Tomorrow’s Wish
by
Wade Bradford
© 2010
Tomorrow’s Wish is copyright © 2010
By Wade Bradford
Characters:
Megan
Juniper
Mom
(Debbie Pomerville)
Dad
(David Pomerville)
Gram
The
Goochy Brothers: Phil and Bill
Brandi
Justin
Mrs.
Dunbar
The
Stokeley Sisters
The
Set:
The
main set consists of the front yard of the Pomerville house, a friendly place
somewhere in suburban
Act
One:
(As the lights illuminate the stage, sound effects
subtly convey the chirping of birds, the tranquil activities of bees and
dragonflies—an array of summertime whisperings.)
(Megan Pomerville enters. She looks about 15 or 16 years old. She is tough and energetic, and often
restless. She wears rather dark, dreary
clothing, especially considering it is summer. She sits down, cross-legged, and
opens up a travel magazine. She sighs –
absolutely bored.)
(Megan’s obnoxious younger brother, Gary enters. He carries a recycling can.)
Hey ugly.
MEGAN
Good morning, idiot.
(Sets down recycling can.)
What are you reading?
MEGAN
I’m learning about all the places
I’ll
never visit.
Are we at Dad’s this weekend?
MEGAN
That’s next Saturday.
(Back
to reading.)
Hey Mom!
(
MEGAN
(Not
realizing that her Mom is outside.)
Mom!!!
MOM
Now that the neighbors are awake -- What?
(
MEGAN
I want to go somewhere. Can’t we just take a two day trip some
place? To the beach? Or the river?
The
Or Vegas!
MEGAN
Anywhere.
MOM
We’ll do something in August. This month, I’m too busy. I have good news, though. Grandma is stopping by for a surprise visit.
When?
MOM
Probably now.
MEGAN
(Not thrilled at the idea.)
Is Juniper with her?
How long is she staying?
MOM
She said she’ll only be stopping by for a few
minutes.
MEGAN
It’s a five hour drive for her; what’s she doing?
MOM
She didn’t give me the details.
Where is she going?
MOM
You can ask her---
MEGAN
Wait. Did you
say Juniper is staying with us? For two weeks?
MOM
That’s right.
(This sinks in.)
MEGAN
(Devastated.)
On no.
MOM
You better be nice to her.
MEGAN
But she’s such a weirdo!
And she’s very touchy-feely.
MEGAN
And she’s embarrassing to be around.
MOM
Megan Pomerville, that is a terrible thing to say.
MEGAN
I know she’s my cousin – but it’s the truth!
MOM
When you were six years old, Juniper was your best friend
in the whole wide world.
MEGAN
And we used to play house together, and play with our dolls
and have stuffed animal tea parties, and that was a long time ago.
MOM
Megan, we’ve talked about how Juniper is different.
It’s cuz she’s homeschooled. Those homeschoolers
always turn into goofballs.
MOM
Well, that’s what I heard you say.
MOM
Don’t you have chores?
(Sensing that he’s almost in trouble,
MEGAN
So, you called your niece a “goofball.”
MOM
I didn’t say “goofball.” I just said that some children who happen to
be schooled at home become introverted. But Juniper is not like that. Listen,
I’m running late as it is. Tell Gram to stop by the office on her way out of
town. And be on your best behavior with Juniper. Be nice to her. And do me a favor; take the
MEGAN
Why don’t you have
(Entering
with second recycle bin.)
I helped put them up. You didn’t do anything, Megan.
MEGAN
Fine.
MOM
And
weeds pulled by this afternoon. No excuses.
(To Megan.)
Megan, I’ll drop off your job application in town. (Megan
doesn’t
respond.) You know, now and then a “thanks Mom” feels
pretty good.
MEGAN
(Sarcastic.)
Thanks
Mom.
MOM
Be
good. (Leaves.)
MEGAN
Juniper.
Staying with us… I don’t know if I can take it.
It
won’t be that bad.
MEGAN
Maybe. Yeah,
maybe. It’s just that sometimes she gets
excited over the strangest things.
