{"id":1989,"date":"2016-01-22T20:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T01:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=1989"},"modified":"2016-01-30T14:14:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T19:14:34","slug":"scene-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=1989","title":{"rendered":"Scene 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\"GTV<\/p>\n

A room with cubicles, chairs and phones.\u00a0 One cubicle has written on it in red lipstick \u201cNothing Happened.\u201d\u00a0 Two women sitting together.\u00a0 One, Amanda, seems to be choking back a sob while wiping tears from her eyes, the other, Nancy, comforts her.<\/em><\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

\u2026 but Nancy, it all seemed so real!\u00a0 The twisted wreck, those bodies strewn all over the ravine, that poor little baby shrieking her lungs out, the blood \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Shhhh!\u00a0 (loud whisper)<\/em>\u00a0 Amanda! Get a grip and get it quick!\u00a0 Ya want people thinking this is a psycho<\/em> hotline?\u00a0 (shakes her)<\/em>\u00a0 If Carl hears you raving like this, you\u2019re gonna get canned this time for sure.\u00a0 And they won\u2019t care how good you are.<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

They wouldn\u2019t \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

No? \u00a0You\u2019ve already gotten three warnings for \u201cunprofessional manner,\u201d which\u00a0 is two more than they gave Lucy before they got rid of her. \u00a0And if it\u2019s good-bye Amanda, I don\u2019t know how much longer I\u2019d be able to stand it here.\u00a0 You know they want to cut staff.<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

(takes a moment to compose, becomes angry)<\/em>\u00a0 Nancy, don\u2019t be an idiot.\u00a0 Do you really believe folks will call a psychic hotline that\u2019s answered by computers?\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how good the voices are, that\u2019s the stupidest \u2026 stupidest \u2026 stupidest \u2026 (sobs quietly, reaches for Nancy\u2019s hand)<\/em><\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

(comforts her)<\/em>\u00a0 Yeah, I suppose so, but that doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t try.\u00a0 You know cutting staff always scores points with the board, even if it is a total bust.\u00a0 And there\u2019s so many hurting, frightened, desperate people in this world, it could take years before they exhaust all the suckers. \u00a0And speaking of fraud, which I know we weren\u2019t, you know a machine isn\u2019t really any less psychic than we are.<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Or cold-blooded than some of us.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Hey!<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Sorry, I didn\u2019t mean it that way.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not like I can file this stuff away like it was just the bullshit on the evening news, find some little corner of my brain that I can lock and unlock like, like \u2026 I mean that woman and her children, that little baby\u00a0 (resumes sobbing)<\/em>\u00a0 Nancy, you do<\/em> believe me, don\u2019t you, I mean, you\u2019re my best friend, and \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Welllll \u2026 I do believe that you believe it, and I see you\u2019re in terrible pain and all, but, well, I just don\u2019t know, it\u2019s all so weird \u2026<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

(loudly)<\/em>\u00a0 And the storm?\u00a0 What about the fucking storm?\u00a0 The one that pert near killed you last March?\u00a0 Remember that?\u00a0 No warning, partly cloudy and warmer, it was supposed to be, it said so on the evening news so it must be true.\u00a0 And if you\u2019d a\u2019stayed home that night instead of taking my invitation to stay over to my place, you\u2019d be dead, crushed flatter than the woman in the ravine.\u00a0 What about that fucking storm?\u00a0 Or do you figure I caused it just so my lousy prediction would turn out right?<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

You\u2019re scaring me, Amanda.\u00a0 I, I, I don\u2019t know what to think.\u00a0 I know you\u2019re not quite \u2026 normal, a total nutcase, in fact, but you\u2019re my best friend and I can\u2019t stand it how much you hurt.\u00a0 I can\u2019t stand it that you haven\u2019t the brains to just tell everyone what they want to hear.\u00a0 I can\u2019t stand it that I can\u2019t file you<\/em> away in some little nook in my head.\u00a0 I can\u2019t stand it \u2026<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

