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THE SIGN By Stephen Bittrich
5701 W Slaughter Lane
Suite A130-204
Austin, TX 78749
Tel: (646) 245-4507
E-mail: SBittrich@aol.com
Copyright © 2004,
by Stephen Bittrich
(Draft: April, 2004)
Back to PLAYS page Back to One-Acts page
THE SIGN By Stephen Bittrich
5701 W Slaughter Lane
Suite A130-204
Austin, TX 78749
Tel: (646) 245-4507
E-mail: SBittrich@aol.com
Copyright © 2004,
by Stephen Bittrich
(Draft: April, 2004)
"THE SIGN"
BY STEPHEN BITTRICH
SETTING:
High in a tree. About two and a half
stories up in the air in the backyard of
a one story house on Prospect Street in
Seguin, Texas. The branches are
horizontal and strong like a ladder up to
the sky.
AT RISE:
Lights come up slowly on ROBERT, 28ish
sitting on a branch on the stage right
side of the trunk. His purpose in being
there is to pray, but he's not the
praying type normally, so he just sits
there, trying to be open, putting his
thoughts in the front of his brain, so
they can be received...if prayers really
work. Lights then come up next on TIMMY,
30ish, standing on a branch on the other
side of the trunk. ROBERT speaks with a
drawl that has all but faded away, or
been systematically erased, while TIMMY
speaks with a drawl that is proud and
very much alive and well.
TIMMY
I think I finally get it.
ROBERT
What?
TIMMY
What your grandmother was so upset about. I think I finally get
it.
ROBERT
Oh that. I know. It's pretty damn high. I can't even look
down.
TIMMY
When I was a kid, I didn't think twice. Just up, up, up.
ROBERT
Me neither. Somethin' ta do with not realizing one's own
mortality.
TIMMY
You almost gave her a stroke.
ROBERT
Well, she's eighty-three now, and stout as a horse, but I did
give her a helluva fright that day.
TIMMY
I don't think I've since witnessed that exact tone of voice.
Urgent like a house was on fire--
ROBERT
--Or like a boy was about to plunge to his death--
TIMMY
Yet controlled and calm like a, like a cop talking down a
suicide jumper. "Robert--come--down--NOW. Slowly." And she
was across the street! I mean there must have been some volume
behind that voice tovccv carry from across the street to the
back of my house and forty feet up in the air.
ROBERT
Yep.
TIMMY
But I don't remember her shouting!
ROBERT
You're right.
TIMMY
She's across the street, and yet it's like she's sitting right
beside you, whispering in your ear, with no room to doubt that
she's not serious as a heart attack.
ROBERT
Well, I got down. Slowly.
TIMMY
So did I. Scared the crap out of me, and she ain't even my
grandma!
ROBERT
I tried to explain to her that we did it all the time, but she
wasn't havin' any of it. "While your parents are away, I'm in
charge of you, and you will not be climbing any trees, mister."
TIMMY
(looking down)
I kind of see her point now.
ROBERT
Yeah.
TIMMY
My own kids like to climb. I guess that's God's cruel sense of
humor.
(pause)
TIMMY (cont'd)
Hey, I can still see the Texaco sign.
ROBERT
Yeah?
TIMMY
There. Just peaking out of the trees.
ROBERT
Wow. The trees are taller than when we were kids.
TIMMY
Poor old sign.
ROBERT
It's seen better days.
TIMMY
It's not the tallest thing in town any more. There's a high
rise on Guadalupe.
ROBERT
I saw it driving in.
TIMMY
Eyesore. Six stories of eyesore.
ROBERT
Listen to you.
TIMMY
What?
ROBERT
You sound like one of the local old biddies in a Town Hall
meeting.
TIMMY
Yeah, that's me. That's all we folks have to do in Seguin is
talk about the high rise. Must seem quaint to someone who moved
on to bigger and better things.
(long pause)
TIMMY (cont'd)
Did you sleep with my sister?
ROBERT
What the hell? What makes you think you can ask me that?
TIMMY
I dunno. I'm a little drunk, I guess.
ROBERT
Jesus. That's not really any of your business. But no.
(beat)
Unless you count the time that I slept over in your living room,
so we could all stay up to watch Project Terror on TV. Then I
guess I slept with both of you that night.
TIMMY
(in a creepy voice)
"WAHW! WAHW! WAHW! WAHW! Project Terror! Where the terrifying
emerges."
ROBERT
"Emerges"?
TIMMY
Yeah.
