Characters:
Hannah
Greg
Young Derrick
Older Derrick
Sofia
Diana
Friday, August 7, 2009
Scene 1
The scene opens with a family living room. A young boy around 5, Derrick, dressed casually with a flower print button down shirt and brown shorts in sitting on the rug with a stuffed animal collection in front of him. He is playing with the animals, occasionally turning one of them round in his hands and looking closer. His father, Greg, comes in and the boy turns around.
Greg: Playing with your zoo again Derrick? Don’t tell me you’re going to take them to the beach too?
Derrick: No dad. Just my favorite one. Holds up stuffed turtle.
Greg: Chuckles and sits down on the couch beside Derrick And does this little turtle have a name?
Derrick: I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl, so I can’t name it.
Greg: Well son, she looks pretty enough to be a girl. I suppose Diana will be a good girls’ name for a turtle.
Derrick: Okay!
His mother Hannah walks in with large bag.
Greg: Gets up I’ll load the basket into the truck.
Fiona: Thank you dear. Come on Derrick. I don’t want to miss the afternoon sun.
Greg disappears into the Kitchen. Derrick runs up to follow Hannah but stops halfway and doubles back. He picks up his turtle and then continues out the door.
Greg: Playing with your zoo again Derrick? Don’t tell me you’re going to take them to the beach too?
Derrick: No dad. Just my favorite one. Holds up stuffed turtle.
Greg: Chuckles and sits down on the couch beside Derrick And does this little turtle have a name?
Derrick: I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl, so I can’t name it.
Greg: Well son, she looks pretty enough to be a girl. I suppose Diana will be a good girls’ name for a turtle.
Derrick: Okay!
His mother Hannah walks in with large bag.
Greg: Gets up I’ll load the basket into the truck.
Fiona: Thank you dear. Come on Derrick. I don’t want to miss the afternoon sun.
Greg disappears into the Kitchen. Derrick runs up to follow Hannah but stops halfway and doubles back. He picks up his turtle and then continues out the door.
Scene 2
The scene is a beach, with the sound of waves playing overhead . The stage is purely sand, and the water is where the audience is. A mat is spread out on the left side of the stage with a folding chair at one end with Hannah on it wearing sunglasses reading a book, while Greg is lying on the mat napping with his hands behind his head. Derrick is building a sandcastle beside them. He stops and picks up his turtle by one fin before going towards his mother.
Derrick: Mom?
Hannah: Hm?
Derrick: Can I go explore the beach for a while. I’m bored.
Hannah: Just take care not to get lost, dear. Stay close to us.
Derrick walks slowly to the other side. As he is doing so, Hannah, Greg, the chair, and the mat are pulled out of view, and a wooden bench is placed on the centre of the stage. An old lady, Sofia, slowly hobbles into view and sits down in the bench with her walking stick. Derrick stares at the right curtains for a while, then right at the audience, fascinated. He walks to the centre of the stage while hugging his toy turtle, and sits down in the bench beside Sofia, still staring.
Derrick: What are they doing?
Sofia: Looks down at Derrick They’re baby turtles that just hatched from their eggs and they’re trying to go into the water.
Derrick: It looks hard. Couldn’t their mommies just come get them?
Sofia: Chuckles softly their mommies leave before they hatch. They’ve got to get into the water by themselves, like the baby turtles born every year do.
Derrick: Every year?
Sofia nods
Derrick: Wow…Looks back at audience. Pause. Looks back at Sofia. Do you come watch them every year too?
Sofia: Nods Yes, it’s so nice to see them all looking at the world for the first time. They remind me of my own niece. She was just born yesterday. We haven’t even named her.
Derrick: Holds up toy turtle. I named my turtle Diana. Well actually my dad named her, but I like the name too.
Sofia: That’s a very pretty name…
A short pause. They stare at the audience for a while
Derrick: But what about those that don’t get to the water?
Sofia: Sadly They die… .
Derrick: That’s sad Bows head down. I’m going to be an animal doctor when I get older, and I won’t let any turtle die. Looks up again. I’ll carry them all back to the water if I have to.
Sofia pats Derrick’s head. Pause, they stare at the audience for a while.
Derrick: Most of them have gone into the water by now. Can I come see them next year, and every year after that? Will you be here too?
Sofia: Of course you can. And I’ll never miss this for the world. Now run along before your mother starts looking.
Derrick: Bye! Runs offstage.
Sofia picks up the stuffed toy turtle and looks at it smiling.
