Larisa. Hey Eldor.
Eldor. Hey.
Larisa. What are you doing? Building a fire?
Eldor. I'm trying to, but I can't.
Larisa. It's harder to do in the snow, don't you think?
Eldor. If I can't do it here, how am I supposed to do it in Alaska?
Larisa. What are you talking about? Are you going to Alaska?
Eldor. I can't though.
Larisa. Why not?
Eldor. Because, if I'm stuck in the extreme cold of the wilderness by myself, I won't be able to build a fire before my fingers refuse to move.
Larisa. What's gotten into you? Why do you want to go to Alaska?
Eldor. I'm a weak person, Larisa. I don't like it.
Larisa. But like you said. You'll die in the Alaskan wilderness.
Eldor. Exactly.
End. No Fires in Alaska

Aravane. Having fun over there?
Ianis. Where were you?
Aravane. Around. I didn’t want to disturb you with your new friend.
Ianis. It was interesting though. I’ve never had a conversation with a person while taking photos. It was as if I was talking to the object I had in my frame. I took photos of the cake, and it was like the cake was asking me where I was from.
Aravane. She asked you where you were from? Sounds like she’s interested.
Ianis. Heck, I’m interested.
End. Conversations With

Yefim. I love your lips.
Sanja. Are you flirting with me again?
Yefim. Your lips are full, meaningful.
Sanja. How sad it would be to have meaningless lips. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.
Yefim. I think I know why I love your lips so much.
Sanja. Really, there’s no need to tell me. You could write a poem, and then send it to a nice girl.
Yefim. Your lips continue past where they should end. They humble me. I do not deserve to kiss lips so soft and giving.
Sanja. You have quite the imagination. You must have been thinking about it for some time now.
Yefim. Please. I must kiss you.
Sanja. When did you become so desperate? I don’t kiss desperate men. It puts wrong ideas into their heads.
Yefim. If you won’t kiss me, I will have to force myself on you.
Sanja. Couldn’t we shake hands?
End. Having Fun Not Kissing

Levan. What’s that?
Chaabia. I got the pictures of my dog developed.
Levan. Can I have a look at them?
Chaabia. Sure.
Levan. Very cute.
Chaabia. They remind me of photos that people put on posters when their dogs go missing.
Levan. Your dog’s not missing, is it?
Chaabia. No, but when Rousseau finds a way out and goes missing, then I’ll have to make a poster myself.
Levan. Do you really think Rousseau would do that?
Chaabia. I kind of feel Rousseau’s restless. I take him out on walks, but he needs something more. I took him out to the park the other day, and decided to let him loose and let him do whatever he wanted. He just flew. It took me two hours to find him.
Levan. Sounds like a teenaged son.
Chaabia. I think I’ll use this picture when I lose Rousseau.
Levan. It’s nice.
End. Preparation for the Eventual

Stas. That’s it.
Natalya. What?
Stas. That restaurant. Cebu.
Natalya. What about it?
Stas. I dreamt about it, but not the restaurant. I dreamt of going to an island called Cebu.
Natalya. What was it about?
Stas. I was at the beach of the island of Cebu. You could see that it was raining in the distance, so I wanted to stay at the beach for as long as I could until the rain came. Everyone else around me was screaming that the rain was coming, but I was confused. What was the big deal about the rain? But their screaming made me want to leave too. So, I went back to where the banana trees started and climbed up one of them to wait for the rain to come. When it came, it was horrible. Each raindrop was like a fist trying to rip the flesh off my bones. I remember thinking, “when is this going to end?” I just clung onto the tree until the storm finally past. When I woke up, I remembered the name of the island being Cebu. The name was familiar, but I couldn’t figure out where I knew it from.
Natalya. The name of the restaurant. Have you ever eaten there?
Stas. No, but I’ve been meaning to.
End. The Mystery of Cebu

Innokenti. I think the waiter likes you.
Anda. Don’t you think it’s too much though?
Innokenti. I can’t complain when someone buys us plates of desserts.
Anda. But don’t you think his questions are a little too personal?
Innokenti. When he asked you what you were studying? I guess he wanted to know the person he was getting the desserts for.
Anda. There’s a line to cross, and he’s definitely dancing on it. Doesn’t this bother you?
Innokenti. No, why should it? What’s he going to do?
Anda. I don’t know, but I think one more question will put him past the line of decency. I feel underneath the desserts and the jokes, he’s actually being serious.

Waiter. So, how do you like the desserts?
Anda. Very nice.
Innokenti. Yes, thank you very much.
Waiter. Do you like the sorbet? It is my favorite.
Anda. Yes, I enjoyed it very much.
Waiter. That’s good. So, tell me. Did you tell me the two of you were just friends?
Innokenti. Excuse me.
End. Innokenti Gets Out of His Chair, Goes to Anda, and Kisses Her

Ada. So, how did it go?
Tumur. How did what go?
Ada. Meeting your cousin.
Tumur. Oh, right. Pretty well, I suppose. It was like meeting a long lost sister, but we couldn't get past the obligation of being cousins.
Ada. What do you mean?
Tumur. She brought this up: The only reason why we're meeting is because our fathers were brothers.
Ada. So for her, being related by blood is not enough to get to know each other.
Tumur. I think it's because she felt the reason I wanted to see her was only out of obligation.
Ada. Sounds like you didn't have a good time.
Tumur. We did though. I thought so at least. She even trusted me with something she didn't want her family to know.
Ada. What is it?
Tumur. Let's just say she trusted me with it.
Ada. So she trusts you. That didn't help the obligation issue?
Tumur. Apparently not. When I suggested that we could meet again, she hesitated and gave me an ambiguous response. She really thought I suggested it out of obligation.
Ada. How unconsciously stubborn. She could have been like the sister you never had.
Tumur. I would have been a good older brother, too.
End. Obliged to Relate

