Collection
Jed Shenkier
Fiction
 
His collection was of a different sort Sure he polished it at every glance, making sure to sharpen any blemish he saw, and he loved it like he had loved his first shoe lace collection. He used to be a member, but it was in collecting where his true talent manifested. He was confident enough to impose his vision upon his collection. More than once, in fact very often, he had seen a lesser collection achieve beyond their means. But those very collections seemed prone to fail when performance, not excellence, was asked of them. Mediocrity, he said, is a result of stylistic compromise. He never boasted about it, but he made sure his colleagues knew about his success. He had amassed locally–if one can call local foreigners locals–while his peers searched long and far, one of the better collections of this sort in the country. He took every opportunity to display it, but unlike his earlier collections this one required more than a rag and a magnifying glass. Each part of his collection demanded something different of him–but they all fought for his time and attention. It was in this context that they built relationships amongst themselves. And it was in this reality that the members of the collection, unlike any collection he had had before, maintained their own perfection. This collection yearned for his guidance but often felt neglected. This collection loved each other, if only out of envy for one another's relationship with him. It was this difficulty that represented the most viable possibility for failure–because individually this collection was first rate. Collectivity was at once their strength and, considering the dynamic between the collector and his individual members, their weakness. Every member was asked to give himself to the collection, for the good of the collection. And every member was reassured that their role was no lesser or greater than that of any other member. So, in the end, the greatness of this collection resulted from their failure to call what they did a game.