(Juniper, a
loving, irrepressible young woman, around Megan’s age, runs onto the
stage. Juniper seems different than your
average teenager – possibly because she appears so whole-heartedly happy. Her shirt is striped and wildly colorful. She
wears a jean vest with over a dozen buttons on it.)
(She dashes into
the yard, looking around for Megan.)
JUNIPER
Megan! Megan, Megan! It’s July the Eighth, Megan. It’s Friday again! Can you believe it? Friday, July the Eighth –again! Isn’t it
wonderful?
MEGAN
(Doesn’t care.)
Yeah
– uh - I guess it is.
JUNIPER
Megan! Hey little cousin!
(She gives
Megan a gigantic hug, lifting her off the ground and squeezing the air out of
her.)
MEGAN
It’s
nice to see you too, Juniper.
Is
grandma here?
JUNIPER
(Reaching out to embrace him.)
(A sudden
look of fear spreads across
Okay, Juniper!
Okay. Personal space, please, personal
space!
JUNIPER
Hey guys, check this out, I learned how to belch-speak
the entire periodic table. (Burping: )
Hydrogen,
Helium—
GRAM
Juniper,
don’t forget your luggage.
(Megan’s
Grandma, a spry bespectacled woman in her late sixties, enters. Juniper and
Hi
Gram.
GRAM
Are you helping your cousin with her luggage, you
strong handsome gentleman, you?
Yeah.
(Exits with Juniper.)
MEGAN
Hi
Gram.
GRAM
Megan Lee, look at my little bean sprout of a girl. The
school boys must be madly in love with you.
MEGAN
They’ve been awfully quiet about it. Where are you off to this time, Gram?
GRAM
Oh,
no where in particular…
MEGAN
Can I
go?
GRAM
My,
your hair looks –
(Not sure how to compliment her hair.)
--
pretty.
(
Hey, Grandma.
Can I have some money?
GRAM
Give me a hug before you ask about money. (They hug.) Don’t you get an allowance?
It’s
not enough.
GRAM
It
never is, kid. Help Juniper take
the
bags upstairs.
(Juniper and
MEGAN
So,
if I guess this secret location,
will
you take me with you?
GRAM
Oh,
I’ll tell you… when I get back.
MEGAN
It’s
some boyfriend, isn’t it?
GRAM
Goodness, no! Being married to your grandfather was
quite enough for this old gal.
MEGAN
Okay…but can I ask… Why exactly are you leaving
Juniper with us?
GRAM
You don’t want to spend time with your cousin?
MEGAN
Sure
I do.
GRAM
She only sees you twice a year, yet she talks about you
and Gary almost every day.
MEGAN
Really?
GRAM
Back home she’s got only me, the dogs, the five cats
and the two hamsters, and the farm critters. Living in the middle of the
boondocks, she doesn’t have any friends her age. That’s why this visit
means
so much to her.
MEGAN
Does she still collect those Japanese dolls?
GRAM
She’s moved on to antique buttons. Are you still friends with Brandi?
MEGAN
Just
barely. She’s acting like a b—
GRAM
Well! I’m sure Juniper would love to meet some of your
girlfriends – the nice ones, at least.
Remember, even though
she’s your age, Juniper is very… what’s the word—
MEGAN
Strange?
GRAM
No. Megan.
Sensitive. It’s my fault, I’m
sure. Words are very important to her. So be mindful of her feelings. And
choose your words carefully.
This is the first visit she’s had without me hovering
over her, and I’m relying on you to be a good influence.
MEGAN
Okay. I promise.
GRAM
Now give Gram a squeeze; it’s time to go.
(Juniper and
JUNIPER
Do
you have to go now?
GRAM
Yes,
June-bug.
JUNIPER
Are
you sure?
GRAM
Yes.
JUNIPER
Absolutely positive? (Gram nods.) Then Farewell! Parting is such sweet sorrow that I
could say goodnight until tomorrow!
GRAM
Bye,
bye, sweet-ones. (To Juniper.)
