When I was in grad school for playwrighting and performance, I often wrote on 3-4 plays at once or would have fits of starts and mapping out a couple of plays, going back and forth working on them. The prompt tonight was about grief, and this beginning of a play has been rattling in my head for a while, so I thought I'd take a break from the other starts or rewrites, etc., and just get this out of my system.
No Working Title Yet: Grief, Birds,
Sisters
Somewhere north of
Seattle, Washington. A kitchen with an island. It is cluttered and lived in,
but not dirty. Appliances and flooring are well-used but not broken. The
dish drying rack is half full.
(SHEILA, 48, ENTERS in a rush searching for something)
SHELIA
Where is it? Where is it? It has to be here somewhere!
(She checks behind the blender, the mixer, in the
oven, under the island, and in the oven)
This can’t happen. It couldn’t have disappeared. Who would
take it? Who would. He would. No one. No, it has to be here.
(JAMIE, her sister, 50, ENTERS. She is watching SHELIA
saying nothing as SHELIA rushes around re-checking where she’s already been)
JAMIE
The blender I can understand, but the stove or freezer,
really?
SHEILA
You laugh, but I once found a whole stack of library books in
the freezer after searching the house for them.
(SHELIA is pulling out everything she can and piling
it in one spot)
JAMIE
Uh, sis, were those your books?
SHELIA
That’s not the point.
JAMIE
Isn’t it, though? Kinda sorta.
(KATIE sister 54 ENTERS)
KATIE
Where do you keep the… What is happening here?
JAMIE
Don’t ask.
SHEILA
I’m looking for… Oh, shoot, that’s right!
(SHEILA takes a breath)
(yells) Sammy! Get in here!
JAMIE
Don’t you think you should take it down a notch?
SHEILA
He has to have them, that’s the only place they could be!
KATIE
What are you’all talking about? Have what?
JAMIE
Hey, leave the kid alone.
SHEILA
No. Sammy, I know you can hear me!
KATIE
I’ll go get it from him. What is it?
SHEILA
My keys.
JAMIE
All this about your keys?
SHEILA
Sammy!
KATIE
Like Jamie said, leave him be. Your keys are right here.
SHEILA
Why do you have my keys?
KATIE
Why would Sammy have them? He doesn’t even drive.
SHEILA
He doesn’t, but he loves the sound of them and swipes them all
the time, forgetting where he puts them. He just runs around the house jingling
them until he sees something else he wants to hold or fiddle with, and then the
keys are dropped anywhere. It doesn’t matter to him, but to me… he doesn’t get
it.
JAMIE
Ok, but why this?
(gesturing to the kitchen pile)
SHEILA
Just my habit. I start piling things in each room in one
place until I find whatever I’m searching for that Sammy has dropped.
KATIE
That makes sense.
JAMIE
Sure.
SHEILA
It does.
(starts to crumble)
No, no, it doesn’t. I hate this! No, no, I’m ok.
JAMIE
It’s ok if you’re not ok.
SHEILA
No, I can’t crack as I have so much to do.
KATIE
We’ve got so much to do, you just relax and let us do some of
this for you. Sammy needs you.
SHEILA
I know but… I…
(SAMMY, a near-grown adult, ENTERS)
SAMMY
Mama, I saw a…a…a
SHEILA
What did you see, Bright Eyes?
(SAMMY stops and looks around at everyone)
Did you see a bird? Let me guess, was it a black capped
chickadee or a Steller’s Jay?
(SAMMY shakes his head no and is edging towards the
nearest exit)
It’s ok. They’d like to know too.
(SAMMY shakes his head no again)
Ok, ok, wait.
(SHEILA gestures for her sisters to cover their ears
and turn away from SAMMY)
Go ahead with the report. They can’t hear you. My ears only.
SAMMY
It is a medium-sized bird of the, no can’t say that it is
native to the United States, Central America, and sometimes found in the Cayman
Islands.
SHEILA
Well, the Cayman Islands narrows it down.
SAMMY
Yes, Mama.
SHEILA
A vacationing parrot?
SAMMY
No, Mama. It is native to the United States.
SHEILA
There are parrots in Florida.
SAMMY
You. Aren’t. Listening! No parrots here! I saw it! I saw it
out my window!
KATIE
Sammy, take a breath!
JAMIE
It’s just a bird!
(SAMMY runs out of the room)
Sammy!
KATIE
Jamie, leave him be. He’ll come back.
SHEILA
He will probably. Maybe if you all occupy yourselves
elsewhere, he’ll find me and give me the report.
JAMIE
The report? Is that all? Has he said anything else besides
these regular updates on what’s out there in the yard?
SHEILA
Not really. Yes. It’s complicated.
JAMIE
Oh, I know it is.
KATIE
Hey, we are here to help. What can we do next for you? You
wanted to go somewhere, and now you’ve found your keys. Where do you want to go?
SHEILA
Where do I want to go? Great question. I was headed out the
door to…
JAMIE
Oh, we need more boxes or bins to pack up his study.
SHEILA
That was… yes… more boxes! Pastor Doug called and said
they’ve got a bunch for us down at the church if I could get over there this
morning.
KATIE
You don’t need to go. We’ll go for you, and we can stop by the
grocery store too if you make a list.
(KATIE gestures for SHEILA to give her the keys)
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