Lectures in Time: Nicole and Winter by Erin Browne

Here is the final play of Lectures in Time called Nicole and Winter. It is a time far after Rhymes and the sun was mad but building on those two and their mythology.

As I sit in my warm apartment, observing out my window the continued chaos caused by a blizzard in Brooklyn - the importance of seasons, of making it through Winter to a coming Spring are apparent everywhere - both physical and emotional seasons... 

Again dealing with religion and obviously infected with one of my favorite plays, Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine - this play is about finding place and identity. 

This play always reminds me of a time in my life (undergrad and moving to New York) in which my world was totally being rebuilt - my entire reality was changing. Not only was I moving to New York and getting used to snow and ice again, subways and basements (things that don't happen in a place prone to earthquakes), but I was becoming an adult with all of the freedom and burdens that brings, going from small town to big big big city. There was a world of new thinking and reconstruction going on in my head and all I could think to do was write about it, and some people will recognize the poem in the 1st scene that has really become a mantra in my life.  

The structure of this play is also a precursor I think, to the way I write now - is a first step to how I got to where I am.

Thanks for reading and Spring is coming!  

As always if you use this or have any comments - email me. 

Nicole and Winter 

{part three} 

[May 1999 version] 

Characters: 

Elsie (has a visible nervous tick) 

The Computer (a very human voice) 

Sales Clerk 

Woman in Black 

Man in Black 

Rock Star 

Old Woman 

Teacher 

Model 

Captain 

Mugger 

Nicole 

The Boy 

Photographer 

Setting:

Underground 

Scene One 

(Elsie enters with a large kitchen knife.) 

Elsie- Holding ten, us ten fingers all too tight, there was just nothing left to do but write. 

(Elsie cuts off her right hand and dies. Blackout) 

Scene Two 

(Elsie sits in front of a computer screen, that flashes on her face. She types something and her 

computer makes a screeching sound. Elsie types frantically until it stops.) 

Elsie- I didn't mean it when I said that I didn't understand your art. I just wanted to hurt you. I'm 

tired of living underground. 

The Computer- Even my art is immature, it's like a vacuum sucking me up. 

Elsie- Your art is who you are. 

The Computer- I have feelings too. I eat pizza just like everyone else. 

Elsie- You are an artist. I have no art. 

The Computer- Everyone has art. Even you Elsie. 

Elsie- Even me. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Three

(Elsie is sitting in the booth of a restaurant with Woman and Man in Black.) 

Elsie- I need more money. 

Woman and Man- If you want more money you have to work for it. 

Elsie- Work how? 

Woman and Man- At your job. We all have a job. 

Elsie- I don't know what my job is. No one has told me yet. If they did I forgot. 

Woman and Man- We have told you and you have forgotten. 

Elsie- Can you tell me again? Please. 

Woman- You should have remembered the first time. 

Man- I will help you, I'll tell- 

Woman- No. We won't come here again. We don't know you anymore. 

Elsie- But you do know me. 

Woman- Not anymore. 

Elsie- How can you stop knowing me. 

Woman- It's easy, we'll forget. 

(Woman and Man in Black leave.) 

Elsie- How will I eat? 

(Blackout) 

Scene Four 

(Rock Star sits on a bench playing guitar. Elsie enters)

Elsie- Wait, you're... Are you? 

Rock Star- Yes. 

Elsie- You're my favorite! 

Rock Star- Humph. 

Elsie- That one song, it's all about me. I love it. 

Rock Star- I'm so tired of this. Who do you think you are to talk to me? Are you important? 

Elsie- I'm important. 

Rock Star- I'm tired of everyone thinking they know who I am. 

Elsie- I don't think I know you. I was just- 

Rock Star- I don't know you. I don't want to know you. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Five 

(Elsie comes on with her brain in her hands.) 

Elsie- Work! Work! Work! Work! 

(Blackout) 

Scene Six 

(Elsie sits in front of her computer typing.) 

Elsie- How come you never put what I type on the screen!? 

The Computer- My art absorbs me. Why are you so cranky?

Elsie- I'm tired of winter. For five years it's been winter. I'm beginning to think that spring will 

never come. I'm tired of playing inside. 

The Computer- I've never been outside. If you have a purpose, you don't need to go anywhere. 

The fern died because you forgot to water it. Would you buy another one please, I'm lonely. 

Elsie- I don't have any money. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Seven 

(Elsie sits in a desk in front of Teacher and chalkboard.) 

Teacher- Thus, we see that 2 + 3 equals 7. 

(Elsie raises her hand) 

Elsie- I disagree, I think the answer is four. 

