Entanglements

1st November 2021: anachrony, n. Discrepancy between the order in which events of the story occur and the order in which they are presented in the plot. Also: an instance of this.

2nd November 2021: Beardsleyan, adj. Of, relating to, or reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley or his art nouveau decorative illustrations.

3rd November 2021: hangry, adj. Bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger.

4th November 2021: bish-bash-bosh, int. (and n.) British colloquial. Indicating something accomplished or completed quickly or simply.

5th November 2021: mice, v. In Bermudian English: to daydream; to be distracted or preoccupied.

6th November 2021: antemundane, adj. Existing or occurring before the creation of the world. Also occasionally in extended use: extremely ancient.

7th November 2021: acker, n. British regional. A current in a river, etc.; a ripple, furrow, or disturbance of the surface of water.

Dear reader, you will have likewise noticed that this tale is disjointed, muddled, out of order. This is as all tales must be; anachrony is vital to order. Otherwise, the innumerable distractions of each scattered mind would render this a Beardsleyan chaos of unreadable, demonic lines. We would be tormented by the pedestrian quibbles of the hangry, the dull bish-bash-bosh of the careless, condemned as they are to mice as a substitute for living their dreams. For we loathe to be reminded of that gulf. There but for the grace… And yet, it has been said, that the antemundane condition of man was not in subjugation to some hierarchical society, nor was it a nasty, brutish, short and isolated existence. Rather, we were inseparable from each other’s pains and glories as the river is from its acker.