Soap

It’s an ordinary day at the dark and lifeless Homey Lounge. Even though there are at least a dozen people sitting around the bar, no one jokes or talks to each other. Instead, they direct their eyes downward toward their cell phones, some texting, others just staring as they sip their drinks. When Jasper walks in off the street, a big smile on his face and a cheery hello, no one notices. He is here to watch the new season of some of his favorite soap operas and asks the bartender to change the channel and turn up the sound. The grumpy bartender agrees to change the channel, but no sound. In light of that, Jasper has to improvise and put his own words into the mouths of the actors who come on the screen. The bartender has seen it before—to Jasper it is a game—and warns him to keep it down, unlike last time. Jasper begins spewing words for both women and men who come on the screen. As he’s hurling his vulgar words, his perky friend Ellie walks in to play the game. Soon they are both shouting in a lively conversation for the actors, things like; “You screwed my mother, but, God help me, I still want you. Please! Don't leave me; oh just go!” Jasper's eyes dart nervously from the screen to the oblivious humanoids at the bar. As their laughter gets louder, people sitting around the bar begin to take notice. Some even take their eyes off their phones and join in. Shouting across the bar toward the screen, they fight over who will get to fill in the words for the actors. The Zombies have come to life and it gets loud. The bartender can’t take it. He rushes over and unplugs the TV. When it goes to black, the bar patrons, like androids, turn back to their phones, fingering them, sitting once again in silence in the darkness of the Homey Lounge.