Radically Happy

Continued from Dis-Engaged

The Witches and Shapes stand nervously in the Great Hall of the Escheral City.

The Witches clutch each other nervously, with Which Witch holding the recovered broomstick of power. Nother Witch glances apperehensively at her putative fiancée Klein the bottle, who refuses to look at her. Earnest the plane and Reflection the sphere glance at each other, wondering if they should say something. But surprisingly, it is Tube who takes the lead.

Tube: Where is Sweetums? Where is Ang? We brought the broomstick they said Geni-Oz demanded. Where is he?

Reflection: Wait! Quiet! I hear something.

They all stand silently, listening.

At first, they hear nothing. Then, a soft thumping sound… coming from Klein!

Nother: Oh my gosh, you do have a heart after all!

Klein, for once is at a loss for words.

Earnest: Wait, what’s the rumbling sound?

Tube: (bashfully) Er, that’s me.

Reflection: Congratulations, Tube! Looks like your guts are finally moving.

Klein: (muttering) I hate to think where that’s going.

Which: Shh, I’m still trying to listen.

They are silent once more. Then Nother raises a hand.

Nother: I think I hear two heartbeats.

Klein: Yes! Maybe neither of them are me…

Which: (shaking her head) Sounds like an echo.

Reflections: Whoops, sorry, that is me.

Earnest: (snapping his fingers) No, don’t apologize. That is your role, after all. In fact, each of you have a role. But then… what is mine?

Reflection: (smiling) It is as plane as the nose on your face… if you had one. Your role is to listen. To all of us.

Tube: (slapping his forehead) Of course. The Geni-Us.

Earnest: So, there is no Geni-Oz after all?

Reflection: Maybe not. But someone built this city, and sent a message to Ang. And if not the Geni-Oz, then who? And how can we find them?

The Which Witch suddenly stands bolt upright, her face turning a nauseous green. Her sister reaches out to comfort her, and they crouch together and whisper hurriedly. Finally, Which sighs and walks over to Reflection.

Which: (reluctantly) Here. Use this. It works sort of like an antenna, if you set it up properly.

Reflection looks her up and down for a moment, then ignores the enchanted artifact and encloses Which in a comforting hug. She breaks down into great sobbing tears. Nother joins them. The rest shuffle uncomfortably.

Which: (recovering) Thank you.

Reflection smiles and takes the broomstick. He motions to the other shapes who gather around him. As they focus, the beat and rumble grow louder, echoing and amplifying into something almost like a melody. But still unfocused, distorted.

Earnest: (pensively) Something is still not right.

Reflection: Clearly all of us have to work together to pick up the full signal.

Klein: In a specific pattern.

Tube: But which of us goes where?

Which: (smiling as she rolls up her sleeves and comes over)
I thought you’d never ask!

She separates the shapes and clears a space in the middle. Then gestures first to Earnest, who approaches hesitantly. She gently picked him up and lays him down flat on the ground.

Which: (softly, as if to herself) You are the Ego. You were always ashamed of being rigid and two-dimensional. But that was essential to providing a solid foundation of the others.

She cocks a finger at Reflection, who obediently rolls over. She fastens him on top of Earnest.

Which: (smiling) My dear friend Empathy, that reflects the hopes and fears of all around you. Not so much the polar opposite of Ego, but it’s complement, because you make each other stronger.

She glances up at Klein, who sighs and slides over. She lays the back of her hand against his stem almost tenderly, then somehow attaches the bottle to both the inside and outside of the sphere.

Which: (bittersweetly) I must confess, at first I too thought you heartless when you abandoned my sister. But then I realized a naked heart has no other way to survive in this world. It is only as true Intimacy — living in tension with Ego and Empathy — that you can safely bring your outsides to your inside, and vice versa.

She looks up, and to her surprise sees Tube trustingly waiting for her. She doesn’t touch his surface, but reverently inserts the broomstick handle to pick him up and join him to Klein.

Which: And the last piece, Passion, the gut energy that animates your whole purpose.

She steps back as the bristles on the broom to vibrate, as if with static electricity.

Nother gasps. The sounds resolve into a very small voice.

Small Voice: Help me. Help me.

The contraption– Earnest, Reflection, Klein and Tube — respond as one.

Contraption: We know that voice.

The Which Witch nods.

Which: So do I. The missing piece. We have found the home of your younger brother Shylock. Whom we all thought long dead, which is the only reason she agreed to marry Klein.

Nother: (rising and beginning to run) Shylock, my love, I am coming for you!

Then she disappears without a trace into the endless maze of impossibly shifting alleys and buildings.

To be continued