Between songs at somebody’s party

Roller Rink

It is somebody's party, maybe yours, and the colored lights keep sweeping while the music changes over. Every pair of rental skates behind the counter is your size, and the pair you always got had one wheel that ran slower than the others so you drifted left the whole night. The carpet swallows every sound except wheels, and the wheels are all somewhere behind you. This is the room where you learned that you could be part of something loud without anybody looking at you, and you have been looking for it since.

Reality Is Optimal · created by Julian Cape, 2026