Raegan Lane, Film, Television, and Digital Media, Sophomore, Mansfield, TX
CHARACTERS:
EIGHTEEN: A troubled teen going through a tough time.
NARRATOR: Wise and mysterious.
THREE: Very young and very needy.
SEVEN: Young and proud, sassy.
TWELVE: Think she’s wise, but still has much to learn.
FIFTEEN: Breaking, sad.
THIRTY: Wise, hopeful, stern.
TIME: Present Day
SET: A mystical waterfall and meadow clearing.
NARRATOR: Close your eyes. Reach out.
(Lights fade up as NARRATOR and EIGHTEEN enter)
NARRATOR: The sun’s heat is resting on your shoulders. An empty meadow filled with flowers. Reds, blues, yellows. Tall, swaying grasses. The blades are sticky, but soft. Hard, yet bending with the wind. Feel the dirt beneath your toes. Every little particle. The small pebbles being softly pressed into your foot. Not painful, but noticeable. Feel the tickle as the blades of grass brush against your skin. Sharp, but not painful either. Breathe… Just breathe…Trees encircle the meadow. Look ahead. Do you see the gap in the trees? Go there. Run, walk, skip, saunter, whatever you want. Just go there.
EIGHTEEN: What am I looking for?
NARRATOR: Nothing… and everything… Go through the gap in the trees. Wood and bush turn to rock and stone. Drag your hand against their sharp edges. Sharp, but not painful. Do you see the colors? Reds, blues, yellows. Emeralds and diamonds. Rubies. A distant rumble. Do you hear the water running? Go to it. Run, walk, skip, saunter, whatever you want.
(They arrive at the waterfall and pond)
EIGHTEEN: What now?
NARRATOR: Just wait. Go for a swim? Tan? Enjoy the feeling of the warm sun on your back. Listen to the water running. The smell as the steam lifts from the pool and into the air. The soft trickle of water beads against wet rock.
(EIGHTEEN does neither)
EIGHTEEN: Where am I?
NARRATOR: You’ll see.
(NARRATOR exits and leaves EIGHTEEN alone on stage.)
EIGHTEEN: What am I supposed to do now?
(Enter THREE who looks like EIGHTEEN, crying. She goes and sits by EIGHTEEN)
THREE: I’m sad.
EIGHTEEN: I’m sorry?
THREE: My mommy. She’s big again. I don’t want to be gone.
EIGHTEEN: Who are you?
(THREE cries harder.)
EIGHTEEN: (Aside) Great… (To THREE) Um…Tell me again what’s going on?
THREE: My mommy is big and I don’t want to be gone.
EIGHTEEN: So your mommy is big…should she be on a diet? Is that what you mean?
(THREE cries harder)
EIGHTEEN: Nope not that. Shoot…
SEVEN: (Entering) I think I can help.
EIGHTEEN: Who are you?
SEVEN: (Proudly and holding up seven fingers) I’m Seven! Not Six, Seven.
EIGHTEEN: Good for you? Can you help me with this water sprinkler over here?
THREE: My mommy is big and I don’t want to be gone.
EIGHTEEN: Is your mommy pregnant? Um… how old are you again?
SEVEN: She’s Three.
EIGHTEEN: Well, what’s your name, little one?
SEVEN: She’s Three. Like I said.
EIGHTEEN: Oh, um, Three? Hi. Just because you are going to have a little brother doesn’t mean your parents won’t love you. They will always love you. You know, when I was three, I had this same problem. It seemed like the biggest thing in the world! A new baby brother? Nothing could be worse! When my parents came home from the hospital, carrying that baby in the little blue blanket, I hid in my room for a week. I pushed myself aside. After a little while, my parents got really worried. They would come to me and try to be with me, but I would cry and scream. Then one morning, I heard my baby brother crying downstairs. My parents were both asleep, so I went and stood by him. Looking down at his huge eyes, I felt love for him. After that, I got over my selfishness, and you will too. …And you don’t understand a word I’m saying.
