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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Scene from an Imaginary Play

I wrote this with help from a classmate, Mark, in my English 3400 class. We had to base our efforts off of a short essay called "Fallout" by Dawn Marano. Please forgive the strong language in one of the lines.
Mr. Taylor and Mr. Vincente are standing in their respective yards, smoking cigarettes. Mr. Taylor walks up to the corner of his yard and peers over at the gaping hole in Tony Marano’s backyard. Mr. Vincente joins him, peering at the same hole. After a few puffs from his cigarette, Mr. Taylor tosses his cigarette butt and begins talking to Vincente.
Mr. Taylor: “Their daughter keeps saying they are building a pool.”
Mr. Vincente: “Who the hell do they think they are kidding? He’s been digging it for nearly a month…that ain’t no pool.”
Taylor: “Tony hasn’t invited me over for a beer in the last 3 weeks. I used to go over every Friday after work.”
Vincente: “I know. He’s been acting strangely at work. He showed up half an hour late as usual and when the boss yelled at him, he took it—just like that!”
Taylor: “He’s working like a maniac on that ‘pool’ every night.”
Vincente: “That’s just not right…something loony about that.”
Taylor: “I don’t know. Tony is a smart guy…doesn’t seem loony to me.”
Vincente: “I’m fine with his hole as long as he keeps digging downward. Now if he started digging sideways…”
Taylor: “What do you mean by sideways?”
Vincente: “You know, my telephone line is buried right there.” (He points to a spot about a foot from his fence.)
Taylor: “What are you getting at, Tom? You think Tony is a red??”
Vincente: “I don’t know, but you can’t trust anyone these days…just look at what’s happening in the government!”
Taylor: “But I have known Tony since grade school. He never seemed like a commie.”
Vincente: “Are you willing to put your wife and kids at risk? He probably has already started tapping telephone lines.”
Taylor: “I don’t know, Tom. I just can’t imagine Tony involved in all that.”
Vincente: “What proof do you need?? He stops inviting you over; he’s acting strangely at work; and now he’s digging a hole in his backyard big enough to store nuclear weapons or whatever!”
Taylor: “Well…what are we supposed to do?”
Vincente: “We gotta warn people.”
Taylor: “Okay.”
Vincente: “You call Fred, George, Henry and Hank, and I’ll talk to the fellas at work.”
Taylor: “Ok, Tom. I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”
Vincente: “Better safe than sorry, I always say.”

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