Tonight's Fire

By Alison Carey Draft 1/28/13

Cast of Characters (in order of appearance) Maddie-Claire-Julian-Douglas-Raymond-Sofia-Gwen-A 16 year old girl, mixed race Her mother, 40's, race 1 Maddie's uncle, Claire's brother, race 1 Maddie's father, Claire's husband, race 2 An intern, early 20's, race 3 Maddie, Claire and Douglas's neighbor, 30's, race 4 A friend of Claire's, 40's

(The race numeration is to indicate the assortment of races on the stage, not what those races are specifically.)

ACT ONE Late afternoon patio. Signs of impending guest arrival-bowls of chips and dip and whatnot. Tasty cool drink ingredients are ready. MADDIE, 16, sits on a chaise, a laptop on her lap. CLAIRE, late 40s, at home and glad to be, comes in with a kitschy ice bucket. MADDIE Mrs. Terrell says the first line of any play is the most important. You better go big. CLAIRE

(MADDIE thinks and types.) MADDIE Today is the day I live or I die. CLAIRE What is this about again? Did you tell me and I forgot? MADDIE Or maybe it should be the other way around. day I die or I live. CLAIRE Is someone really maybe going to die? MADDIE I dont know yet. Mrs. Terrell has me too freaked out about the first line so thats all Im thinking about. CLAIRE Do you know how it ends? Maybe you could work your way back from there. MADDIE Mrs. Terrell has not talked about the last line, and she better not. Young people only work forward. (JULIAN enters.) JULIAN Gwen is coming. She still in Phoenix? I guess. with us. CLAIRE Shes being mysterious. Shes not even staying She broke up with that nice guy. Today is the

1/28/13 MADDIE The one she brought for Thanksgiving? When was that? CLAIRE Three years ago. The year I burned the turkey. I still dont get that. How do you burn a turkey? Who else? JULIAN

CLAIRE Archer Laemmle. And I told Douglas to invite some people from the company. Archer Laemmle? What? JULIAN CLAIRE

MADDIE When we ran into him at that wedding, he told you he loved you like Oh, Claire Lyons, I love you. But after the hug was done and you werent talking right to him, he looked at you like you were a bug. JULIAN Archer does get the dead eyes. What is it that makes eyes seem that dead? CLAIRE Archer and I have known each other a long time. I remind him that hes getting older and it makes him worry about his mortality. JULIAN How does it make him feel about your mortality? CLAIRE Maybe its one of the upsides of being middle aged that people who know the incredibly stupid things you used to do start dying off. MADDIE What did you do that was so stupid? No, its what he did. CLAIRE

MADDIE So what did he do? Especially: what did he do that you did, too, that you wont admit to me?

1/28/13 CLAIRE I dont remember him doing anything memorable. Though Archer would imagine lots of things he did were memorable because he did them. It wouldnt occur to him that the rest of us... (She shrugs.) MADDIE Do you even like each other? CLAIRE Of course. Some. A lot. I dont know. come into play after a certain point. JULIAN So why did you invite him? Gwen asked me to. CLAIRE That doesnt really

MADDIE If you dont like him, call and cancel.

Thats what Id do.

CLAIRE Im not going to cancel. That would be rude. JULIAN Ruder than him not caring if youre dead? CLAIRE We dont know that for a fact. MADDIE You can call and tell him Im sick. CLAIRE I am just superstitious enough to believe that if I said that, you would get sick. MADDIE So call and tell him youre sick. CLAIRE There is a certain point when lies are so obvious they stop being lies. If I called and cancelled saying anyone was sick, it would be so clear that I was lying that I would, in effect, be telling the truth. That is an honesty that a relationship that has survived this long might not be able to handle. MADDIE But its not like that with Gwen, is it?

1/28/13 CLAIRE MADDIE

Never. Why?

CLAIRE With Gwen its always feeling safe. More than that, like if you were ever going down and reached out your hand for help, her hand would already be there to grab you. We met and became wholly friends. Lucky. And still to be that way at this age? Unicorn level rare. Thats not rare, is it? JULIAN Unicorns dont exist.

CLAIRE Not yet, my brother, not yet. (DOUGLAS, middle aged, comes in from the back gate, looks around.) Ah, shit. Dinner. DOUGLAS Right.

