[JEFF is standing in his top floor study, staring at the bookshelf.]

JEFF: Blimey. There’s a lot of books. I mean, not just here but, in the world. You know? There are so many books. There are so many books that no matter how many books I read I will never even make a dent in the amount of books there are. I mean, I will read a fair amount of books before I die, but there are just too many books to read all the book, you know? I can’t even begin to imagine how many books there are.

[SUE, Jeff’s wife, slaps the downstairs bannister with her tennis racket.]

SUE: [Off stage] Seen my mints?

JEFF: I don’t think so.

SUE: Got them.

[Curtain]

Carl Burkitt 2025