“What has your life amounted to?” asked the woman that led the ring.

“I am separated from my wife, but I do have offspring, four children, of whom I am very proud,” answered the sixty-year-old.

“And how often do you see your offspring?” she inquired.

“One is abroad,” he responded apologetically, “and he occasionally phones, when he is free, of course.”

“The remaining three?!” the leader exclaimed after a long spell of silence.

“Another is a successful businessman, but he cannot afford the time for a single visit. The youngest is a rebel and he resents any patriarchal interference in his household. We are estranged because of his selfish wife, whom I abhor. My most affectionate son has become a monk of the silent order, and he lives in a monastery, quite far-off,” he calmly divulged.

“What about your wife? Are you on friendly terms with her?”

“No, we never talk. The last time I spoke with her, she accused me of turning the children against her, although she shocked them when she last eloped with our favourite neighbor. This was her third time, and she has resolved to make it a no-return journey.”

“So, you live alone,” she stated.

“I had a companion, a dog, but he has recently died.”

The other members of the ring looked agitated but remained silent.

“What do you think?” she inquired of them.

“I would like to play the role of his youngest son, with whom he is supposed to go bowling every weekend,” responded a thirty-year-old.

“I would like to be the neighbor who does not betray. I have recently moved into the neighborhood,” responded another member of the ring.

“I can play the role of the wife, with no sexual intercourse of course,” stated a woman in her fifties, a retired teacher with a compassionate face.

The interviewee, in a state of disbelief, could not utter a single word.

“We would like to keep this arrangement very private. We do not parade or seek publicity in our undertakings. We do not pursue approval or ratings. We simply act,” said the leader emphatically.

“What about you John?” she addressed the forty-year-old, who did not react at all.

“I would like to compensate for the loss of his dog,” he responded with a rare type of calm. “We can have long strolls together on the nearby lawns.”