4.30.2007: Humpty Dumpty (Force of Attraction)

The Guy and the lovely female assistant. Upstage somewhere is The Illusionist, still in the box, still in three pieces.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
How’s he doing?

THE GUY
Not too good.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
I told him. I warned him that he shouldn’t do it.

THE GUY
Men are stubborn.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
As rocks.

THE GUY
We can’t help it.

Upstage, the Illusionist tries to shake the boxes back into lining up. He struggles, loudly, forcefully. The box shakes. But the three pieces don’t go back together.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
Poor thing. he reminds me of Humpty Dumpty.

THE GUY
A little bit, yeah.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men…

I really liked him at first. He was great. He would tell me after every trick, “Eileen, you’re a wonder.” That’s what he’d call me. His wonder. And when he’d slide my middle section back into place, he’d always hold my gaze, as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’ll put you back together, I promise, I would never leave you in pieces.”

I should have never had sex with him.

I mean, right away. I shouldn’t have had sex with him right away.

It rearranges things, sex does. You ever notice that?

THE GUY
Yeah.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
We did it on the first date. Such a mistake…

It’s like seeing how a trick is done, isn’t it? Having sex with someone too soon. It’s like, the illusion is destroyed. Or the potential for it. Because that what love is to me. The potential for creating a really beautiful illusion. And if you jump to the sex, it’s like seeing where the smoke and mirrors mask all the mechanics of things. There’s nothing left to be learned. You’re exposed to someone…

I wanted him to be something that grew into this beautiful illusion.

But before I knew enough about who he was and what he loved and what made his soul shake with happiness… I knew what his face looked like when he came.

That’s sort of a disappointment, don’t you think?

THE GUY
Yeah.

The Illusionist tries again to put himself back together. He fails.

LOVELY FEMALE ASSISTANT
Humpty Dumpty…

The Guy wants to talk about someone he’s met. But he holds it in. Maybe in a week he’ll be ready to put this thing that’s happened in the confines of this play.

But for now, there’s just been the incredible force of attraction. And the beginning of something. Possibly.

Because we’ve all seen what happens when a Carrot or a Redneck Intellectual enters the play.

The Illusionist struggles to overcome the problem of being broken in pieces.

The Guy crosses his fingers. And tries to not to ruin the potential for a lovely illusion.