Episode Twenty-Six
The Soliloquy

     "So this is Life." Mush Pump stood on the rock banister, arms wide, pitching his voice toward the Atlantic Ocean. "To view her passion from afar. To feel its heat only in passing, as if on parade. To perchance one day refer to her as... sister-in-law? To what, Death, do you owe your delay?"

     Ice Noodle stepped out on the patio, lifting his baseball cap to scratch his head. "Tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing."

     "Daryl is terribly upset. He must express his sorrow."

     "I don't recall approving a soliloquy."

     Mush Pump continued. “Would that I had the power to coax her arms around my hungry flesh...”

     "Shut up before somebody hears you.” Ice Noodle pushed his writing partner off the banister, and watched him drop to the grass below. "You are not writing that.”

     "Leave me alone, or I’ll... I’ll break!”

     Ice Noodle leapt over the banister and landed on top of his writing partner. Mush Pump screamed for help, then curled into a ball. "You see," said Ice Noodle, "this right here is why hearts will never rule the world. You got no concept of the word, self-preservation."

     "And what, pray, do you know about it?" Mush Pump crawled behind a bush. "Look at you, so logical. Yet you aimlessly trod through life with little understanding of its purpose. You build walls. You speak in riddles. You cling to metaphors. And to what end? Are you happy? Are you alive?"

     "You betcha." Ice Noodle sprang from the other side of the bush, but this time Mush Pump did not scream. He whipped around and secured his writing partner in a headlock.

     "You are a fool. This life, this body you maintain shall never be preserved without me. I am your food, your clothing, your shelter from the storm! I leave you begging for mercy, yet praying for more! I am a look, a moment—”

     "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Get off me." Ice Noodle fell to the ground, fighting for air. He stretched out on his back and stared up at the clouds until his breathing calmed. "Daryl thinks Reva's in love with his brother, and it's killing him."

     "Hark!" Mush Pump raised a hand to his brow. "We've made contact!"

     "Fine. I can do that." Ice Noodle sat up. "Daryl goes down to his studio and bangs out a tune on the piano. He's a musician. Logical reaction."

     Mush Pump glared down, folding his arms.

     Ice Noodle tried again. "Okay, he bangs out a sad tune."

     "Unacceptable."

     "What do you want from me?"

     "This is a turning point for Daryl. He must articulate what he feels. Through the mouth. It's either a soliloquy or a confrontation."

     Ice Noodle looked up, horrified. "You mean talk to her? He can't do that."

     "I don't see why not." Mush Pump left his writing partner on the grass and headed for the guesthouse.

     "Wait!" Ice Noodle jumped up, running after him, adjusting his cap. "Do you realize he'd be laying himself wide open?"

     "I do," said Mush Pump. "Which begs the question, what human being could resist reading such a human scene?"

     Ice Noodle stopped at the foot of the guesthouse steps. Mush Pump continued upward, looking back as he opened the screened door. "Coming?"

     "All right, he can talk," said Ice Noodle. "But the first time I gag, we're back to the piano."