Autumn Hughes

Smooth Operator

Laughter sounds, a sop reverberating off floor and wall. It belongs to an older generation, a socialite generation. Air whooshes from lungs: wheezing, hiccupping, struggling to pass the epiglottis. It's a plural crowing, like air releasing sloppily from a hundred rubber balloons. There’s plenty of eccentricities to guffaw. Tonight is the 34th Annual Premier Pre-Holiday Season Dinner Party.