Teacher- Well, Elsie, you're wrong. The answer is seven. Now, moving on- 

(Elsie raises her hand) 

Teacher- Yes, Elsie 

Elsie- I'm sorry but I don't understand the problem, could you please explain it again. 

Teacher- I can't hold the other students back for you Elsie. 

Elsie- What other students? 

Teacher- Elsie, are you causing problems? 

(Blackout)

Scene Eight 

(The Captain stands at attention as Elsie enters) 

Elsie- Can I make money here? 

Captain- If you succeed. Attention. (Elsie snaps to attention) Are you here to protect democracy? 

Elsie- Sure, when do I get my first paycheck? 

Captain- First you have to go through boot camp. 

Elsie- O.K. What do I need to do? 

(Old Woman comes out. Captain hands Elsie a gun.) 

Captain- you have to shoot this old woman. 

Elsie- What? 

(Blackout) 

Scene Nine 

(Elsie enters with a fern. The Computer flashes.) 

Elsie- I brought you a plant. 

The Computer- Did you get money? 

Elsie- Yes. (She sits in front of The Computer) It's cold in here. 

The Computer- I turned off the heater. I decided that you were too weak. 

Elsie- I need some coffee. 

(Blackout)

Scene Ten 

(Elsie is sitting in the booth drinking coffee. The Man and Woman in Black enter and sit next to 

her.) 

Man and Woman- Have you come to ask us for more money? 

Elsie- I don't want your money. And stop looking at me like I'm rotten milk. 

Man and Woman- You need us. 

Elsie- Leave me alone, forget me. 

Woman and Man- You'll need us again. 

(They leave. Blackout) 

Scene Eleven 

(Model struts in front of the Photographer. Elsie enters) 

Elsie- Hello. 

(Neither responds or acknowledges Elsie. Elsie walks after the model, following her. Elsie begins 

to take on some of Model's movements. Still neither person notices her though she is almost 

touching them. Rock Star enters and watches Model for a while. Rock Star grabs Model by the 

arm and they exit. Elsie struts in front of Photographer. He notices her, watches her for a while, 

drops his camera, and then leaves. Elsie stands there for a while, she picks up the camera but 

can't figure out how to work it. She breaks it. Blackout) 

Scene Twelve

(Elsie is sitting on a bench. Mugger comes up to Elsie with a big kitchen knife.) 

Mugger- Give me your job. 

Elsie- I don't have a job. 

Mugger- Then give me your art. 

Elsie- I don't have any art. 

Mugger- Then give me your money! 

Elsie- I ran out. 

Mugger- I can see that you don't have looks, what do you have? 

Elsie- I have a computer but not with me. 

Mugger- I don't want your computer, I believe that computers were the downfall of society. 

Elsie- I didn't know society had fallen. Could I be a mugger? 

Mugger- Do you have a big knife? 

(Elsie pulls a big knife out of her pocket.) 

Mugger- Anyone could, even you. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Thirteen 

(Nicole is drawing a tiger on the wall with chalk. Elsie walks to Nicole with her knife.) 

Elsie- Give me your job. 

Nicole- I don't have one. 

Elsie- Then give me your art.

Nicole- I don't need any. 

Elsie- Money? 

Nicole- Sorry. 

Elsie- Do you have looks? 

Nicole- I have looks but I don't think that you want them, they've never gotten me anything. 

Elsie- What do you have? 

(Nicole hands Elsie some chalk.) 

Elsie- Do you have a computer? 

(Elsie draws a computer.) 

Nicole- Yes. (Whispers)You know spring is coming. 

Elsie- What's your name? 

Nicole- Nicole or Nikki. Yours? 

Elsie- Elsie. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Fourteen 

(Elsie sits in front of The Computer) 

Elsie- You know someone told me today that spring was coming. 

The Computer- You were one of the people that voted to live underground, what do you care? 

Elsie- I'm never voting for anything again. 

The Computer- I'll believe spring when I see it.

Elsie- I'm bored. 

The Computer- I think you need a family. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Fifteen 

(Elsie is at the baby market. Sales Clerk is standing behind a table with raffle tickets and a 

money box on it.) 

Sales Clerk- Families on sale. Today 20% off. 

Elsie- I would like to buy a family. 

Sales Clerk- Here I have a nice mother and a matching father, (pulls out a mother and a father 

from under the table) if you buy them together it's an extra discount of ten percent, on one of 

them that is. 

Elsie- I don't really- 

Sales Clerk- Not your style. (Puts parents back and pulls out a baby) Alright, I have a brand new 

baby right here, nice and fresh, just in today. 

