All right, it's Thursday, March 28th, 3.28 pm, leaving work early because tomorrow's a holiday. Had lunch with Adam today at Cazé, ramen. That was interesting. A good perspective on other people's lives. I need that. Just filled up with gas and heading down Buchanan about to get on the freeway. I was thinking about the story. Again, the story of the sign, the Rebus, the king who kills the bird. I'm trying to understand more about flight of horse and what's it all about. I guess the thing that sells Florence on flight of horse is that it's really nothing. I want some ways one could argue that it's a literary society with positive like goals. I don't want to presume that it's a religion of any sorts or I should stay away from any kind of requirement of practice or anything like that for the practitioners. I don't want no real dues other than the fire on stamps and paper and airmail on the road. When the editorial board selects your proposal, then you will get a chance to write a story or illustrate a story in the great scroll. The trick is how do I, how does Florence become a member and how do we kind of confuse the reader a little into thinking that there was a previous Florence. Now in terms of the story, there is a previous Florence and that makes the story itself its own kind of metaphor. But Florence, the new Florence has to trick the flight of horse society into thinking that she's the old Florence. And so how does she do that without drawing any kind of attention as to whether or not she's the real thing. And if they were to suspect she wasn't the real thing, what would they do? I mean what's at stake for them if they're discovered? Well we don't want, I guess we don't want the wrong kind of person to know about their activity. You know we don't want them to become a censored or shut down organization or we don't want post office looking into their mail because in theory it's the height of the red scare. Yeah that would be cool. I mean they have nothing to do with communism but yeah people are scared. And so that's another kind of thing that can be explained to Florence is that we have to be careful in the United States right now because there are too many people who will get the wrong intention about our organization. We are we promote the open discussion through correspondence about non-current events. So about philosophy, about cuisine, about about books in you know other languages about the Bible, it's Quran, the Torah. Do we talk about religion? Maybe not. The point is that we leave religion behind. One thing is for sure you're going to get an open discussion from people all over the world. You're going to only go by your first name. And that's it. Yeah. As far as we're concerned we are simply hindered spirits able to discuss among ourselves what you know we cannot because of geography technology. Religion, political beliefs etc. the things that prevent us from talking to one another in the world. This is a form that allows us to talk. So what is in that first letter? What will Florence see or read that is so exciting? I think she reads someone's story. Someone's draft. Is that possible? Let me pause because I'm going through a lot of silence.

Okay, so more about what Florence receives in that letter that is, you know, essentially a letter from the Flight of Horace Society. It's written in a essentially new

