Settling In

1: "It's the opening part, you know, of the indie movies a lot of times. You never really know what's going on. There's all these characters and weird situations."

2: "The settling in period?"

1: "Yeah. When you're completely confused, wondering if you should give up on the whole movie? Or if it will all start to make sense and you'll love the whole thing. Then you'll tell your friends about it, and they'll just blink at you. Ask you how much it cost to make. You say, 'I don't know'. They ask how many explosions or comic book characters it has, then you just walk away."

Two laughed at that. While neither One or Two were snobs, they both had a liking for something just a little different than what everyone else was in to. They liked all the bullshit movies just as much as everyone else. Well, maybe not (that expression may be thrown around too liberally). They like them, but they don't regard every 60's television adaptation or computer effects driven movie as the end all of cinematic excellence. Every now and then they like to see a movie with a little thought, some art behind it. A movie with

2: "Soul. It's nice to see some soul in things. There's just so little of it these days." Two sort of spun around, arms flung out in exacerbation. And while spinning a new thought entered. "Though, if explosions and horrible dialogue is the province of the 'popcorn movie'" Two provided air quotes for the term, "then weird situations and goofy circumstances are owned by indie movies."

1: "Right. Everyone has these weird modes or transport, or crazy jobs. They live with people completely different than them, but somehow they all get along. They have these odd hobbies, strange collections - which are always worth thousands of dollars."

2: "Or my favorite. Everyone always wears clothes that look so cool in the movie, but if I wore them in real life, people would just think I'm some asshole." You see, Two always wanted to be genuinely different. Two spoke just a little differently, had just a little different tastes than everyone else, but didn't quite have that big creative spark - that push to take the big leap. The thought of wearing different clothes, being devoted to various art projects (not only partial devotion), and even throwing it all in and heading for the coast to be a hermit artist was appealing, it just wasn't something Two could figure out how to do.

Two had built up a sort of resentment towards some of the people in those movies. One never realized it, instead just enjoyed the conversation and the possibility of something different.

And then (not because it was completely unexpected, but because it really happened) a giant mouse walked in front of them, not twenty yards ahead. It was followed by a giant dog, then a cat. All of approximately equal size though. Or course, all were not real, but costumes. People wearing costumes of animals, on their way to a party for (arguably) over-privileged children.

It would seem a funny thing, the chance encounter, but it wasn't by chance at all. They shared one same, if only brief destiny - to entertain a group of expensively dressed children. It was hard to pass up seventy-five dollars a person (plus leftover food - promised one condescending mother).

It was a perfect afternoon otherwise.