by Binnie
[The Business Guy and the Writer sit at the supper table conversing]
BG: Please pass the salt.
W: Salt? Oh, you mean salt. Here you go, here’s the salt.
[BG sprinkles salt on his supper]
BG: How was your day?
W: Fine, thanks, just fine. It was… fine. Yours?
BG: Mine was great; I got a lot of business done.
W: Business, yes, mm-hmm. Business.
BG: You get some writing done?
W: Yes, well. Pebble.
BG: Sorry, what… pebble?
W: That’s right, pebble. You know.
BG: Er, ‘fraid you’ve lost me. Pebble, you say?
W: Yeah, pebble in my shoe [sighs deeply].
BG: Want some help with that? Here, hand me your foot and I’ll…
W: No, no, please leave it! Leave the pebble!
BG: Wait, you… you want the pebble?
W: Yes, that’s right, I want it. You can’t have the pebble.
BG: I can’t have the pebble?
W: No, no, you can’t. You can’t have the pebble.
BG: Please pass the salt while I think about this.
[BG sprinkles more salt on his supper, his brow furrowed]
BG: Not to pry, but what’s so special about the pebble in your shoe?
W: I can’t tell you just yet.
BG: Is it a secret pebble?
W: Not exactly. I just don’t know the whole pebble yet.
BG: “The whole pebble,” you say?
W: Yes. The whole pebble.
BG: “Yet,” you say?
W: That’s right. They haven’t told me yet.
BG: Ah, I see. No, I don’t. Who hasn’t told you what?
W: Well, there are two sisters.
BG: Beg pardon – two sisters in your shoe?
W: Well, they’re part of the pebble, you see.
BG: Tell me more.
W: Well, the two sisters are older…
BG: Older than the pebble?
W: Let me finish. They’re older, and they’re reflecting on an event.
BG: An event in the pebble?
W: You could say.
BG: What sort of event?
W: Not sure yet. They haven’t told me.
BG: But the pebble knows.
W: Yes, the pebble knows. I’m going to have to live with the pebble until I know.
BG: Ah, I see. Once the pebble tells you what those sisters are up to, you can shake it out.
W: In a manner of speaking, yes.
BG: Is it painful, the pebble?
W: Not exactly painful, no. In fact, I don’t really mind it. But I know it’s there.
BG: I suppose it’ll be a relief to get rid of the pebble.
W: A relief, not really. I might miss it.
BG: You might miss the pebble?
W: Yes, I might miss the pebble.
BG: I see.
[The Business Guy and the Writer chew on their food, each lost in thought]
BG: Please pass the salt.
End Act