Morsel
Arden: Do you mind if I—
Ellis: No. I’d prefer the takeaways to be more accurate.
Arden: Okay.
Ellis: Where did we leave off?
Arden: The initiation.
Ellis: Ah yes, the initiation. Obviously, I’ll lead it. It should be natural, yes? It’s a return to nature. It should feel very rural. Bucolic.
Arden: Right.
Ellis: Southern Ohio, I think, don’t you? It’s where it was found. Not at the family property. A new one.
Arden: Okay.
Ellis: The initiation on the first night, and the offering the next day.
A Friday and a Saturday, maybe. Tidy. It’s a new tradition.
We’re not some old fogeys going on a fox hunt.
That’s how it used to be, you know. Let the offering loose, a little chase for the initiates, then throw it to the big guy, watch the show.
Profit. Not anymore. We’re civilized. We don’t want to do it, but we have to for the betterment of us and the world.
It’s not fun. It’s not supposed to be. There are two sacrifices: the offering, and our innocence.
Arden: Right. Okay.
Ellis: You’ve said okay three times in this conversation. You might want to make that a goal. Addressing verbal parasites. You’re absolutely capable of it if you actually commit.
Arden: I—Yes. I didn’t notice. You’re right.
Ellis: I know. That’s why I said it. [laughter] The crate should be there.
I want them to see it. We’ll go over the origin: how my great-great-grandfather trapped it, the molten lead, the inscription, how the company mark evolved, the abundance and tradition that followed, et cetera, et cetera. Do you think they should get tattoos?
Arden: A tattoo?
Ellis: Yeah. A crosshair tramp stamp. [laughter] It’d be appropriate. It wasn’t anything at first. Just how they marked the product. A symbol. The symbol gained power, as symbols do. The same concept. The longer we have them, the more they’re ours.
Arden: Indelible.
Ellis: Indelible. Yes. Anyway, we’ve got a few more years until it wakes up. What do you think about that? I don’t think I like it. Having to wait for it to decide to wake up. And so infrequently. We should probably control that too, don’t you think? Make the feedings more … robust.
Arden: Do you think that’ll help with its—?
Ellis: Its what?
Arden: I wasn’t trying to— In the photos it looked like it used to be a little more …
Ellis: That’s interesting. After viewing a few photographs, you think you can diagnose its condition. That’s very interesting. What do you think the source of that assumption is? Pride? Ego?
[Prolonged silence, the sound of quick walking]
Getting back on track: the feedings should be more robust and more frequent. Repetition reinforces reliance, don’t you agree?
Transcript, March 3, 2008