Elsie- Oh, it's beautiful but I don't really have any money. 

Sales Clerk- Then what are you doing wasting my time? 

Elsie- I have this. (She pulls out the chalk) Can I trade the baby for this? 

Sales Clerk- A piece of chalk. No way Jose. For a lousy piece of chalk. (He pulls a ten year old 

boy out from under the table, The Boy is wearing a gas mask) This is all I have to trade for chalk. 

Elsie- Well, I guess it will do. Come on. 

(The Boy follows Elsie off as the Sales Clerk writes down the sale in his book. Blackout) 

Scene Sixteen 

(Elsie and The Boy sit in a booth. Elsie is drinking coffee.) 

Elsie- Now I don't have any money for this so we are going to have to run. Why do you wear that 

mask? 

(The Boy doesn't answer) 

Elsie- Can't you talk? 

(The Boy doesn't answer) 

Elsie- Lucky me. 

(Nicole enters and sits with Elsie and The Boy) 

Elsie- I was hoping that I would see you again. How did you know that spring was coming? 

Nicole- Who is this? 

Elsie- This is my family. 

Nicole- What's his name? 

Elsie- I don't know. 

Nicole- I go above ground sometimes. There the flowers are just poking out, the buds on trees, 

baby leaves that are the neon green of baby leaves. We're under Maine you know. Spring comes 

later there. 

Elsie- Wait, you go above ground. We can't. They tell us that we can't. 

Nicole- I stopped listening to them.

Elsie- Take me. 

Nicole- I'm on my way to church. 

Elsie- Church? We'll go with you. Come on Boy. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Seventeen 

(Nicole is kneeling praying, Elsie is kneeling trying to pray and watch Nicole at the same time, 

The Boy is kneeling playing with noose.) 

Elsie- Can we go yet? 

Nicole- Yes, lets go. God is busy today. 

Elsie- I thought God had died. I was invited to the funeral. 

Nicole- It must have been for someone else. 

(Nicole and Elsie stand up. Nicole reaches behind an altar to get a key. Nicole takes a key and 

opens up one of the submarine windows on the wall.) 

Nicole- Through here. Elsie, you first, then Boy and I will go last and close the door. 

Elsie- My legs are like bags of ants. What if I don't recognize it? What if I've forgotten? 

Nicole- Just go, what are you afraid of? 

(Elsie climbs through the door, then The Boy, and Nicole goes through last and closes the door. 

Blackout) 

Scene Eighteen

(Above ground. Elsie is touching the ground, her tick is gone. Nicole is taking in deep breaths. 

The Boy takes off his gas mask.) 

The Boy- I didn't remember what it looked like, I was only five when we went under. It's like a 

story book that no one read to me but I could tell the whole book from the cover. 

(Elsie and Nicole look at him a second.)    

Elsie- You talk? 

The Boy- Thanks for bringing me here. Thanks for a family. 

Nicole- What's your name? 

The Boy- The Boy. 

Nicole- See the buds on that tree, it's nearly summer. 

Elsie- Fruit. Sun. Oh, the air is so heavy. 

The Boy- The air is so real. 

Nicole- It makes me tired it's so sweet. Are you ready to go back? 

Elsie- That's it. We have to go back? Why? 

Nicole- I have to put the key back. 

Elsie- Can't we walk? I feel like I might float away. 

The Boy- Please. 

Nicole- Maybe a little walk. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Nineteen

(Elsie is talking excitedly to The Computer, her tick is back. The boy sits is a corner with his gas 

mask on, petting the fern.) 

Elsie- And it was real, there were trees and grass. Just like on t.v. 

The Computer- You aren't supposed to go up there. 

Elsie- And the air was just like you would imagine air, just like air. It was like a dream. Nicole 

said that she would take us back. She promised. 

The Computer- My art is a wall, I can't think. 

(Blackout) 

Scene Twenty 

(Elsie and The Boy wait at the booth for Nicole. Enter the Man and Woman in Black and sit.) 

Elsie- We are waiting for someone, you'll have to move. 

Man and Woman- If you are waiting for Nicole, she's dead. 

Elsie- What? 

Man and Woman- Her face melted off last night while she slept. Is this boy with you? 

Elsie- Nicole? The Nicole that believes God is still around? 

Woman- The same Nicole. 

Elsie- We have to go. 

Man- We miss giving you- 

Woman- Shut up! Get out of here, but you can't run from us forever, you have a family to 

support. The boy will need things, he looks sickly, medicine is expensive.

