Left in the drk O4s CHARACTERS CLAY A TODDLER TEMRA THE PEOPLE THE MATCH AGAINST THE FLOOR MIKEY THE HORIZON YOU THE BELL DEBT CHORUS Scene 3: The sound of music [The terrin is like grunts. And lso like coughing nd like brething, flpping their lips. CLAY lys fce down, fingers dipped in honey nd dust. The room is completely drk. A slow mon fills it.] [A TODDLER runs lps round stge, pnting or shouting wildly, occsionlly stopping to ssemble pile of kindling (sticks nd twigs).] [Coughing, scrtching.] TEMRA: [irritted by the pungent mmoni in the ir, clering throt nd strining] How did the people mke the fire gin? With two rocks or twisting stick on rock? THE PEOPLE: I think we found it nd took it with stick, nd then protected it forever. THE MATCH AGAINST THE FLOOR: The people mde the fire. They hit two rocks together. [Sound of mtch ginst the floor] TEMRA: But how did the sprk become the fire? Who cught it nd mstered it nd cred for it to cook with it? [Drwing line in the snd] [A deep breth from THE PEOPLE] THE PEOPLE: It ws only when the flme died down tht there begn sunset, nd sprk befell the sunrise. But without it there ws no vision: only the twisting of rocks.
[Off in the distnce, overherd or unspoken, everyone begins low grumble like dog s w gnwing (on bone).] [Enter THE HORIZON on horses. Dressed formlly in clok or something, with letter written on scroll. You brely see wht.] [The orchestr sounds long trumpet.] THE HORIZON: Looking out to see, I m the furthest distnce, the limit of vision nd the time keeper. I m the witness to mny things touching, the mrrige of lnd nd see \**#! [A member of the orchestr drops their instrument.] [Everyone grumbling louder] YOU: Here, [hnding something to THE PEOPLE in the drk] it s much drker now. No lights or cndlesticks. MIKEY: [tking the cndles nd pressing them into his eyes] I cn t her thing deeply. YOU: Mybe becuse it died look it doesn t brethe nymore. [smirk] [The group grumble very very loud now. THE HORIZON pulls dy-cot from her bg. The ctors feel hot nd pull pper towels from their pockets to wipe their brows now. The smell of mmoni hs fded, but mybe you re ust getting used to it.] [MIKEY puts little str off to stge left nd looks up hoping, still with the cndles in his eyes. The grumble nd gron extends the terrin. A drop of hot wx flls to the floor.] CLAY: [looking up from the floor] Are you witing for me to sy something? [The grumbling peters out until quiet nd more. The orchestr sings nd sings nd sings but there is nothing to be sung, no sheet music, no grnd entrnce the lights the crowd. The young girl forgets her lines nd stutters, she is ssisted off stge.] [The ctors fll silent nd turn to fce A TODDLER.] A TODDLER: [in celebrtory tone] The ring of the bell in my er in house on the hill tht is in the center of my imperium.
There is n Army of people nmed John. They hve united from cross the world nd re wering uniform on the first dy of their first meeting, to strt trining. The trining consists of chin rections nd nyone cn begin t ny time, but no John lone. The rmy moves throughout the terrin like Fire-whirl A cndle of people with dshing glnces mrching, swerving, in time. You gree they must be destroyed to mke room. You consider the totl nnihiltion (of humnity) from position of possibility nd then probbility nd vibility. MIKEY: [shocked] I ust sw my life flsh before my eyes TEMRA: Relly? CLAY: [fce down on the floor, muttering] No I think tht's ust n expression. YOU: No I think tht relly hppens [Specil effects] YOU: [looking bove THE HORIZON] To ll the dumb birds in the sky fumbling towrds ecstsy who now mkes the fire?! [A TODDLER reches to the terrin nd pulls up wht cn be pulled up: ptch of grss nd erth in the clump of his hnd nd moves it pst the side of THE HORIZON. Young lips whisper from the wings, "The drker I get the more cynicl I get, The more I m, I m."] [Jzz] Scene 1: Tongue debt [Deep in the time crevsse there is no light. Without light we see no depth. Reching for myself is like reching into n byss. There is sense of festivity nd zephyr blows from downstge. The figure behind me hers wht I sy, the figure in front of me not. We stnd in line in front of the mirror like prctising dncers, whispering bckwrds nd yelling, Forwrds! ] [The floor is wet in some prts. Pungent mmoni in the ir Upwrd wind. I think we should sy zephyr gin. ]
[THE BELL ( lrge wx bell with the tongue of cow) cowers in the corner of the room, coping. Melodic utternces of A TODDLER singing NO re herd from the wings. The udience brethes in nd out together. You glnce over t your neighbor s (s)he glnces t you: brethe. Gnwing bone.] CLAY: [tking notice lying fce down on the cold floor] TEMRA: Wht does the bell sy? [THE BELL sys nothing. CLAY, MIKEY nd TEMRA re inside the mouth. The wlls re the insides of the cheeks. The curtins: the teeth. The tongue is the tongue. The teeth of THE BELL chtter. It tries to mke run for it. CLAY suddenly leps to his feet, nd dives, nd nbs THE BELL by its throt: gret sense of stisfction nd responsibility on his fce. A modest stone slb rises from the floor. Welcome. CLAY motions with his wide eyes to TEMRA nd MIKEY to Grb the tongue. TEMRA nd MIKEY do so nd hold on while CLAY positions THE BELL other stone slb. There. They turn their necks nd stre into the Sun.] [Enter THE HORIZON holding fresh lef of copy pper. Hving tken notice of (DEBT) something you hven t tken notice of yet, she uses whtever to do the whtever. With this fresh lef of copy pper, she begins to sw t the bse of THE BELL s swollen tongue.] THE HORIZON: [swing t the tongue] Her me you debtors, you rpcious lndlubbers nd swns with necks tll s girffes hungry for the pper leves on high bnk brnches. Don t temper with womn you never see. She likes to go to bed lte nd wke up pst mid-dy. Yesterdy I hd reveltion when she cme bck like boom er ng (soldier from wr, wter cycle, pologetic spouse, bd cough, before-nd-fter photo.) The river is the mountin ust the sme nd I stubbed my toe stumbling on n ppernce nd I didn t hve much for brekfst [muddle muddle] Why, hve you not seen, t rces when the brriers re thrown down, t fixed time, the horses cnnot strt so soon, however eger, s they wish? 1 ge dds nu nn n n n [continuing into freestyle song] [You notice DEBT, center stge, only it s been there ll long, since tht first time you looked into its big twinkle eyes. (You entered only to exit gin, fter 1 Lucretius. De rerum ntur. 50 B.C.E.
