Free Talk by Laura van Wormer

appeared within the shapes and then suddenly each red dot sent a white line streaking toward New York where they met in a flash of white light, clearing to show the full-color "DBS News America Tonight" lettering and logo. The glow of letters grew bright and the screen flashed out in a blaze of blue light, clearing again to show "With Alexandra Waring."
    "Ten, nine, eight..." the assistant director called. The screen blazed white again and then faded to the original map of the United States, outlined in blue upon black, red affiliate points twinkling, white lines leading to New York.
    "Ready to take camera two," the director said.
    "Fade out video, fade up on camera two. Bring up sound. Cue Alexandra."
    In the studio, the red light on top of camera two came on and the floor manager's right hand came down to point at Alexandra.
    In the monitor, Alexandra's eyes were sparkling.
    "This is " DBS News America Tonight' in New York City, I'm Alexandra Waring, and this is the news. "
    The format of the newscast had changed little over the years: headline hard news by Alexandra at the top of the hour and the half hour, national and local weather updates at quarter after and quarter to, the rest of the hour filled with regular reports from the science, politics, money, health, sports and entertainment editors and special correspondents.
    Alexandra was looking great, as usual. While she was a striking woman in person, she was positively blessed by the slight distortion of the camera. Even when, at times, in real life she could look tired and thin and slightly haggard, on camera she always looked vi brant and beautiful. Her keen intelligence, however, never faltered, on or off the air. Though she was still only thirty-eight years old, few in the news-gathering industry begrudged Alexandra's extraordinary success anymore. She had paid her dues. More than that, she was one of the few who had stayed in hard news and had a growing audience when everyone else's was slip ping away.
    In the course of the hour. Will jumped up from the console and ran off somewhere three times standard procedure for a news producer. His job was essentially to make sure everyone had everything they needed including an audience for the broadcast--or he was history. Thus far, he had done very well. From a local news production assistant, to field producer, producer and then executive producer, his career had risen side by side with Alexandra's.
    "And from everyone at DBS News, here and around the world," Alexandra told the camera at the end of the hour, "we wish you a very good night--and an even better tomorrow."
    A few moments later, the floor manager called, "All clear!"
    "And we're out of here!" Alexandra declared, jumping up from the anchor desk.
    A year ago a comment like "We're out of here!" from Alexandra would have been unheard of. But the wear and tear of nightly television had even gotten to Alexandra these days. She and Jessica and people like them in television were extremely well paid not only for their talent and audience appeal, but also for their ability to fight the boredom and sense of imprisonment that a never-altering schedule produced. Day in, day out, feeling good or bad, it made no difference as they had to show up for a routine that never changed, unless to accommodate an emergency, which only doubled the workload.
    Day in, day out, week in, week out, year after year. Alexandra claimed that in recent months she could actually feel herself aging in front of the camera.
    Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, another week gone, another week older in another year passing too quickly. Did Jessica remember when they were in their twenties? Alexandra would ask. How exhilarated they had been by their climb, knowing but not caring that everybody else their age was out there creating a life for themselves, establishing homes and families, while they were channeling their all into creating ratings? Then came their thirties, mid-thirties, and