And
remember everything I told you.
MEGAN
and GARY
Bye.
JUNIPER
Bye bye! (She waves her hand very fast, flapping it
back and forth comically.)
(Gram
exits. Juniper continues to wave.)
JUNIPER
See
you grandma!
(Juniper
turns back to the others, with a sigh of contentment. Her arm is still frantically waving back and
forth. She looks at it in mock
surprise.)
JUNIPER
I
can’t stop!
(She grabs
her hand and laughs.)
JUNIPER
No,
I’m fine – it was just a joke!
(She laughs –
highly amused with herself. Her laughter
fades when she sees no one is amused.)
MEGAN
So…
JUNIPER
So… The place looks nice. Where’s the tree house?
It got infested with termites and we tore it down. I’m hungry.
Are you hungry?
JUNIPER
I’m
always hungry.
Do
you like pie?
JUNIPER
The
food or the mathematical constant?
Huh?
JUNIPER
Pi,
you know: 3.1415926535--
It’s
apple pie.
JUNIPER
Oh,
that’s good too.
(
JUNIPER
So,
without the tree house, what do you
do
for fun around here?
MEGAN
Oh,
whatever we want to do.
JUNIPER
Awesome. (She takes out five books from her back pack. She gets ready to read.) Let’s
get this party started. (She becomes instantly
engrossed in a book.)
MEGAN
So, is this what you do all day at Gram’s?
JUNIPER
This?
Boy, that would be nice! No, I
can’t always sit around and read. Gotta feed the sheep, collect the eggs from
the hen house, tend to the goats, feed the goldfish. Hey, maybe this summer you could work on the
ranch.
MEGAN
I’m
allergic to every animal you named.
JUNIPER
Even
the goldfish?
MEGAN
Especially
the goldfish.
(
MEGAN
Hey
idiot, where’s mine?
Let me think, ugly. It’s in the fridge waiting for you
to cut it yourself.
JUNIPER
Ow. Why would you say that to each other?
She
likes it.
JUNIPER
Are
you allergic to goldfish too?
What?
JUNIPER
I
just think it’s so sad about Megan.
MEGAN
Well what about you?
Do you have any two legged
friends?
JUNIPER
The
ducks.
MEGAN
I
mean like humans.
JUNIPER
Well,
Grammy’s my friend.
MEGAN
Family doesn’t count.
JUNIPER
Why
not?
MEGAN
Because you’re stuck with family. You
choose your friends.
JUNIPER
Oh. I
never thought of that.
MEGAN
It must be so lonely for you. I don’t
know how you can stand it.
JUNIPER
But I
love my home—
(Gary
finishes his pie and exits, taking his plate.)
MEGAN
But
you don’t even live next to a school.
And
the nearest town is what?
JUNIPER
52.6
miles away.
MEGAN
Don’t
you ever wish—
JUNIPER
No. I
never do.
MEGAN
Well, this summer, we’ll have to have you find your own set of friends; not my
friends, but human friends. (Shuts Juniper’s book.) Besides
Charles
Dickens.
JUNIPER
But
you’re my friend.
MEGAN
We’re cousins. I’m talking about
non-relative type people. You need your
own circle.
JUNIPER
Circles
are beautiful.
MEGAN
And you might want to stop saying things.
JUNIPER
Do
you have a lot of friends?
MEGAN
Yeah.
Some of them are jerks, though.
JUNIPER
What
about boys?
MEGAN
You
mean guys? Like to go out with?
JUNIPER
Oh,
have you been out on dates?
MEGAN
Not very often.
JUNIPER
“Not
often” is way more often than me.
Do
you have a boyfriend?
MEGAN
Not
anymore.
JUNIPER
Oh,
Meg – Is your heart broken?
MEGAN
No!
It was just – we barely even dated.
It
was a half-date, really, and now we’re just friends.
JUNIPER
Friends
are a wonderful thing.
MEGAN
Not really. Not
when it’s a guy you like and you want to be more than friends. Then friendship sucks.
