Bradbury, Ray - SSC 10 by The Anthem Sprinters (and Other Antics) (v2.1) Read Free Book Online Page A

Not the drinking, Makes it . . . Go!"
    He is gone.
    Now finn, alone, exhales with pleasure. He
mops off each of the little ceramic
signs, exhales on them, shines them again — then, like a painter, looks about at the empty bar, looking left, left center, center, right center, right.
    Finn (to
himself) Now where is best for
each . . . ? Well . . .
    He snatches one and places it
jar over at stage right. The sign reads STOP!
    When
they come in the door they should see this right off!
    What's
next? Well, when their little eyes move on over along, the next thing they should see is CONSIDER, right?
Right!
    He places CONSIDER right
center. New let's think where to
put THINK.
    He picks THINK up,
deliberates, puts it back down on top the Guinness
tap-barrel.
    Right
where he had it is best! And last of all, DO should go over by the door
on the other side, so people, on the way out, will do things. Right? I think it is!
    He locates DO where he
has said he'd put it and stands back again to survey his tasks finished.
    At which point his wife happens
through. He flinches as if he had
expected her to throw scalding water on him and makes elaborately casual attempts to look calm,
collected, and not guilty of putting
out hard money for strange devices.
    He saunters toward the bar, turning in a circle past his wife, who also turns in a circle, suspicious of the smell
of him.
    The Wife Well?
    He reaches the bar, polishes the first sign, STOP!
    Finn
    Well,
indeed!
    He moves over to polish the second, CONSIDER. She turns away
and huffs out. He flings down the rag.
    Damn,
she didn't see! Or did she see and disapprove? All right, steady, Finn, a calm mind in a calm body, eh? (Pours) Here's calmness. (Drinks) Ah.
    At which point the doors fling wide, and a man enters, somewhat in his cups. He freezes and stares.
    finn looks
at the man, follows his gaze to see what he is looking at and finds it is the sign: STOP!
    The man sways there a moment, blinking, debating, then wheels about.
    I-
    The man charges back out, gone.
    Now, what the—? Well, where was I? Oiling the
stormy seas. Another drop of oil, eh?
    He gives himself a drop. He rearranges one of the signs, smiles at
it, pats it.
    The same half-drunk man enters again, is again transfixed at what he
sees, wheels, and goes out.
    I'll
be ... Now that's most peculiar. That was Tom Noonan, wasn't it? (Shrugs) Ah, he'll be back.
    We can see noonan, outside, warming up
for another try. He steels himself,
takes a deep breath, and bursts through the doors again. He is half across the barroom floor, at
full steam, when his eyes fix to the
dire sign and he cries in loud dismay, almost a wail:
    Noonan Stop!
    and circles around to flail out and is gone again, this time for good.
    Finn (going
after him)
    Tom
Noonan, oh, Tom! ( stops , bewildered) Gone. Did he say "Stop"? Yes. Must
have misunderstood. That one sign wasn't meant for him.
    He goes over and peers at the sign. (Muses) Stop . . .
    He is wracked with indecision. He picks up the sign, puts it down, picks it up again.
    Well, it might be best, for the
first few hours, anyway, to turn this one
around so no one can see it, right off. Later, I'll turn it back. It's not really the most important sign, anyway, is
it? No!
    He turns the sign around so we can't read it.
    There!
Now we still have (Points) CONSIDER! THINK! DO! (Rubs hands) All right,
world, I'm ready for you! I'd best tell the boys to come in and—
    father leary enters,
or rather, almost backs in through the door.
    There you are, Father Leary!
    Father (bemused)
    Am
I? So I am. On my way to Mrs. Kelly's I just saw Tom Noonan on the street.
    Finn (suddenly uneasy) Noonan? Tom?
    Father
    Run
up to me and insisted right there on the curb I take his con fession!
    Finn (attempting
cheer) Did he? That's nice.
    Father
    Nice, but not like Tom. He wouldn't take no. Held onto my elbow, he did. So I shut my eyes and pretended not
to know and heard him out!
    Finn Fast
thinking, Father!
    Father The
Archbishop