Interrupted by call, trying again. What is it that Florence receives from the flight of forest that's so intriguing and enticing? Well, one, it's people talking about things that she would have never probably talked about in her social circles. You know, small West Texas town where cotton is king and Baptist, you know, run the town. And you know, there are very few Catholics if any in town. And that's where probably most of the Hispanics attend church anyway. There really is nothing to talk about other than if the football team is going to win. And not just there's no college team a high school team. Other than that, the town talked about, I need to look back at the old newspapers, but, you know, who graduated from high school? Like there's a bake sale going on or what's happening in nearby towns, but there was really nothing going on. And Florence was essentially, you know, a freshman in high school, maybe even a 13 year old, who was, you know, nerdy. She wore glasses, she kept her hair short. So it's not she looked like a bookworm, like a librarian. And she was fascinated, you know, by the world, but she felt like she didn't really, you know, that she was just an independent outside observer. And she had no way of, you know, really talking to people from other parts of the world. This was an opportunity for her to speak with others who are from different religions, who speak different languages at home, who don't live in small little dumpy West Texas towns. And they live in crazy large metropolis or, you know, maybe they have to ride the subway every day instead of driver truck. What else maybe they don't even, you know, maybe their government doesn't like our government. So essentially this is like a newsletter, but it's not a newsletter. It's a, it's the, you know, handwritten version of a discussion board, as well as a blog, as well as Instagram, as well as, I mean, it's like Facebook, where, you know, the, everyone has a stamp because they can't use their own photo. And there we go. Florence has lost her stamp. She doesn't have a stamp. And that is going to be a problem for her when you are, you are given a stamp when you are become a member. You submit a design. And so she will announce that she's lost her stamp. And she will have to apply for, she will have to ask the stamp maker for a new one. And how does she, the only thing she's got going for is that she lives in the previous Florence's house. And so, and as an aside here, let's not forget that she really can't ask anyone for help. There's a possibility I could, I could say she initially asked and then realize she shouldn't have and kind of shrugs it off and never talks about it again. Maybe she asks her brother for help. And then, you know, meets him again in Germany, you know, when they're older and tells him everything. But, yeah. So, how does she get her stamp back? She can say they'll send it. She can simply ask, would you mind sending it to my address? And see what happens. Yeah, because you can either ask for your stamp back in one of two ways. If you have moved and you have lost your stamp, then you have to provide your secret to the stamp keeper. And once you've provided your secret, you can then speak, then you may ask one of those three things to the stamp keeper. I'd like to change my stamp. I'd like a new stamp. Or I'd like to change my secret. And also, I guess what Florence discovers is that she can ask to have her questions or her secret mailed to her address. Maybe I don't know that sounds very, yeah, I don't know if we can do that. Or she can ask to what can she ask for. That's similar. You lose your password. You can have an email to you in another place that acknowledges who you are. I suppose they will, I suppose they could send it with a signature required. And maybe she could know ahead of time that the postal worker either gives it to her dad who signs it or she thinks nothing of it or the she knows the postal worker. And the postal worker is a wonder why she used her last name, a different last name, maybe. And she says, I'm just just fooling around. It's a penpal thing. I don't want them to know who I really am. That can be it. That's how she gets her her stamp back. And so once she gets her stamp, she can then participate in the forum. And under everyone's right next to every member's kind of input, you know, the you have to place your stamp. I don't know if it's type written. That would be cool because then they can add more or if it's really small print. Yeah, it has to be something where there's enough room to kind of write. And I suppose it doesn't have to be on notebook paper either. It could be written on like some kind of format that allows. You know, maybe they wrote in special carbon paper that allowed them to have multiple copies sent out. Every, every, either moderator or every router gets a special gets a pad of these pages and then copies the copy. Yeah, like that. Because then there could be three carbon copies and each copy goes to another recipient. So Florence is is one of three recipients, probably from St. Louis. And St. Louis is one of three recipients from New York. So it goes New York. Chicago, St. Louis. I feel like it should have. Yeah, something like that. I mean, how does that work for Egypt? What I'm trying to get at is what if I only use small cities in this. So as not to alert the authorities. And what is Cairo then? Cairo is a big city. So it would have to be a small city in the countryside. Yeah. And, and, and, and the seam, I believe, or Salim, forget what name I ended up using. But he would wait on the weekends to pick up, you know, every time they would go to the country house. The farmhouse on the weekends that he would pick his mail up from the post office and read it and write it again. And he was one, you know, part, he was a, he received his correspondence from Athens. And he was at sound about right. You know, he was Athens to Cairo to Bay Root. Well, no, it's not Athens. It's a small city. So it was, again, yeah, it's better to use small cities than big cities. Yeah, definitely small cities, but what a small city in Greece that we liked. Delos, you know, Delos is a bit delified. What city was in Calamata? Yeah. So Calamata sends to El Bagour. And also to some small towns, one of towns where, it's a bit like Nablus or Bitla. Yeah. And, yeah, every participant is, you know, a router. So to speak now, the problem is, is that Florence has, if she is to be a router, she needs to have the materials and the tools and she is, you know, doesn't have one of those special notebooks. And so it doesn't know how to rewrite the letters so that they're reproduced in triplicate and then sent out. So that's another problem for her. And she has to quickly go to the office supply store and get some. She will be alerted in the next round of letters with a special note saying, there seems to be a break, disruption of service, starting from your node is everything okay. And Florence will reply, sorry, it was a hiccup. I've been on vacation and I forgot to notify you. I am getting on it right now. So I will recommend her saying, oh, that's highly unusual. Well, this will perhaps start off the, yeah, I've lost my stamp. That's it. The very first letter will also contain a note saying Florence, we've, we're aware of a disruption in, in the flow, emanating, you know, originating from your node is everything all right there in, and Florence will say, we'll have to figure this out because she doesn't, you know, she's just learned or, you know, has forgotten that she was a practitioner in the flight of horse, a node. And she will need to come up to speed as to how it operates and to continue to participate, she'll need her stamp just to get her stamp back. Once she gets her stamp back, she will then, the stamp keeper will be in Japan. And that is the only way she can get her stamp is if the stamp keeper, he, uh, mails her out to new stamp from Japan. And so that's another problem. Okay, I'm pausing again because too much down.

So more on the introduction of the story. You know, Florence is walking home from school. And she walks past the post.