JUNIPER
What’s
his name?
MEGAN
Justin. But
it’s not a big deal. He and Brandi are together
now. They have been for a while.
JUNIPER
I’ve never met Brandi.
Is she your best friend?
MEGAN
Well,
she—
JUNIPER
Maybe I can meet her.
Have you ever read “The Three Musketeers”? Maybe we could all—
MEGAN
I
don’t think so.
JUNIPER
(A bit hurt by this.)
Why?
MEGAN
You’re
a little too bubbly for my circle.
(
JUNIPER
But bubbles are
circular, or spherical at least. Hey—do
you like my button collection? (Shows her buttons on jacket.) I picked
this one out for your dad, because he
likes beer. Hey, where is Uncle David?
Dad doesn’t live with us right
now.
MEGAN
You
mean “anymore.”
They’re
just on a break.
MEGAN
Forever.
JUNIPER
Oh no. Grammy said something about
a
trial separation, but I thought it was
jury
duty.
MEGAN
Trial separation is what
parents call it
before
they sign the divorce papers.
Shut
up, Megan!
MEGAN
You shut up!
No
you.
MEGAN
Why don’t you stop talking to us and pull all the weeds
like you’re supposed to.
JUNIPER
Guys, please don’t fight.
No,
that’s okay.
MEGAN
Then
hurry up and do it.
Don’t
tell me when to do my chores.
MEGAN
You’re
a lazy piece of snot.
You’re
a handful of farts.
JUNIPER
I don’t remember you guys talking this way around
Christmas time.
(Sound Cue:
An old truck sputters to a stop.)
(Megan and
Gary hear this and smiles come to their faces.)
Dad!
(In walks
their father, Dave Pomerville. He is a
mechanic, and dresses like one: greasy jumpsuit, baseball hat, wrench in his
shirt pocket, hands black with oil.)
DAD
Hey
kids.
(Juniper runs
up to hug him.)
JUNIPER
Uncle
David!
DAD
Well hello there, Juniper! Careful, now.
You’ll wrinkle my business suit.
MEGAN
Drove
the pick-up?
DAD
Could
you hear it? Purrs like a kitten.
And barks
like a dog.
DAD
Speaking
of which, is your mom home?
MEGAN
Still
at work.
Hey Dad! Got
anything excited planned for next weekend?
DAD
Ohhh…
maybe.
MEGAN
That
means no.
DAD
Well, as much as I’d love to stay and chat with
Princess Cheerful, I’ve got to get back to work. Keep up the good
fight
with those weeds,
I’ll
try. Bye Dad.
MEGAN
Bye.
DAD
See you, kids.
Keep them out of trouble, Juniper. (He
exits.)
(She
laughs.
This will take forever. Megan gets to take down a few flags. I have to take care of a yard that’s as big
as an
ocean. Hey, that gives me an idea.
(He jumps to
his feet and runs into the house.)
JUNIPER
Why did your Dad call you Princess Cheerful?
MEGAN
He
was being sarcastic.
JUNIPER
So
you aren’t a Princess?
MEGAN
No.
JUNIPER
Darn. I’ve
always wanted to be related to royalty.
(
MEGAN
What
about your chores?
I’m
on a break.
JUNIPER
What
are you doing?
Yard
fishing.
(He casts out
the rubber fish. Ideally the fish will
be cast off either center stage, right down the aisle—or, perhaps more
practical cast off stage left.)
This is how I practice, in case I ever fish for real. But
all I ever do is yard fish. Remember,
Megan, when
Dad would take us out to the lake? ‘Member that catfish I caught?
JUNIPER
How
big was it?
(Stretches
out his arms.)
At
least this big.
MEGAN
Half
that size,
(Reeling in and casting out again.)
Dad says he’ll take me deep sea fishing one day. When
business at the shop slows down. So that’ll be about
never. But just
think. (Reels, casts.)
