People of Conscience

It's My Birthday

Luke

It's her birthday. I'm really ready this time.

Uh-huh.

Got the date planned. Got the presents, really great presents, I might add. Even got a new outfit.

None of that strikes you as odd?

Nope.

Are you having a good time?

Yep. She's telling a story about Darfur.

Do you even know where Darfur is?

Nope, don't care. Gotta be ready for my side of the conversation. Gotta have a story of my own.

She's talking about war, refugees and starvation. Doesn't that strike you as unusual for a birthday celebration?

Nah, she talks about that stuff all the time. Oh! My turn.

Nice story. Cute stuff about the townies. Very amusing.

I got more of them lined up.

You planned to tell that story? Most people's stories tend to flow from the overall conversation.

I don't have any stories about starvation. Except the one when Lorelai comes into the diner starved, which isn't as much a story as it is an everyday occurrence.

Good call on not telling that story. Certainly better than the whole "symmetrical eyes" bit.

Hey, you know what? I'm on a date here. I'm supposed to want to be here. Oops, time for my next story.

Are you using a cheat sheet?

Shut up. I'm killing here. She's even laughing. A couple of notes on the back of an order ticket isn't a cheat sheet.

Are you sure this is what you want?

She's here. She wants me. She loves me. It's what I wanted ever since I was a teenager.

Are you sure it's still what you want?

I'm supposed to want this. She's a great girl. Now for my last story and her gift.

There's a difference between wanting and 'supposed to want.'

Look, she really likes the gifts. She's even tearing up. Guess I really knocked it out of the park this time.

Rachel

It's my birthday!

Congratulations. Looks like you finally got it all. The job, the guy. He's even putting in extra effort tonight.

He does look nice, doesn't he? I'm glad. It's time we settled down, put down roots.

You'll get to have a lot more birthdays like this, then, right?

Yes, just me and Luke. Maybe I'll even convince him to come on a couple of trips.

You'll probably want to spend some time taking care of those roots first: watering, tamping down, weeding, fertilizing. Might take a couple of years.

I still have to earn a living.

There are plenty of ways to earn a living in the area. You can make portraits, write a book, do weddings. That's how you fertilize the roots.

I miss the excitement of places like Darfur.

That was a good story. Look, he's telling one now. He really is putting in an effort.

Oh. Um, that really is one not annoying kid. Cute story about her first kiss. Doose's Market and all.

Yeah. Remember that orphan in Darfur you adopted? Cute kid too.

I miss her still. It was hard to say goodbye.

At least she died knowing she was loved.

That was another cute story, all the townies gathered together for a caterpillar funeral.

Uh-huh.

I could probably make a little money running down to New York once in a while, doing photo essays and stuff like that. Might have to spend a few nights there sometimes.

You could stay with Luke's sister. Maybe you and he could go together.

He'd never be able to get away from the diner. Anyway, Liz is kind of out there.

Say, isn't that outfit one of those …

No. I'm pretty sure he had it in his closet the last time I was here.

Uh-huh.

Are you going to say 'uh-huh' every time you don't believe me?

Yes. By the way, I'm your conscience. It's not ME not believing you, it's YOU not believing you.

Will you listen to that? Luke Danes has a third story. I've never had to listen to him so often in my life. Maybe he really has changed. I mean, he gave me a drawer. Cleaned it out and everything.

I agree, he really has changed. I wonder what convinced him to change his mind about the drawer?

Erp. They arrested the clown at an eight year old's birthday party.

His belt looks new.

Shut up. It's time for my present. I wonder what kind of unicorn it will be this time?

Oh my, that is a beautiful camera bag. Smell the leather.

Beautiful. This time he really knocked it out of the park. Oh! A book too.

Out of Africa. You've been wanting to read that, haven't you?

Yes, weirdly enough I was just talking about that book the other day, with uh, … oh.

You'll get to have a lot more birthdays like this.

Like this, huh?

Those pants look like they've never been worn. The sweater, no pills on it anywhere.

You know, I'm not so sure roots are a good thing for me.

No, probably not. You haven't been to Tibet in a while. How about Tibet?

It was supposed to be MY birthday, dammit.

Fin