3

THE ROOF

You are on the roof lying down. You open your eyes and perhaps become aware of your surroundings as if coming out of sleep. You look at the sky above and hear sounds from all around you. Music intersperses with conversation. You...

SIT UP or KEEP LYING DOWN

SIT UP. You look around and see gatherings of people. Cliques. Your eyes dart from one group to another as you stand up. You hear snippets of conversation and try to catalogue the different voices. You know you recognize several but the best you can do with hearing them all at once is to number them in your mind.

1: Do you know how comics are written?

2: --she's in college and they're dating--

1: The writer and the artist talk

3: --of course I will--

4: Sam!

1: and the artist draws

5: Boy or girl?

2: He's a vampire and they're dating

1: Art

6: The rune

1: The writer then

4: Thanks. I appreciate

5: That's an investment, my man.

1: writes dialogue to

7: That's--

1: --pictures.

7: all folks! throws down bottle

6: The root

3: Hello, earth to Sarah!

5: Kinda weird, ri--

8: Left and kept running, damnedest

4: Tablished in 1964

5: Score!

8: And seven years ago I really thought I would have been the one to walk out.

7: Bo dies! Get it?

3: Yeah, and all her affairs went south...

9: Dakota? Can you hear me?

4: They've been up and running since

8: So cold, so fuc--

7: King me, Richard!

6: The ring

9: Everyone shut up, I'm on the--

5: --foam, like it pushes back nicely when--

8: Ukulele salesman. I just don't know what she--

5: Seas and boats, man, that's the life--

10: [looking you dead in the eyes] Line? Hey, don't be a di--

3: --icklish, don't touch me...

1: They're almost--

2: Hear, hear!

There's a moment of silence.

Bill: Sorry, guys, we didn't mean to be late. We had a... bit of a mishap--

Everyone: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... You seem to lose focus during the familiar song. You blink and time seems to shift. Overcome by input overload, you move towards one group. You eyes the corners of the roof and you move

NORTH or EAST or WEST or SOUTH