Think of a City - Dawn

009 by Pete Toms is an excellent example of why Think of a City resonates so strongly with me.  This piece is pretty radically different from what eight previous entries (no bikes, far more unrest than we've seen before, caterpillar-men), but the connections are still there for those willing to look - the blue bursting from the boombox, that silly smiley face on the man's partial t-shirt.  I'm completely enamoured with the ongoing combination of old and new that is so pivotal to this project and I just don't know how one could grow tired of it.

1 - A woman stands before a large crowd on what looks to be an enormous platform of stone.  The woman has a bandage / blindfold covering her eyes, but she stands confidently.  She and the assembled group are wearing what would amount to lower-class / peasant clothing and sport the appearance of having come out of a conflict (cuts, bruises, rips in clothing, etc).  There are various large pieces of debris and stone littering the area.

WOMAN (1): Some may think that our struggle is over.

WOMAN (2): They could not be more wrong.

2 - A pile of armor, shields, and various weapons sits in front of the woman's platform.  A lineup of former soldiers stands at the ready, removing their equipment and adding it to the pile.

WOMAN: We have thrown off the weight of the tyrant's yoke.

3 - Close on the woman, holding a bandage - like the one covering her eyes but clean and bright white - above her head.

WOMAN (1): But now we take on the far heavier burden of healing the leftover wounds.

WOMAN (2): Of creating something new.

4 - On the crowd listening intently.  Various members also have bandages - held in their hands, wrapped around forearms like armbands, around their eyes, and so forth.

WOMAN (off-panel) (1): We stand before a very real crossroads.

WOMAN (off-panel) (2): And the path we take will define us.

WOMAN (off-panel) (3): More importantly, it will define our future.

5 - Pull further out to a point where it becomes clear that the platform the woman is standing on and the surrounding rocks and debris surrounding are part of an enourmous statue that has been toppled.  The pieces are rather smashed and broken, but the snarling face of a man can still be made out from the mess.

WOMAN (tailless): Let us choose wisely.