Pay the Piper, Dancer

Hollywood is a hard place to be a failure. Perhaps even harder is to live with your own success. This novella is about pooling resources - of disenchantment, betrayal, and hope.

Plagued by the down-side of her theatrical accomplishments, famous director Felice has decided to drown her sorrows...and herself. Billy, a homeless young tough from Santa Monica Boulevard’s gay cruising market is looking to score. He breaks into the luxurious Hollywood Hills house where Felice floats face down in the swimming pool.

Rather than finding something to steal and turn into drugs, Billy saves Felice. Angry that he foiled her plans for oblivion, she digs into his brief but sordid history. The initially combative situation evolves into a tenuous intimacy as the fragile gates of regret are battered down to reveal the sins and losses that haunt them both.

Trusting a stranger is often easier than trusting those who know you. Family, fame, drugs, love, disappointment, disillusionment...through the course of the evening, Felice and Billy challenge each other to face the truth about themselves, to connect again with their dreams, and to redeem their personal worth.

But can they move forward from this brief redemption?