Casting out into the open water. Snagging a sea bass, or a hundred pound
halibut, or the mother of all sports-fisherman trophies—a twenty foot shark. (Sigh.) I’m tired of dinking around in
the yard with these dumb old toys. I
wish I was fishing for real.
Right
now.
JUNIPER
Okey-doke.
(All of a
sudden, there is a sharp tug on
MEGAN
What
did you do?!!
Maybe
I caught a squirrel!
(
MEGAN
Maybe you’re hooked onto a truck! Just let it go!
Are you kidding?!
I’m not losing my pole. I’m
reeling this sucker in!
(SOUND FX:
Bushes rustling. The three gaze off
stage, awe-struck.)
JUNIPER
I see
something moving in the bushes!
MEGAN
I
think I see a… a…
A
shark fin!
(SOUND FX:
Huge splash. Ocean noise. For comic effect – play “Jaws” music.)
(Note:
Depending upon staging ability, there way even be a shark fin visible in the
background or foreground – but this idea is completely optional.)
MEGAN
It’s
a fish!
JUNIPER
It’s
a big fish!
It’s
a shark!
MEGAN
There’s a shark in our rhododendron!
(SOUND FX:
SPLASH.)
(
I
can’t hold on!
MEGAN
Just
let it go!
(
(SOUND FX: There
is a final splash sound effect. And an echoing gurgle indicating that the
unseen creature has gone away.)
(Gary, Megan,
and Juniper slowly stand up. They are
exhausted, not knowing exactly what has happened.)
Did
you see it? Did you see that thing?
JUNIPER
Wow.
It must have jumped ten feet in the air and splashed down…
But how could it… I mean… It was like it
splashed into the grass… Like the lawn had turned into
water, just for a second…
(Megan has
been dialing a cell phone.)
MEGAN
(On phone.)
Hello. Animal
control? I want to report a stray fish. (Pause.)
Yes. (Pause.) About two hundred
pounds.
(Pause.) Yeah,
a loose fish. Come on down if you don’t
believe me. He’s probably flopping
around
on
(Mom enters
the scene. She carries a bag of
groceries.)
MOM
Who
are you talking to?
MEGAN
(Puts phone away.)
Oh,
no one. Salesperson.
Mom. You’ll
never believe it. We saw a…
(Megan
quickly covers
MEGAN
We
didn’t see anything.
JUNIPER
We saw a giant shark on
(During
Juniper’s explanation, Mom steps towards the house; then she pauses, and finds
Juniper’s description very curious. )
MEGAN
They were just playing a game. You know, looking at shapes in the clouds.
(Mom stares up
at the sky. She tilts her head.)
MOM
Oh
yeah. I can see it.
(She goes
inside.)
Why
didn’t you tell her the truth?
MEGAN
Because
she’ll think we’re crazy!
But
it was real.
JUNIPER
It
looked real.
MEGAN
It
couldn’t have been real.
MOM
(From off stage.)
Juniper!
Megan! Come help me fix dinner.
MEGAN
Okay.
(Juniper
happily runs into the house. Megan, less
excited, follows. She picks up her
drink, suspicious.)
MEGAN
(Cont’d.)
Mom…
what was in the lemonade?
(Megan exits.
MOM
And
did we finish our chores today?
Uh…
MOM
I see we didn’t weed the yard. There’s a lot of daylight left. You get to it, mister.
(Scared
of the shark’s return.)
Mom…
can I do it tomorrow?
MOM
No. You’ll do
it now, and you’ll get it done before dinner.
And don’t look at me with those angry eyes.
(She exits. Gary slowly, timidly picks up a rake and
heads out into the yard.)
It’s
not anger. It’s fear.
(He picks up
the rake, holding it as if to guard himself.
He looks around, scared. Juniper
pokes her head out the window to watch him, very amused.)
Here fishy, fishy, fishy. Nice “yard fishy.” Hmm. I guess he’s gone.
(Juniper pokes her head into the scene and yells
“Boo!”
LIGHTS DOWN.
SCENE TWO: The next day.
(It’s
morning. Mom steps into the yard. She
wears jogging attire. She stretches for
a moment and then starts to jog.