(DOUGLAS shakes his head. He fist bumps JULIAN, and kisses his wife and daughter as he crosses the patio into the house.) Barbecue, sweetheart. than just chatting. CLAIRE Youre happier grilling and chatting

DOUGLAS Im always happy. And that is almost always true. (And hes gone.) MADDIE I have concerns about tonight. CLAIRE Are we not like other parents? No, you are. Ow. I mean good. MADDIE CLAIRE Whats new at work, Julian?

JULIAN A beautiful life with robots. A lab-wide betting pool about oil prices. If we come up with the answers, then we keep the questions from itching so much.

1/28/13 CLAIRE I love the optimism of asking a futurist whats new at work. But you dont believe? JULIAN

CLAIRE Were all still waiting for flying cars. JULIAN You cant always say that. It was only the Jetsons, wasnt it? You cant let one cartoon determine what you dream about for the future of the planet. CLAIRE Who doesnt need a flying car? We went to the moon. Everyone needs a flying car.

JULIAN Arent we on Mars? CLAIRE Do you smell that? JULIAN

We didnt drive there. The smoke? Yeah.

MADDIE I cant really smell it anymore. Maybe I got used to it. JULIAN Did you see those embers it was throwing off? But I think its mostly contained now. Better, right? CLAIRE Im sure its just fine. (RAYMOND comes in upstage, friendly and a little shy. Hello. Hello. MADDIE RAYMOND 20s.)

(RAYMOND sees CLAIRE and heads for her.) Mrs. Lyons? RAYMOND Im the intern.

CLAIRE Claire, please. This is my daughter, Maddie, and my brother, Julian. The intern! (MADDIE holds out her hand, the model of maturity.) 5

1/28/13 RAYMOND Its very kind of you to have me for dinner.

Raymond.

CLAIRE Of course. Come in. Order a drink? Something soft. RAYMOND

CLAIRE Oh, good. You can be the clear-headed one. In case someone needs a ride to the Emergency Room. (Hand shakes around.) MADDIE I can also drive in an emergency even though I am not officially licensed. RAYMOND Good. Im not such a great driver. (He sees the soda CLAIRE is holding up.) Oh, sorry, no sugar, thanks. And I also dont know the roads. CLAIRE (digging through a cooler) Are you new here? A few months. RAYMOND From a flatter part of the country.

CLAIRE Flat can be very liberating. Such a long view, if not a deep one. And heres flat water to celebrate. (She holds up a bottle to him.) MADDIE We dont do bottled water normally. gift bag. My father got it in a

RAYMOND Flats fine. Thats good. I get my sparkles from the company. Thank you. (He takes the bottle.) Long live the company. Your home is beautiful. yard. CLAIRE RAYMOND Thats a huge tree in the front

1/28/13 MADDIE My environmental studies teacher says trees are closer to perfection than anything else he knows. JULIAN Theyd kind of have to be, wouldnt they? Why? RAYMOND

JULIAN They cant run away, can they? MADDIE Maybe they dont need to. RAYMOND Theres strength in permanence. Whos hungry? Starving. CLAIRE We have pre-food here.

MADDIE Though I know Im not really. You dont have

JULIAN You dont have to be literal when youre 16. to be anything when youre 16, do you?

CLAIRE What were you doing when you were 16, Raymond? RAYMOND Helping save a village in Africa. They were starving.

MADDIE Wow. You should get to be more than an intern for that. RAYMOND Im learning a lot being an intern. Good. CLAIRE

JULIAN How did you save a village in Africa from starving? RAYMOND Helped save. We worked together. I was a missionary. In Zimbabwe. We created a local water storage system for emergency irrigation. Now theyre doing quite well. I mean, in a Zimbabwe way.

1/28/13 MADDIE

Whats a Zimbabwe way?

RAYMOND They have fewer choices so they have more freedom. What does that mean? MADDIE

RAYMOND They dont waste time on a lot of decisions that dont matter. CLAIRE More flatland liberation. RAYMOND Flat, yes. But not low. High, flat plateaus. So beautiful. Long and deep views. We spent a day at Victoria Falls, just looking. CLAIRE But they cant make a lot of decisions that do matter. Like Im deciding today that Im not going to get arrested and tortured. JULIAN Plus they have to make lots of decisions that we dont, like, How do I carefully use limited resources to avoid disaster or worse? The decision making required of poor people exhausts them out of other opportunities. RAYMOND I wish life were different a lot of times. We are lucky. CLAIRE

MADDIE Why arent we helping save villages in Africa from starving? (DOUGLAS enters with a plate of food to grill.) Hello, again. DOUGLAS Here we are.

