Scene #1: Last Night
Welcome, welcome, welcome to a new Feature here at A Twitchy Mind! Surprised? Well, I suppose I can’t blame you. Nevertheless, here we are. Lately yours truly has been doing some playwriting work, and as a part of that has been writing up several short scenes featuring characters, sets, and plots of all sorts. Needing something to actually POST from time to time, I figure I’d inflict these little scenes upon you, for your reading pleasure or displeasure.
First up is ‘Last Night’, a short two-and-a-bit pager. Despite the fact that drinking makes you forget the events of the night before, beware of those with better memories or restraint than yourselves . . .
Last Night
A cheap apartment living room, with few chairs, a table, and T.V., with a few doors leading to other rooms. Most of the furniture is covered in empty beer bottles. GABE, a clean looking twentysomething-year old in a T-shirt and jeans, sits in one of the empty chairs while reading a newspaper. FRANK enters the living room from his bed room, still dressed like a clerk from the day before. His clothes are rumpled and he looks worse for the wear, apparently having drank the contents of many of the now empty bottles. He plops down into a chair after knocking a few empties off of it.
FRANK
(holds heads in hands and groans) Oh God. I think I’m going to die. Why did I do this to myself? Again?
GABE
(still reading paper, with a cheery tone of voice) Because your job sucks, your boss is a tyrant, and you hate your life?
FRANK
Shut up. I wasn’t talking to you. Why the hell are you so happy, anyways?
GABE
No reason.
(puts paper down on table, smiles at FRANK)
The fact that I don’t drink or have a hangover right now might have something to do with it, though, now that I think about it.
FRANK
Screw you. You don’t have to deal with all the crap I have to. You don’t even have a job. How the hell you keep coming up with your share of the rent I have no idea, and I really don’t want to know. Finding out you’re a hitman or something would just drive me to drink even more.
GABE
Ah, but when you’re the only one at a party who doesn’t drink you hear all sorts of interesting things. And the best part is that you’re usually the only one who remembers them.
FRANK
Oh no.
(finally takes his head out of his hands to look at GABE, horrified)
What did I do?
GABE
Oh, not that much, really.
(GABE leans back in the chair and crosses his arms, and for a moment FRANK looks like he has hope, until GABE speaks again.)
You just went into exquisite detail about what you thought of your boss.
FRANK
Oh shit. Sam was here last night! He’s the worst gossip in the entire frigging company! Everybody and their mothers will know what I said!
GABE
(thoroughly enjoying himself) Speaking of mothers, the things you said about your boss’ mother! I’m telling you, the paint nearly peeled off the walls. And then you got into what your boss did with his dog on the weekends . . .
FRANK
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
(stands up, begins pacing frantically)
He’s fired people for breaking too many pencils! He’s going to can me, I’m sure of it!
GABE
Relax. I made sure Sam got hammered. Odd how he never noticed I wasn’t actually drinking in our little ‘drinking contest’. By the time the others carried him out of here, I’d be surprised if he remembered his own name, never mind what you were going on about.
FRANK
(looks visibly relieved and sits back down) You’re cruel, you know that? Had me worried over nothing. Thanks, though.
GABE
No problem.
(glances over at FRANK, grinning wickedly)
Of course, I could still remind Same about what he heard, job his memory a bit.
FRANK
(having finally started to relax, he jerks upright in his seat, shocked) HUH!?
GABE
Hey, Frank, would you mind covering my share of the rent this month? I’d really appreciate it!
(FRANK puts his head back in his hands and groans)
