TE16 Turkish Delight

Zeynep Çolakğlu could speak Turkish. But I guess it was his story that entertained the man the most, and he said that he wanted a token from us. My friend found a creative solution to this, too. That day, I had strolled around with a straw hat all day long, and saying, “I must do something to this hat,” and distorting its position on my head, he had made fun of me all day. Now it was time. Taking out a little juniper essence from the pocket of his jacket, he poured it onto the hat on my head. Covered in juniper scent, eyes widened in astonishment, as I was trying to figure out what he was doing, he grabbed the hat and gifted it to the owner of Jammin’s. He was chuckling as he was saying, “Here, both a spiritual and a material token from us.” Seven years had passed since then. I was unaware that my path would cross with Medusa for real this time. This time, it was I who had come to Istanbul to do a research about Medusa intentionally. Seeing her and touching her at Basilica Cistern was a milestone for the research book I was working on. I was reading everything I could find about her and ceaselessly strolling on the damp ground of the cistern. With the blue and green reflections in the darkness, the sounds of water drops echoing on the walls and the shadows dancing on the surface of the water, I was going to realize that she was secretly penetrating my mind long after this. At nights, I was hearing Medusa’s dreadful hisses in my ears. She was telling me that I should get her out of that cistern she was stuck in, and that it was only I who could do that. No, no, this was too much! My mind must have been trying to attribute metaphysical meanings to yet another research I was working on. But Medusa had slowly started to take possession of my body, as I was touching those stones and breathing that damp, musty air 250