CLAIRE Because when Christians do it, they assume that God will watch out for them. I dont assume that anyone is ever going to watch out for us. Not that wed need it necessarily but I like to be careful. RAYMOND Christians would watch out for you. 8

1/28/13 CLAIRE Thats nice. Really. I am an optimist because I believe in the infinite capacity of people to bend the arc toward justice. But I admit I can sometimes be uncomfortable around- I dont want to be reductive-- headstrong Christians. We judge our friends by their best behavior but strangers by their worst, right? Not always the most productive strategy, but very understandable. RAYMOND So what is the worst behavior you judge Christians by? DOUGLAS Lets just say the Inquisition and be done with it. But thats Catholics. RAYMOND

CLAIRE For example, saying Catholics arent Christian. Yielding the word of God like a cleaver. DOUGLAS I think we need to think about whether we want to go down this path. RAYMOND I appreciate hearing other perspectives. No, no. Im done. CLAIRE I have nothing to prove.

JULIAN What do you do when youre not saving villages? I dont know. RAYMOND I like to think.

(CLAIRE turns to DOUGLAS.) CLAIRE Arent you the lucky one, Douglas. (DOUGLAS smiles. There are rattling sounds at the back gate.) Im at the gate! SOFIA

MADDIE (to RAYMOND) Our neighbor Sofia says we keep the gate broken on purpose. DOUGLAS I fixed the gate two years ago. 9

1/28/13 MADDIE My father can fix anything. The gates not broken! it! CLAIRE You just have to believe you can open

(SOFIA, 40s, yoga-athletic, opens the gate and comes in.) See? CLAIRE

SOFIA Sure, it worked today. And thank you for the invitation. I cant stay. I wish I could stay. And the fire? Scary. But I cant stay. (She lunges forward, extending her hand to RAYMOND.) Im Sofia. Raymond. SOFIA RAYMOND

SOFIA So nice to meet you. Im a neighbor so they invite me. Although Id be here anyway, I guess. Neighbors are as much sociology as geography. I wish I could stay. Im having dinner with my friend Hugo. We made the plans weeks ago or I would reschedule. I would reschedule like that. RAYMOND Its nice to meet you anyway. (The sound of a ringing doorbell.) CLAIRE The doors unlocked, although I dont know if theyd try it. DOUGLAS I locked it when the 7th Day Adventists passed by. (Claire exits.) But I have to go. SOFIA What am I missing?

(She reviews the food.) Chicken. DOUGLAS Turkey burgers.

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1/28/13 SOFIA DOUGLAS

No veal.

Never veal.

No one barbecues veal.

SOFIA Thats not why she didnt buy it. DOUGLAS You served steak, not veal. And it was a long time ago. SOFIA Theres so much to think about. I would like just once for us to be on the same moral plane. Just once. Who says youre not? DOUGLAS

SOFIA She is very careful about her life choices. (To RAYMOND) Claire is an ecotrendsetter. MADDIE She just thinks we should all do things we can do. about it at school a lot the same way. They talk

SOFIA She put up that laundry line so she wouldnt have to use the dryer. She thinks all the time. How am I supposed to compete with that? JULIAN You could put up two laundry lines? MADDIE You could dry laundry for the poor. DOUGLAS She doesnt use the laundry line. SOFIA Everybody has emergencies. Emergencies are like that. DOUGLAS Especially if you define emergency as having clean, wet clothes. No. Yes. SOFIA DOUGLAS

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1/28/13 SOFIA Oh, my God. I thought the line was always empty because she did the folding so quickly. She used my belief that she was better than me to make me believe that she was better than me. So many betters. I could have spent the rest of my life in that maze. DOUGLAS She used your belief that she was better than you to make her believe that she was better than you which meant she didnt have to use the laundry line. (SOFIA grasps her head in her hands.) SOFIA My head is too small for this. DOUGLAS And its a complicating question, I know, to ask why she does all the familys laundry in the first place. RAYMOND I think your head looks fine. I offered to do mine. use the machines. MADDIE She says its a less efficient way to

SOFIA (to RAYMOND, then everyone) Thank you. See? I knew I should stay. I always miss the best stuff. If I could stay, but I cant stay... (SOFIA goes out, banging the gate behind her.) JULIAN (to RAYMOND) Sofias a lovely person. Do you know other people that carry the world intensely? I do. Lots of them. RAYMOND (To DOUGLAS) The fire looks good.