(Elsie and the boy leave. Blackout) 

Scene Twenty-one 

(Elsie talking to The Boy) 

Elsie- I can't cry. I forgot how to cry. Do you remember? Tell me how. 

(The Boy shakes his head) 

The Computer- If you had art you wouldn't need to cry, you could make other people cry. 

Elsie- I wasn't talking to you. 

(Nicole enters as a ghost) 

Elsie- I thought that you were dead. 

Nicole- I am. 

Elsie- Your face melted off. 

Nicole- That it did. 

Elsie- Did it hurt? 

Nicole- Not as much as you would think. 

Elsie- I don't believe in after-life, what are you doing here? 

Nicole- God said hi. 

Elsie- I wish I could believe you. 

Nicole- The key is in the bottom drawer on the right. Good bye. 

Elsie- Are you sad that you are dead?

Nicole- I have been buried for five years, it's not much different. Now I really have to go. 

Elsie- Goodbye 

(Nicole leaves) 

Elsie- Wait. Come back. 

(Elsie starts crying. Blackout.) 

Scene Twenty-Two 

(Elsie and The Boy are lying in the grass above ground, Elsie without her tick, The Boy without 

his mask.) 

The Boy- I came up with a name, what do you think of Gus? 

Elsie- Gus, Gus, I like it. Should I call you Gus from now on? 

The Boy- Yes. 

Elsie- Alright Gus, I think I am going to write a novel. 

The Boy- About what? 

Elsie- Coffee. 

The Boy- I'll read it. 

Elsie- Gus, are you ready to go back? 

The Boy- Yeah Elsie, I guess if we have to. 

(They disappear through a hole in the ground. Blackout) 

the end

Lectures in Time: the sun was mad by Erin Browne

the sun was mad is the 2nd in a series of sci-fi plays I wrote when I was about 19-20 years old. It comes after Rhymes and is a leap to a distant future, but comes before Nicole and Winter which is the final play in the series. 

This play deals with themes of God, poetry, brother and sister relationships, and communicating in a world of technology - some of my 

recurrent ideas for exploration - but to such an extreme that they are crystallized in a world of snow. Not only are Moses and Mud brother and sister but they are twins. Not only is there talk of God but a young Jesus is a character. Not only is poetry a part of the twin's world - it is their world and they are ostracized from the community because of it. The bible butts up against the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, just as it did in my own childhood.  

I do love this play and I would love to see someone take it on and play with it. It is a world of children and hopefully contains some of the magical nature of children, but also should contain all the depth of learning to understand a world and belief system that children are dropped into whether it is today/right now or a time in the horrible future when weather and cancer have gone awry.  

  

I hope you enjoy reading it, and if you do let me know at erinkellyb@hotmail.com

the sun was mad 

{part two} 

[summer 1999 version] 

Characters: 

Caitlin, 10 years old 

Moses, 10 years old 

Mud, 10 years old 

Jesus, 10 years old 

The Old Woman 

a fox 

seven eight-year-olds (including the leader) 

(Moses and Mud are twins) 

Prologue: 

(Their is a night blizzard and behind the blizzard there is a huge grey cement wall that can barely 

be seen. In the wall, about four feet from the ground is a 1'x1' window with a jumping bluish t.v. 

light that cuts through the dark blizzard. Over the loud blizzard and the soft murmur of a t.v. that 

isn't being watched is the sound of Moses and Mud playing a word game.)

Moses- Hope 

Mud- Mope 

Moses- Cloud 

Mud- Proud 

(pause) 

Moses- Please 

Mud- Knees 

Moses- Stop 

Mud- Mop 

Moses- Rhyming 

Mud- Timing 

Moses- And 

Mud- Bland 

Moses- Talk 

Mud- Walk 

Moses- To 

Mud- You 

Moses- Me 

Mud- We 

Moses- Like 

Mud- Hike

Moses- Before 

Mud- Evermore 

Moses- My 

Mud- Why 

Moses- Twin 

Mud- Sin 

(pause) 

Mud- Moses 

Moses- Mud 

(blackout) 

Scene one: 

(The Old Woman in a multicolored scarf, many sweaters, a long wool skirt, and snowshoes is 

standing in a slow dark snow storm. She is planting seeds in the snow, digging a little hole, 

dropping a seed in, covering it, and moving to the next. She spaces them evenly.) 

Old Woman- My favorite thing to eat is tortillas. I like them with honey. I like them with lemon 

and salt. I like corn or flour tortillas. Soft, crisp, warm. Flour. Corn. I like them dripping with 

salsa or sugar and butter. Butter melting onto my hands because the tortillas are so warm and 

fresh that you can taste the fire that cooked them. 

