, trivial paganism, and he said to her: Back then, when I was twenty, in Cuba, I could have stayed for nine months, but I decided to leave after just a few months.. I prioritized death
Xenia: These people, most of the world’s population really, are so terrible boring, anaemic – I’m terribly disappointed with the 21st century
Géza: A pattern seems to occur, that people really have a much greater memory of what they haven’t done, than what they did
Xenia: Its due to the perfection of the event, since it was never put into action
Géza: Yet another New York thing to say
Xenia: It’s a great period to be a politician, there’s no resistance
Géza: People are tremendously dreadful
Xenia: We’re at a point where people believe life worsens
Géza: That’s a silly decision, it won’t last
Xenia: I have no home
Géza:
Xenia: I have you
Géza:
Xenia: When did you start to imagine me
Géza: I’m still avoiding it, I’m listening as you go
Xenia: People marry for the wrong reasons – just like people eat. Either they feel lonely or they need a place to live
Géza: Did you hear that?
Xenia: The bar is closing
Géza: I don’t believe it – I can’t
Xenia: It’s true – how rare one gets a chance to say that: it’s true
Géza:
Xenia: Géza?
Géza: Sorry, I lost my breath
Xenia: It will happen again
Géza: Is it raining?
Xenia: No, sorry, I was spitting on you
Géza:
Xenia: Don’t be sad! Tell me something fun!
Géza: Once, I met Bono (the singer from U2) in Paris, it must have been in 2013 – I thought it was raining, it was summer, but actually he was just spitting at me
Xenia: You wake that desire in people
Géza: I’m just… I’m surprised that I’m here
Xenia: I’m surprised to see you, your long neck, your thighs, your torso
Géza: How do you prefer we continue from here?
Xenia:
Géza:
Xenia: Tell me why you find me sexy
Géza: You tell me everything – and yet I do not know anything – That’s highly seductive
Xenia: Do you have a double?
Géza: I share my name with a scientist – sometimes I read his articles, wishing it was I who wrote them – He is specialized in technology, and I recently explored the subject of AI and other digital synthesis – so perhaps we’ll meet one day – and act each other – But he lives in the States – But I decided I’ll attend his funeral, even if we won’t meet, since it will be the closest I’ll get to attending my own funeral. I do not know of any visual double – Some people say Keaton, but then they afterwards say I dance like him – and then I’m just sad about the whole thing – When someone wants to insult me, they say I look like the leader/guide in Tarkovky’s -STALKER- - But hopefully you’ll point out a new double – Doubles are like utopias, mirrors; a place where I am reflected, but where I can never be, never exist –
Xenia: I suppose I should have been concerned about this situation
Géza: Are you sure of your words?
Xenia: I’ve got nothing to support them, but my will
Géza: I’ve got nothing to support mine than my body
Xenia: I see you’ve got time, but that you’re aware that time itself is empty, potentiality itself is the depth of time