(THREE hugs EIGHTEEN and doesn’t let go. SEVEN now begins crying. EIGHTEEN pushes THREE off of her)
EIGHTEEN: Get off…
(Seven tugs on EIGHTEEN’s shoulder)
SEVEN: Hi.
EIGHTEEN: Oh God…What’s wrong with you, uh…?
SEVEN: Seven.
EIGHTEEN: Seven? Okay, what’s wrong with you, Seven?
SEVEN: The girls at my school are mean. In recess, they throw stuff at me and
THREE: I’m hungry. (EIGHTEEN shushes her)
SEVEN: And call me names and
THREE: I’m hungry!
SEVEN: (Whining) Listen to me!
EIGHTEEN: God help me.
(Cereal appears in a bowl on the ground.)
EIGHTEEN: What?
(THREE goes and begins eating. EIGHTEEN and SEVEN looks on, puzzled)
EIGHTEEN: (To SEVEN) So mean girls?
SEVEN: The girls at school are really mean. When we play at recess, they throw dirt at me and push me down. Yesterday, I was running around playing and Kaitlyn came up behind me and pushed me to the ground, laughing at me. I got this boo boo. See? It hurts and I had to go to the 6 hospital, but its fine now. Once I broke my arm and I had to get this big pink cast!
EIGHTEEN: Good for you. Why are the girls mean to you?
SEVEN: Because I’m ugly.
EIGHTEEN: (To herself.) Only when you cry like this…(SEVEN cries harder.)
EIGHTEEN: Oh… come here. I’m so sorry. You aren’t ugly, little one. You are beautiful. I remember when I was your age, girls on the playground would call me this one name. (To herself.) What was it?
EIGHTEEN and SEVEN: Chubby Tubby.
EIGHTEEN: Wait…what?
SEVEN: But I’m not chubby! Am I?
EIGHTEEN: Of course not! Sometimes, kids are just mean. They could be jealous, or just bored. I promise it will stop someday.
SEVEN: No it won’t! It will never end!
EIGHTEEN: Yes it will, little one. You are only six.
SEVEN: Seven!
EIGHTEEN: Seven. So much will change with every birthday.
(Enter TWELVE. THREE begins to cling to SEVEN, lost in her own world.)
TWELVE: They do get over it, I promise.
EIGHTEEN: Let me guess, you’re Eleven.
TWELVE: Excuse me? I’m Twelve! Do I look eleven to you?
EIGHTEEN: Jeez sorry. I’m kinda having a rough time in here.
TWELVE: Welcome to the club. So! Do you think I’m fat?
SEVEN: Yes.
EIGHTEEN: What? No!
TWELVE: Good! Because I have stopped eating. Everyone thinks I’m fat and ugly, and I know that eating makes you fat, so I’ve stopped.
EIGHTEEN: What? No, that’s not good for you. When did you start this?
TWELVE: This morning. Oh! Are those Frosted Charms?!
(TWELVE begins to eat the cereal. EIGHTEEN watches, confused.)
TWELVE: (Between bites) Look…here’s what happened…Every day in school, I get pushed on the ground, into the lockers, or just pushed around in general. I’ve been embarrassed in front of my friends and my crush. It’s terrible. I want to switch schools, but there’s nowhere else I can go. I’m fat. I’m failing all my classes. I hate this. I hate those mean people. They will never stop.
EIGHTEEN: But then they do stop.
TWELVE: No! They never stop! And they never will.
EIGHTEEN: But they do. When I was your age, they called me fat and ugly too. But once everyone got to high school, everyone matured and it all stopped! I mean, mean girls will always be mean girls, but they have other things to worry about in high school than me…I mean you. In high school, you start worrying about college, boys, grades. All you think about is yourself. You don’t have the time nor energy to bully other people.
TWELVE: So I can eat again?
SEVEN: I mean you’re eating right now.
TWELVE: Oh good!
EIGHTEEN: Why didn’t you tell the boy your name?
