THE MILK PART 1
"WHY IS this person standing in milk?" asked Mr. Donut. "He is up to his waist in milk. How did they ever explain this to the government?"
"He is not standing in milk," I explained. He is suffering no discomfort. And there is nothing to explain to the government."
Mr. Donut looked around slowly at nothing. "Those were the days when the world was black and white. There was no color. There were no colored cats. Yet anything visible still had substance, did it not?"
"Yes." answered The Pomfret.
"Yet the child is happy."
"Yes. He's getting his picture taken."
Mr. Donut bit his tiny lip. "Standing in milk. Happy. No one is concerned."
"Right," said The Pomfret. "No one is concerned because what you are calling 'milk' is a light leak in the camera."
"Light!" Mr. Donut paused, mouth agape, his brain connecting to the metaphysical world. "Standing in light!"
"I will call Mr. Rumi as soon as we have these photos sorted. And Mr. Donut," said The Pomfret sincerely, "you are always a pleasure to work with."
THE MILK PART 3
'WHERE IS THIS?"
"That is the lady's house," said The Pomfret. "You're looking out over the deck."
"Look. The town is full of milk. Things are going from a world of vibrant color back to black and white. Oh, Pomfret, will you be gray? Will EVERYTHING be gray again?"
It's FOG," said The Pomfret. "It is only FOG. It probably burned off an hour after the picture was taken."
"Fog," said Mr.Donut. "Are you sure? It looks like a big pond. Look, look over here to the left - that's a boat, Pomfret. That is a boat and this is a body of water."
"Why, you're right," The Pomfret agreed. "You are right."
THE MILK PART 2
'WHO IS THIS?" said Mr. Donut.
"She is the mother of the little boy."
"Nice house. Look at the bookshelves. They tell all. If a family has no bookshelves, they have nothing to say. From the top shelf down this unit bespeaks: History, The Classics, three lovely children and one in uniform, assorted hardbacks, large books, and in the cupboards maybe toys."
"Maybe," said The Pomfret.
"Beautiful woman," said Mr. Donut. "She should have been a cat."
"Those are light leaks," said The Pomfret.
"I wasn't going to say anything. "
"Thank you."
"Hmmmm." Mr.Donut cleared his little throat. "Hmmm."
"What?"
"This photo is from the days of black and white."
"Yes."
"Everything was black and white."
"Yes," said The Pomfret.
"Then why is she sitting in grass?"
"Where?"
"Here," said Mr.Donut. "Look at the bottom of the photo. That looks like grass. Green grass. Maybe a fern. Definitely foliage."
"Why it does," said The Pomfret. "It does."
Mr.Donut gasped. "Oh, Pomfret! Pomfret, this is a picture of the beginning!"
"The beginning of what?"said The Pomfret patiently.
Mr.Donut smirked. "Color, of course. "
The Pomfret stopped what she was doing.
"Color," Mr.Donut continued. This snapshot shows COLOR beginning to invade a monochromatic world! Oh, Pomfret! Have you ever heard of anyone making a photograph of this moment! "
"It's almost like having a picture of Baby Jesus," said The Pomfret.
