The Narrator

Umm… is that a dead body?

Whoa. Yeah, I think it is.

Shit.

Shit.

Holy shit.

Yeah…

Is that….?

Mm hmm. The narrator.

Oh my god. The narrator’s dead? But how?

Shit.

Shit.

Well, what should we do?

I suppose we should call the cops… Thats what people do, right?

Probably.

There’s a lot of blood. I think I might… oh god.

You alright?... Hey? Did you just… 

Ugh. Sorry. I just… wow, it never gets easier no matter how many times you see it. Sorry.

No worries… so, the cops?

Yeah. Do you mind?

Sure… hi, 9-1-1? Yeah, we’re at the park on Walden St. and Matthews Ave.. There’s… there’s someone dead. There’s… there’s a lot of blood… No? No, I don’t think we’re in danger… Yeah, my name’s Dave… Yeah, I can hold a minute.

What did they say?

Hang on a sec… Yeah, Walden and Matthews. That park with the statue of that general or something. Thankfully no kids around to see this. Lots of blood… No, we didn’t touch anything… How long you think? Yeah, we can wait here. Okay. Okay. We’ll stay right here. 

So?

They’re coming. Soon. 

How… how do you think this happened? 

Well, he did say he was getting some resistance, some heavy pushback. People didn’t want the real story getting out there. He seemed nervous the last time I saw him. I think that was last week. 

I noticed the same. He just seemed off. Stressed. Anxious. Concerned. Not himself at all. 

He knew. He knew if he told the story, it would upset a lot of people. Hell, even us.

Dude…

I’m just saying. If he published… we’d be taking on some heat. It could have gotten ugly. 

We could have managed it.

Could we?

Sure. Definitely. Probably. Maybe…

Yeah. Yeah, of course.

But what if Gloria… 

NO. We don’t want to think about that. Not right now. 

Okay. Okay. But…

NO. Just NO. 

I… I have to admit. I feel bad for the guy, I do. But there’s a part of me…

God, just don’t…

There’s a part of me that’s glad he’s gone. Again, terrible tragedy, yes. But on the bright side…

C’mon man…

I’m just saying, it all worked out. That’s all.

… Yeah. I guess so.

Yeah. It did. 

Aren’t you… aren’t you concerned this will inevitably draw MORE attention to things? Do we really need the cops and media sniffing around?

No… no we don’t.

It could complicate things.

Yeah. Yeah it could… But still…

Hey man… did you?... Did you have something to do with this?

Seriously? You’re accusing me of killing him? Screw you, man. Come on.

I’m just saying… it worked out alright for you in the end, didn’t it? And hey, let’s be real for a second, it wouldn’t be the first time for you…

You’re an asshole. 

That’s not fair. Not in our business. It comes with the territory here and there. 

Still…

It’s okay. You can tell me. Again, it sure turned out alright for you. Pretty convenient.

And what about you? Stop a sec. Yeah, I benefitted. But are you REALLY trying to say you didn’t?

I don’t like what you’re insinuating.

First of all, I’m not insinuating. No hinting going on here. No implying. I’m being pretty damn direct. Did you kill him?

Whoa. Whoa. No. No, I didn’t kill the goddamn narrator. What kind of person do you think I am? No. He was a colleague. A friend.

Oh come on. Friend? Really? 

You’re on thin ice here…

Ditto.

Okay. Okay. Let’s chill out for a sec. He’s dead. The cops are coming soon, very soon. Things are going to hit the fan really soon. It’s going to go from bad to much worse. 

Hey, we both agreed to call…

Still probably the right move. I stand by that.

But if we become suspects?

Why would we become suspects? Nothing ties us back to him. We’re fine.

And… no paper trail?

Not on my end? You?

… No. No, I don’t think so. 

Good. We’re good. Now we just act casual and innocent when the cops show up. We’re fine.

You’re pretty relaxed for someone about to get away with murder. 

Huh, I was thinking the same about you.

Shit, I hear sirens.

Off in the distance. Will be a minute still. Relax, okay?

Okay, okay… You know the funny thing? I always wanted to write. Do a little narrating myself. I always thought I’d be good at it. 

Ha. Me too.

I never considered there would be any degree of danger involved. Seemed safe enough, right?

Yeah, I guess so. Then again, in our line of work, even someone tangentially involved…

True. True.

So, seriously… it wasn’t you?

No. Sure, I considered it once or twice. Like you said, this turn of events did work out alright for me. But no, I had nothing to do with this… You?

Me neither. Like you, yeah I thought about it. But no, never pulled the trigger. Ha. Literally I guess.

Can’t say I’m too devastated about it though.

Yeah. Same. So what will you do next?

Without the narrator? Whatever I want. No blockers now. When you think about it, he wasn’t needed. We’ll manage just fine without him. 

Good point. Now we can do this job however we want. Nothing stopping us.

And Gloria?

Gloria always lands on her feet. She’ll make sure of it.

Sirens are getting closer… you ready?

Yeah, yeah.

Got a cigarette?

Yeah… Hey, you notice something?

What’s that?

We’re not alone in this little park. There’s a guy off in the back, with a little yapper dog on a leash. He’s been over there a bit.

Who is he?

He’s been watching us. 

Shit. Who is he?

I got a weird feeling about this guy…

WHO IS HE?

I’m not sure, but I think it’s another narrator. He’s been here the whole time, just watching. Waiting. Thinking. Plotting. Is he? Yeah. SMILING. 

You think…?

Let’s get the hell out of here.

But… the cops?

We need to go. NOW. We might just be next...

Is this the end then?

Yeah, it’s the end.

Okay.. okay. The end… the end. Let’s get out of here…