the scene: a darkened room. two persons are seated in front of a fireplace. the fire is low. a few sparks and ashes float in the air.
why do you act as if everything is my fault?
i don’t like this salad. and this mannequin is impossible to dress properly.
throw the undressed mannequin into the fire, if you please. and give the salad to the pig.
but then i shall be hungry, and have nothing to do. and i do not care for the tone of your voice.
and i do not care at all for yours!
i need something to do! and i need some meaning in my life!
you have had a hundred years to find meaning in your life.
yes, and i could have had a hundred more if it were not for you!
please don’t shout.
i will shout if i please!
why do you not make yourself useful and stir the fire?
what was that? i thought i heard someone at the door?
who would be at the door? we are alone in this poorly heated cabin in the middle of the howling wilderness.
no, we are on the fourth floor of a semi-deserted rooming house on the outskirts of the decrepit city of st john, the former capital of the empire.
the door opens, and a third person enters.
who are you?
i live on the floor below you, and i wish to protest the unholy racket you are making with your interminable arguing.
there is no floor below us, we are in a lonely cabin in the middle of the desolate howling wilderness. the unholy racket you refer to is only the sound of the wind.
that mannequin, it reminds me of someone i used to know.
i was just about to throw it into the fire, you may have it if you like.
thank you, that is very kind of you. does it have a name?
my name is maria elena, sir, thank you so much for rescuing me from the clutches of these monsters.
monsters! that is a nice way to talk after we have kept you safe and warm all these years.
yes, if you thought you were being mistreated why dd you not speak up? you had no lack of opportunity. also, you might have lent a hand in cutting down the trees and building the cabin.
there is no cabin, we are all on the forty-fourth floor of a high rise in memphis, the largest city in the galactic capital.
would you like a drink before you go?
thank you, that is very kind of you.
you see how kind and hospitable we can be. do not listen to this wretched creature’s lies. we have some sherry, would you like that?
that would suit me very well.
darling, they mean to poison you. do not drink the sherry!
it would be impolite not to.
of course, i remember you now! the mysterious gentleman known as… garo!… and also as mister 44.
our tale ends here. the cabin is gone, as are the rooming house on the outskirts of the city, the high rise, the galactic capital, and the empire itself.
but the wind still howls.
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