Audio books and cassettes are gaining in popularity. People are rediscovering how exciting and

Transcription

1 Audio books and cassettes are gaining in popularity. People are rediscovering how exciting and satisfying it is to listen to stories and sounds with their imaginations as the only limit. With this book, students can get in on the fun and produce their own audio dramas. Stories include Treasure, about a boy whose life and friends undergo significant and unwelcome changes after he finds some money on the way to school one morning; The Rainbow Place, where a girl sees beauty and joy in something others see only as ugly and has to learn that sometimes good intentions are not enough; The Meanest Kid in the Whole School, a story about a bully and how things change from the point of view of her best and only friend; Home Before Dark, panic and terror and a sudden heartbreaking realization and understanding on the wrong bus in the wrong neighborhood; and The Contest, a fantasy that goes from a personal longing to a class project to a final rumbling, earth-shattering liftoff. Curriculum Research & Development Group University of Hawai i Honolulu, HI 96822

2 CLOSE TO HOME By Don Buchholz

3 Don Buchholz Curriculum Research & Development Group Arthur R. King, Jr., Director Donald B. Young, Associate Director Francis M. Pottenger III, Director, Science Projects Edith K. Kleinjans, Managing Editor Gayle Y. Hamasaki, Publications Coordinator Book Design by Darrell T. Asato Cover design by Byron K. H. Inouye Published by the Curriculum Research & Development Group 1999 by the University of Hawai i All rights reserved Printed in Canada ISBN 10: X ISBN 13: eisbn: Distributed by the DASH Project Curriculum Research & Development Group University of Hawai i 1776 University Avenue Honolulu, Hawai i This project was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Hawai i Department of Business and Economic Development, and the Curriculum Research & Development Group of the University of Hawai i Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the funding agencies. 2

4 Treasure Contents Treasure 5 The Rainbow Place 31 The Meanest Kid in the Whole School 67 Home Before Dark 95 The Contest 129 3

5 Don Buchholz 4

6 Treasure TREASURE Performance time: About 20 minutes Audience: Grades 1 and up Cast of Characters Hardy Streeter Suzanne Turner, a girl Annie Johnson, a girl Emerson Miller, a big, scary boy Juliet Walker, a girl Mrs. Brown, a teacher Two delivery men, one mid-40s, the other younger Shopkeeper, 50 or so Woman on sidewalk, mid-40s Irate driver, mid-30s 5

7 Don Buchholz PART ONE CAST APPEARING IN PART ONE Hardy Streeter Woman on sidewalk Shopkeeper Two delivery men Irate driver Suzanne Turner SCENE: A CITY STREET: STORE FRONTS, APART- MENTS. SIDE STREET TRAFFIC, AN OCCA- SIONAL PEDESTRIAN. STORES ARE OPENING. SOUND: THEME, FADE TO EARLY MORNING CITY SOUNDS: CARS, AN OCCASIONAL SHOUT, THE HISS AND WHOOSH OF A BUS. CITY SOUNDS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT AS BACKGROUND. It started out like every other day. Walking to school. And watching my feet. I always watch my feet when I walk. Safer that way. That way I don t fall off cliffs, or get sucked into some raging river. Or WOMAN: (ANNOYED) Hey, kid. Watch where you re going. Or get swept away by a huge ocean wave, or stumble into a bear trap. A manhole, or a tar pit. You also have to 6

8 Treasure SHOPKEEPER: (SHOUTING) Hey! Look out for that SOUND: PAIL OF WATER BEING KICKED OVER. CLANG OF PAIL, SLOSH OF WATER. SHOPKEEPER: pail of water. (FADING) Hey, kid! You ever try looking where you re going...? Look out you don t step on a crack. You never want to step on a crack. Besides, if you look down, you could always find something interesting. Cause that s where stuff goes: It goes down. I m always finding interesting stuff. Broken pens and bus transfers. A cassette once, with all the tape pulled out like a long, chocolate ribbon. Stuff people throw away. Or lose. Sometimes it s just junk. But sometimes it isn t. One of these days (DREAMILY) I m going to look down and it ll be right there by my foot, waiting for me to see it, to bend down and reach for it and pick it up... (WHISPERED) A million dollars! (RESIGNED) Yeah, right. Like it happens every day. Yeah, maybe to somebody, but not to Hardy P. Streeter. Nothing ever happens to Hardy P. SOUND: TRUCK BACKING UP. PULSE OF WARNING HORN. 7