Aravane. I’m having difficulties controlling my emotions, Uldis.
Uldis. How do you mean?
Aravane. Things are just triggering me. I can’t wait in lines anymore. I feel like bursting into flames. It’s going to take more than basic stress relief to resolve whatever is inside of me.
Uldis. This reminds me of a time when ghosts came into my dreams. They would come, enter my head, and scream their hatred inside of me.
Aravane. I guess you could call what’s inside of me ghosts screaming.
Uldis. I let it happen for about a month, but it was because I let myself believe that the next day would the day when the ghosts would have nothing to scream about, but they always had something the next day. They would fill my head with unnecessary hatred every morning.
Aravane. Are you still having these dreams?
Uldis. No, they’re gone. I finally realized that I could no longer wait out the ghosts. I had to do something about it. I was losing weight. I stopped grooming. I was a mess. People thought I was depressed, and I guess I was, but it wasn’t because of self-hatred or deep loss.
Aravane. What did you do?
Uldis. It took me some figuring out, but I found that if I slept somewhere else, like a bench or a friend’s house, the ghosts would not be in my dreams.
Aravane. So, they only came when you slept in your room. It’s specific to your room.
Uldis. Right.
Aravane. So did you move out?
Uldis. Nope. I took a long vacation in the Caribbean. I slept on the beach, next to waterfalls; I felt as though I was living to sleep rather than experiencing things awake.
Aravane. But what happened when you came back to your apartment?
Uldis. Nothing. The ghosts went away. I dream of friends in illogical situations.
Aravane. Where do you think the ghosts went?
Uldis. They weren’t real, Aravane. They were a product of my unconsciousness, and it was going though this sort of perpetual cycle. I broke it when I went on vacation, so my unconsciousness changed cycles so that the ghosts don’t come back anymore.
Aravane. What if they come back again?
Uldis. Well, I know if they do, I can do something about it.
Aravane. So, I have to change my unconscious perpetual cycle.
Uldis. It’s worth a try.
Aravane. I have no idea where to start.
Uldis. You’ll figure something out. I’ve always thought the unconsciousness was overrated anyways. Play within its rules, and you can beat it.
Aravane. I wonder if it’s healthy to fool the unconsciousness like that.
Uldis. It seems only fair.
End. Unconscious Perpetual Cycle

Attilio. What you want to do is find a rock and make sure that the monkeys see you pick it up. It's one of the things that separate us and monkeys. We can use things as tools and in this case, weapons.
Gennadi. How big does the rock have to be?
Attilio. Something large so that the monkey will scream when it hits its side. This'll do. See how the gang is moving away?
Gennadi. They seem pretty reluctant though.
Attilio. They may not want to, but they don't want to be hurt either. These monkeys are traumatized by little kids yelling and hurling rocks while they sleep.
Gennadi. Don't they have hostilities towards us because of that?
Attilio. They may want to do something to us, but they know that can't cross that line - no sense of sacrifice, selflessness.
Gennadi. They seem to have a lot of self-control. What happened to the wild inside?
Attilio. When is comes to pain, the wild scatters.
Gennadi. That monkey's coming our way.
Attilio. Get that rock over there.
Gennadi. But what if I miss and it angers him?
Attilio. It's never gotten to that point with me. Act if you're going to bury the rock into their skull. Monkeys don't know what it means to bluff.
Gennadi. I have to remember to only play poker with loaded monkeys.
End. Poker with Loaded Monkeys

Hristo. Hey.
Nana. Hello.
Hristo. What are you doing here?
Nana. I’m waiting for a friend.
Hristo. There are some chairs in the lounge.
Nana. I know, but look at this.
Hristo. What? The rest closet?
Nana. I just noticed it. What is a rest closet?
Hristo. Could be a restroom, but smaller.
Nana. Maybe, but I’m thinking there might be a bed in there.
Hristo. That would make sense too. Why? Are you tired?
Nana. It’s been a hard week. It would be nice to lie down.
Hristo. Here, let’s open the door and find out what a rest closet is.
Nana. It’s locked.
End. Disappearing into the Rest Closet

Remigius. Hey.
Semyon. Hey, how are you?
Remigius. Good. Have the other’s shown up?
Semyon. Nope. Just us so far.
Remigius. It’s been a while. When was the last time?
Semyon. Last year, I think.
Remigius. Has it been that long?
Semyon. I barely see the others much either.
Remigius. Really?
Semyon. We’re living separate and different lives. I wouldn’t call it a bad thing. I feel we’re all heading for something good.
Remigius. We used to do every stinking thing together.
Semyon. It’s good that you come to visit time to time.
Remigius. I get out here every chance I get. Call it an escape from my own world.
Semyon. It’s interesting. The only times Tarek, Naum, and I meet up now is when you come.
Remigius. Really?
Semyon. I’m thinking of leaving the city as well.
Remigius. When? Where?
Semyon. In the next couple of months. Somewhere on the West coast.
Remigius. So this might be the last time with everyone for a while.
Semyon. Probably.
Remigius. Where are they?
End. Waiting for Tarek and Naum