Okay, let me try this again. Florence, as she's walking home from school, she walks past the post office. And on her way past, she is shoved to the side of the road, where... by a woman who saves her life, the old woman of... ...Lamesa, she's the old woman who's always calling out if you see my son. One day, she decides to look out for Florence and she saves her life. But in the process, she is hit by the... I'm guessing a male truck is backing out of the post office or pulling out of the post office and hits her while at the same time... I forgot a crazy old, willered drunk and tries to swear out of the way of the male truck that has just knocked her over and sends all the male flying. And... ...you know, there's a boy who likes Florence. He has a crush on her. She doesn't like him because she thinks he's weird. But he hands her the letter. All this must be yours. Maybe not perhaps. She's... ...making up and letters and paper are flying everywhere. And this one particular letter lands right on her chest. And that's the one that has a false name like Florence something else but her address. And that's when she goes home that night and asks her father who used to live here. And he only knows the name of the husband. He doesn't know anything else. Maybe her mom chimes in and says something about that girl's mom but... ...I'm guessing nothing ever comes of it. Or maybe she ran away from home and never came back. Yeah, so... She disappeared. They'd never seen her again. And they... They found a body. Well, how about... Yeah, at that time, you know, they had literally, you know, let's just say Florence thinks... I'm not sure if she... Maybe there's information you have. If you've seen this girl, please come forward. And if not, you know, with any information. And Florence brings... ...the letter to the police officer. And it's no longer his case anymore. Because one, she's... They found a body and they think it's her. And two... Well, one is a 13-year-old girl going on 14, going to be doing this. I don't know yet. So let's say... Let's keep going down this path. She goes into the police department. She thinks she has evidence. The police officer knows they found a body. That's when I can incorporate the use of code. So what's happening in the police station is she can hear the radio. And she can hear the radio from the officers out in the field who have found the body. And they're calling it back in saying it's a positive ID on the missing girl. And we can use codes for that. And Florence doesn't know what that means, but the officer does. But the officer also doesn't think that the letter is of any interest. Is it because... So there's a couple of things that can happen. He can take the letter for evidence. And then Florence can... can want it back. Or Florence can leave. Because Florence can walk out of the station. Yeah. Florence walks out of the station before the officer gets a chance to take that as evidence. So the officer sits Florence down. He doesn't really think she's being serious. But he tells her... He asks her questions. I go...

Okay, got it, you know interrupted by a call from Heidi to pick up Karim. Just noting that it was Donna's got an exhibition at the Petaluma campus in the Mahoney Library and she and Laila are there and I need to pick up Karim and take him to soccer practice. It's raining right now and I'm stuck on the 101. But anyway, back to my story, Florence is in the police station. You know and and to be honest, I think that's when she gets the idea to yeah so the next day she goes into the police station. In a days she walks home and doesn't even think that she should have stuck around for the ambulance that she that she should have filed a police report or have at least filed a statement as to you know what the male truck was doing what the old woman was doing and willered what his driving was like. Instead she thinks she's going into just give you know well while she's there. Actually yeah let's put it this way. A police officer comes to her house that evening and she's fine but you know she doesn't you know they don't have to they were just checking in on her and when they give her their card and tell her just after school tomorrow come into the station and and please give a statement about the accident. And so the next day when she comes in to give a statement about the accident she notices the missing girl sign Florence you know the same name as Florence. The same first name but different last name lived in the same home you know all that stuff. In fact the officer now because she's new they literally just moved to Lemisa. So and because she's new no one really knows who she is and the officer's face turns white when he finds out that the girl who lives in you know that Florence is now living in the home of the girl who is missing and and the girl who is missing shares the same name but you know he really doesn't want to say anything to her because he doesn't want to spook her and he won't tell her you know why I'm sorry you know he just he you know he you know both Florence's parents can see that the officer's face looks like he's just seen a ghost but no one really knows what to expect. We'll have to figure out what to do about that you know in her high school because you know people will say stuff you know perhaps she yeah perhaps on her first day of school so let's have this in the summertime so that no one is aware yet it's like maybe a week or two before school starts and so she doesn't know anyone and when school does start she asks the registrar or she puts a different name down you know in the registrar so that or she maybe asks the school registrar look I don't I don't really go by by that or perhaps can I have very can I go by a different name so that yeah or maybe the yeah maybe she puts a fake name down they can't find her records and ultimately they tell her look we can't keep you until we find your records or maybe is getting more complicated either we take this part of the story and shrug it off as a non you know a non story a downplay it or we up play it for a little while and then make it go away yeah maybe when they find the body no one talks about it anymore so yeah let's just think about that but uh uh nope yeah a little sweet so uh yeah should I come this way or should I fill on home filled out the paperwork we pause this