A Conversation with My Subconscious Mind
(a play in one act)
ACT ONE
The scene begins at an OFFICE, where Our Intrepid Heroine (OIH) sits, dutifully clacking away at a KEYBOARD. She sips from a MUG OF COFFEE and stops typing to grab a file. She stares tiredly at the COMPUTER SCREEN and jumps as a VOICE chimes in from out of nowhere.Book: Hey. Hey. Stop being productive and start thinking about princesses.
OIH: ...
Book: Remember me? I was awesome.
OIH: Didn't I read you like twelve times when I was in grade school?
Book: Yes. And I mean, that's cool and all, but I have standards. And needs. As a timeless classic too many people have never heard of, I demand that you reread me.
OIH: But my library doesn't have a copy?
Book: Is that the best you can do? Interlibrary loan, dude. It's the coolest thing since peanut butter.
OIH: Don't you mean sliced bread?
Book: Peanut butter is the best thing since sliced bread, and I'm better than peanut butter.
OIH: I don't know if I'd go that far.
Book: I poke fun at fairy tale convention in an amusing and heartfelt manner! I offer an ordinary heroine who has gorgeous sisters and overbearing parents and isn't completely messed up!
OIH: (contemplatively) This is true...
Book: Also, I provide an excellent role model in that the princess listens to her own heart and instincts, but also admits when she's wrong and never loses faith in herself. And she doesn't magically become beautiful, but that's just fine with everyone involved.
OIH: Well, yes, but --
Book: Just shut up and reread me already.
END SCENEEPILOGUE
OIH: So I read it, and it was still awesome. For different reasons, though. It was still cute and fun, and I loved the spunky heroine and the sheer lack of malice throughout all of the characters. Plus, the names of places were fantastic. Like, Phantasmogoria. Brilliant. I mean, I might not have loved it so much if I read it for the first time as an adult, but the reread left me smiling and reaffirmed in the beauty of the world. Really, you have to give a book credit that can do that. Am I right, book?
Book: You betcha.
THE END