—  How was your weekend?

—  I can’t tell you about things I did in the past.

—  Wait why?

—  If we talk about actions in the past then the dialogue seems stale.

—  Sorry, I didn’t know.

—  It’s alright.

—  How about those hedge-trimmers you’re working with? I hear the series 9000 is pretty advanced.

—  What? No that’s even worse. If we mention what I’m doing in the present then we should’ve just had this whole conversation in prose.

—  Well then what can we talk about?

—  I’m not sure. I think it’s supposed to be a contextual thing, where the characters involved are in a bit of a sticky / awkward situation.

—  Kinda like this?

—  No this is too meta. It would come across as overdeveloped.

— ...And I think most people would agree that ellipses are a little overused.

—  I think I’ll just leave you alone.

—  Okay. See you around. [Steps back to admire the completed hedge-sculpture: a hyper-realistic depiction of two people engaged in a dialogue that uses complex action lines as a crutch.]