"A Slice of Silence"
Scene: An office break room. It's 3:00 PM. EMILY and JAKE, two coworkers, are in line to use the microwave. Both hold identical leftover slices of pizza in their hands.
Emily: [sighing] You’d think by now they'd add another microwave.
Jake: Right? It's like we’re living in the Stone Age. Waiting for my food like it’s some rare commodity.
Emily: You mean pizza? Pretty sure it's the opposite of rare.
Jake: [chuckling] I mean, they should put in a second microwave. Maybe even... [whispers] a high-speed one.
Emily: Oh, I like that. [whispers] Maybe one that doesn’t sound like it’s a rocket taking off.
The microwave starts its usual rumble. They both wince.
Jake: My car doesn’t make that noise.
Emily: No one's car makes that noise. It sounds like... like a horror movie soundtrack but for lunch.
They laugh. Behind them, their boss, LARRY, enters the break room. He’s juggling his own coffee cup and a laptop precariously.
Larry: Ah, the ol' lunch rush. [pauses, staring at them] Or… are we debating the meaning of life?
Jake: [grinning] We figured it out, actually. And it’s this microwave.
Emily: [nodding] Pretty sure it’s a portal to another dimension. Or at least a portal to pizza oblivion.
The microwave beeps. They all jump a little.
Larry: [deadpan] Mysterious beeping. Sign of quality in a microwave.
Emily: Totally. I mean, what else says “bon appétit” like a microwave sounding like it’s actively plotting your demise?.......etc