Short story: The New Dark Ages

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story The New Dark Ages, a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies.

This is the third of my stories to be published by IT. The others are: The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes, the first of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures which were recently exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford, and The curious glasses, a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Mark Heard - Treasure Of The Broken Land.

The New Dark Ages (2)

II

The Times, Thursday 22nd December 2011

The New Dark Ages

Our palaces of cultures – the museums and galleries of which free access to the riches of their great stores of human learning and culture have been among the greatest achievements of our culture in recent centuries – lie in ruins. Barricaded by rings of security personnel and barred by locks, chains and all manner of high-tech security devices, we, the public, can no longer access the collections to which we previously shared the right of open access.

Yet this denial of access combined with its concomitant rapid increase in security has been powerless to prevent the slow but relentless eradication from sight of artefacts from the earliest times of human culture together with all reference to these artefacts in later artistic, educational and scientific creations.

The darkness which is systematically obliterating human culture and which, if it continues, will lead us into a new Dark Age shows no sign of being abated by the actions taken to date by the Government to seek to protect what remains of our national collections.

Culture, to be preserved, must be lived and breathed in order that it fertilises future creativity and learning. Too much of our current culture is already blind to the extent to which it utilises and is informed by past culture. We think and act as though we emerge from the womb as fully formed independent individuals with no debt to nurture, yet our every thought and word and action is inevitably and unconsciously predicated on some past learning.

This year, we celebrated a cultural artefact – the 1611 King James Version Bible – which is among those artefacts that will shortly be lost from sight should this dark blight on our culture continue its relentless progress. When this Bible is lost from sight, we will not only lose the artefact itself but all that it has contributed to our culture in terms of imagery, story, phraseology and much, much more.

Our culture cannot sustain such a loss, such a repeated series of losses, and survive unharmed. We face a new Dark Age which cannot be prevented by denial of access and security cordons. Therefore, we call for the doors of the palaces of cultures to be flung wide open once again. Maybe in the learning which ensues an answer to the relentless rush of this tide of darkness in our culture can be found. Or, like Canute’s courtiers, we will see the folly of our hubris.

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Carly Simon - You're So Vain.

The New Dark Ages (1)

This is the first part of a short story which I have recently written with the 400th Anniversary of the 1611 version of the King James Bible in mind, although the story concerns all human culture and has a strong multifaith element to its plot.

The New Dark Ages

"I'm bringing back to the forefront principles that are gradually fading away from our modern societies." Mohammed Ali (aka AerosolArabic)


"You can't appreciate English literature unless you are steeped to some extent in the King James Bible ... not to know the King James Bible, is to be in some small way, barbarian." Richard Dawkins


I


It was in a private meeting called by Prime Minister David Clegg at 10 Downing Street itself that the full implications of the crisis were finally articulated.

The published reports were of an increasing series of thefts; systematic thefts of artefacts from museum displays throughout the country and with no sign of forced entry. Security had been immediately increased, access had been restricted to significant sections of most museum collections and free entry to all but the most localised of museums suspended.

Yet the full extent of the crisis was being actively suppressed with the media being fed only the bare bones of the true story which in its fullness constituted a cultural crisis and had led to the Directors of all the national collections being summoned to meet with the Prime Minister.

"There have been no thefts," explained Neil Dixon, the Director of the British Museum.

"No thefts!" exclaimed Clegg. "Then what in God’s name are we doing here and why the massive expense of the measures you have all demanded from me and my Government!"

"That is correct," Dixon stated. "No actual thefts, but to all intents and purposes theft is what appears to have occurred."

"All who visit our institutions see absence where certain artefacts should be displayed," cut in Dr. Michael Penny, the Director of the Natural History Museum.

"The artefacts remain in their place of display." Dixon resumed his account. "Our curators can touch and feel them and can confirm that they have not been stolen, yet these artefacts are enveloped in an impenetrable darkness which means that they cannot be seen."

"In the circumstances," Penny cut in once again, "it seemed more understandable to talk to the media of thefts than to persuade them and the public of the true nature of the crisis."

"A crisis," shouted Clegg, his voice rising in sync with his flushed colour, "which I still fail to fully grasp, beyond what now appears to be wholly unnecessary expenditure on increased security for objects which have not in fact been stolen, nor are under any threat of being so."

"To be frank, Prime Minister," interjected Sir Nicholas Jones, the Director of the Tate Galleries, "that is the least of our worries. The darkness which is enveloping these cultural artefacts – and it is artefacts of human creation which are affected - is doing so systematically and period by period, epoch by epoch."

The bearded, bespectacled face of the Director of the Natural History Museum once more jutted forward with an interruption. "The darkness began at the beginning with the first objects known to have been human creations and is progressing systematically forward from that point."

"In addition," continued Jones, his face beginning to glisten from heat and sweat - the effect of the import of the news he sought to convey combined with his concentration in doing so and the stuffiness of the room in which they met – "not only are the artefacts themselves being blanked from sight but so too are all references to them in the artistic and literary artefacts which follow them in history."

"Our contacts tell us," added Dixon, "that this is a global phenomenon."

"What periods of history are currently affected?" asked the Prime Minister.

"We are currently in the Mesolithic Period," stated Penny, pleased to finally take the lead and supply hard facts. "The forward movement of the darkness appears to be weekly and we have no indications as to what its cause might be or how to counteract its progress."

Dr. Martine Serota, the Director of the V&A, made her first contribution, "Prime Minister, you must understand that we remain at present in a period of crafted objects rather than written words. As a result, the current impact of the darkness is much less than it will become if its progress continues as to date."

"Even so," stated Jones, "I have paintings, photographs, sketches and notes which cannot be displayed because they contained images of artefacts which the darkness has covered and these images have also been covered by darkness at the same time."

"The Lascaux caves now look like the redacted documents issued by the US after the first WikiLeaks publications," blurted out Dr. Christophe Newby, the Director of the Science Museum, almost in tears.

Serota continued her analysis. "What will happen, Prime Minister, when the darkness reaches crafted objects which are in the landscape, rather than our museums, and are national icons? Stonehenge being just one significant example!"

"Constable’s mezzotint, Gropius’ photos, the arrest of Tess ..." Jones muttered.

"What too will happen once we reach the periods of the written and then the printed word? Take the King James Bible as example! What will happen when that is enveloped by this darkness? Will all the phrases which it gifted to our culture and which are peppered throughout our language also be enveloped? Will the phrase ‘salt of the earth’ no longer be seen in our literature? Will that phrase still form itself on our lips? We do not know the answers to these questions but we fear the consequences for our culture and future."

"Without a solution," exclaimed Clegg with a sharp intake of breath, "we will be entering the new Dark Ages!"

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Mark Heard - Well-Worn Pages.