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I
was working on a scene from Insider versus
Outsider... actually that's just what they
call a "working title" for our English
play. It's not really the name, it's
something to identify it to the rest of
the group. I've been playing around with
other names for the play but I'm not sure
how I feel about any of them. There's:
Outside the Walls, Alone Together, Four
Square, and Todos. (The last is a
Spanish word that means Everyone).
Anyway,
the scene I was working on is between the
character I play... Grinda and the
character Chaz plays Emorph (Don't ask me
where these names came from, because I
don't have a clue... It must be the
Writer's Muse feeding inspiration into my
head... or something.)
This
is what I had so far:
GRINDA,
a female dressed all in red and weary from
walking through the forest, stops beside a
stream to get a drink and soak her tired
feet in the cool clear water. She hasn't
been there for more than a moment or two
when EMORPH, a male dressed all in blue
stumbles into the clearing. Obviously, he
is tired because his uncertain steps cause
him to trip over a branch and send him
sailing into a bush with a YELL and a
CRASH. Grinda jumps up and turns to face
the sound.
GRINDA:
(picking up a small branch and waving it
at him threateningly): Who are you and
what do you want?
EMORPH:
(getting to his feet) Relax! I'm not going
to hurt you.
GRINDA:
Why should I trust you? You're a
Blue.
EMORPH:
(holding his arms out to his sides)
Because I'm not armed. Besides, I just
stopped to rest. And this looks like a
good place and get a drink. Even though a
Red like you is here.
GRINDA:
(tentatively lowering her stick): All
right. Drink.
EMORPH:
(with a mock bow) Thank you, Your
Majesty.
Emorph
lays down on his stomach at the water's
edge, dips cupped hands into the stream
and drinks greedily. Grinda sits a safe
distance away and eyes him warily. The
branch is still in her hand.
After
a moment, Emorph straightens up and wipes
his mouth with his sleeve.
EMORPH:
You should try water some time. It's a lot
better to drink than blood.
GRINDA:
What are you talking about?
EMORPH:
You don't have to pretend. I know Reds are
afraid to touch water and that they drink
blood.
GRINDA:
That's crazy! We don't drink
blood.
EMORPH:
You don't?
GRINDA:
No. I'm a vegetarian.
EMORPH:
(momentarily stunned) Huh. (recovering)
But you are afraid of water,
right?
Grinda
defiantly pushes past him and stands in
the stream.
GRINDA:
Wrong.
EMORPH:
Wow! I always thought... I mean, I never
actually talked to a Red, but I always
heard that you... never mind.
GRINDA:
(muttering to herself as she steps on to
the shore) No wonder they call Blues "half
brains."
EMORPH:
Excuse me! What did you say?
GRINDA:
I said that all Blues are half brains.
That's why you are all so stupid, but it's
not fair of me to be rude to a poor
individual so backward he can't even
read.
EMORPH:
(pulling a small book out of his pocket)
Sez who? (reading) "I do much wonder, that
one man, seeing how much another man is a
fool when he dedicates his behavior to
love, will, after he hath laughed at such
shallow follies in others becomes the
argument of his own scorn, by falling in
love..." Act I Scene 3, Much Ado About
Nothing by William Shakespeare.
Now
it's Grinda's turn to be momentarily
stunned.
EMORPH:
(with a smile): I guess both of us have
believed a bunch of lies.
GRINDA:
(tossing the branch aside) I guess
so.
I
reread what I had written and pictured
Chaz and I being in the scene, in costume,
reciting those lines. I could picture the
whole thing. At that moment the phone
rang. I don't usually get calls after 9,
so I let it ring. But when it rang the
second time, I remembered that my parents
weren't home so I picked it up. I said,
"Hello?" and I heard a click. I wondered
who it was, then I remembered JoAnn
telling me that if you ever "just miss" a
call you can dial "*69" and for .50 the
phone company automatically redials the
number of the person who called you. So I
tried it. I heard the phone ring on the
other end and a guy said, "Hello?' I
immediately recognized the voice. It was
Chaz! He was the one who called me! I
didn't know what to say, so I didn't say
anything. I just hung up.
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