The Director Sector

PROLOGUE - A street corner

ROLF (to audience)

Hey, hey, you. Got a dollar? s’all I’m askin for. Just a lousy, stinkin’ dollar. That’s all I’m askin for. What’s that? You don’t got a dollar?

(beat)

Okay, a quarter. Got a quarter? I just need a quarter. A lousy, stinkin’…

I hate you. I hate you all, you know that? You got it.. You got it so lucky. You with them fancy hats and fancy coats. You got them fancy carriages and fancy horses. You got them big ol’ homes and servants that wait on you hand an’ foot. You got it all, you does. Me? I’m just sittin’ here, doin’ my best to survive. Tryin’ to make it through this hellhole you call life. I call it shit. Complete, utter shit. You hear me? You don’t hear me. Of course you don’t. I’m just a bum.

Well let me tell you my story, mister, and maybe then you’ll feel something for me and give me that lousy stinkin’ dollar you got hangin’ out of your back pocket.

Me name’s Rolf. R-O-L-F. Rolf. I used to be somebody in this town. I used to be somebody good. I had a wife. Kids. One beautiful girl and a strong, charming son. I had a house. Not a run-down shack, you know, but a house. A real house with real rooms and real beds and sheets. I had it all.

Until one day… One awful, terrible, no-good, very bad day. God.. Fate.. whatever you think it might be.. took my wife. My kids. My precious babies. All gone in the blink of an eye.

The blink of an eye, mister. They’re gone, because of.. because of a goddamn idiot. Because of foolish pride.

How do you deal with that? How do you push on when the awesome powers of the universe have proven you to be weak, helpless? How do you live with yourself, mister, when you can’t protect your family from harm?

Well… Now you know, mister. Now you fuckin’ know. You don’t live with it. You just don’t.

(blackout)