Heat. No heat anymore. No corn or wheat either. No meal, no grain. Not since the sun left. 

Once a man got mad at the sun. He yelled bitter words at it. The sun's feelings were hurt. The sun

was mad. So the sun went away. 

The man got over his anger but was too proud to apologize. The man died in his bed, very cold, 

having never said he was sorry. The sun still hasn't come back. Maybe it died too. 

With no sun, there is no corn, no wheat, and no tortillas. Only snow. Just the feeling that you are 

never warm enough. 

(Blackout)    

Scene two: expulsion 

(Moses and Mud enter trudging through thick snow with their heads down. It is dark but it is not 

snowing. They are wearing matching blue puffy one-piece snowsuits. Moses has a pink scarf with 

her name knitted into it and Mud has a blue scarf with his name. Moses is dragging a wooden sled 

with things packed on it. Caitlin follows them solemnly on stage. She is wearing a wool coat, 

jeans lined with flannel turned up over winter boots, and a knit hat with ear flaps and a tassel. 

Mud trips a little and Caitlin reaches to help him. Moses runs over before Caitlin can touch Mud 

and shoves her down in the snow. Moses helps Mud up. Caitlin begins her rehearsed speech as 

she stands up.) 

Caitlin- I will leave you here. You know that you aren't welcome to come back to the compound. 

There is another compound twenty-five miles away in Savannah. They are a little older there and 

maybe they can deal with your stories and your songs. Your talk about the sun... The television 

that I have given you should keep you fine until you are there. Call me when you get there. But as 

the leader of the Hilton Head compound I can't allow you- 

(Moses slaps Caitlin. Caitlin looks down.) 

Caitlin- I'm sorry Moses. If it was up to me.. But there was a vote. Mud and you, you scare them. 

Goodbye Mud. 

(Caitlin hugs Mud, Moses keeps a watchful eye.)

Mud- Three little kittens, They lost their mittens, And they began to cry- 

Moses- Shut up Mud! 

Caitlin- Just go to Savannah for a year. Then maybe we will vote again. Then we will be ready. 

Goodbye Moses. 

(Caitlin walks away. Moses and Mud stand still for a while then Moses makes a frantic snowball 

and throws it towards Caitlin. 

Blackout) 

Scene three: 

(Mud walks on a moonlit snowbank making a snowman with mittened hands. Moses sits upstage 

with her back to him by their sled. Mud is talking to himself.) 

Mud- Whether the weather be fine, 

Or whether the weather be not, 

Whether the weather be cold, 

Or whether the weather be hot, 

We'll weather the weather, 

Whatever the weather, 

Whether we like it or not.

(Blackout) 

Scene four: meeting 

(Moses and Mud walk on trying desperately to walk through the snow that their feet keep 

drowning in. Mud pulls the sled. It is dark. A little snow is falling.) 

Moses and Mud (singing together) A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle. That's the 

way the money went. Pop goes the weasel. 

Moses- Wait, Mud, are we lost? I think that we are. 

(Jesus enters from the other side. He is wearing, a sweatshirt, jeans, and sandals but his feet don't 

sink into the snow like the twins. He glows a little like a small light bulb.) 

Jesus-  I have found you. 

Moses- (blocking Mud) Who are you? 

Jesus- Jesus. 

Moses- Where are you from? 

Jesus- Heaven. 

Moses- I've never heard of Heaven. 

Jesus- It's far. 

Moses- We are just moving, we won't hurt you. We don't want anything from you. 

Jesus- I won't hurt you either. 

Moses- Good. 

Jesus- Doesn't he talk?

Mud- Ring around the rosie, 

pocket full of posies 

Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down. 

Jesus- If all the world were paper, 

And all the sea were ink, 

If all the trees 

Were bread and cheese, 

What should we have to drink? 

Moses- Where did you learn that? 

Jesus- I know just about everything. 

Moses- How? 

Jesus- I'm the Son of God. 

Moses- Please, my parents were retro-biblical too but I don't believe that stuff. 

Jesus- No really, I'm the Messiah. 

Moses- Everybody thinks they're the Messiah for a little while, it doesn't mean it's true. 

Jesus- Look. 

(Jesus puts his bare hands to the ground, a light rises from them, and a rose bush grows out of the 

ground.) 

Moses- Flowers! 

Jesus- Smell them. 

(Moses and Mud both lean in and smell a rose. As they back away the bush freezes and withers

back to nothing.) 

Jesus- My miracles don't last much anymore. 

Moses- Well if you're the son of God, use spelunking and rube in a sentence. 

