~3.24~

“Hey, what are we stopping for?” Stephen asked. “You see something?”

“The light,” Michael said.

“That’s not surprising, given that it’s in your hand,” Stephen said.

“No, I mean… you’re right,” Michael repeated. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Well, you don’t have to act all surprised,” Stephen said. “It’s been known to happen before. Anyway, what am I right about?”

“We have just been stumbling around in the dark,” Michael said. “Arguing about stupid side points, joking around… bantering.”

“Oh,” Stephen said. “Well, yeah. That’s what I said?”

“Don’t you see?” Michael said. “We’re not protagonists. I was right the first time.”

“So, even when I’m right about something, you’re still right first,” Stephen said. “I see how this works.”

“Oh, come off it,” Michael said. “I mean, we’re like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, stumbling around the edges of the plot without a clue what’s really going on. Whatever’s actually happening, whatever the real story is, we’re not going to bump into it in this dark hallway. We’ve lost the plot. We never had it.”

“But the sentry on the roof said the witch was expecting the protagonist,” Stephen pointed out. “Remember?”

“If either one of us were he, don’t you think we would have found her?” Michael said. “She isn’t here. Not for us, anyway. We’re not doing anything here but wasting our time. We might as well go back to the camp.”

“Are you sure?” Stephen said. “You seemed to know what you were doing before.”

“Actually, we could probaby go back to the house,” Michael said. “Whatever the crisis was, it’s probably resolved by now.”

“Well, if you insist.”

They turned around and headed back. There was a distant buzz and then lights came on overhead. The sudden brightness washed out their vision for a moment.

“Hey, look,” Stephen said when the spots cleared from his eyes. “We’re in the apartment hallway. Must’ve been a power outage, and we’ve just been stumbling around in circles. Go figure.”

“Yeah.” Michael sighed wistfully. “Go figure.”