TWELVE: He was asking out of pity. If I make a friend, I want them to hang out with me
TWELVE and EIGHTEEN: Because they like me.
THREE: I have to go potty!
EIGHTEEN: You have got to be kidding me!
TWELVE: I can take her. I like kids.
EIGHTEEN: I used to when I was your age. Go ahead. I’ll stay here with little Miss Seven.
(THREE and TWELVE exits.)
EIGHTEEN: Seven, can I ask you a question? Are you, and Three and Twelve, me?
SEVEN: No, we are us. Who else would we be?
EIGHTEEN: It’s just that every story you guys tell, the very same thing has happened to me.
SEVEN: Cool.
EIGHTEEN: Where’s Twelve when I need her…
(Enter THREE, TWELVE, and FIFTEEN)
TWELVE: Look who we found!
EIGHTEEN: And who are you?
FIFTEEN: I’m Fifteen. Nice to meet you!
EIGHTEEN: (To herself). Finally, someone, I can talk to. (To FIFTEEN) So what’s your problem?
FIFTEEN: (To the others). Why don’t you girls go off and play? Seven, Twelve, keep an eye on Three, please. You know how she likes to run off.
(SEVEN and TWELVE carrying THREE exits laughing loudly. Their sound fades)
FIFTEEN: (After a moment.) Have you ever had a boyfriend?
EIGHTEEN: Two. One freshman year, one this year.
FIFTEEN: They are so pressuring. I know we are dating so we have to do…things. But I don’t want to.
EIGHTEEN: Just because you are dating doesn’t mean you have to give him anything. I wish I would have known that. I know it’s difficult to not give in.
FIFTEEN: (Tearing up.) And does it ever get better?
EIGHTEEN: (Hugging FIFTEEN) Yes it does, I promise. I had the worst break up freshman year. I thought I loved him… and I gave him too much and I just…
FIFTEEN: You broke?
EIGHTEEN: Yeah…I broke. I guess in a way, I’m still broken.
FIFTEEN: So it doesn’t end.
EIGHTEEN: I don’t know…I want it to end. I want it to all end.
FIFTEEN: Me too…but what if it gets better? I mean, high school could be amazing! I just have to wait it out a little longer. Wait till senior year. Then I’ll make my decision. How old are you?
EIGHTEEN: I’m Eighteen, a senior. I’m almost done. I’m almost out of time.
FIFTEEN: Must be nice…
EIGHTEEN: It isn’t. I wish I was still young like…(FIFTEEN gets up and begins to exit) Hey! Where are you going?
(FIFTEEN exits. Enter THIRTY.)
THIRTY: How are you?
EIGHTEEN: I’m fine.
THIRTY: Do you know why you are here?
EIGHTEEN: Honestly, I don’t even know where here is.
THIRTY: Three: a toddler who fears of being pushed aside by a new baby brother. Selfish and scared. Seven: a young girl who is being made fun of because of her size. Scared and embarrassed. Twelve: A maturing preteen just now truly caring about the way her body looks and the way people treat her. Embarrassed and sad. Fifteen: a growing young woman experiencing her first heartbreak. Sad and depressed. Any of this sound familiar?
EIGHTEEN: Yes, they are all my own stories. I have lived every experience that they have. But how can that be true? How can any of this be possible?
THIRTY: And how did the stories all end?
EIGHTEEN: I was fine, in the end. I love my brother, middle school ended, and I got over the heartbreak, for the most part. But why am I here? How are they here? I don’t understand.
THIRTY: Eighteen, a new woman, destined for greatness but losing a battle against her inner demons.
EIGHTEEN: (Angrily) I know that. Trust me, I know.
THIRTY: Do you know who I am?
EIGHTEEN: Let me guess, my future self who lives alone and has thirty cats, destined to be alone forever. A failed dream, no love, no life.
THIRTY: Wow. That’s depressing. You got one thing right.
EIGHTEEN: And?