breezy dydrem bout ye old in nd out. But then, once, on the threshold tht felt like podium, you sw yourself in the mirrors, styed there for while, found yourself looping, vibrting tremble low, squeky sound, bck nd forth, b fo, bf, bf, phphph.) You notice DEBT center stge, only it s been there ll long, since tht first openness you shouldn t hve shown it. When I extend you my pinky finger, you try to tke my rm. Now I only hve one rm.) He scns the ctors nd udience, beckoning despertely for eye contct. You relly should see it for yourself sometime: His eyes re like tod s tongue: they unfurl with lightning speed, but little ccurcy, nd re hevily coted with despicble dhesive gooooo. Hrd times fll on everyone.] [A TODDLER sctters by imitting the sound of THE HORIZON's song] THE HORIZON: Bl p ck Odiii (blck, ornge). Infectious disese Autumn leves. A TODDLER: [shouting with urgency] Yellow fish hve ltely cught my liking, brushing up ginst the sides of my nkles when I wnder!!!! The red of the fternoon sun roses my cheeks!!!! I tke this s my ob, my dily noticing!!!! [clmly] I m the yellow fish I m the yellow fish I m the yellow fish I m blue pee boob ing dough pee scooby doo wood you bee lef me. 2 [THE BELL bites its tongue ust s THE HORIZON sws it s finl bits off. THE HORIZON leves stge, csting side her copy-pper sw s she goes.] [DEBT doesn t cese. DEBT persists unstisfied. Witing for you: it is horny nd softly sd to be misunderstood. Lonely sdist wishing. Wht cn I do?, it thinks.] DEBT: Wht cn I do? [It wnts to be recognized by you, so bdly. It cn t help but bounce up nd down circling bout you. This dnce is like n gitted spring. A mgnet ttches the bottom of your spine to its ril, s it violently expnds nd contrcts, swerving you up nd down, nd blurring your vision. In the lbyrinth of your inner er, you slm ginst the wlls, ceiling nd floor. You sick fuck.] 2 O4s. Pee Ring Off Duck Liff. 2014.
Scene 2: Turtles ll the wy down [A pungent mmoni is on the ir. CLAY turns his en pocket inside out nd finds five obects tht could be combined into one tngle. They ech consist of two or three prts. It begn five yers go nd hs been lsting ll this time. THE HORIZON turns wy.] [Spcetime clings to the presence of obects. The udience cling to their sets. The ctors cling to memories.] CLAY: [Strry-eyed nd mindlessly scrtching n itch on his inner thigh, ust bove the knee. Hllucinting the most refreshing desert osis stge left.] So we meet gin. TEMRA: [string t herself in mirror she cn t see, shking her hed, sying, Who is my little mn? ] Wie is min kleine mn? Wie is min kleine mn? Wie is min clinmen? CHORUS: And this too understnd: when bodies thus re borne sheer down through void by their own weight, At times nd points of spce unfixed, they swerve little from their line, ust so much s tht you cn mrk the chnge. If twere not so they ll would fll ust like the drops of rin stright through the void: there would hve been no clsh, no blow inflicted on the seeds, nd so hd Nture ne er begotten ught t ll. 3 [An Epicuren swerve: Mossy comes home nd hngs his bckpck on the bck of the chir. He loosens his shoelces nd steps out of his shoes. He stretches his toes nd shkes his socks out. You feel sense of empthy. Mossy nd friends re sitting t the tble.] CLAY: It sounds fine to me MIKEY: So we ust need to continue. [TEMRA slowly wlking bckwrds, bcking out, upstge right. She steps into Mossy s shoes nd puts his mossy bckpck on. She flls to her knees nd then to her fce. With chest on the floor now: she is doing different thing, moving slowly like n ncient soul.] TEMRA: [to THE HORIZON] From where? And for whom? 3 Lucretius. De rerum ntur. 50 B.C.E.
THE HORIZON: The sunset here, the sunrise there, overlpping in the iris of my-eye. TEMRA: [to DEBT] From when nd to whom? DEBT: At the end of ll questions is nother. [TEMRA, now tired of questions, lys still on the stge with her bck to the ceiling for 3,000 yers. Every 138.4615 months celdon pus the consistency of tree sp secretes from her pores nd forms pools in the spces of her bck nd dries like thick shell. Most of the udience flls sleep nd some even leve the theter. After 260 recursions the 3 millenni hve pssed nd TEMRA ywns nd stretches, sloughing off her turtle shell msk. By now MIKEY's soft plette hs thick film of ltex nd he is itching his throt with the bck of his tongue. CLAY checks the time.]
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