Don’t
go on the grass!!!
(This
startles his mother. She halts suddenly,
almost trips.)
MOM
Why
not?!
(Making something up.)
Because… I cleaned up the yard… and I just want to
keep it nice.
MOM
Oh. (A bit patronizingly.) Okay. I’ll be back in a few.
(She jogs off
stage. Megan steps onto the porch.)
MEGAN
Did
you tell her anything?
Of
course not.
MEGAN
Good. Because I think I’ve figured everything out. We
experienced a massive hallucination.
We
did not.
MEGAN
Just listen—Each of us were bored out of our minds.
(Juniper
steps out. She’s carrying four boxes of
cereal and a bowl.)
JUNIPER
Who
wants breakfast?
Morning
Juniper.
(She sits
down and proceeds to pour cereal into the large bowl—two boxes at a time.)
MEGAN
We
were sitting outside in the hot sun.
It’s like being out in the desert and seeing a mirage.
It wasn’t a mirage.
I’ve figured out what really happened.
JUNIPER
Is
there milk in the fridge?
MEGAN
Yes.
(Juniper goes
back inside, leaving behind her mountain of cereal.)
I was out there pulling weeds. After working hard for a very long time, I
took a little break and sat right there with my old fishing pole. I then made a
wish. You remember?
MEGAN
(Doubtful.)
Yes.
And it came true.
Don’t you get it? My fishing pole
is magic. It grants wishes!
MEGAN
You’re
nuts.
(Juniper
re-enters with milk.)
JUNIPER
Who’s
nuts?
MEGAN
Your
cousin Gary.
JUNIPER
Oh. I
already know that.
(Dad enters
carrying a tool kit.)
DAD
Good
morning trouble makers.
Dad,
what are you doing here?
DAD
I thought you might be tired of all this heat.
MEGAN
Let
me guess: Goochy’s Junkyard.
DAD
It almost works too.
Bring it on in, fellas.
(Two big
strong men in dirty work clothes lumber onto the stage carrying a rusty, clanky
old air conditioning system. Actually,
it’s more of a “swamp cooler” than a system.
These two gentlemen are the seemingly lunk-headed Goochy Brothers: Phil
and Bill.)
MEGAN
Hi
Phil. Hi Bill.
PHIL
Hey.
BILL
Hey.
DAD
Just
set it down in the den.
It’s
a sewing room now.
DAD
Oh
yeah.
(Phil and
Bill trudge toward the house.)
DAD
Make
sure you don’t break the—
(CRASH Sound
Effect. Something has been broken. Megan and Juniper run to see.)
DAD
Never mind. (To
What?
DAD
I found this. (Opens tool box.) It’s broken but I can fix it.
(He removes a
broken fishing pole.)
All
right! Thanks Dad!
DAD
I found it half way up
No, no, it’s good. Now watch this, Dad. You’ll never believe
what this can do. (He raises the pole aloft in the air.)
I
wish I had a million dollars!
(Dad
stares.
I
said: I wish for a million dollars.
DAD
Darn
it!
(Gary stomps off, annoyed. He exits just as Megan and Juniper enter. )
MEGAN
Phil and Bill are trying to repair the coffee table,
but they’re mostly just scratching up the hardwood floor.
DAD
Aw man.
Guys! Just worry about the air conditioner. How long has your mother been jogging?
MEGAN
About
five minutes.
DAD
Oh
no. She’ll be back soon.
(After a
brief moment, Mom slumps in, huffing and puffing. She is apparently the world’s wimpiest
jogger. She pants and moans. Then, she
sees Dad. She straightens herself up,
and presses a button on her watch. It
beeps.)
MOM
(Pretending to be satisfied.)
Two hours and ten minutes. Good morning, David. You do realize they’re yours next weekend.
DAD
They’re
mine all the time.
MOM
Okay, they’re ours.
And you know that’s not what I mean.
Why are you here?
DAD
Well,
I brought over a surprise.
(There’s another
loud crash inside.)