Jesus- That's your miracle, the miracle of words. 

Moses- I wish other people believed that. 

Jesus- I used to believe that you would always find someone who would understand your 

miracles, until my father died. 

Moses- No one has a father anymore. 

Jesus- I guess not. 

Moses- Where are you going? 

Jesus- I don't know. 

Moses- You can travel with us. 

Jesus- Thanks but no thanks, the invitation was all I needed. You will be fine. 

Mud- It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring- 

Jesus- He went to bed and bumped his head and didn't wake up in the morning. 

Moses- But we will be safer in a pack. 

Jesus- Some people have to travel alone. Goodbye Moses and Mud. 

Moses- Goodbye 

Mud- Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day. 

(Moses and Mud trudge off together, both pulling the sled. Jesus wanders in the other direction. 

Blackout.)

Scene five: 

(Caitlin stands in a moonlit snowstorm with violent winds and talks with violent arms movements 

as she does in her speeches to the voters in Savannah.) 

Caitlin- The moon breathes fire at night. 

There is no need to sleep now that there is no sun to set, the fluorescent lights in the compounds 

stay on all the time. Days disappear, until you're outside and the moon rises. Even without the 

sun. The moon has decided to pity us. 

I can't remember the sun really. I can remember a feeling, warmth. But not sun. So many people 

who remembered the sun died of sadness when it left. Those who died before the cancer took 

them all. 

My parents generation. The last generation who suffered from disease, that was the price they 

paid for the sun. They were weak. It is we, the children that are strong. I am stronger than my 

parents. 

I still miss them a little. My mother used to sleep, her eyes closed like this, like she could see even 

with her eyes closed. Like she was seeing everything. 

When I miss her I shut off the t.v. that heats my room. Like nuclear suns that are lodged in the 

ceilings between the fluorescent lights. I'm always cold. We're always cold. But I let the cold 

creep into my veins, veins that have stronger blood than my mothers. I fall asleep too cold to feel 

anything. My mother's name was Penelope. 

(Blackout)

Scene six: 

(A savage snow storm rips across the stage. Moses trips forward, trying desperately with her 

hands to clear a path in front of her eyes to see ahead of her. Of course this is in vain.) 

Moses- Mud! Mud! How could you have gotten lost? You were right here. I'm so stupid. How 

could I lose you? Mom told me to take care of you and what do I do? I lose you when I'm 

standing five feet from you. Mud! Mud! Mud!  Please Mud! Please! Just yell Mud! Please! 

(She stumbles off. There is a roar of wind. Mud comes on pulling a sled. He is shivering. He sings 

sadly to himself.) 

Mud- Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go. 

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow, O! 

Over the river and through the woods, oh how the wind does blow. 

It stings the nose and bites the toes as over the ground we go. 

(Faintly in the background Mud can hear his sister calling his name. He picks up his pace and 

rushes off. A second later Moses stumbles on looking defeated.) 

Moses- Mud! Everything I have has been lost and found and then lost again. But Mud, Mud was 

always here. I don't even feel like a real person with out you here Mud. I feel like a person with 

only one lung, all I can take are shallow breaths. I can't scream loud enough, if only a little louder 

then you would be here. Everything is snow and you have become snow. It's my job to protect 

you but I have let you melt away. I was made to take care of you and I couldn't do that. Without 

you I'm a worthless person. Mud! Call out to me Mud! It's too cold, Mud!

(Moses wipes a tear from her cheek with her mitten and wanders off.)

(Mud wanders on and collapses onto the sled.) 

Mud- I'm near, I'm right here. Momo!

(He slumps over the sled. Blackout) 

Scene Seven: 

(The Old Woman sits petting a fox on a brownish leather-looking stoop.) 

Old Woman- Most people think that Babies Breath isn't even a real flower, that it's just there to 

support a rose, but I would give anything for a handful of Babies Breath right now. When I was 

younger I had this boyfriend. He was an architect. Silly, even though everything was already built, 

he went to school to be an architect. He was a dreamer. To tell you the truth I can't even 

remember his name. But I remember my parents hated him, used to not tell me when he called. I 

was always attracted to scientists and engineers, anything that wasn't a real job. I couldn't date 

a nice stable painter or poet or musician. This particular architect, though, he sent me a handful of 

Babies Breath every day. Fresh little white flowers like summer frost. Smelling sweet. I would rub 

them against my cheeks to feel those soft petals, softer than eyelashes in a butterfly kiss. I hardly 

ever got to see him because he was always in his room, that was when we all stopped leaving our 

houses very much, but everyday the Babies Breath would be on my windowsill. He had his little 

brother bring them, cause his little brother was immune. Then one day, there weren't any flowers. 