ROBERT
"Where the terrifying...where the terrifying...Eee...Erupts."
TIMMY
Emerges.
ROBERT
Just doesn't sound right.
TIMMY
It's right.
ROBERT
Why did you ask me that?
TIMMY
I dunno. I guess I was always curious.
ROBERT
Does it matter? I mean, would you be upset if I had?
TIMMY
Mmmmm, not sure. Depends on when, I guess.
ROBERT
Whatever.
(beat)
She showed me her underwear once when we were kids.
TIMMY
Okay, never mind.
ROBERT
She was wearing her Brownie uniform at the time. Very hot.
TIMMY
Okay, Okay, enough. I crossed the line.
ROBERT
She liked me...when we were kids, you know. Liked me like a
crush.
TIMMY
I know she did. Not just when you were kids.
ROBERT
She wrote me a letter sometime around the Brownie Uniform, uh,
encounter. Something like "Do you like me? Yes or No?" With
check boxes. I never answered it. I was scared shitless.
TIMMY
(or an appropriate sound)
Hmmpf.
ROBERT
I dunno. Why do people drift apart?
TIMMY
I don't know about people, but you moved.
ROBERT
Yeah, but I moved less that a mile away--what--about eight
blocks? She and I were in the same class. Went to the same
Junior High School, the same High School. But we never hung out
anymore.
TIMMY
You got too good for us.
ROBERT
Shut up, man.
TIMMY
That's the truth.
ROBERT
No, it wasn't.
TIMMY
You got in with the country club crowd.
ROBERT
You're getting me confused with someone else. I never did that.
I was an occasional amusement to certain members of the country
club crowd when they were slumming.
(beat)
Was she okay? Later. Was she okay?
TIMMY
What do you mean?
ROBERT
Was she happy? Did she lead a happy life?
TIMMY
I dunno. I guess. Whudda you care?
ROBERT
Come on. You know.
(beat)
I worried about her.
TIMMY
Oh yeah? How much did you worry about her?
ROBERT
I--
TIMMY
Did you worry about her enough to talk to her? Did you ever
talk to her again after you moved out of the neighborhood?
ROBERT
I can't remember.
TIMMY
You can't remember?
ROBERT
Maybe a few times.
TIMMY
I mean, what does that...? I don't get it, man. Why are you
even here?
ROBERT
Because...she was important to me.
TIMMY
Right.
ROBERT
I guess you don't believe me. But she was important to me. I
don't know why we all drifted apart. But my memories of you
from back then, my memories of her, are so vivid. In-between
it's all kind of fuzzy. But climbing this tree, playing
imaginary space alien or monster games, it's...I can taste it.
She's a part of me forever. Deep deep inside.
TIMMY
(with a tinge of acridity)
That's sweet.
ROBERT
(after a beat)
I did. We did. Once.
TIMMY
I know. She told me. You broke her heart.
ROBERT
What? No!
TIMMY
Why'd you do it? Why'd you even mess with her like that? One
fucking night? Was it worth it?
ROBERT
It was a mistake.
TIMMY
Didn't she mean anything to you?
ROBERT
Yes! She did. It was a mistake, my mistake, because I couldn't
be with her. I couldn't do until death do us part. I don't
have any good reason why, but it wouldn't have worked out. If I
could take it back, I would. It changed our--it changed us.
TIMMY
Because she loved you.
ROBERT
Come on. She had a crush.
TIMMY
Hey, whatever you can live with.
ROBERT
Well, I don't know what to say. I loved her in my own way, I
just screwed it up. You can believe it if you want.
(beat)
A long time ago, at an important time of my life, you and she
were the world to me. The world.
That's a truth that won't ever change. No matter what came
later. No matter what is to come.
(pause)
TIMMY
(with difficulty)
She loved you. And she forgave you. That what you were looking
for?
ROBERT
Maybe.
(beat)
Probably.
(pause)
Yes.
(pause)
TIMMY
Remember when that Texaco sign went up?
ROBERT
Yeah.
TIMMY
We felt like we had the biggest damn secret in the world. We
saw this little town from the top, like no one else did. We
were as high as the highest thing around. Nobody else had a
tree like this one. And nobody else could see that sign the way
we did. They all saw it from the ground, looking up.
(beat)
Kinda stupid when you think about it. It's a damn sign. For a
gas station. How dumb is that?
(beat)
I miss that. Feeling that way about things. Like they're
special or secret or magical.
(beat)
I'll miss that.
(Lights fade to black)
(END OF PLAY)