I thought about my grandmother’s last project before she died: a clock she had been building for decades that never quite kept the right time. She’d muttered about “learning to listen to the tick.” Maybe these tools were her way of teaching a machine to listen in return.

I opened it. The image was a close-up of a metal tool I’d never seen before: a slim, ribbed cylinder with a tiny notch at its tip and the letters AJB stamped near the base. It looked ordinary until I tilted the screen. A whisper of motion under the metal — a barely visible hairline seam — suggested it could split open. Boring tool, the filename insisted. Boring. As in drill, as in tedious, as in something meant to make a hole and vanish.

Behind him, the office windows—now bricked up—showed a city skyline that looked like a dream. On the desk lay a handwritten note, perfectly legible in the digital glow:

Ajb Nippyfile Boring ------ Jpg Instant

I thought about my grandmother’s last project before she died: a clock she had been building for decades that never quite kept the right time. She’d muttered about “learning to listen to the tick.” Maybe these tools were her way of teaching a machine to listen in return.

I opened it. The image was a close-up of a metal tool I’d never seen before: a slim, ribbed cylinder with a tiny notch at its tip and the letters AJB stamped near the base. It looked ordinary until I tilted the screen. A whisper of motion under the metal — a barely visible hairline seam — suggested it could split open. Boring tool, the filename insisted. Boring. As in drill, as in tedious, as in something meant to make a hole and vanish.

Behind him, the office windows—now bricked up—showed a city skyline that looked like a dream. On the desk lay a handwritten note, perfectly legible in the digital glow:

AJB NIPPYFILE BORING ------ jpg

Amanda D'Archangelis & Sami Horneff

Composer (d’archangelis), Lyricst (Horneff), Composer Lyricist Cabaret

Amanda D’Archangelis and Sami Horneff met in the world-renowned BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Recent work includes: THE RADIUM GIRLS, co-written with Lisa Mongillo and directed by Tony-Winner Marissa Jaret Winokur, which is eyeing a world premiere production in the 26-27 season (also a 2022 NAMT Finalist, a 2019 Eugene O’Neill NMTC Semi-Finalist, and five-time winner at The 2021 National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival); SINGLE RIDER (Off-Broadway 2018); COMING ATTRACTION (Wilbury Theatre Group 2019); and THE BREAK (Omaha Creative Institute 2018). Upcoming: BANDIT QUEEN, a new pop-Americana musical about Pearl Hart, the Wild West’s most notorious female bandit, which has been developed through artist residencies at The Legacy Theatre in Branford, CT and Drama Club Camp in Mount Vernon, ME; PANDORA IN BLUE JEANS with book by Adam Morrison, which explores the life of controversial “Peyton Place” author Grace Metalious; and PSYCH, a 90’s spin on the myth of Cupid & Psyche commissioned by Wichita State University. Amanda and Sami’s songs have also been performed at concert venues and educational institutions across the country. They are proud to be 2019 York Theatre Company New/Emerging/Outstanding Writers, 2024 Playbill Songwriter Series Featured Artists, and 2025 Write Out Loud Contest grand prize winners! For more, visit: @darchangelisandhorneff on instagram | www.amandadarchangelis.com and www.samihorneff.com