George the Lion was thoroughly bored. Lions don't do group hugs, he thought to himself. Lions don't even have arms. So he raised himself up off the grass and began to pace back and forth.
Before long, George noticed something in the grass. "Hey, what's this?" George said out loud. He picked at it with his right paw. It looks like a woven thing, like a string.
"It's a thread," said a familiar voice behind George. George looked behind him to see Civis Romanus standing there. "Or at least the end of a thread."
"If it's the end of a thread, where is the beginning?" asked George.
"Hard to say," said Civis. "Sometimes these threads are so long no one remembers where the beginning is and so looses track of it by the time they get to the thread's end."
"But is this the beginning or the end of the thread?" asked George.
"It might be either, but you have to look around to see. There are telltale signs."
"Like what?"
"Oh...if it's the beginning, things looking like incomplete sculptures. Faceless people. Colorless terrain. Objects with no names. Faded edges or foggy vistas...By the way, what do you see over there, George?" said Civis.
"Well, I see a hedgerow and beyond it a road, and there seems to be a dignitary walking on the road. He looks like a governor. But his face is blank, and everything around him is white or see-through."
"Seems familiar?"
"Yes, and there in the distance is a chariot coming full speed down the road. Yes, its seems very familiar. But, but, there is the end of a thread over there too. Do you see it? Right there, tied to the hedge."
"Yes, George. I see it."
"And there is the end of a thread here too. Same material, same color...same thread?"
"Might be."
"Well, is it possible that we've come full circle and the hedge is where the thread started and this is where it has ended?"
"Well, George, I don't know. Maybe it really is time to find a fresh thread because this one's played out and maybe it's not. Let's see what the others say, okay?"
"Okay," said George.
Well what do you say group. Shall we try a fresh scene? [This message has been edited by Civis Romanus (edited 09-01-99).]