8:30 - 8:59 PM: Gather
8:30 - 8:59 PM: Gather
You and a group of roughly a dozen others show up upon invitation dressed in formal wear to a black cube, roughly the length of a double-bus across. While you can see the vague crease of a door, you can find no handle. All is dark but a few red lights around a six foot tall circular binder shelf on wheels near where your group is huddled. The librarian hasn't arrived yet and those who were early regret that decision as they swat away mosquitoes. Someone reads a sign aloud and starts handing out tiny flashlights with red tips. You all start browsing the massive collection of loose leaf poetry for the ten lines you've been instructed to select.
9 - 9:03 PM Meet the librarian
I, your host and librarian, join you. A late thirties, Caucasian American brunette, my nearly waist-length wavy hair is down and I'm wearing a floor length navy blue dress with a name badge: Valerie. It takes a few moments to be noticed. Once I have the group's attention just by being among you, I ask, "Are you ready?"
9:04 - 9:08 PM To the stairs
A trail of tiny lights illuminates a previously unnoticed glass staircase on the outside of the building. I walk over to the base of the staircase and press a button on the wall. A 2 ft by 2ft square tray slides out with a dozen tote bags on it. I hand them out with the help of an eager volunteer and instruct everyone to reach inside and grab the softest thing in there. You all pull out a pair of animal slippers with rubber soles. One is an elephant with huge ears, someone else has a rat. The person who gets the banana slug tries to trade until they realize how badly a neighbor wants it. I announce that there will be no trading and all need to take off their shoes and, should they choose, socks, and put them on. One person hands back the unpacked bag and heads back to the parking lot, loosening his bowtie as he grumbles under his breath about the evening being such a waste of time. He had to get back to his studying.
9:09 - 9:10 pm To the roof
I lead the rest of your group up the single story staircase, instructing one lady in a purple ruffled dress that, if she had to puke, there was a barb bag inside her tote bag and that creating a slide would be detrimental to us all. She nods fervently and reaches for it, although it is not needed. We arrive safely at the top to find a glass ceiling with the matte black cube about two feet below. The patio terrace atmosphere is subtly stylish, with a dozen monobloc plastic chairs forming a circle near the barely visible clear fence through which nothing but the lights of a distant city can be distinguished. Colored lights coat each chair in a different hue and one overhead red light shines lightly on a wooden center stage, creating an effect that is dazzling but a bit dizzying. A few hands reach into their bags, just in case.
9:11 - 9:30 pm Introductions
After collecting and reading aloud the ten lines from each guest, I pull out a little yellow rubber duck and introduce him as Izzy. A few more people shuffle in their seats, weighing whether they could safely make it down the glass staircase alone. One stands but changes her mind after a single step. She sits and listens begrudgingly to a lively conversation between me, the duck, an ornery little thing who likes to laugh, and the animal slippers around the circle.
9:31 - 9:41 pm Recitation
I pull out a custom twelve sided die with an animal on each side. I ask a guest to roll it. When the antelope's side is chosen, I proceed to recite, from memory - the full selection the guest wearing the antelope slippers had provided. I hand the dice to someone else and repeat the stunt twice. I finally have everyone's attention.