MOM
What
kind of a surprise? The kind
That
you bring over because you
Have
bad news.
DAD
Not exactly. Well.
See, next weekend, I can’t take the kids.
MEGAN
You jerk.
MOM
Megan!
DAD
It’s
a long story. Work related.
MOM
Surprise,
surprise.
DAD
And speaking
of surprises--
The
weekend after next, I
have baseball tickets.
Five tickets to be exact.
MEGAN
There’s
no baseball team around here.
DAD
Sixty miles out of town. A little road trip and we’ll all be able to
watch the Gorman Tigers.
JUNIPER
That’s
Grandpa’s old team!
MOM
(Trying not to smile, but smiling.)
He
was just the assistant coach.
JUNIPER
I bet he sits up on a cloud and watches every game.
MOM
(Touches Juniper’s shoulder.)
I do
too, sweetie.
DAD
So whatdaya say?
We could make the weekend of it.
MOM
Together? I
don’t know… I’d have to check my calendar… And really, if the two of us were stuck
together in a car for more than— (Looks
toward house.)
What
did you do to my house?!
DAD
Surprise! You
got a new air conditioner!
MOM
Oh
no, is that Phil and Bill?
(Carrying
odds and ends, Phil and Bill walk on stage.)
PHIL
Hey.
BILL
Hey.
MOM
My
floor!
(She moves
towards the house, fuming. Dad follows,
trying to calm down.)
DAD
Now,
now, it’s not so bad.
(Mom and Dad
exit. More noise—ad lib shouting and fighting—from inside.
Another
fight?
MEGAN
Uh-huh.
Well, we haven’t had one of those in a while. I forgot
how loud they were.
JUNIPER
It makes me so sad to hear it. They’re so angry.
(
Let
me see.
(The argument
inside the house (a muffle of shouts and angry words) grows louder too. Phil and Bill enter from the back of the
house; they carry the old swamp cooler. Megan paces back and forth, frustrated
by the noise and hostility from inside the house.)
PHIL
We’re gonna have to crack this thing open.
BILL
Yep.
(Phil starts
to hammer the swamp cooler.)
MEGAN
(Covering her ears.)
Ugh! I can’t take it. I wish everyone would just shut
up for a minute!
JUNIPER
Okey-doke.
(All of a
sudden, everything is silent on stage.
No more yelling from inside the house.
No more noise from the radio.
Even the hammer is silent, although Phil still appears to slam it
against the cooler.)
(Megan and
Gary are stunned and bewildered. Juniper
seems a bit pleased. She sits with a
sketch pad and doodles.)
(Phil and
Bill are very confused. Phil examines
the hammer.)
(Megan
panics, tries to yell, touches her throat; she is scared and confused.)
(
(She mouths:
CAN YOU HEAR ME?)
(He shakes
his head: NO! Megan and Gary then
frantically gesture to Juniper, who just shrugs and shakes her head with a
smile.)
(Suddenly,
the music begins again.)
MEGAN
What’s
happen--- I can talk again!
And
hear. (Shuts off radio.)
PHIL
(To Bill)
Something’s
wrong with my hammer.
(He hammers
the swamp cooler loudly.)
PHIL
That’s
better.
What
just happened?
(Mom and Dad enter—rather confused.)
MOM
--for
a minute I thought I had gone deaf.
DAD
Maybe
we were yelling so loud we
lost
our voices.
MOM
Look, David, I appreciate what you were trying to
do…But you come over here, unexpectedly, it just gets—
DAD
I
know…
MOM
Let’s
talk later, okay?
DAD
Phil. Bill.
Let’s head back to the shop.
See
you, kids.
MEGAN
Bye,
Dad.
JUNIPER
Bye,
Uncle David!
(Dad, Phil
and Bill exit.)
MOM
(Looking to kids, rubbing her ears.)
Did
anything strange—
MEGAN
No.
MOM
Hmm… Oh well. Will you kids help me clean up my once
beautiful home?
More
chores. Terrific.
