你的世界我不懂

你的世界我不懂

It begins in the country. Franklin wakes up early,

1)springs out of bed, places his feet on the wooden floor boards of the house he built himself using 2)timber from local forests, and prepares for the journey. It doesn’t take long to get ready and throw a few things in a bag. He takes one last look around the empty house, where he and his late wife enjoyed so many wonderful memories, and then he’s on his way. Sturdy boots 3)crunch on 4)gravel. A car door slams. An engine roars. Miles away, his son Oliver has been out all night bar-5)hopping and is only just going to sleep, forgetting that he has a visitor arriving.

Franklin only ever uses the highway to drive to the airport for vacations to see his son. Tokyo, Paris, New York―Oliver has jumped from one city to the next for most of his life and finds it hard to imagine how anyone could enjoy residing so far from the buzz of the 6)CBD. But where Oliver hears buzz, Franklin hears nothing but 7)hubbub.

This year, father and son are not a great distance apart; at

least not physically. If Franklin continues down the highway, he will reach the city in a few hours. There is not a definite point, but somewhere on the drive, 8)paddocks surrender

to9)penthouses. Dirt roads and clean skies become clean roads and dirty skies. 10)Gumboots and11)overalls are replaced by 12)stilettos and silk ties. Franklin’s familiarity falters.

Sometime in the afternoon, the door bell rings and Oliver crawls out of bed, 13)zombie-like. Then, as if on remote control, he heads directly to the coffee maker and sets the 14)brew in motion. “Come on up.”

While Oliver sips 15)cappuccino and Franklin downs a few glasses of water, the 16)chit chat goes something like this:

“Are you only just getting out of bed?”

“That’s the city life, Dad. Work hard and play harder.”

“I’ve been up since the roosters start 17)crowing for as long as I can remember. Don’t suppose you have any roosters round here.”

“No, we don’t…thankfully.”

“So, what have you got planned for me?

“Are you sure you are up to it? The doctor told you to take it easy.”

“Well, a bit of sightseeing never hurt anyone, right?”

Regardless of the city, it’s always the same. They’ll begin in Oliver’s equivalent of Heaven, the electronics market; floors and floors of blue-rays, 18)HD TVs and Apple 19)iPods. Baskets will be filled with 20)modems,21)flash drives or

22)blue teeth. When they get back to the shoebox-sized apartment, Oliver’ll explain how to send an 23)SMS or email. Franklin will stare out the window at the view―a concrete wall―and pretend to listen.

On the rare occasions Oliver visited his dad, they went to the farmer’s market; fresh meat, flowers and fruit. Baskets were filled with 24)citrus 25)zing: oranges, 26)tangerines and

27)limes. And the only Apples in sight were 28)Granny Smiths. They’d go back and sit on the 29)verandah and suck the jui ce from the fruit, spitting seeds into the garden.

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