The Trickster Diaries, part 3/Chapter 5

Phased out. Made irrelevant. Or, as Sam Peckinpah (the gas man character in ‘Body Snatchers’ 1) shouts to the zombie mob in hot pursuit of the last human being in town, Dr Bunnel, who’s miraculously escaped and made it to the highway:
“Stop! Let him go! They’ll never believe him.”

It was that kind of impotence Bob was experiencing, realizing he’d never, ever be able to get the devil perched on Laura’s right shoulder to stop squawking long enough so that the angel on her left might listen.
“You’re amused,” says Bob. “Why?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Well of course I want to know.”
“Sure?”
“Yes, goddammit!”
“Good. Grab your beer. Follow me.”
Linda, asleep on the old wooden picnic table between us, stirs, stands, jumps down, beats us to the backdoor.
I go to my feed on Ello, click on the thumbnail of a GIF I’d made which then expands to quadruple the size. Bob reads the caption:

If you see three dancers,
the Zen gate closes.
Please try again later.

“God she’s beautiful,” he says, referring to the woman in the foreground.
“She’s Tola Chap. A member of the Royal Cambodian Ballet.”
“Really,” says Bob.
“Uh huh. This type of dance is called Apsara.”
“Apsara. And the words?”
“A koan. A riddle. Does it have any meaning for you?”
Bob studies it carefully.
“No,” he says. “Except I do see three dancers. But the gate closes, implying my observation is incorrect.”
“Dude, you’re good at this. It helps to know as much as possible. So let me give you a couple clues. Apsara is storytelling through dance. And realizing complete emptiness is Zen’s only goal.”
Bob: OK. So now I see three storytellers.
Me: Anything else?
Bob: Yes! Actually yes! I see a moving, black and white, looping image.
Me: Do those things you’ve seen, one underneath the other, have something, anything in common?
“Yes,” he nods, head dropping into hands, eyeglasses sliding awkwardly to forehead. Finally he takes a deep breath, leans back, looks me in the eye. “Illusion,” he says.
“And the gate?”
Bob: (With much elation) The gate swung open.