Continued from previous weeks…
Ritchie continues to laugh. “All that damn fool hysteria, and we’re just hallucinating.”
The wino jumps up, eyeing Ritchie like he’s the dinner the wino just caught in a trap. “That’s right, Ritchie! Who ever heard of trees on a beach?” The wino takes solid hold of a tree to steady himself in his excitement. Then he catches himself, looks at Ritchie, and quickly let’s go of the tree.
Ritchie’s looking the other way, at the smog. “No trees on a damn beach, fool!”
Wino: “That’s right! But that smog’s real, and what’s always underneath smog, Ritchie?”
Ritchie: “Cars?”
Wino: “That’s it, Ritchie. And what’s always underneath cars?”
Ritchie: “Freeways.”
Gary, still rubbing his jaw after Ritchie’s previous punch, stops to look from the wino to Ritchie and back at the wino.
Mona repeats, “Freeways.”
Wino: “And houses.” The wino stalks Ritchie like a cat. “What do the houses over there look like, Ritchie?”
The wino and Gary eye Ritchie expectantly.
Mona weaves a bit, before repeating “houses.”
Ritchie: “Mah house is the last one on the right…”
The wino and Gary are hanging on every word.
Gary: “Can you see it, Ritchie?”
Mona: “See…”
Suddenly Ritchie stops looking at the smog and turns to look into Mona’s eyes. Gary and the wino exchange a look and throw their hands up.
The wino screams. “Concentrate on your house, Ritchie! Concentrate!”
Ritchie: “Mona, are you okay?”
Finally Gary looks at Mona, too. “Her pupils are huge! Infinite…”
Mona: “Infinite…”
There’s the sound of heavy footfalls in the forest again, rushing closer.
To be continued next week…
