Dear Long John Silver,

I learned about the unsuccessful boarding attack on the royal navy transatlantic that you and the captain had organized several months ago and am very displeased to hear that you have lost your right eye in that unfortunate enterprise. It has become obvious to me that in fact many people nowadays share a similar condition and that this reconnects to the main problematics I have been inquiring on in the recent years.
As referenced by you in our previous conversations and the letters you have send me, there is in fact a serious shift occurring nowadays that you would not be able to grasp easily or at least not without the help of a contemporary technique like the one I have in mind.
I would like to start with that recent occurrence you told me about in which you woke up in the middle of the night
from a strange sound and opened your eye trying to ‘see’ something. As you describe it you had in that moment the strange experience of not attributing any verbal or mental interpretation to the visual stimuli but in the same time being aware of it. Also, you say, that feeling of preconscious perceiving of reality lasted quite long, maybe several seconds until your brain stepped out of the hypnosis of your own dream.
Now, to answer your doubts about that strange phenomenon – I do not think you should worry too much and that the fact of your injury in particular the monocular way you perceive light, right now, in my believe, has just enhanced this otherwise natural experience. In the light of that I propose you, in the form of the following letter, a simple several step technique that can help you understand better the reasons and dynamics of this phenomenon and its contemporary manifestation. The way I propose you to do it is by traveling back in time starting with your voice getting deeper and your position becoming relaxed and more comfortable.
As you proceed through this letter you are completely calm, the room is quiet and you can only hear your own voice reading it.
In front of you is an ancient manuscript. It talks about legends of cyclops, of ships and fires, of towers and battles. The manuscript starts with a simple image. It starts with a painting, with a name, with a recreation, with a conquer! We see a painter with a long thin feather. He is in front of a fire and he is drawing. The black line follows instinctively the sparkling imagination. He now understands light and wants to study it, to become its master. Man has an instrument to recreate reality. He is learning to project and communicate, to tell stories and build bridges.
As this text continues, John, you become aware of its very essence and reason for existing and you feel more relaxed and confident. Try now to recall those distant days when your right eye was still working and your view on the world was very different, try to remember John.. remember.. the long travels and the winds, the little hidden islands of the pacific, the months of traveling on that old wooden caravelle and the storms of Cape Horn right above the Land of fire. What is different back than? Is it the floating distance between you and your enemy’s weapon when landing on the royal ship? Do you remember that split of a second when you see the shadow of the enemy with the corner of your eye? Is that life saving? Is everything around you different, are your dreams different?
A big wave now slowly but surely lifts, twirls and with one brusque movement sinks the ship with all its canvases and weapons, animals and food and we find ourselves under the surface of the ocean. It is quiet and calm. Looking at the sun from under the water is quite different and somehow reminds you that recent memorable awakening of yours. The painting in that ancient cave now suddenly appears again in front of your eyes. The black line depicting a bull slowly transforms into something real and colorful, angry and loud. Red eyes, running people, screams and loud horns, the fast winds bursts though the streets and brings the echoes of the running people away, far away.
The water now becomes warmer and thicker as if we are not in the see anymore but rather in a forest lake. The surface is perfectly flat and we can see the sun clearly as in real life. It somehow is even more tangible that usual, maybe too much… There is something strange about it, you reach for the surface and raise your hand but something strange happens, you hit a metallic object… wait.. you are drowning John, or more precisely, some external force, somebody!, is trying to drown you. He is on you left side holding your head in the bucket of water. You reach for the spare knife in your boot and cut his hand. Only now you get up and finally manage to breath in. Air is sharp and salty as it fills up your front, your eyes and years. You immediately turn left but as you place the knife right in the chest of your enemy he manages to cut you through your right eye. Darkness and pain… minutes later when you can see again the word is flat and one sided, but essentially the same.
This letter continues and in spite of this fast journey you still feel calm and conformable and somehow more aware and less worried about your missing eye. I hope that now you understand, John, that ships and battles will always be magic stories and real lives. I am personally confident that one will always be aware of floating under the surface of the calm and warm forest lake and be ready to reach for his spare boot knife. It is a question of responsibility, but we both know that as long as one is not afraid to sale in open waters, won’t also be afraid of learning and conquering.
That is all for now, will write you again when I reach the mineral mines at the delta of Choptank river. The jungle there is thick as a nightmare and we’ll be caring our boats with us.
Send my greetings to Captain Flint, that funny parrot you always have on your shoulder. He can be you right eye now and serve his Master even better!
Fair wind and following seas,
M