Over yet another bottle of scotch, the writer and the woman in the red dress were lost in heated discussion. “Imagine the implications for physics,” she said. “This could change our entire understanding of the Standard Model. Talk about your quantum entanglements!”
“I was thinking more of our understanding of literature,” the writer said. “Think of George McDonald, Philip K. Dick, Borges and Lovecraft. They thought they were writing fantasies. Imagine if those worlds could become real.”
She fixed him a sharp look. “Are you really sure you want Cthulhu running loose in New York? As if riding the subway isn’t already bad enough.”
“OK,” he conceded, “Maybe not Lovecraft. But what about the writings of Pierre Menard and Hawthorne Abendsen? Imagine you could read Translations from the Elvish? Imagine,” he paused for dramatic emphasis, “you could talk with Tom Bombadil!”
She shrugged, “He never even made it into the movie. Besides, you’re missing the point. Why bury your head in books when reality itself is up for grabs?”
They were both gradually becoming aware that they were being watched by the other couple. The writer was the first to say something. “You two have been awfully quiet. Doesn’t either one of you have an opinion?”
The young man looked from the woman in the red dress to the writer and back again. “All I can say is, that was impressive.”
The woman in the red dress looked puzzled. “What do you mean, ‘impressive’?”
“I think,” the woman beside him said, “He means the way you two wove an entire intricate musical number from an intellectual debate. The rhythms and counterpoint, the lilting melodies and close harmonies. It was practically operatic. I wish I could write music like that.”
The woman in the red dress looked at the writer. “Do you have any idea what they are talking about?”
“Apparently,” the writer said, “every argument we make in this world turns into something musical. Not to us, but to anyone watching.”
“Do you realize,” she said slowly, “just how crazy that sounds?”
“Around here,” he replied, “I believe it’s what they call sounding normal.”