During the road trip to AZ in November, Teresa, my friend Nefi, and I played a plethora of brilliant role-playing games, which I’ve been meaning to write down (almost all of my novels, plays, and screenplays start out as role-plays, so to me it’s important to record these things down). So here goes:
By Nefi: I found myself in a bright, happy, green field, surrounded by puffy clouds and rainbows. Sitting at a small table were little girls in dresses, who invited me to attend their tea party. When I acted ungirlishly, they banished me to “Meanie Island,” the barbaric hell-hole inhabited by bows with grenades, broken bottles, and the like. I tried to get to this wondrous place, but all I found was another bright and happy world where boys, dressed effeminately, were begrudgingly holding a tea party of their own. It turned out that the girls were controlling this world with their dark magic and that when anyone tried to act ungirlishly, bad things happened.
By Nefi: Teresa and I were in a romantic comedy, set in our high school days, in which Nefi played the evil villain, using his power as my “men brother” to forbid me from associating with Teresa, telling Teresa lies about me, and creating misunderstandings that prevented the confession of our love. It was masterfully done.
By Teresa: I was a snail, and Nefi was a potato bug. The ants were trying to kill me, and Nefi, being an opportunist, tried to strike up a deal with me in order to qualify for the defending services of him and his fellow potato bugs. I being hopelessly stubborn, refused the offer and was eaten alive by ants.
There were more, but my memory escapes me. On the night of Dave’s bachelor party, it was joyous to climb a mountain and have the city lights all around us, down below. There were many toasts, much feasting, and much hot-tubbing. On the way home, we took Teresa to the Las Vegas strip for the first time … just as sleazy as I left it.