title: Benji v Ben

date: 2020-09-11

Benji

Yarmp.

That is a delicious piece of trash. I move to the next item. It is a few inches away, but still in the dirt. I don't have to move my head hardly at all. Just tilt it a bit. It tastes like the good kind of rubbish. Call me intrigued.

Even though the opening of the skip is large, people don't bother to make sure the rubbish ends up in the bin. That is okay. When the garbage men come, anything that hasn't been scattered by the hot wind is picked up by hand and thrown in the garbage truck to be taken away to wherever collected rubbish goes in this land.

You don't know where I am when you don't see me. You see me in the road, at the side of the road. I have a home somewhere, but I also roam widely across Al Bar and beyond. Picking at trash and shrubbery. Making my way. Tonight you saw me at a different skip than where you saw me last week. Where was I between then and now? That is a mystery to you. Your mystery is my routine.

I live in mystery.

I am a donkey.

Ben

Ben rounds the corner of the last lap of neighbourhood cardio. He is about 55 minutes in. The final stretch of a 63 minute walk. At this point he is starting to reengage with life outside of cardio. He thinks, "When I get home I am going to take a shower." He always takes a shower after cardio.

Just in the distance he sees the donkey mouthing at the scattered rubbish in the dirt. He reckons the donkey is getting some dirt on his gums.

"What is in the rubbish on the dirt near the skip that a donkey is interested in?"

"I think donkeys are cool. They can go around and do whatever and they don't give a care about anyone or anything. Not even cars really."

Ben slows down. He reaches into his special bum-bag for running. It is only big enough to hold his phone and keys. The phone has a camera feature. For taking photographs.

"I really want a picture of that hobo skip donkey so I can show it to [redacted]."

Ben wants the photo but it is night time and the donkey seems content.

"Can I manage this without turning my flash on?"

Benji

🎧
🎵 HOBO donkey!
🎵 Me being me
🎵 Living my best life
🎵 My magic is strong

- Benji's groove 2020

After you ran away last night I went back to (your) mystery.

The night was mild. Our weather has been good this year. The rains in spring fed the plants and the plants fed the animals. And some of the animals fed some of the animals. Life in mystery flourishes. Litters of kittens, packs of wadi dogs, the goats and the camels, birds! have all been given a reprieve in mystery. We all love picking through the trash in the dirt by the skips. The cats can jump into them and chill and dig around and jump out and surprise you if you startle them by making a deposit. The camels can reach in with their long necks.

You see us in numbers as you drive to work, drive home from work, take a walk, visit friends. This year, as the wadis swelled with water from the rain, the mountains and the fields bloomed dusty green. Our greater visibility caught your eye and brought you closer to (your) mystery. My day-to-day.

I stand in the middle of the field in front of the brown building.

"HEE HAW!"

"HEE HAW! HEE HAW! HEE HAW!"

I'm on my back legs now.

"HEE HAW! HEE HAW!"

“WHERE IS MY CREW?”

I see you approaching in your white truck.

Ben

Ben leaves work and heads home. The commute is direct through the sparse expanse and dry wadis between the plant and Al Bar. Sometimes he sees donkeys and dogs. He doesn't see cats in the road unless there is a skip nearby.

"I wonder where that hobo skip donkey is now. Was it mad at me? I don't think so. Maybe it is just his personality. He is a donkey, after all. And we didn't exactly leave on good terms last night.“

Ben rounds the final corner and approaches the brown building. He hears something.

"HEE HAW!"

The donkey is in the field! Ben feels like the donkey is showing off. Possibly being aggressive? Maybe he can get a video. Hopefully the donkey will keep it up. Ben steps out of the car and pulls out his phone with the camcorder function and starts it. Of course, the donkey stops braying so Ben misses the opportunity to get a video of him showing off.

Benji

The sky is such a colour that melts me. Everything stops and the moment is frozen in time.