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[0:00] Brad Forenza: Surprise! And welcome to a bonus episode of Around the Sun, as created by yours truly, Brad Forenza. This epilogue, Be Here Now, stars Marsha Mason and Austin Pendleton. Consider it our parting gift. Happy Holidays. Happy New Year. Peace on Earth. Goodwill towards all.

[0:34] Narrator: Somewhere at the edge of the universe, the Star Keeper hangs several stars in the sky. Her space is lit by the magic of an endless starry night. I used to count dozens of stars in the sky. Sometimes, on crystal clear nights, I could see hundreds, so bright and bold, like my father used to make me feel. And the funny thing is, there were always more to be seen, beyond the clouds, beyond the horizon, beyond the comprehension of any human mind. There's always more of us to see. It's just a matter of perspective. You see, out here, everything is infinite. Everything goes on forever, in all directions, even the stars. Tonight, I have to fire up some new ones. We're starting here, though, where we are now. I've been waiting for this one.

[1:39] Narrator: A man enters, holding something that resembles a beachcombing metal detector from yesteryear. It beeps continuously as the man probes around the space. Then, the beeping dies.

[1:53] Man: Crap.

[1:55] Man: Hello?

[1:57] Star Keeper: Hello.

[1:59] Man: Trouble?

[2:01] Star Keeper: Trouble.

[2:03] Man: A lemon?

[2:05] Star Keeper: A lemon.

[2:07] Man: What is it?

[2:09] Star Keeper: A memory detector pulled me all the way out here and just crapped out.

[2:11] Man: A memory detector?

[2:13] Star Keeper: You don't see many of those anymore. Does that mean you're looking for your memories?

[2:15] Man: I seem to have lost them along the way.

[2:17] Star Keeper: Oh, not much luck with that detector, I suppose.

[2:19] Man: Not yet, but I was close. I could feel something.

[2:21] Star Keeper: Feel what?

[2:23] Man: A force, an energy. So, if you'll excuse me.

[2:25] Star Keeper: Well, if it stopped beeping, perhaps you've already found what you're looking for?

[2:27] Man: Impossible. There are no memories under the surface here. Just batteries and bottle caps, I guess.

[2:29] Star Keeper: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:31] Man: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:33] Star Keeper: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:35] Man: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:37] Star Keeper: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:39] Man: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:41] Star Keeper: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:43] Man: Well, you can't know for sure.

[2:46] Star Keeper: Well, you can't know that for sure.

[2:48] Man: Well, you can't know that for sure.

[2:50] Star Keeper: Stay a while until you're absolutely certain you've excavated everything there is to excavate.

[2:52] Man: Do I know you?

[2:58] Star Keeper: I know you.

[3:02] Man: That's not funny.

[3:04] Star Keeper: How would you like it if your entire essence were reduced to sleeping and breathing, being fed through a machine because you forgot how to swallow, let alone how to use a knife and fork? I'm as useful as that detector.

[3:16] Man: A lemon?

[3:20] Star Keeper: A lemon.

[3:22] Star Keeper: Life is a lemon. A little sweet, a little sour. That's the cosmic dance.

[3:28] Man: A metaphor?

[3:32] Star Keeper: A metaphor.

[3:34] Star Keeper: We have lots out here.

[3:36] Man: I have to go.

[3:38] Star Keeper: It was nice meeting you.

[3:40] Man: You mean you'd let a memory detector drag you clear across the galaxy just to walk away from where it first pulled you? That's the kind of excavator you are?

[3:46] Star Keeper: Look, I told you I don't know who I am. I don't know anything about anything anymore. So goodbye.

[3:56] Man: Drag me clear across the galaxy? What did you mean by that?

[4:00] Star Keeper: Be here now and I'll show you.

[4:02] Man: How do you know me?

[4:04] Star Keeper: I'm your starkeeper. I've been curating your stars.

[4:08] Man: What does that even mean?