Sofia: I’ll give it back to him. What did he say her name was? Diana, what a pretty name…
Sofia exits the scene carrying her walking stick and the toy turtle. She pauses for a while and covers looks overhead while sheilding her face with her hand as if to shade her, and then continues. The wooden bench is pulled out of view and Hannah, Greg, the chair, and the mat are pulled back into view. Hannah and Greg get up and start putting the things back into the boxes, occasionally looking over their shoulders. Derrick comes running back.
Derrick: Mom! Dad!
Hannah gets up and hugs Derrick
Hannah: Derrick! You’re father and I were worried! Did you get lost?
Derrick: No mom, but guess what! I saw turtles, hundreds of them, all going into the sea.
Greg: So that was what I forgot! Smacks his head It’s turtle season!
Derrick: They were all so pretty, Dad. I wish you could’ve been there. I think I dropped Diana on the way back though. But it was because I was so excited to tell you!
Hannah: Well that’s all good. But we better get home before nightfall. To the car now.
The exit the scene and the lights dim.
Derrick: Mom?
Hannah: Hm?
Derrick: Can I go explore the beach for a while. I’m bored.
Hannah: Just take care not to get lost, dear. Stay close to us.
Derrick walks slowly to the other side. As he is doing so, Hannah, Greg, the chair, and the mat are pulled out of view, and a wooden bench is placed on the centre of the stage. An old lady, Sofia, slowly hobbles into view and sits down in the bench with her walking stick. Derrick stares at the right curtains for a while, then right at the audience, fascinated. He walks to the centre of the stage while hugging his toy turtle, and sits down in the bench beside Sofia, still staring.
Derrick: What are they doing?
Sofia: Looks down at Derrick They’re baby turtles that just hatched from their eggs and they’re trying to go into the water.
Derrick: It looks hard. Couldn’t their mommies just come get them?
Sofia: Chuckles softly their mommies leave before they hatch. They’ve got to get into the water by themselves, like the baby turtles born every year do.
Derrick: Every year?
Sofia nods
Derrick: Wow…Looks back at audience. Pause. Looks back at Sofia. Do you come watch them every year too?
Sofia: Nods Yes, it’s so nice to see them all looking at the world for the first time. They remind me of my own niece. She was just born yesterday. We haven’t even named her.
Derrick: Holds up toy turtle. I named my turtle Diana. Well actually my dad named her, but I like the name too.
Sofia: That’s a very pretty name…
A short pause. They stare at the audience for a while
Derrick: But what about those that don’t get to the water?
Sofia: Sadly They die… .
Derrick: That’s sad Bows head down. I’m going to be an animal doctor when I get older, and I won’t let any turtle die. Looks up again. I’ll carry them all back to the water if I have to.
Sofia pats Derrick’s head. Pause, they stare at the audience for a while.
Derrick: Most of them have gone into the water by now. Can I come see them next year, and every year after that? Will you be here too?
Sofia: Of course you can. And I’ll never miss this for the world. Now run along before your mother starts looking.
Derrick: Bye! Runs offstage.
Sofia picks up the stuffed toy turtle and looks at it smiling.
Sofia: I’ll give it back to him. What did he say her name was? Diana, what a pretty name…
Sofia exits the scene carrying her walking stick and the toy turtle. She pauses for a while and covers looks overhead while sheilding her face with her hand as if to shade her, and then continues. The wooden bench is pulled out of view and Hannah, Greg, the chair, and the mat are pulled back into view. Hannah and Greg get up and start putting the things back into the boxes, occasionally looking over their shoulders. Derrick comes running back.
Derrick: Mom! Dad!
Hannah gets up and hugs Derrick
Hannah: Derrick! You’re father and I were worried! Did you get lost?
Derrick: No mom, but guess what! I saw turtles, hundreds of them, all going into the sea.
Greg: So that was what I forgot! Smacks his head It’s turtle season!
Derrick: They were all so pretty, Dad. I wish you could’ve been there. I think I dropped Diana on the way back though. But it was because I was so excited to tell you!
Hannah: Well that’s all good. But we better get home before nightfall. To the car now.
The exit the scene and the lights dim.
Scene 3
A spotlight shines on the stage and an older Derrick steps into it.
Derrick: I came every year, so did Sofia like she promised, and every year for 20 years we watched the turtles going into the sea. Sofia told me to study hard and I listened to her, and now I’m a veterinarian in my own clinic. She was proud when I told her. Strangely though, we both live in the same town and I never saw her anywhere else, or at any other time, than when we were supposed to watch the turtles. But I never minded, because the time we spent made it seem as if she was our next door neighbor. And now, I’m going to meet her again.