DOUGLAS These self-lighting briquets make it easy. Not that it was ever too hard. Accelerant has always accelerated. (MADDIE is staring at her computer screen.) MADDIE Clancy Spivey broke her arm climbing with her dad.

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1/28/13 JULIAN Isnt Clancy Spivey that girl who almost died from an overdose of vitamins? MADDIE She really tries to be healthy. DOUGLAS It sounds like a cry for help. MADDIE I dont think Clancy Spivey is trying to kill herself. JULIAN Is a teenage girl going to commit suicide by throwing herself off a mountain? DOUGLAS I shouldnt have said anything. girls. Daddy. MADDIE I know nothing about teenage

DOUGLAS I understand there are books I could read. JULIAN But committing suicide is about ending pain. painfully? Why end pain so

DOUGLAS That is a very twenty-first century, process-oriented attitude. She may be more of a twentieth-century, product oriented person. MADDIE Like if she climbs mountains, she gets healthy and gets to have fun. RAYMOND I never thought about climbing mountains one way or another. Because of the flat. But I do think that everything that happens means something. Everything? (CLAIRE leads GWEN in.) Tah-dah! CLAIRE MADDIE

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1/28/13 GWEN Douglas! (They hug.) Julian. (They hug, maybe not as much.) And little Maddie whos not so little! (They hug. GWEN turns to RAYMOND.) And a new friend Ill be able to make! (She hugs him and then glances at the barbecue.) You still eat meat. Thats so great. Its not beef. CLAIRE

GWEN I love beef. I still eat steak tartare. You know what that is, Maddie? (to CLAIRE) Whats the deal with Archer? MADDIE I saw steak tartare on tv. Scary, right? GWEN

CLAIRE Archer has his own schedule. GWEN Do you guys see each other much? We try. CLAIRE Were both so busy.

(MADDIE pretends to gag.) Dont I know it. Oh, thanks. Vodka. GWEN (She looks around.) The place looks great.

CLAIRE Its... red? GWEN CLAIRE

Neat.

You got it.

(CLAIRE goes to make GWENs drink.) GWEN I was going to get healthy but I didnt. Look, you have an herb garden! Remember the little pots we had on the window sill? Archer got them for us. CLAIRE Because your grandmother said A house is not a home without horticulture.

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1/28/13 GWEN Wasnt it your grandmother? No. Was it? I think. Which one? CLAIRE GWEN CLAIRE

GWEN The one whose funeral I went to? I dont know... CLAIRE Delia hated plants.

GWEN But my grandma Lucy hated pithy sayings. CLAIRE Thats right! Your grandma Lucy hated everything. GWEN Someones grandmother said it. Our collective grandmother.

CLAIRE (To MADDIE) The little blue pot we keep the pens in by the white phone? We had dozens of those all lined up, in alphabetical order by herb. That was a proud time. Until we killed them. GWEN

CLAIRE At that age, we werent very good at giving consistent care to other living things. GWEN But we took care of each other... (CLAIRE throws her arm around GWEN and hugs her.) CLAIRE Im so glad youre here. MADDIE You have to tell me what my mom was like back then. No, you do not. CLAIRE

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1/28/13 MADDIE You shouldnt try to control what people say.

Its fine.

JULIAN Should we have the first amendment rolling over in its tiny parchment grave? RAYMOND Thats my favorite amendment. JULIAN Freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Score! MADDIE

(MADDIE and RAYMOND high-five.) DOUGLAS But theyre not absolute rights. You cant shout fire in a crowded theater. Oliver Wendell Holmes. I love a man with three names. You have three names. I know. MADDIE DOUGLAS

CLAIRE Speaking of theaters, Maddie is writing a play. MADDIE I dont think I have the imagination for it. You dont? JULIAN

MADDIE You imagine for your job. Its different for me. JULIAN I dont know if its imagining. Its following things out to...out. CLAIRE I was reading somewhere the best way to get to sleep is to imagine good things happening to you. Whats the happiest thought we could think of before going to sleep? That Id wake up alive. GWEN

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1/28/13 RAYMOND That if I died Id wake up in the arms of God. My. He was a missionary. GWEN CLAIRE

GWEN Have we already made the joke about the position? Jesus! DOUGLAS

GWEN Sorry. I guess Ive been away from polite company. Although I dont know that taking the Lords name in vain was really the perfect response. DOUGLAS (to RAYMOND) RAYMOND Im a human being.