(quietly)<\/em>\u00a0 Or do you think I caused that storm?<\/p>\n

Carl<\/h4>\n

(loudly, offstage)<\/em>\u00a0 So when do you predict you two dykes are gonna get back to work?\u00a0 The masses await your cosmic insight.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

All right already!\u00a0 Ya know, Carl, I see great pain and suffering in your life if you don\u2019t get off our backs.\u00a0 Ya never heard of a break?<\/p>\n

Amanda sits down, puts on her headset, begins taking calls.<\/em><\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Psychic Help Headquarters, how can we help with your future? \u2026 Your boyfriend?\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Let me see, does his name begin with an M, or an S, or a D? \u2026 Chuck, yes, of course, I knew that, I can see him quite clearly now \u2026 No, I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t do love spells over the phone \u2026 Sorry, no, we don\u2019t do death curses either, not by phone.\u00a0 But if you stopped by our Psychic Products Outlet on Broadway and 96th, I\u2019m sure we\u2019d come up with something that would do the trick \u2026 You\u2019re most welcome \u2026 Something else? \u2026 No, don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m sure Fluffy will come back soon, just as soon as she\u2019s hungry \u2026 Sure, you\u2019re most welcome.\u00a0 (hits disconnect, rolls her eyes, another call)<\/em>\u00a0 Psychic Help Headquarters, how can we help with your future? \u2026 (turns red)<\/em>\u00a0 No, I\u2019m sorry, I think you want the Psychic Perverts Hotline \u2026 Certainly, just dial (212) 666-6782 and ask for Carl \u2026 No problem, you\u2019re most welcome.\u00a0 (hits disconnect)<\/em><\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Amanda!<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Well, he can\u2019t say I never did him any favors.\u00a0 Next!\u00a0 Psychic Help Headquarters, how can we help with your future? \u2026 Yes? \u2026 Yes? \u2026 (stage whisper)<\/em>\u00a0 Oh my god!<\/p>\n

Lights dim, soft light on Amanda, spotlight across stage on a man sitting in a chair, staring intently ahead and picking up a telephone.\u00a0 Another man slowly emerges behind him out of the darkness, his hands down by his sides.\u00a0 He slowly raises his right hand, which holds a pistol, holds it out straight, takes careful aim at the back of the sitting man\u2019s head, the gun recoils and the sitting man drops, that light cuts, lights up on Amanda and Nancy.\u00a0 Amanda shrieks, jumps back from the phone, her chair falls over.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh my god!!!<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Not again!\u00a0 Amanda, what\u2019s wrong?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

I have to go.\u00a0 I have to go.\u00a0 I have to go \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Huh?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

This time, even I think it\u2019s insane.\u00a0 But I have to go.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Go where?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

To stop it.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Stop what?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

The murder!<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

(slaps her, is getting hysterical herself)<\/em>\u00a0 Murder?\u00a0 Oh no!\u00a0 Amanda!\u00a0 Come on, you\u2019ve never been this flipped out.\u00a0 Come on, talk to me.\u00a0 Tell me about it.\u00a0 From the top, damn you.\u00a0 You took that last call and what happened?<\/p>\n

Carl<\/h4>\n

(voice offstage)<\/em>\u00a0 I warned you bitches \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

(furious)<\/em>\u00a0 Carl, just back the fuck off.\u00a0 We\u2019ll talk later! \u00a0If you fuck with us right now, I swear I\u2019ll grind your balls to turkey fodder!\u00a0 (quietly, to Amanda)<\/em>\u00a0 C\u2019mon, baby.\u00a0 Just get a grip.\u00a0 I believe you.\u00a0 I believe you.\u00a0 Just take it from the top.\u00a0 You took that last call and \u2026<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

