AH:
Aria! Hey, what are you doing here?
A strange moment of recognition as Aura and Aria pass each other. Aura exits.
ARIA:
I just had to get out of the house. I wanted to see you.
Ah and Aria embrace.
AH:
You okay? What happened?
ARIA:
I kept dreaming. They threw me off of the ship. They . . .
AH:
They threw you off the ship? Wait. Come on. Let’s get out of here.
ARIA:
I want coffee.
City street. Day
Ah and Aria walking down the street. Ah is walking his bike. Aura has coffee.
It felt like knowing a recipe that’s handed down but was actually never told to you. I say my name three times and I drop like I’m dead . . . but I’m not dead. And everyone else, or mostly everyone else that’s dropped dead on the ship, aren’t dead either. But they pile us on top of each other, on the deck. Everyone. Everyone that has somehow gotten the message to say their own names three times in a row. And can feel their bodies next to mine. We’re not dead. But, me, I’m scared to death, because I heard that if you die in your dream then you die. But I can’t wake up. Not in the dream. Not from the dream. And they throw us off the ship, all of us, undead. And no one’s waking up. And we’re floating. And the ship sails out of the picture.
I can’t talk you into getting a water bed then, eh?
ARIA:
Shut up, Ah.
Ah walks his bike up the steps of their building. He walks into the front room and sees “Harmonic Convergence” written across the canvas. Ah freezes. He sits silently on the couch across from the painting, dumbfounded.
Aria receives a text as she enters.
ARIA:
I gotta go. Baby? Ah?
Ah is staring at the painting.
ARIA:
You okay?
AH:
Who put that there?
ARIA:
What do you mean? It’s what I woke up with this morning, before I came to see you. What? You okay?
AH:
Wow. I’m okay. We talked about this in class today. . . . I know, you gotta go. It’s okay.
There’s a knock on the door. Ah snaps out of his trance and heads toward the door.