Ed sits on a metal folding chair in the basement, the dim light of the television bathing his face in dancing colors, while Sophie taps steadily, almost rhythmically on the glass of the terrarium.
“Quit it, girl.” Ed says absently, waving a hand in the direction of Sophie and the aquarium.
The tapping continues, but Ed doesn’t notice for a moment because he’s too engrossed in the television. There’s a manhunt on. The police are still looking for the missing girl. Seems they have a witness.
Ed begins to notice the tapping again and turns around in his chair without getting up. “Cut it out!” he says with more projection. The tapping ceases for a moment this time and he turns his attention back to the television.
A lady who is pretty but way too old to be attractive is on the screen now, talking some nonsense or other about how she saw the guy take the girl this and he was driving a weird, sea-foam colored pickup truck that.
“The fuck do you know, lady?” Ed asks dismissively to the screen.
The lady goes on to say she didn’t get a license plate or anything for the truck…
“Yeah, you don’t know shit,” Ed says, “just looking for your five minutes on the TV.”
…but she got a real good look at the guy’s face, and helped the police make a sketch of him.
Ed doesn’t say anything. He stares at the TV screen intently.
The camera cuts back to the news anchor, who starts talking some crap about the police have given the news people the sketch and here it is and now Ed’s face is looking right back at him on the TV screen and he’s never been so scared and so mad at the same time in his entire life. Then Ed hears Sophie tapping on the glass of the terrarium again.
Ed stands up and throws the folding chair into the wall. He storms over to the terrarium. “I told you to shut the fuck up. You didn’t get the message when I put that gag in because you wouldn’t stop screaming? How about I’ll cut your fucking fingers off if you don’t stop tapping on the inside of that glass you little bitch.”
Sophie retracts her finger from the glass. She heard the TV. She knows it’s just a waiting game now. It’s best to save her energy. Ed is going to get really desperate really quickly. She may have a fight on her hands.