(In a middle sized Ohio town a waitress kicks a dirty fork back into the kitchen.)

The Present is an unsmiling disheveled Minnesota giant who stands behind a
door holding a sledgehammer in one hand and a bottle of Jim Beam in the other.

The Past is an overweight mathematician who accidentally drops his chalk. When
he bends over to retrieve it the students in his classroom laugh.

The Present is a skinny woman who carries a paper shopping bag and a purse.
A sudden gust of wind blows the unstylish hat from her head.

The Future is an angry tiger who disembowels his trainer with one swipe of his
paw.

The distant Past is a New Orleans Saturday evening swathed in a cloudy, dangerous
mist.

The possibly ominous Future is a swiftly oncoming Mack truck that you believe
you can easily avoid.

The Present is a tall dead pine tree that suddenly falls in the woods beyond the
hearing of men.