Roger and Holly Do The Carousel

Roger and Holly Do The Carousel
by Pat C

Thanksgiving dinner at the Lewis' is over and most of the guests are relaxing over coffee. Holly wanders outside to get some exercise. She makes her way to the Carousel and heads - not for a horse - but for one of the high-backed, well-cushioned carriage seats. When she sits down she flashes back to a memory of her childhood.

Holly is about five years old and she's sitting on a Carousel horse, kicking her brothers to keep them from pulling her off. Her mother comes along and lifts her down, gently.

Hol's Ma: Come with me, my precious girl, oh, you're sleepy I can tell. Well, you just see what I've got for you...just for you and we won't let your brothers know about it, no dearie.

She carries Holly to one of the carriage seats.

Hol's Ma: We're gonna sit in this big throne here, just you and me. That's right dearie, you go to sleep.
Off this pleasant memory, grown-up Holly falls asleep.

A few minutes later, after waiting in vain for Dinah to get home for his elaborate and expensive Thanksgiving dinner, Roger heads over to the Lewis's thinking she might be there celebrating with her parents. He passes the Carousel and looks inside.

Roger: Hah! And I thought Billy Lewis was bad! At least he would never have subjected the good people of Springfield to this kind of sentimental crap!

Roger's voice wakes Holly who was still sleeping. The back of the seat conceals her from his view, and she doesn't let him know she's there. After their last encounter outside the police station, she wants to avoid him.

Roger: Oh, my God and those people had to eat after looking at this thing? I'll have to come back tomorrow with a camera and get a shot of this to send up to old Billy at the state pen. He'll get a kick out of this. It may even make him appreciate the big house.

He walks past the horses, running his hands over the smooth wood, occasionally knocking off loose chips of paint.

Roger: Must be nice, Josh. Being able to afford to waste your money on a whim. And here I am, scrambling just to hang on to WSPR...married to a woman I despise just for the sake of a few million bucks!

Roger stares at one of the horses for a minute.

Roger: Why is it these things always give me the creeps? Must be those dead glassy eyes staring at me...sorta reminds me of my father.

Roger has a flash of memory, a feeling of being five years old, climbing up onto a Carousel horse and being knocked off by a large adult hand. He's lying on the deck of the Carousel, now in motion, staring up into his father's cold, angry eyes.

Roger comes back to the present.

Roger: Gee, Dad, did you really have to knock me off the horse? Oh, I'm sure I did something to deserve it. I probably just finished pushing some other kid out of the way. But I was only five! Why didn't you just lift me off the horse, take me home and leave me in my room for a few hours?

He steps off the Carousel and sits down on the edge, his head in his hands.

Holly comes up behind him and squeezes his shoulder, then sits down beside him.

Holly: Ya know...I'll never look at Carousels the same after this.

Roger: Sorry I took away all your good memories.

Holly: No...I'm sorry...that you never had any good memories in the first place.

Roger: (grinning mischievously) I don't suppose you'd like to rectify that?

Holly: Hmm...I'll regret asking this, but ... how?

Roger: Just...stay here for a while and talk to me.

Holly: O...kay. But if we start to fight...I'm leaving.

Roger: I promise not to start a fight.

Holly: Good.

Roger: Of course, if YOU start a fight I can't guarantee I won't join in...

They're both smiling now, seated facing each other as they lean back against opposite posts on the edge of the Carousel. They're silent for a moment.

Roger: Holly, why do you think we fight so much?

Holly: Because we're incompatible.

Roger: No...when we lived together we hardly ever fought!

Holly: You have such a selective memory, Roger. We fought all the time! The only time we weren't fighting is when we were...

Holly stops, not wanting to bring up the subject.

Roger: ...when we were making love? Why are you afraid to say it?! And as I recall that activity occurred much more frequently than the fights.

Holly: There's your selective memory again. Actually, the thing that occurred most frequently was me wondering where you were and when you were coming back!

Roger: Really?

Holly: Yes, really! And the fact that it surprises you is just further proof of how incompatible we are!

Roger: Come on, Holly. Admit it! You're as much of a loner as I am. Isn't all this constant togetherness with hubby starting to wear on your nerves?

Holly: Not at all!

Roger: Well, if you were so into togetherness back then, why did you insist on separate bedrooms?

Holly: It always gets back to that, doesn't it?

Roger: What?

Holly: Whatever we're talking about, you always relate it to sex!

Roger: I guess I just have a one track mind where you're concerned!

Holly: Well get it on a different track, or the Holly train is leaving the station.

Roger: Gee, Hol, I was hoping I could be the train this time and you'd be the station!

Holly tries to suppress her laughter, but finally gives up.

Roger and Holly are laughing together as we fade to black.

- The End -