MEGAN
(Lingering
behind.)
We’ll
be right there…
(Gary and Mom
go inside the house. Megan sits on the
porch step next to Juniper.)
MEGAN
(Careful, quiet and serious.)
Juniper. Do you know what’s going on?
(She nods her
head.)
MEGAN
Will
you tell me?
JUNIPER
What
do you want to know?
MEGAN
How did all of the sound go away? I mean, I wished for everyone to shut up—and
then everything did.
JUNIPER
Grammy says its best to not tell anybody. But sometimes
I think it would feel good to let go of the words, and just blurt the secret
out.
MEGAN
The secret?
JUNIPER
Uh-huh.
MEGAN
Juniper…
Can you… can you make
wishes
come true?
(Juniper
stares at her for a long moment. She
looks around, and then she nods.)
MEGAN
(Calm
at first then excited.)
Oh. I knew it. (Pause.) I KNEW IT!
This is fantastic! I can’t believe it! We can do anything, Juniper! I… I…
I WISH I COULD FLY!
(Megan leaps into
the air and tumbles to the ground.
Juniper runs to her side.)
JUNIPER
Megan! Are you okay?
MEGAN
It
didn’t work. But I thought you said…
JUNIPER
There are rules, Megan. And you have to pay attention to the rules.
MEGAN
Wait,
wait. Is this like a hypnosis trick.
You can fool people into seeing things or hearing
things.
JUNIPER
Fool
people?
MEGAN
You
know, mess with their brains.
JUNIPER
Oh, I wouldn’t want to do something like that. It sounds
painful.
MEGAN
Okay, then explain it to me. How do you make these things happen?
JUNIPER
I don’t know how I do it. But Grandma says it started happening when I
when I was six. That’s sort of one of the reasons, I don’t see you as much as I
did… Things changed afterwards.
MEGAN
What
kinds of wishes have you made?
JUNIPER
(Laughs, then:)
Oh, I don’t make the wishes, Megan. Other people do. And I’m a good listener. But
Grammy says I shouldn’t
listen
to everybody -- if I don’t want to.
But
it’s hard to say no sometimes.
So we
keep to ourselves pretty much.
MEGAN
Is that why you and Gram live so far away? Hey, so if Grandma
knows about this -- If she can make
wishes
anytime she wants, why do I always get a lousy sweater
for Christmas?
JUNIPER
Gram
doesn’t usually wish for anything.
Except
by accident. Not on purpose.
Just accidental, like, “I wish that faucet would stop leakin’”
Or, “I wish those
JUNIPER
(Cont’d.)
dogs would quit their barkin’.” But she hasn’t made an
mistake like that in a long time.
MEGAN
So,
the dogs stopped barking forever?
JUNIPER
No, just a day. The wish only goes for a day. When the
sun goes down, it stops working. When the sun comes back up, you can make another.
MEGAN
So if I wish for a hundred thousand dollars into my
bank account?
JUNIPER
It’s
there for a while and then: Poof.
Bye-bye
before the next day. At least
that’s
what Grandma says.
MEGAN
Temporary
wishes? Hmm. (Pause.)
But Juniper… If what you’re saying is true, why couldn’t
I fly?
JUNIPER
Only one wish a day.
You have to wait till morning.
But would you really want to fly? What if you got hit by an airplane?
MEGAN
You’re right.
It was silly. I’ll have to think
of something worth while. You don’t
mind, do you? You know, if I make a wish.
JUNIPER
You’d
only wish for good things, right?
MEGAN
Sure, of course. But I still don’t know
that I believe all this.
JUNIPER
Well, tomorrow you’ll see. Now let’s see if where do you keep your art supplies? I feel
like painting up a storm (Grabs her by
the hand, runs off.)
(
Interesting…
(Smiles deviously.)
(He tosses
the fishing pole to the ground. )
LIGHTS OUT.
END OF ACT ONE.
The complete play, “Tomorrow’s Wish” is available at:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/tomorrows-wish/6268146
Check out Wade Bradford’s website at: