XXXVII

Far away from Maraine, a pair of performers bumbled across a stage, glowing with their audience’s laughter. It had been years since they’d lost two of their actors. The soreness of that memory was mostly gone. They were always keeping an eye out for new blood to bring on, although it wasn’t easy. Theirs was a dying trade.

They read their lines and did their parts, playing to, playing with the people. It was a good night, and accordingly, a good turnout. There were so many faces, from young to old, all sizes and races.

There was a point where Gary saw what looked like a family – a father and his two daughters. The girls were beautiful, young, blonde, though they didn’t look like him at all, with his grave face and black hair. And then he felt a spark of something, he wasn’t sure what. He turned to answer his partner, his line a stupid one that set the audience off laughing again. Everyone was shifting and clapping, becoming a loud blur in his eyes. He couldn’t find that family again. Maybe he’d just been seeing things. He turned back to Rufus, smiling as he returned himself to the moment.