Before the Blink Lies A Conclusion

Scene 1: Group of reporters crowding around the entrance, waiting for A Somebody. You can hear the chuckles, groans, and from a closer distance, some of them are eyeing the food and wine at the tables.

The discussion becomes even more fragmented, as time passes. The public relations people are busy finding out the 'right person' who will inform the edgy reporters about the Somebody's arrival time. The buzz in the crowd increases. The women eye one another, the men eye the women, as the clock ticks ahead. Eventually, some reporters take off for a smoke. Few remain at the entrance, shifting uneasily in their shoes, glancing at their watches, and keeping one eye trained at others' activity.

The waffling comes to a staggering pitch...then, the renewed activity of pens, cameras. The sequence comes a full circle. The Nobody has arrived for Somebodies to take note of. The masked condescension hidden among notebooks, camera, the sweat. The Somebodies don't thrust their cameras, necks, whichever is the medium at the Nobody's face. The roles are wearily reversed. The Nobody eyes everyone with trained suspicion, and reasonable abhorrance of manner.

Then Everybody survey the scene with eloquent smiles. The whirring of engines begin, the pens stop, the cameras shut. The Nobody vanishes, and the Who's Who with information percolates it through curled up noodles in the evening. Everyone listens with studied patience, as the rim of the glass looks poised with wit. It's the dressing up, as more conversations mount with what's news. The uninitiated gather in a corner, eyeing the rest, mapping report outlines. The Nobody has stood witness! Onward march fellas. There's a big day tomorrow. The Nobodies are speaking again. As the crowd filters away, there is chatter, still some more, as the frenzied spying continues for more. The Somebodies are at it again.