9 Don Buchholz FIRST DELIVERY MAN: (SHOUTING) Little more, little more, okay, hold it right there! SOUND: TRUCK DOOR SLAMMING SHUT. SECOND DELIVERY MAN: (TIRED) Okay, where s this one go? FIRST DELIVERY MAN: Third floor. (INCREDULOUS) Third floor? (DISGUSTED) Man, don t people who live on the ground floor ever order refrigerators? We gotta carry it all the way up SECOND DELIVERY MAN: Yeah, unless you won the lottery or something. You win the lottery? FIRST DELIVERY MAN: Yeah, right. Who wins the lottery anyway? Like walking along and finding a million dollars or something. Who does that? SECOND DELIVERY MAN: Nobody I know. (STRAINING) Okay, you got that end? FIRST DELIVERY MAN: (STRAINING) Yeah. Okay Hey, look out! SECOND DELIVERY MAN: Hey, kid! Why don tcha watch where you re going? Nothing ever happens to me. I just do the same thing every day. I get up, I wash my face, I brush my teeth. I get dressed, I go to school. And I walk along, looking down at my feet and 8

10 Treasure SOUND: A SUDDEN SILENCE. NO TRAFFIC SOUNDS, NOTHING. TOTAL SILENCE. (ALMOST A WHISPER) There, by my foot. Just lying there, waiting. Bright and fresh and green... SOUND: THE LUB-DUB OF A HEARTBEAT, QUICKEN- ING. FADE. (EXCITED, AND A LITTLE SCARED) Okay, maybe not a million dollars, but close. Real close. (TALKING FASTER) I looked around. Up and down the sidewalk. Across the street. I looked up at the windows. I didn t see anybody watching me. SOUND: HEART BEATING A LITTLE FASTER. NOW HEAVY, RAGGED BREATHING. FADE. (SLOW, BUT FORCED. TENSE) I bent down real slow, like maybe I had to tie my shoe or something. Easy now, easy. Just reach right out real casual, don t make any sudden moves... (SUDDEN HISS) Got it! SOUND: HEARTBEAT RACING. FADE. I stood up like nothing was wrong. Like it was the most normal thing in the world. Just a kid bending down to tie his shoe, then standing up and putting his hands in his pockets. (cont d) 9

11 Don Buchholz (TALKING FASTER) I mean, everybody puts their hands in their pockets once in a while, right? Nothing odd or strange about that... (TENSE) Now, start walking again. There, just like nothing ever happened. (MORE RELAXED NOW) Just some kid on his way to school, that s all. SOUND: TRAFFIC, CITY SOUNDS ARE BACK. WHOOSH OF A BUS, OCCASIONAL HONK OF A HORN. It sat there in my pocket, as heavy as a brick No, not a brick. A concrete block, and just as big. Like the people in their cars, or those two across the street talking to each other, like they could look over and see I had it in my pocket. Sure, they could see it. Pulling on my pocket like that. Big as a bowling ball. I waited for a hand on my shoulder, for somebody to suddenly go (SHOUTING), Hey, kid! Hold it right there! But there wasn t anybody. Not a soul. Not a single, solitary person who SOUND: SCREECH OF BRAKES, BLARE OF CAR HORN VERY CLOSE. IRATE DRIVER: (SHOUTING) Sa matter with you? You nuts or something? Get outta the street! 10

12 Treasure SOUND: CAR ENGINE ROARING, FADE INTO DISTANT TRAFFIC SOUNDS. Whoa! Didn t even see him. Better get myself together. (TAKES A DEEP BREATH. SIGHS.) Be cool. Just go on, normal, walking to school and watching my feet. Like I do every day... (GASPS) Huh? SUZANNE: (SOFTLY, IN HARDY S EAR) I saw you, Hardy. I saw what you did... SOUND: THEME. 11