Scene excerpt from Act One.

Ty returns, wrapped in a robe, carrying a Viking helmet.

TY: Hot tub’s perfect tonight! One hundred and one degrees, buddy! Jay, my man, you gotta try it! You gotta try it! Come on, whip off those clothes! Loosen it up. It’s party time!

JAY Hell, yeah, Ty! Hot tubs are my thing! I’m up for anything, you know that.

TY: Like your buddy here. Who the hell are you, stranger?

JAY: He’s not my buddy. This is Gary.

TY: Who invited you?

GARY: You did. I was at the club.

TY: That’s right! You were the guy dressed like the hospital patient.

GARY:  Bingo.

TY: (Putting on helmet) Great! Did you recognize who I was supposed to be?

GARY: I don’t know. King Harald Bluetooth?

TY: Right! Some might have said Leif Eriksson.

GARY: Leif Eriksson was a dilettante.

TY: I’ve been wearing that costume to the club for ten years, and no one has ever guessed it! (Takes off the helmet and sets it on the bar) You new to the lifestyle, Gary?

GARY: Sort of. Sort of new to the lifestyle, Ty.

TY: Thought so. Let me tell you a little story. First time I went to the club, different wife, we all had to wear nametags. You know, everybody wears nametags, first name only. No one ever uses last names, right Jay?

JAY: Sure.

TY: For instance, Jay, what’s my last name? You know it?

JAY; No.

TY: Of course not. And I don’t know yours, am I right?

JAY: I don’t mind telling you…

TY: Don’t want to know. Discretion. So, listen, my friend Gary, we all wore nametags. “Ty and Michelle”. She was my wife, then. Didn’t work out, but it had nothing to do with the lifestyle. Anyway…

GARY: You all wore nametags.

TY: That’s right. So, first timers at this club have to wear a star on their nametag, to denote they’re first timers, you know what I mean?

GARY: Like the Jews.

TY: What? Oh, I get it. No, no, five pointed stars. Anyway, when you’re wearing one of these starred nametags, it says just one thing. “Fresh meat”. (Laughs loudly) FRESH MEAT! Anyway, all the old time swingers just swoop on you like buzzards on carrion. So this one voluptuous blond and her husband latch onto us, you know, flirting, rubbing us up, et cetera. They invite us over to their house. We were a little apprehensive, you know, first time.

GARY: Fresh meat.

TY: Exactly. You know, we don’t know these people, do we go or not? What do you think, Jay, do we go?

JAY: Hell, yeah, you go. You go with bells on.

TY: Sure, if bells are your thing. That’s the beauty of the lifestyle, Gary, bells, whistles, dildoes, et cetera, whatever you’re into. No judgment and no last names. So, hell yes, we went. I’m there less than a half hour and I look up and the host is screwing my wife on the living room rug, and you know how I felt?

GARY: Incredibly jealous, like you wanted to rip the guy’s heart out and stomp on it?

TY: No! I was exhilarated. I was incredibly turned on. I mean, Michelle and I were married ten years. No excitement. No heat. But this night…I tell you Gary, the lifestyle is a rejuvenator. It brings the heat back, right Jay?

JAY: Damn straight.

GARY: But you and your wife split up.

TY: Yeah, but not because of the lifestyle. Should have started screwing around earlier. You see, Gary, most Americans do the traditional thing; sneaking around. Affairs. Lying. That’ll kill a marriage, Gary. It’s not the cheating, it’s the lying. That’s the American way. I mean, what’s the divorce rate in this country? Jay?

JAY: A lot. I’m a two-time loser myself.

TY: Hell yes. Four here. Monogamy does not work! You able to stay monogamous, Jay? Traditional Christian values?

JAY: It does not work. That’s why I’m breaking Cheryl in early. I’m not gonna get sucked in this time.

GARY: By the dishonesty.

JAY: Right up front. I’m a man. I have needs.

TY: As does Cheryl.

JAY: Sure, sure. Fifty-fifty.

TY: No double standard in the lifestyle. See, Gary? Quid pro quo.

GARY: I see.

JAY: I laid it all out to her. I love her, I want to be with her forever, but I know myself. I know my nature.

TY: That’s very honest.

JAY: She’s young, she’s very young.

TY: How old is she?

JAY: Twenty-five.

TY: That’s the perfect age. Perfect. You’re her teacher. Her mentor. And you’re how old?

JAY: Thirty-nine in August.

GARY: You look a lot older.

JAY: (Beat) I look a lot older? What’s that about?

Scene from Act One

GINNY: They’re gone.

TY: They’re gone? Where?

GINNY Their RV is gone. They left, I guess.

TY: Why?

GINNY: They didn’t leave a note.

     Ty sits down, crushed.

TY: They left. I’ll be damned. I wonder why.

GARY: Maybe it was because of me. I don’t think Jay likes me.

GINNY: He’s an amateur.

TY: Yeah, but he shows promise.

GINNY: You mean Cheryl shows promise.

TY: Boy, howdy.

GINNY: Well, there’s still the three of us And the toy box..

TY: Nah.

GINNY: We could go in and watch a video.

TY: Nah.

GINNY: How about all three of us in the hot tub?

TY: Thanks, honey. I appreciate the gesture. But I think the evening is over. You don’t mind, do you, Gary?

     He has wandered away from them, listening intently.

GARY: I can’t leave.

GINNY: Why?

GARY: (Urgently I don’t know. I think I’m here for something. I can’t leave until it happens.

TY: Look, Gary, everything has happened that’s going to happen. There are no more people. No more combinations. It’s a mathematical thing.

GARY: There’s more.

GINNY: What are you talking about, Gary?

TY: There’s no more, Gary. That’s all there is. You need to just get in your car and drive off into the night with many happy memories.

GARY: (Distracted) I don’t have a car.

GINNY: How did you get here? Did you take a cab? Hitchhike?

GARY: That’s not important. (He freezes, cocking his head) Listen.

     They do for a moment..

GINNY: I don’t hear anything.

GARY: You will.

The low rumble starts, and groes, and the deck begins to shake.This one is worse than the first one—much worse.Things fall from the walls.The rumbling grows louder and the lights blink and go to black. Now, the other sounds are heard with the rumbling;distorted sounds and voices that are even more frightening than before. A pool of light appears downstage, revealing Gary, shirtless and shoeless. He is very agitated..

GARY: (Filled with the joy of discovery)  I AM THE MESSENGER WHO IS THE FLAME OF FIRE! I SUPERCEDE METATRON, RATZIEL, TZAPHKIEL, TZADKIEL, KHAMAEL, RAPHAEL, HANIEL, AND SANDALPHON! I WAS WITH YOU WHEN THE UNIVERSE BLASTED FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SLUDGE! I WAS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND THE BEGINNING OF LIGHT! I HAVE BEEN ALWAYS FAITHFUL TO SHADDAI EL CHAI, THE ALMIGHTY LIVING GOD. (Pause) WILL YOU DESTROY IT AND NOT SPARE THE PLACE FOR THE FAITHFUL THAT ARE WITHIN?  (Listens, as if hearing a voice from above.) WHAT IF THERE BE FIFTY? WHAT IS THERE BE TEN? WHAT IF THERE BE ONE? (Beat) WHAT IF THERE BE EVEN ONE!

 The light on Gary fades. The sounds fade as well, except for the ticking. Now the ticking sound fades.

End of Act One.