[4:11] Star Keeper: When we transition, our memories become stars, intermediaries, to help connect us with the physical world. Look over there. That star, that is my ninth birthday. Oh, I'm all dialed up because both of my grandmothers, maternal and paternal, are taking me out for lunch. Aren't they beautiful?

[4:33] Man: Am I dead?

[4:35] Star Keeper: A star, an intermediary, to live for billions of years before it truly fades into night. I have been spreading your memories across hundreds of thousands of stars for a long time now.

[4:51] Man: I think I'm dead.

[4:53] Star Keeper: Transitioned.

[4:55] Man: But I'm not ready to be dead.

[4:59] Star Keeper: I've been waving around this asinine contraption, trying to gain some semblance of things, and now you tell me I'm nothing.

[5:07] Star Keeper: Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, that's what you've always been. Star stuff.

[5:11] Man: I didn't agree to have my memories strewn all over the place like some wet towels in a locker room. I wasn't finished.

[5:21] Star Keeper: Are human beings ever really finished?

[5:25] Man: Not even a rebuttal?

[5:27] Star Keeper: Put your detector down. Stay a while.

[5:33] Man: Well, I'll be damned.

[5:36] Star Keeper: Help light the way for the people you love.

[5:40] Man: Where are they?

[5:42] Star Keeper: What?

[5:44] Man: My memories.

[5:46] Star Keeper: When you look into the universe, what do you see?

[5:50] Man: Picturesque, but very barren.

[5:54] Star Keeper: That one over there is your childhood dog. She's older now and you've lifted her into your bed for the night. Her body rises and falls heavily as you pet her hair over and over again, memorizing her texture and smell before you fall asleep. Oh, you love her very much.

[6:18] Man: I had a dog?

[6:22] Star Keeper: Oh, that one is your son, standing in his doorframe and telling you for the first time that he wants to work independently. But how desperately we still want to help.

[6:36] Man: Me?

[6:38] Star Keeper: Yes, Harry.

[6:40] Man: Harry, is that who I was?

[6:44] Star Keeper: Oh, don't worry so much about who you were. Just be here now and it'll come to you.

[6:56] Man: Your hand is so warm and mine is so cold. Tell me what you forgot first, second, and last. That way, we can retrace everything, all the way to the beginning, until the sky is awash in your memory.

[7:14] Star Keeper: I should warn you, many have tried and failed to help me.

[7:22] Man: Small things were the first to go, weren't they? People's names, where the keys were.

[7:30] Star Keeper: And why I went to the grocery store.

[7:34] Man: What did you lose next?

[7:36] Star Keeper: Patience?

[7:38] Man: Words.

[7:40] Star Keeper: Mondays?

[7:42] Man: Tuesdays.

[7:44] Star Keeper: Seasons?

[7:46] Man: Years.

[7:48] Star Keeper: And what did you lose last, Harry? Tell me the absolute last thing you remember.

[7:57] Man: You can do it, Harry.

[7:59] Man: I can't.

[8:01] Star Keeper: You can.

[8:03] Star Keeper: Just be here now. What was the last thing you remember?

[8:17] Man: You.

[8:19] Star Keeper: Me?

[8:21] Man: I always knew I belonged to you.

[8:25] Star Keeper: Then you were gone.

[8:29] Man: I'm here now, Harry. So let's make the most of it, while time is on our side.

[8:39] Man: What star is this, Bart? It's so cold. Why do you always bring me out into this cold?

[8:47] Star Keeper: It's the reservoir, Harry. I know you like looking at the reservoir, so close your eyes and I'll warm you up a nice cup of cocoa.

[9:11] Brad Forenza: Wait a minute! You didn't think we'd leave without saying goodbye, did you? Thank you to our listeners, cast and creative team for making Around the Sun, what was once a dream, become a reality. Around the Sun is dedicated to the memory of my dad, Ronald Lowell Forenza.

[9:34] ♪ Musical number: "Michael wrote the boat ashore" — performed by the cast ♪