(speaking fast)<\/em>\u00a0 I picked it up but there was just this low whistling, and I saw this man and this other man killed him. \u00a0This man, he \u2026 I\u2019m sorry, Nancy.\u00a0 Let me try again.\u00a0 I get this call, and I see this man sitting in the dark, picking up the phone, then this other man snuck up behind him and shot him, but it hasn\u2019t happened yet, I sort of know that, and somehow this time I\u2019m involved.\u00a0 Maybe even responsible!\u00a0 I have no idea how or why, but I\u2019m involved.\u00a0 Oh my god, that sounds about as crazy as \u2026 Goddammit\u00a0 goddammit\u00a0 goddammit goddammit!\u00a0 Why me!?\u00a0 Why fucking me!?<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Shhh.\u00a0 You heard him killed but it hasn\u2019t happened yet?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

No, no, I saw him killed, no sound except this weird whistling, going up and down, but you know how this stuff gets all scrambled up in my head, I can\u2019t help it.\u00a0 I see this stuff, like that wreck in the ravine, and I know it\u2019s real, but I usually don\u2019t know if it\u2019s already happened, or is about to happen, or might happen, and then \u2026 But Nancy, this time it\u2019s different.\u00a0 This time I\u2019m somehow part of it, and \u2026<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Look, honey, you gotta chill out.\u00a0 If you go some place and walk into the middle of a police investigation, then you\u2019re part of it, for sure.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t go, well, then you aren\u2019t.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 We learned that kind of thing in Advanced Reality 101.\u00a0 So what\u2019s the big deal?\u00a0 You think it\u2019s any different than if we see it tonight on TV?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

I guess I flunked that class.\u00a0 But for real, you gotta believe me now.\u00a0 It\u2019s too late.\u00a0 I mean, I\u2019m already in this.\u00a0 I have to go.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Go where?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

I have no idea.\u00a0 But I\u2019m sure that once I start walking, I\u2019ll end up where I have to be.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

I don\u2019t suppose I could, naw, I guess not.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you realize \u2026 (pauses)<\/em>\u00a0 My mistake.\u00a0 Sometimes I get the illusion that I\u2019m talking to someone sane.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t persuade \u2026 (pauses)<\/em>\u00a0 I guess not.\u00a0 No idea where you\u2019re going at all?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Well, no, not really.\u00a0 If you were one of our callers, I\u2019d probably make up some bullshit like \u201cthe spirits will guide my footsteps,\u201d but \u2026 Oh, to hell with it.\u00a0 The spirits will guide my footsteps.\u00a0 (heads for the door)<\/em><\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Wait! \u00a0Your job!\u00a0 What do I tell Carl?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Nancy, I don\u2019t think it matters much.\u00a0 There\u2019s something real going on, and apart from you, there\u2019s not much to hold me here.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been a spectator for so long, and as you\u2019ve so tactfully pointed out, it\u2019s driving me mad.\u00a0 So I get ripped every night, work like a zombie by day, from minute to minute I keep switching from hysteria to near-comatose.\u00a0 But right now I\u2019m wired real different.\u00a0 So am I about to be a hero?\u00a0 Am I walking into the arms of death?\u00a0 Am I a killer?\u00a0 I haven\u2019t the slightest.\u00a0 But I\u2019m feeling very alive, more alive than I\u2019ve felt in a long, long time, and that\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Will you be coming back?\u00a0 Will I see you again?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I hope so.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that so much is getting dark.<\/p>\n

Nancy<\/h4>\n

Amanda?\u00a0 You do know that I love you, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/h4>\n

Nancy\u00a0 (comes back and hugs her)<\/em>\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to be a weirdo to know that.<\/p>\n

Exits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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previous scene next scene A room with cubicles, chairs and phones.\u00a0 One cubicle has written on it in red lipstick \u201cNothing Happened.\u201d\u00a0 Two women sitting together.\u00a0 One, Amanda, seems to be choking back a sob while wiping tears from her … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1989","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P77v4L-w5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}