From:
A History of the World in Four-Line Feeds: Part 18.1
Now what? Now what do we do?
Do you believe everything you’ve heard about him?
About her?
About people in general?
About the Burning Man?
I don’t know.
And where do we go from here?
I mean just check out
YouTube.
Provided of course your entity allows streaming videos.
Well, yes, they may allow them but believe you me you’ll be on the clock.
It’s all about time and attendance.
It’s always about time and attendance.
But, hey, I’m nobody, who are you?
I’m your waiter.
Well, it’s about time.
And attendance?
Repetition, the conundrum.
The what?
He had this vision of a woman on the breakers with an umbrella.
It was a scene from a well-known diorama.
Look around the bookstore at your leisure, she said.
She pronounced it
lehzure.
Just back from the book tour
he noticed his shins were skinned.
Rotating his hand slightly at the end of the pour
he discovered a spoiler
approaching the station.
The Last Station?
Yes,
The Last Station.
Which incidentally is as the Brits would say
smahshing.
I’d walk a mile for Helen Mirren.
Actually, more than a mile.
How much more?
Hard to say.
Really!
Cut to the scene of the empty railroad platform, please. Quickly!
Dylan strumming
Good car to drive after a war.
Here comes that injunction I warned you about.
I’m sure he’ll skate through it.
With some intractable community service?
I suppose.
As dissected on page 12?
Yes, as dissected on page 12.
And that too,
and three, four, maybe even five extra innings.
No more George, though.
Sad, indeed.
Lots of coverage, yes?
Opening Day is always exciting.
You were there, weren’t you?
At least I thought you were there
brandishing an elephant gun
as if a line had been drawn.
As if a die had been cast.
So we skipped a few parts, so what?
To cut to the chase, so to speak?
I guess.
Wait, you mean like Steve McQueen in
Bullit?
Was he cooperative?
As cooperative as Steve could be.
On a good day? With Ali?
Here comes Erich Segal. Ask him.
Act 1 Scene 2. Action!
Slow down!
Did someone interview Hannibal after he crossed the Alps?
Yes, I believe it was Jodie Foster.
One of her texts mentioned something about a summer frock.
I think you’d look good in one.
Reminds me of
The Girls in their Summer Dresses.
Which isn’t about girls in their summer dresses!
Why do they do that?
Do what?
The other morning, for example, a flock of birds flew from the trees
with the message
It’s never too late.
You’ve been Potter-ized!
What’s a group of vampires called?
Yes, I’ve had my share of vampires.
And German Expressionist films?
And Max Schreck? And Count Orlok?
Yes. Yes. And yes.
Now there’s a classic.
I remember watching it one summer evening
and thinking about a text message I received.
From a girl in a summer dress?
There was nothing outside the text.
Meaning?
Let me back up a bit.
The checkout line has bottlenecked
and I’m thinking about the last line in the romance novel
that floated in over the transom last night:
The moment passed.
Surely, someone will throw a hissy fit.
But what about the fit and finish
of the models rolling into showrooms as we speak?
Is there a lesson to be learned?
So long as it’s value-added.
The famous late-in-the-novella Updikian switch?
The what?
You know, where Ed and Eunice emerge from the pool
to the open mouths of their respective spouses.
So that’s it?
Not necessarily. But that was then.
Yes? And?
And this is now.