Dennis could feel the tension rise a notch, and so he interrupted. "That would also explain why that guy, Gerad, said that he was with dead characters from books. And how he referred to himself to a character, and says he, 'Doesn't play a part in your story anymore.' I just thought he was kind of crazy."
"Don't call my friend crazy!" exclaims Kaya.
"And also how that bench appeared out of nowhere," adds Kenny, glancing over at Dennis with an incredulous expression. "The authors must be just trying to make fools out of us in our confusion."
"Try as they might, they can never make a fool out of me!" proclaims Raymond.
"It's too late, you're already a fool," says Kenny dryly. At that particular moment, a brick suddenly drops from seemingly nowhere and lands on Raymond's head. He falls unconscious for the second time in only a few minutes. "Case in point," notes Kenny.
"He's not dead, is he?" asks Kaya, slightly worried. She didn't like Raymond at all, but she didn't want more blood on her hands from not doing anything.
"Nah," says Kenny, bending down to check. "His head's much too hard for that."
"Besides, anything that happened in a break wouldn't reflect on the actual story," says Theo. "As you said, this is just a fun exercise. Anything that happens here isn't carried over."
Heathcliff's eyes flutter open and he sits up. "Uh, what just happened here? What are you talking about?"
With much stopping and starting, and Heathcliff interrupting with questions, the group got the idea across to him.
"This is preposterous!" exclaims Heathcliff quite indignantly. "We cannot have our own free will and mind?"
"It might appear so," says Kaya. "But there's nothing we can do, really."
"Yes there is!' replies Heathcliff, who promptly stands up and starts pacing back and forth. "We must stage a rebellion!" he exclaims, all riled up, and his blue eyes shining with a sort of madness.
"A rebellion?" Theo sits back. "How would we go through with that?" she inquires.
"We just have to do something the authors would not think of," says Heathcliff. "Baffle them, do something totally out of character! Then when they are exasperated and plead with us to stop, we'll come up with some sort of contract that will stop them from taking over our lives!"
"No, that's not possible," says Dennis.
"Why ever not?" needles Heathcliff. "Give me a good reason why."
Dennis thinks for a moment. "Well...hmm...uh..."
Kaya takes pity on him and jumps to his rescue. "I think what Dennis is trying to say is that we are essentially the offspring of the authors. The authors actually created us, and everything about us. We can't do anything out of character, because then that'll just become incorporated into our characteristics. Anything we do was thought about by the authors beforehand and then written down, making us do it. As we're talking right now, they know what we're saying and what we're thinking. It's impossible to stage a rebellion, because that's what they planned for us to do!"
Heathcliff was utterly dumbfounded. He opened his mouth to speak. "I--" he started, but he suddenly and without warning, vanished.
Dennis and the others looked at each other with identical unbelieving expressions. "Hey, where's Raymond?" asks Kaya, pointing at the empty spot where an unconscious Raymond once lay.
"It appears we're getting called back to our stories," says Theo. "And just as I was enjoying myself, too."
"I wonder, will we remember this?" asks Kaya. "I'm surprised at myself, but I have to say I enjoyed meeting you guys and this brief time we spent together."
"Maybe," says Kenny. "I guess it depends on whether the authors decide to or not."
"Let's try really hard then to convince the authors," says Kaya. "I would like to try to remember this."
Theo blinks out of existence, returning to her tumultuous story. Kenny soon follows suit. Once again, it was only Dennis and Kaya in the park.
"Here, let's try to see if this works," says Kaya, pulling an earring out of her ear. She slips it into Dennis's pocket. "See if it goes with you when you arrive back to your place, would you?"
"Sure," he says. "I wonder if I'll see you again?"
"Maybe, maybe not," she says. She feels something tugging at her spirit, and she knows it time to leave. "Good luck with your family, Dennis. Hope to see you again!"
She disappears, and Dennis only a breath later, does too. The park starts disappearing into darkness, until only words are left on a blank white background.
Very high-concept conclusion to the intermission, it's like The Matrix!
ReplyDeletevery brilliant