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Smile off. Long pause. ] Willie. [ Pause. ] Do you think the earth has lost its atmosphere, Willie? [ Pause. ] Do you, Willie? [ Pause. ] You have no opinion? [ Pause. ] Well that is like you, you never had any opinion about anything. [ Pause. ] It’s understandable. [ Pause. ] Most. [ Pause. ] The earthball. [ Pause. ] I sometimes wonder. [ Pause. ] Perhaps not quite all. [ Pause. ] There always remains something. [ Pause. ] Of everything. [ Pause. ] Some remains. [ Pause. ] If the mind were to go. [ Pause. ] It won’t of course. [ Pause. ] Not quite. [ Pause. ] Not mine. [ Smile. ] Not now. [ Smile broader. ] No no. [ Smile off. Long pause. ] It might be the eternal cold. [ Pause. ] Everlasting perishing cold.[ Pause. ] Just chance, I take it, happy chance. [ Pause. ] Oh yes, great mercies, great mercies. [ Pause. ] And now? [ Long pause. ] The face. [ Pause. ] The nose. [ She squints down. ] I can see it . . . [ squinting down ] . . . the tip . . . the nostrils . . . breath of life . . . that curve you so admired [ pouts ] . . . a hint of lip . . . [ pouts again ] . . . if I pout them out . . . [ sticks out tongue ] . . . the tongue of course . . . you so admired . . . if I stick it out . . . [ sticks it out again ] . . . the tip . . . [ eyes up ] . . . suspicion of brow . . . eyebrow . . . imagination possibly . . . [ eyes left ] . . . cheek . . . no . . . [ eyes right ] . . . no . . . [ distends cheeks ] . . . even if I puff them out . . . [ eyes left, distends cheeks again ] . . . no . . . no damask. [ Eyes front. ] That is all. [ Pause. ] The bag of course . . . [ eyes left ] . . . a little blurred perhaps . . . but the bag. [ Eyes front. Off hand. ] The earth of course and sky. [ Eyes right. ] The sunshade you gave me . . . that day . . . [ pause ] . . . that day . . . the lake . . . the reeds. [ Eyes front. Pause. ] What day? [ Pause. ] What reeds? [ Long pause. Eyes close. Bell rings loudly. Eyes open. Pause. Eyes right. ] Brownie of course. [ Pause. ] You remember Brownie, Willie, I can see him. [ Pause. ] Brownie is there, Willie, beside me. [ Pause. Loud. ] Brownie is there, Willie. [ Pause. Eyes front. ] That is all.[ Pause. ] What would I do without them? [ Pause. ] What would I do without them, when words fail? [ Pause. ] Gaze before me, with compressed lips. [ Long pause while she does so. ] I cannot. [ Pause. ] Ah yes, great mercies, great mercies. [ Long pause. Low. ] Sometimes I hear sounds. [ Listening expression. Normal voice. ] But not often. [ Pause. ] They are a boon, sounds are a boon, they help me . . . through the day. [ Smile. ] The old style! [ Smile off. ] Yes, those are happy days, when there are sounds. [ Pause. ] When I hear sounds. [ Pause. ] I used to think . . . [ pause ] . . . I say I used to think they were in my head. [ Smile. ] But no. [ Smile broader. ] No no. [ Smile off. ] That was just logic. [ Pause. ] Reason. [ Pause. ] I have not lost my reason. [ Pause. ] Not yet. [ Pause. ] Not all. [ Pause. ] Some remains. [ Pause. ] Sounds. [ Pause. ] Like little . . . sunderings, little falls . . . apart. [ Pause. Low. ] It’s things, Willie. [ Pause. Normal voice. ] In the bag, outside the bag. [ Pause. ] Ah yes, things have their life, that is what I always say, things have a life. [ Pause. ] Take my looking-glass, it doesn’t need me. [ Pause. ] The bell. [ Pause. ] It hurts like a knife. [ Pause. ] A gouge. [ Pause. ] One cannot ignore it. [ Pause. ] How often . . . [ pause ] . . . I say how often I have said, Ignore it,Winnie, ignore the bell, pay no heed, just sleep and wake, sleep and wake, as you please, open and close the eyes, as you please, or in the way you find most helpful. [ Pause. ] Open and close the eyes, Winnie, open and close, always that. [ Pause. ] But no. [ Smile. ] Not now. [ Smile broader. ] No no. [ Smile off. Pause. ] What now? [ Pause. ] What now, Willie? [ Long pause. ] There is my story of course, when all else fails. [ Pause. ] A life. [ Smile. ] A long