You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound... a dimension of sight... a dimension of mind. You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over onto... The Twilight Bored.
Narrator: Portrait of a man at work, the only work he's ever done, the only work he knows…
…His name is Estes Tony Valentine but he calls himself Estonut, because that's the way life has been, nutty and perilous and uphill at a dead run all the way from Estonia, wherever that is. He's tired now, tired of living in Garden Grove, tired of running or wanting, of waiting for the breaks that come to others but never to him, never to Esto Valentine, a scared, angry little man. He thinks it's all over now but he's wrong. For Esto Valentine, it's just the beginning
Scene: Internet ne’er-do-well Esto attempts yet another cyber-heist. Only this time, the cyber police are on to him
Scene: He takes off down an unused Yahoo forum and nearly escapes…
But this gig would be his last.
Scene: Esto finds himself on a most unusual Bored in cyberspace. And he’s not alone.
Esto: Who the hell are you?
Tangredi: My name is Mr. Tangredi. Can I help you?
Esto: How do you know my name?
Tangredi: It's my job to know everything about you.
Esto: Are you a cop or something?
Tangredi: Not exactly. I’m an administrator. Think of me as your guide to this place.
Esto: What happened?
Tangredi: You had a slight accident. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine in no time at all, Estonut.
Esto: Hold it a minute. I want to know how you know my name.
Tangredi: But I’ve already told you
Esto: You’ve told me nothing. Let me clue you in, fatso. I don’t like games.
Tangredi : Oh, but that isn't true, Estonut. Why, you like Lyrically Speaking, Bookworms, Decades, and even Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Soon you will be forced to like another.
Esto: What is this place?
Esto: I must be dead. If I’m dead this must be heaven.
Scene: Estonut takes full advantage of the situation. He visits the chat room with Clem’s groupies (Clem won’t be needing them, anymore)
He solves the latest SSS puzzle by himself before anyone else can answer
Scene: Esto and Tangredi go to a rarely used forum to retrieve Esto’s next wish
Esto: Hey wait a minute. What’s this?
Tangredi: Exactly what you asked for.
Esto: When I said I wanted to look at pictures of hot dames, I didn’t mean Phyllis Diller.
Tangredi: Hot is relative, I’ll have you know.
Scene: Esto goes from game to game, forum to forum, winning every time. He knows every lyric from Lyrically Speaking and every fact from Decades. Every score is perfect.
Yet he feels something is not right.
Tangredi: What is Mr. Estonut?
Esto: Come on. Sit down, Fats. Sit down. Now, look, I don't know how to explain this, but it just ain't the same thing. I mean, what's the kick knowing all the lyrics without even looking some up, huh? And--and--and the dames! I never thought I would get bored with Clem’s groupies. Look, look, I wouldn't expect an administrator to understand this, see, but, but, being a big guy with a chick--it don't mean anything if it's all set up in advance. And, I mean, everything is great here on this Bored, you see, really great. It's just the way I always imagined it except that, that, well, just between you and me, Fats, I don't think I belong here. I don't think I fit in.
Tanredi: Oh, nonsense. Of course you do!
Esto: No, no, I mean it. I mean it. Somebody must have goofed. If I gotta stay here another day, I'm gonna go nuts! Look, look, I don't belong in Heaven, see. I want to go to the other place.
Tangredi: Heaven? Whatever gave you the idea you were in Heaven, Estonut? This is the other place! Welcome to A Home For the Weary.
Narrator: A scared, angry little man who never got a break. Now he has everything he's ever wanted, and he's going to have to live with it for eternity - on the Twilight Bored.
TEN! returns
To The Other Place
May 20
