Open City

In April, Julius goes on a picnic in Central Park with an unnamed friend, his friend’s girlfriend (Lise-Anne), and Moji. Julius notes that he is more introverted in the winter and more extroverted in the spring. While Moji reads Anna Karenina, a dad calls his daughter’s name, Anna, nearby. A plane flies overhead and three people skydive out of it, landing in the park. Julius remembers diving into a pool at the University of Lagos to save a boy’s life.

After the skydivers land, police officers arrive to arrest them. The crowd cheers for the skydivers and boos the police. Julius considers how Lise-Anne and his friend are a good match, or at least a better match than his friend’s previous girlfriends. He recalls that he and Moji were talking about environmental issues when they first arrived at the park. She talks about bees dying—colony collapse disorder. His friend jokes about the disorder sounding like a colonial uprising, and Lise-Anne brings up the Spanish film El Espiritu de la Colmena—in English, The Spirit of the Beehive.

Julius argues that the world is unprepared for a disaster or plague like what the bees are experiencing, and Lise-Anne changes the subject by asking about his patients.