Then another day. I called his room but there was no answer. Finally, after months, I snuck out of 

the house and found his brother. The architect had died, the little boy said. Police had gone in and 

found him suffocated. Turns out, those Babies Breath that he grew in his room, were the only way 

he got oxygen and he died five days after he gave the last bunch to me. I never slept with him, and

I don't even remember his name. Just a silly architect. He is still the person that I have loved most 

in my entire life. 

(Blackout.) 

Scene Eight: finding and sleeping 

(Moses trudges on but seems unable to see Mud who lies on stage over the sled nearly covered in 

snow. The air is clear and crisp. Mud whispers as Moses approaches and his breath rises like a 

cloud. Moses hardly hears him and looks down to where he is right next to her. She collapses 

onto him, hugging him.) 

Moses- Where have you been? You stupid, where did you get lost too? Where do you go when 

you aren't with me? 

Mud- Momo. 

Moses- What Mud? Are you o.k.? No rhyme? 

Mud- He went to bed and bumped his head and didn't wake up in the morning. 

Moses- No Mud. I'm tired too, but we can't fall asleep. Mud, we aren't supposed top fall asleep. 

We've never needed to before. Maybe we're just cold. 

(She searches through the sled of things and unties a portable type 14" t.v. and turns it on. It need 

no cord. The dark night fills with bright colors jumping like Northern Lights. The t.v. glows. 

Moses turns from the t.v. to find Mud nearly asleep in the snow. She picks him up by the front of 

his blue snowsuit. She shakes him.) 

Moses- People who sleep die, Mud. If you give up and sleep now, you might never wake up.

Mud! Here sit by the t.v. 

(She pulls him over to the t.v. and they stare at it.) 

Moses- Mud, I'll protect us. You don't worry. Nothing will ever happen to you while I'm here. 

I'll never lose you again. 

Mud (weakly)- Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children all 

gone. All except one, and that's little Anne, for she crept under the frying pan. 

(Blackout) 

Scene nine: Moses 

(Moses is cradling Mud in her arms, they both sit in front of the t.v.) 

Moses- I know that you're partial to Mommy's favorites, but do you remember Daddy's? 

Daddy's come around to see us and Mommy would say, now Jim, I don't want you telling the 

kids those nightmare stories. That's probably the real reason they don't sleep. But they weren't 

bad rhymes, they weren't scary, they were beautiful. This one, by a grown man named Poe: 

It was many and many a year ago, 

In a kingdom by the sea 

That a maiden there lived whom you may know 

By the name of Annabel Lee; 

And this maiden she lived with no other thought 

Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child, 

In this kingdom by the sea, 

But we loved with a love that was more than love- 

I and my Annabel Lee- 

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven 

Coveted her and me. 

And this was the reason that, long ago, 

In this kingdom by the sea, 

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling 

My beautiful Annabel Lee; 

So that her highborn kinsmen came 

And bore her away from me, 

To shut her up in a sepulchre 

In this kingdom by the sea. 

The angels, not half so happy in heaven, 

Went envying her and me- 

Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, 

In this kingdom by the sea) 

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love 

Of those who were older than we- 

Of many far wiser than we- 

And neither the angels in heaven above, 

Nor the demons down under the sea, 

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: 

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; 

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: 

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side 

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, 

In the sepulchre there by the sea- 

In her tomb by the sounding sea. 

(Moses falls asleep over the already sleeping Mud. Blackout.)

Scene ten: forks 

(The Old Woman looks out a normal-sized window frame from a house made of rough leather.) 

Old Woman- The air has started smelling like a plastic fork caught at the bottom of a dishwasher. 

Burned plastic steam. I bet those children don't even know what that is. 

Scene eleven: the other kids 

(Moses and Mud lay sleeping with intertwined arms in front of the glowing t.v. A group of 

children walk past. There are about seven eight-year-olds, in snowshoes with handheld t.v.s 

hanging from elastic on the right arm of their multi-colored snowsuits. The t.v.s swing gently as 

they walk. One in the front notices Moses and Mud's t.v. and they all stop. The lead boy 

approaches the two sleepers and looks at them. He watches their breath. The other kids stay shyly 

away. The leader unzips a pocket and pulls out two strings of big blue beads. He lays them on the 

snow in front of Moses and Mud. Moses wakes up a little and then with a start is sitting 

up. Moses jumps to her feet and growls fiercely at the leader. The leader backs away and the 

children run off in a group afraid. Moses watches them for a while then turns her head down to 

see Mud and finds the beads. Moses picks them up and looks at them. Mud wakes up. Blackout.) 

