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TEETH BEACH: From Memory

by S.I. Rosenbaum

[Title] FROM MEMORY: Sometimes I have a problem with time.
1: SI, short hair, middle aged, grey hoodie, is standing at the fence overlooking the ruins of the Roman Forum, in tears. Art is greyscale, pen-and-ink wash Narration: I'm sobbing at the ruins of the Roman Forum. Lately this has been happening to me more and more reliably — I see something ancient, I start boohooing. 2: As SI weeps, we see an elderly man standing behind her looking uncertain. Narration: My father, 84, is in town to play a series of concerts. I flew in from Lisbon to meet him. But right now I don't think he knows what to do with me. 3: An ancient arch made of bricks stands in a grassy area. Narration: It was the bricks that did it Someone had made them one by one in the hot sun and gone home to argue with their parents or have sex with their wife or their boyfriend or whatever it was they did that must have seemed so important, and when they died they left a hole The size of the world In the world 4: SI wiping their eyes, while her dad awkwardly pats their back from behind Narration; And the bricks are still there, Which means the hole is still there, too. 5: empty space. Narration: Sometimes I have a problem with time.
1: SI and their dad are sitting on a stone bench. SI has stopped crying. SI: Sorry. I guess I've always kind of been like this? Remember how weird I was when I was little? Dad: I remember you having a temper when you were little. SI: … I used to tear books apart. Dad: You had a temper about things you didn't understand. 2. Dad's smiling at a memory. Dad: But you know what I do remember from when you were a little girl? Do you remember when we were on that airplane — 3: SI's smiling too now, holding up their hands to shield their face with embarrassment. They're talking over each other: SI: Oh god I remember that. I mean I actually *remember* it, from *my* point of view, not just from being told the story. Dad: We were landing, and they said over the loudspeaker that you could ask the pilot if you had any questions — and you said, can I ask them — SI: "HOW DID THE UNIVERSE BEGIN?" Dad: "How did the Universe begin?"

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S.I. Rosenbaum
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