The spotlight goes into black and the whole stage lights up showing a wooden bench with Derrick on it. He is sitting and waiting. A lady slightly younger than Derrick holding a weathered stuffed turtle, comes and sits beside him. Derrick turns to the side and looks at her.
Girl: Are you Derrick?
Derrick: Yes, I am.
Girl: My grand aunt Sofia sent me. She said you would be here and told me to give this back to you. Gives him toy turtle
Derrick: Takes the stuffed turtle Sofia was your aunt? Where is she?
Girl: Yes. She…passed away a few days ago. It was one of the last things she said to me. She was the best aunt anyone could have. My father and I saw her lying on her bed and we thought she was sleeping. But when she didn’t wake up for breakfast the next morning, we knew she was really, gone. Pause Aunt Sofia had a disease you see, and, she couldn’t go into the sun. She only went out of the house once a year, to watch the baby turtles going into the sea. She loved them.
Derrick: Did, she ever say anything about-?
Girl: You? Well she never stopped talking about you. Except for the ladies-aid volunteer, her only other friend was you. I wanted to meet you, but I was away studying for most of my life. Other than you two and family, I think she had no one else to talk to. But she was very grateful for everything she had.
Pause. Derrick examines the toy turtle for a while. A tear runs down his eye, which he wipes away.
Girl: I know…
Derrick: You must have loved her a great deal.
Girl: Everybody who knew her did. She never complained, not once. There’s no one like her. It devastated all of us when she died.
Pause. Derrick wipes another tear away and looks at the girl
Derrick: I didn’t get your name…
Girl: Looks down, puts her hand on the bench Diana. Aunt Sofia named me, the day after I was born.
Derrick: That’s a pretty name…
Diana: Thank you.
Pause. Diana looks out into the audience.
Diana: The turtles are starting to come out now.
Derrick: They’re beautiful aren’t they?
Diana: The prettiest I’ve seen.
Pause. Diana and Derrick look at each other. Derrick slides his hand over hers and they move closer to one another. The lights slowly dim. The play ends.
Derrick: I came every year, so did Sofia like she promised, and every year for 20 years we watched the turtles going into the sea. Sofia told me to study hard and I listened to her, and now I’m a veterinarian in my own clinic. She was proud when I told her. Strangely though, we both live in the same town and I never saw her anywhere else, or at any other time, than when we were supposed to watch the turtles. But I never minded, because the time we spent made it seem as if she was our next door neighbor. And now, I’m going to meet her again.
The spotlight goes into black and the whole stage lights up showing a wooden bench with Derrick on it. He is sitting and waiting. A lady slightly younger than Derrick holding a weathered stuffed turtle, comes and sits beside him. Derrick turns to the side and looks at her.
Girl: Are you Derrick?
Derrick: Yes, I am.
Girl: My grand aunt Sofia sent me. She said you would be here and told me to give this back to you. Gives him toy turtle
Derrick: Takes the stuffed turtle Sofia was your aunt? Where is she?
Girl: Yes. She…passed away a few days ago. It was one of the last things she said to me. She was the best aunt anyone could have. My father and I saw her lying on her bed and we thought she was sleeping. But when she didn’t wake up for breakfast the next morning, we knew she was really, gone. Pause Aunt Sofia had a disease you see, and, she couldn’t go into the sun. She only went out of the house once a year, to watch the baby turtles going into the sea. She loved them.
Derrick: Did, she ever say anything about-?
Girl: You? Well she never stopped talking about you. Except for the ladies-aid volunteer, her only other friend was you. I wanted to meet you, but I was away studying for most of my life. Other than you two and family, I think she had no one else to talk to. But she was very grateful for everything she had.
Pause. Derrick examines the toy turtle for a while. A tear runs down his eye, which he wipes away.
Girl: I know…
Derrick: You must have loved her a great deal.
Girl: Everybody who knew her did. She never complained, not once. There’s no one like her. It devastated all of us when she died.
Pause. Derrick wipes another tear away and looks at the girl
Derrick: I didn’t get your name…
Girl: Looks down, puts her hand on the bench Diana. Aunt Sofia named me, the day after I was born.
Derrick: That’s a pretty name…
Diana: Thank you.
Pause. Diana looks out into the audience.
Diana: The turtles are starting to come out now.
Derrick: They’re beautiful aren’t they?
Diana: The prettiest I’ve seen.
Pause. Diana and Derrick look at each other. Derrick slides his hand over hers and they move closer to one another. The lights slowly dim. The play ends.
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