THIRTY: I am Thirty. I don’t have thirty cats, I’m more of a dog person anyway, but you know that. I am Thirty, the person who you are supposed to be, who you are meant to be. But you cannot become me if you stay on your current path, and you know what I mean. My friend, look at me. I am happy. I am not alone, I have many friends and a new husband that loves me. I wake up every morning and go to work under a very amazing boss and at a workplace I adore. You could have this. You could be me. You got through three, seven, twelve, and fifteen. You believed them to be detrimental, but you got through them. I believe in you.
EIGHTEEN: I can’t do it.
THIRTY: If you truly couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t be here. You have a choice in everything that you do. You can choose to love someone, or to hate them. You can choose to fight back or stay on the ground. You can choose to be the girl that the boy wanted you to be, or you can keep your morals and stay true to what you have been taught is the right thing. Your world is your own, and nobody else’s. You must allow yourself to believe that. Let me show you some other paths. Three who never learned to love her brother. They fought for their entire childhood. The brother then later died in a car accident and a sister who never loved him never even went to the funeral. Seven who when the girls pushed her down, she got up and pushed back. She was then known throughout school as a troubled child and eventually went to a boarding school for her actions. Twelve, whose fate ended up the same as seven, but later in her story. Fifteen, starting off high school being known as the class community bicycle, with a child by her senior year, broke and unable to fend for herself after her parents threw her out.
EIGHTEEN: You’re making that up. All of that is so exaggerated, how could I believe it?
THIRTY: These are true stories, true paths that have taken place. People who made the decisions you didn’t. Would you like me to tell you your path’s ending?
EIGHTEEN: I don’t care.
THIRTY: So you want to see your parent’s pain?!
EIGHTEEN: My parents?
THIRTY: You want me to show you what will happen?
EIGHTEEN: No…
THIRTY: Did you know that after you take your own life, your parent’s lives will become miserable? Your brother will become depressed and troublesome. Your mother will get fired from her job. Your father becomes an alcoholic. This is all because you want to take the easy way out!
EIGHTEEN: No! I don’t believe you! I would never hurt them!
THIRTY: Do you want to see how it happens?
EIGHTEEN: No!
THIRTY: Eighteen.
EIGHTEEN: NO!
THIRTY: A windy day. A swaying bridge. Complete strangers yelling from their cars at a lone teen looking down into the black water. A gust of wind. A sway just big enough to make anyone dizzy. A made choice. Cold water. Crying mother. Wailing brother. Screaming father. Blaring sirens.
EIGHTEEN: Stop!
THIRTY: Is this your end!? Is this how your story ends!? Do you want me to fade away!? Do you want to do this to your loved ones!?
EIGHTEEN: No! I won’t do it! I promise!
THIRTY: Promise me, Eighteen!
EIGHTEEN: I promise you. I will live to see thirty. I will see you again!
THIRTY: You are brave. Strong. You can fight this battle, you can win. Don’t take the easy way out. Stay and fight. It’s what you were meant to do.
(THIRTY begins to exit)
EIGHTEEN: Wait! Where are you going?
THIRTY: Say your goodbyes, and come back the way you came.
(THIRTY exits, everyone else unfreezes, exactly as they were before. EIGHTEEN is drained, sitting, panting on the grass)
FIFTEEN: So, are you ready?
EIGHTEEN: No…
FIFTEEN: Are you sure?
EIGHTEEN: No…I’m scared
FIFTEEN: We all love and believe in you.
THREE: Yeah!
TWELVE: Always.
SEVEN: Me too!
(They embrace)
FIFTEEN: It takes a lot of guts to admit you are scared. You are very brave, Eighteen. You can do this.
EIGHTEEN: You’re sure?
FIFTEEN: Have we been wrong yet?
EIGHTEEN: Well, you are me.
FIFTEEN: Go now.
(Pause as EIGHTEEN begins to exit.)
FIFTEEN: Goodbye, Eighteen. Hopefully, we never have to meet again. I’m sorry we had to this time.
EIGHTEEN: I’m not.
(EIGHTEEN exits as lights fade to black.)