Two
Two
A dramatic scene for two women
By: Holland Stull
A girl sits on the floor next to a chair. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and she stares off. She has a small tattered stuffed animal tucked under her arm. Another woman enters the room but stays far away from the girl. The woman has a clipboard with a bunch of papers on it. She looks through them, occasionally glancing at the girl. She sits down on a chair across the room from the girl.
Natalie: Hi there.
The girl ignores her.
Natalie: Hi.
(beat)
Natalie: My name’s Natalie. Can you tell me yours?
(beat)
Natalie: They tell me that you were found in the woods. (beat) Do you want to tell me about it? Do you know how you got there?
(beat)
Natalie: There are people here who want to help you, but we need to know more about you.
(beat) the girl does not respond.
Natalie: That’s a nice animal you have there. How long have you had that?
The girl looks at her.
Natalie: That stuffed animal there. I like it. Have you had it for a long time?
The girl nods.
Natalie: It’s nice, I really like it.
The girl looks at the stuffed animal.
Girl: Fred.
Natalie: It’s name is Fred?
The girl nods.
Natalie: That’s a good name. (beat) Do you have a name?
The girl nods.
Natalie: Do you want to tell me it? You don’t have to. But you can.
The girl does not respond.
There is a sudden knock on the door. The girl jumps and scoots farther under the chair. Natalie turns to look at the door. She is very annoyed at the interruption.
Natalie: I’ll be right back okay?
The girl does not respond. Natalie sighs and goes out the door. (turns her back to the audience) While shes gone the girl looks around, she walks over to the “door” she looks out the window for a moment. She checks out the rest of the room. She sits back under her chair and starts to cry a little. She wipes away her tears as Natalie enters the room again.
Natalie: Sorry about that May.
The girl jerks her head up.
Natalie: Your dental records came through and they found your name.
Girl: No
Natalie: No?
Girl: No. Not May.
Natalie: Okay, so what is your name?
The girl holds up 2 fingers
Natalie: you have two names?
The girl shakes her head and holds up two fingers again.
Natalie: two? Your name is two?
The girls nods
Natalie: Who gave you that name?
Girl: Dad.
Natalie: Your dad?
Girl: The dad. Daddy Cliff.
Natalie: Cliff?
The girl nods.
Natalie: May, where is your mother?
May’s head snaps towards Natalie.
May: No, no, no, NO! NO! No no no.
May begins to pull at her hair and scratch at her face while having a meltdown. Natalie rushes to her and grabs her hands to stop her, which only makes her panic more. She starts crying, whilst panicking and melting down.
Natalie: May! May! It’s okay, you’re safe. It’s okay. We’re going to help you. May.
May: I can’t talk about her.
Natalie: Why not May? Do you not remember?
May: He told me I can’t. He told us we couldn’t talk about them. I can’t
Natalie: Who told you that? Cliff?
May: I can’t talk about them. They aren’t real. They aren’t real for us.
Natalie: For us? Whose us?
May: For us, for us, for us, for girls for his girls. For three and four and five and six seven eight and one and two and three four and five six and seven an-
Natalie grabs May’s hand.
Natalie: Shh Sh. It’s okay May, May. You’ve been missing for 8 years, May.
May: No no no no. (crying)
Natalie: Wherever you were May, there are other girls who need our help. Who could have mothers and fathers, real fathers who love them. I have a niece May, who is the age you were when you went missing, and I can’t imagine what it would be like not to know where she was or if she was okay. May, I need you to help me find the other girls May. You’re the one who can help them. I need your help May. Please.
May: I can’t I can’t. No one can help us. No one loves us like he does. Like daddy does. They’re not real. They’re not real.
Natalie: May, he doesn’t love you. There are people here who love you and want to help you. You were alone in the woods May. Do you know where your mother is May? She went missing at the same time as you.
May: Daddy says they left. They don’t love us. He’s the only one who loves us.
Natalie: May, do you remember when you first met Cliff? Do you remember when you met him?
May: No. no. We were at the house in the woods. He got me from the car. From the car. No NO NO NO NO. Daddy doesn’t like us to remember. To remember the long days. The days before.
Natalie: May, you could have been kidnapped. He could have taken you from a family that loves you. He could have taken all of you. May, that’s wrong. You can have a different life than that. You can help the other girls have a different life too.
May does not respond. She looks away. Natalie sighs and stands up. She walks away from May to a farther corner and pulls out her phone. She dials a number and then calls. She occasionally glances back at May. During the phone call, May silently cries in the corner hugging her stuffed animal. Lots of acting should be going on with May while Natalie is on the call.
Natalie: She won’t tell us anything else. They go by numbers. He did something to her mother, maybe the others as well. He goes by Cliff with them. Well, Cliff and daddy, which is just, so disturbing. (beat) She’s like a child. (beat) This is one of the harder cases I’ve talked to. She’s completely traumatized. She’s completely brainwashed. (beat) (emotionally) I can’t imagine this happening to Ella. This one is so much harder.
May: I think he killed her.
Natalie turns to her.
Natalie: I’ll call you back. What did you say May?
May: I think he killed my mom.
Natalie: Why do you think that?
May: The car, he took me from the car. And my mom wasn’t with me anymore. She was and then she wasn’t. And he put me in the woods before he went back and then I didn’t see her anymore. And then he picked me back up and we went to the house in the woods. And i never saw her and he said that she isn’t real anymore. That she was never there. That no one loved us like him.
Natalie: May, how did you end up in the woods?
May: No, no, no, no.
Natalie: May, you’re going to be okay. Can you tell me how you ended up in the woods? I want to be able to help you and the other girls. Please can you tell me how you ended up in the woods?
May: (distraught) No, no please, I'm sorry no please. One three four five six seven eight one two
Natalie: May, please.
May: (distraught) He said they were getting too close and he needed to fix it.
Natalie: Who? Who was getting too close?
May: (distraught) They were. They were going to find us. He said he needed to fix it.
Natalie: May, how was he going to fix it?
May: (distraught) He took me to the woods so they’d find me and he would have time to fix it.
Natalie: What was he going to do, May?
May: He said that he’d come back for me later.
Natalie: May, look at me please. What was he going to do?
May: Daddy made me say goodbye to them.
Natalie: Was he going to hurt them May?
May: He had his knife. He made me say goodbye. One, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
May cries and counts and hugs Natalie as they both sit on the floor. Natalie stares off as the realization that the rest of the girls are probably dead hits her.
Comments
Post a Comment