Reflection of Action 5: After Act 2

"Will they be there tomorrow?"

"It's up to them, Boy."

"If they are...I expect you won't come, all the same."

"Yes. But they're almost ready."

"You will go?"

"No, but I would send my son. Then will they be led to me."

"Your son?"

"He will emerge, pull out the Noise, and lead them through the aching darkness...here."

"Do you think Vladimir and E....E....the other one will wait that long?"

"They know nothing else. They need our light. Our truth. I know they will wait until the skin peels off their bones and they are staring up at the empty sky with an equally empty skull."

"..."

"One needs to be thrown the the lowest of low before I can raise them higher."

"Yes, sir."

"Meanwhile they will wait."

"Wait for you....Godot."

Reflection of Action 4: Act 2

The Boy looks up from his card game. "Sir....why did you do that to Pozzo and Lucky?"

I glance at him, tearing my eyes off the Screen. "Why do you ask?"

"Pozzo, although a bit odd at times, didn't really need that to happen to him....and Lucky, he just needed a bit of truth..."

"A church such as Pozzo's is infectious, and often misled in its sects. His guidance and influence is blind...it seemed suitable."

"Then....Lucky?"

I consider this a moment.

"His words defied me. Knowledge without a base. Science without soul." I turn back to the Screen. "You saw how the other three reacted whenever he rambled for too long. It worried and confused Vladimir and Estragon."

"So....if he hadn't been silenced...."

"They would have forgotten what they were waiting for."

"And same for Pozzo?"

"Exactly."

The Boy returned to his games.

Reflection of Action 3: Between Acts

The Boy looks up in surprise as I turn off the Screen. It's understandable...this rarely occurs.

"Sir?"

"I'm visiting my son." I close the door behind me. The sky is dark black, the stars painted with faces screaming at my house. I put in my earbuds and begin listening to the six songs I put on my playlist only a few minutes back.

My son lives down the road, and memories of us playing together flow back as I travel the dirt walkway. He was so popular...my smile falls. And then they forgot about him.

I walk in without knocking. He's bent, old. Almost as if he's older than me. He doesn't have to watch a Screen, but he does have ear plugs in his ears, noise spilling in through them from supplications and messages filtered in from his secretary, Bethel.

She's nowhere in sight.

My son is sitting at his kitchen table when he looks up. He says loudly, "WHERE IS THE BOY?"

He can only hear me, no one else, through the noise in his ears.

So I reply, "Back home. He deserves rest. He's only human."

"I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE CONVERSATIONS OF THOSE TWO BELOW." He says solemnly, head in his hands. "AND THE TWO THAT VISITED. THEY SEEM NEAR. THE VERY FACT THAT THEY'RE WAITING AT THAT TREE..."

"It's not enough."

He's silent for a moment.

"YES. I SUPPOSE YOU'RE RIGHT."


"Hm."

"WILL YOU SEND THE BOY TO SPEAK TO THEM?"

"Yes. But I doubt they will understand what he's meaning."

"YOU'VE BEEN ERASING HIS MEMORY?"

"It'd be a problem for those at the tree and him if he didn't become new every now and then, right?"

I've found that as the years pass, as those two wait, The Boy must continue being new, open--otherwise he would be thrown out like my son. They aren't willing to see something old--they need new surprises. I wouldn't want anyone else to be hurt like my son.

"How're you holding up?"

My son only smiles softly. "I THINK IT'S TIME YOU HEADED BACK, OLD MAN."

I try to smile.

But I can tell he's in pain. For them.

Reflection of Action 2: Act 1

The Boy returns. "I watched them like you said."

I wouldn't waste my time watching them on the Screen. "And.....?" I prompt him.

He looks away. "The same. Nothing more."

"Then you know my reply."

The Boy nods, leaves.

I want to run to them, shake them. They are almost ready! I even sent Pozzo, Lucky...to bring them ever closer! Maybe they would've said something to maybe bring them to readiness....but I was mistaken.

I let my hand fall on my face and groan. Will they never learn? Will they never understand how long they've waited? How long I've waited?

Reflection of Action 1: Before Act 1

The Screen is like this.

I sigh, lean back, pop a couple candies in my mouth. The Boy is sitting crosslegged next to me.

"What's wrong with the screen, sir?" He asks, almost inaudibly.

I offer him some candies and he takes a couple carefully from my wide palm.

"It happens often when someone is by the tree."

"Oh, now I remember! The tree that marks....."

"Yes."

The Screen soon rights itself, and I return to browsing through the stations.

"Did they leave?" The Boy inquires.

"Well, no." I muse. "They just....aren't ready yet. The Screen almost thought they were."

I've been watching those two very closely lately. They have a pattern of returning every day, according to the Boy. And the Boy never remembers them. Something about them.....

I suppose we'll see how this plays out.

Current Events

What a waste of time. Really, they're all the same.

If I really cared about what an individual person was doing, I would let you know. Me telling you how much I spend on one channel on the Screen should already tell you how much I care for news on the outside.

I have heard noise from the outside when the Boy comes in, though. Something about Whitney something or other dying.

And I'm reminded of the weird priorities of the world.

My ceiling cracks a little more, the Screen shakes.

I wonder how long until any one will be asking for me.

Review

The Invention of Love.....

It's the story of everyone. (With the exception of me).

What others value often harms what matters most. The Screen shows people struggling to fulfill lives that could already be complete if they'd only recognize it.

The man in this story reminds me of so many people. Most everyone. And the girl....is the victim of them, what they lose when they turn a blind eye to what really matters.

I'd give it four stars.

It would have been five, because it's so true...but, because it is the reality, and thus a tragedy, I had to demote a star.

Not really sure if that makes sense, but I don't care what you think anyway.