6:45 p.m. There is a brief, whispered commotion as a model who is standing upright on the platform abruptly starts to fall over for no apparent reason (apart from the 45 reasons that have elapsed since 6 o’clock). The shoeless handler pads over brandishing a miniature bottle of water with a straw in it, and taps the model’s arm with a single finger (*tap tap tap tap tap tap*) to get her attention and offer it to her.

6:46 p.m. After the model passes back the bottle, the handler gives her a single red Jolly Rancher, which the young woman transforms into a Somber Rancher by eating it very sadly and slowly for a full minute.

6:48 p.m. I notice that lots of the handlers are holding Jolly Ranchers now, and holding them up to catch the models’ eyes as you might when training a bird to perform a simple trick.

6:49 p.m. The trick the models are learning is do not move from this fucking platform or you will die.

6:50p.m. The model standing at the very front of the arrangement is abruptly ushered off the platform and into a backstage area by a handler with a pixie cut. This is the biggest action of the night so far. I record in my notes: “She almost made it :(.”

6:51 p.m. I peep through the crack of the open entryway and glimpse her sitting in a chair (her feet propped on another) sipping water through a miniature bottle. This is the state of a shortay who has been working for 51 minutes.

6:52 p.m. The models on the right side of the stage silently pass around a miniature bottle of water.

6:53 p.m. They all share the same straw.

6:54 p.m. I overhear the following conversation between the ever present black-clad handlers:

Woman 1: Can we get her water?

Woman 2: We don’t have any more water.

6:55 p.m. Woman 1: What about sparkling?

6:56 p.m. The model who had to leave the stage returns to her place, but now sits on the platform instead of standing.

6:57 p.m. The woman standing on the stool carefully picks her way off it with the assistance of another model.

6:58 p.m. She stands on the sheet-covered platform.

6:59 p.m. Several of the models begin openly (quietly) talking and shifting their weight from side to side. Everyone is ready for their mom to come pick them up, including me.

7:00 p.m. The same woman returns to her precarious perch for final pictures.

7:01 p.m. She is a fearless hero and an inspiration to all.

7:02 p.m. I have to say, the visual of all these beautiful women posed so rigidly in their beautiful clothes really is something. They look great. I totally see the appeal of dolls and people you can dress up as dolls.

7:03 p.m. The models are permitted to leave their places en masse. They clutch one another’s arms as they pick their way carefully off the scaffolding. I stand in place and they float around me like waves washing over a rock.

☛ More Rocks: There Is A Living Rock You Can Find In Chile And Peru