A Sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez
Him is there. Her comes back.
Him – So?
Her – Two hours.
Him – Two hours…
Her – Approximately.
Him – So in two hours, all of this will have ceased to exist.
Her – And us with it.
Him – I understand what the dinosaurs felt just before their extinction.
Her – But they weren’t aware.
Him – They say animals are the only ones who can predict an earthquake a few hours before. Who knows?
Her – The dinosaurs might have had a premonition of their impending disappearance.
Him – Are you scared?
Her – I’m not even sure.
Him – After all, it’s just the end of the world.
Her – If I were the only one disappearing, I think I’d be terrified. But knowing that everything will stop for everyone at the same time. And that this world won’t outlive us.
Him – In a way, it’s not us leaving. It’s this world leaving us. (A pause) Wouldn’t it have been better not to know?
Her – To know or not to know…
Him – Anyway, now, we can’t act like we don’t know.
Her – Two hours.
Him – For a self-examination, it’s a bit short, isn’t it?
Her – For an individual inventory before canceling your lease, not necessarily. But to assess all of humanity…
Him – What would you say? Overall positive?
Her – It’s not just about balancing the positive with the negative. You also have to see everything in between. Dark matter. Insignificance. Absurdity.
Him – If one could still doubt the absurdity of this world, the insignificance of its end should finally discourage those who still believed in God.
Her – They would talk to you about apocalypse and divine punishment…
Him – Until now, my religion was more like “after me, the flood.” I didn’t think the flood could happen in my lifetime…
Her – So what do we do?
Him – I don’t know.
Her – It’s curious. I had often asked myself this question. What would I do if I only had one day to live? Or an hour.
Him – And?
Her – I thought about silly things like… listening to La Callas or making love.
Him – We still have time to do both. Provided we do it at the same time…
Her – But now it’s different. I don’t have to give meaning to my life for the few moments left. It’s about life in general.
Him – We could have a child.
Her – It would be beautiful as a challenge. But it would remain completely absurd.
Him – We could commit suicide…
Her – So that we can still say: After us, the flood?
Him – It would be a gesture of freedom.
Her – It would be mostly a coquetry.
Him – Then what?
Her – How to still give meaning to the past in a world that has no future?
Him – When we used to say until the end of time, it meant forever. The end of time… I think this time we’re there.
Her – And after?
Him – Can there be an after, after the end of time?
Her – New times?
Him – A new beginning?
Her – A new beginning would make no sense.
Him – Then a beginning.
Her – Everything is finished.
Him – Everything begins.
Her – And everything that has happened no longer has to be.
Him – I think it’s time…
La Callas is heard. They hug each other.
Black.
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A sketch from the collection Lost Times Chronicles
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)
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