The Historians
June 1st, 2020
Starring: C & N
C and N, a quarantining couple, are at their home table, eating takeout (Indian food) for dinner. They’re cordially silent, as in they don’t have much they haven’t already discussed:
C
How is it?
N
Really really good.
I missed this.
...
C
So
I was thinking about this in the shower…
N
Mhm?
C
We’re in the 20s again.
N
Right…?
C
That was the whole thought.
I don’t know, that feels kind of crazy.
N
Hm. I guess I haven’t really thought about that either.
C
But isn’t that kind of crazy? The 20s were 100 years ago, and we’re in the 20s again, but it’s a completely different 20s. Like someone's going to analyze this decade as “the 20s” just like we studied “the 20s.”
N
Yeah. What do you remember learning about the 20s?
C
I know they were the “roaring 20s.” That’s pretty much it.
...
What do you think they’ll be saying about our 20s?
N
Probably that it’s still roaring.
Just roaring in a different way.
C
We’ll see.
A long, wailing siren is heard in the distance. It carries on.
Would you pass the paneer?
N passes the paneer. They continue to eat, in silence.