Scene twelve: thunder 

(Moses and Mud are walking with their sled behind them. The t.v. is on top of the sled, still 

spewing light. They are both wearing the blue beads around their necks over their snowsuits. The 

sky is greyish and the night is extra dark.)

Moses- We better find that compound soon. 

Mud- One I love, two I love, 

Three I love, I say; 

Four I love with all my heart, 

Moses- God! Would you stop that already! 

Mud- Five I cast away! 

Moses- Don't start with me Mud! I'm not in the- 

(Thunder crashes in the distance.) 

Moses- Dry lightening. What should we do?! 

(Lightening snaps right down by them. Mud pushes them both to the ground. They lay there flat 

on their stomachs with their arms around each other. Thunder sounds and then instantly lightening 

connects to the t.v. on their sled and blows the screen forward out of it. Moses and Mud put their 

faces down. Blackout.) 

Scene thirteen: a fox 

(Moses and Mud are sitting on the snow in silence. In front of them is the burnt t.v. shell and 

shattered glass, they're staring at it. The sled is destroyed. Mud starts humming a song. Moses 

eventually joins in. A fox trots up to Mud and smells him, then trots over to Moses and smells her. 

The children are awestruck and stop humming.) 

Moses- What is it? 

Mud- Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox?

Moses- A fox! 

(Mud pets the fox a little. Moses touches the fox a little cautiously and then begins to pet him too. 

But then out of nowhere the fox trots away again. Blackout.) 

Scene fourteen: falling asleep again 

(Moses and Mud drag onstage, this time without the sled. They are both tired and shivering. Their 

teeth chatter. Mud trips and falls and doesn't bother to get up. Moses tries to pick him up but 

ends up falling next to him.) 

Moses- When I was younger, I felt so tough all the time. I felt like, if anyone hurt you or me, I 

could kill them. I think that I'm getting old Mud. Say a rhyme for me, please.

(She lays her head down on the snow. Mud is quiet, he hugs his sister and pulls her up to sitting.) 

Moses- Here I'll start, you remember this one? Little boy blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's 

in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. Come on Mud. Where's the little boy who looks after the 

sheep? Under the haystack, fast asleep. Ready Mud? Will you wake him, no, not I, for if I do, he's 

sure to cry. Another Mud, please? 

(Mud shakes his head gently and hugs his sister again. Moses shivers.) 

Moses- I'm sleepy Mud. A rhyme to go to sleep to? 

Mud- I don't want to rhyme anymore Moses. 

Moses- Thank you. 

Mud- I love you Moses, you are a good sister. 

Moses- I love you too.

Mud- I'm so cold. (He shivers.) We are going to die aren't we? 

Moses- Yes, I think we are. 

(The two huddle into each other. Blackout.) 

[If the three playlets are preformed together, this is where the intermission is.] 

Scene fifteen: fire 

(The Old Woman enters a livingroom with Moses draped in her arms asleep. Mud, Jesus, Caitlin, 

the leader, and the fox all lay sleeping on blankets in front of a huge stone fireplace. Pictures are 

hanging all over the walls. The Old Woman sets Moses down gently next to her brother. Moses 

wakes up and looks at The Old Woman who still has her arms around her.) 

Moses- Hello. 

Old Woman- Good morning. 

Moses- What does that mean? 

Old Woman- I don't know anymore. 

(The others are waking up and sitting up slowly.) 

Mud- Where are we? 

Jesus- Here, with us. 

Caitlin- You're not rhyming. 

Moses- Caitlin.

(Moses hugs her.)

The leader- You're in the shoe with the fox. 

Old Woman- And me. 

Jesus- It's more of a boot don't you think? 

Moses- Fire. 

Caitlin- It's fantastic isn't it.  

Mud- It's warm. 

Moses- It's warm. 

Mud- Can we stay here? 

Old Woman- For as long as you want. 

Moses- If you can make fire, can you make me a bakery? All I ever wanted to be was a Baker. 

Caitlin- Can you make my mom come back? 

Jesus- And my dad? 

the leader- Can you make us happy? 

Old Woman- I can't do those things. But I can make you hot chocolate and listen to your stories 

and tell you mine. We can plant seeds and wait for the snow to end. 

Mud- That would make me happy. 

Moses- Me too. 

Jesus- Me too. 

Caitlin and the leader- Me too. 

Old Woman- It might take forever and now that you sleep you won't have that long. 

Mud- I can wait.

(Blackout)