A Quick Simple Script
John - “What are you thinking about?”
…
Jane - “Hmm? Oh, nothing for once”
[bird song]
John -“What is it about days like this? The sun? The time of day?.. It can’t be. Each time I feel this way its different. Its been rainy one time. Scorching hot the next. Blue light, gold light. This feeling creeps through into all kinds of days. I guess I keep looking for its qualities because I want to feel this way all the time.”
Jane -“Maybe you just need anti-depressants.”
John -“Shut up! I’m trying to soak this in here.”
Jane -“That’s what I mean. If feeling comfortable is such a big deal for you to soak in, it suggests your depressed or anxious most of the time… Not to ruin the mood or anything.”
John -“You over analyze. Just listen to the birds.”
Jane -“Sure, whatever you say.”
…
[tape player clicks and the track changes]
John (heaving a sign) – “And there it goes.”
Jane - “What?”
John -“That feeling. Ugh, is it really as fragile as the right song being on?”
Jane -“Probably.”
John -“Well now that might be worth being a little depressed about.”
[laughter]
Jane -“Hey look. I know I’m a reductionist. You probably don’t need antidepressants. I’m just saying, open up your criteria. The more you look for the qualities of a peaceful day, the more you work yourself into a corner. ‘A good day has this light, this smell, blah, blah’. If you get stuck in that, next thing you know you only have one good day. Let the feeling be the feeling and it might show up on a day you thought was terrible.”
…
John softly – “Thank you…”
Jane -“Pft, don’t take that seriously too. But your welcome.”
[birdsong]
John -“Well I know I like when we can have the window open.”
Jane -“Me too.”
Jane -“Remember that summer in Minnesota when we slept with the window open every night?”
John - “Yeah… that was nice. When we got that basement room I slept till the afternoon every day! I’m so light sensitive. If I ever become an insomniac, just find me a basement to sleep in.”
Jane -“Ha, ok…”
[another click, a new track]
John -“I keep trying to come up with a serious conversation topic but I cant.”
Jane -“Good!”
John -“But I want to be a successful writer! No one wants to read small talk on a beautiful day.”
Jane -“I would.”
John -“Well, I guess I would too, but I cant say I’ve ever heard of a writer supporting themselves with a series of small talk novels.”
Jane -“That’s because you are looking in the wrong place. You play video games right? Watch TV shows?
John -“Yeah”
Jane -“Well, think about all those tiny conversations in games. NPCs that chat you up, tavern talks. I bet people pay big bucks for writers who can make that feel natural. Maybe that’s your niche. Not ‘The Fantastical Elvin Philosophy Dialogs’.”
John -“Maybe your right… I do love these moments the most.”
Jane -“There you go again with the criteria.”
[laughter]
John -“Seriously though. I could write about this feeling or a living.”
Jane -“Then you should probably just turn to poetry.”
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