Excuse me. Im fine.

No worries.

GWEN I see that, and good for you. Forgive my inappropriate comment and tell me about your mission. CLAIRE Hes not on a mission now. He works at Douglass company. (DOUGLAS and RAYMOND are silenced by confusion.) Im sorry. RAYMOND

DOUGLAS Raymond doesnt work at my company. I wouldnt know-(CLAIRE is a little undone.)

Or at least not in IT.

CLAIRE Oh, its me thats so sorry. (Turns to DOUGLAS.) were lucky because he likes to think--

I said you

DOUGLAS If I stopped the conversation every time I didnt understand something somebody said, my life would be one giant pause. I met Raymond at the front door when I let him in.

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1/28/13 (DOUGLAS is struck by a thought.) 7th Day Adventists? Baptist. RAYMOND Wait. Are you one of the

CLAIRE But didnt you say you get sparkles from the company? RAYMOND Yes. I meant the people here, the company. Sorry. I came because Archer Laemmle invited me. Youre his intern? Kind of. GWEN

RAYMOND Im an intern at his company. CLAIRE Excuse my stupidity.

Well, Im so glad.

RAYMOND No, I-- he said you invited me when he couldnt come. When he couldnt come? GWEN Shit! Youre a lunatic

DOUGLAS Archer Laemmle was coming? (To CLAIRE) when hes around. (To CLAIRE) See? MADDIE

CLAIRE Of course he called and of course I invited you. GWEN You knew he wasnt coming? MADDIE Im glad hes not coming. I forgot. CLAIRE I forget things all the time.

RAYMOND I really thought he called. Im so sorry. JULIAN Its not your fault, is it? The dead eyes have always been a giveaway.

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1/28/13 MADDIE Everything happens for a reason. CLAIRE Would you like some more water? No, I-Chickenshit. Gwen. RAYMOND GWEN CLAIRE

GWEN Because he wouldnt bail me out of jail, now hes too embarrassed to show his face. What? CLAIRE

GWEN Everybody thinks drug dealers make all this money. Well, I didnt. There are a lot of expenses and no margin. And I ask an old friend to help and he never even responds. Like he wasnt the first person I ever did coke with. MADDIE I knew you guys did drugs! Gwen! CLAIRE

RAYMOND I dont think Mr. Laemmle does drugs anymore. of responsibilities. CLAIRE (to GWEN) You work for a venture capital firm. GWEN Not too many startups in lockdown. RAYMOND I used to volunteer for a prison ministry.

He has a lot

GWEN Oh, great, now everythings going to be about Gwen the Felon. Gwelon. JULIAN

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1/28/13 (GWEN desperately tries to keep herself from crying. They all stare at her. RAYMOND moves toward her and she looks at him.) GWEN Dont talk to me about God. Not unless Hes prepared to give me a lot of money. Two nights I sat outside Archers house. He has gates, a security system. No one came in or went out. And I thought, what am I doing this for? $65,000. So I can be done with that part of my life. It would be nothing for him. Nothing. But he never would because then, well, I dont know. Then hed have to give money to all his friends. RAYMOND I dont know about Mr. Laemmle, but many wealthy people allow consultants to make all their decisions about charitable giving. It can be quite stressful, especially when you think that you can decide who lives and who dies. Stressful for Archer? JULIAN Im not sure. We just

RAYMOND Although only God really decides things like that. imagine we do. Weve gone past his design for us.

GWEN Sounds like something he should have thought through. Or we should. RAYMOND

GWEN Its always our fucking fault, isnt it? Even when there is an omniscient being supposed to be lurking around... Fucking Garden of Eden. One slip up and bam, thats it? What kind of asshole parenting is that? If He really exists, hed have a really simple system-- youre good, you get rewarded. Bad? Fine, well, you knew what was coming. But that has nothing to do with what life is really like. So then we have to manipulate our made-up God into some S & M based, all-aboutme-prig instead of like, God. Otherwise none of it makes any sense. Not that it makes any sense anyway. (GWEN drinks.) RAYMOND Thats not how I understand Him. DOUGLAS Who wants cheese on their turkey burger? Provolone? Anybody? Nothing for me. RAYMOND I should really go. 20 Cheddar? Swiss?

1/28/13 EVERYONE BUT RAYMOND

Nooo...

RAYMOND I feel bad for not being invited. Were inviting you now. CLAIRE

RAYMOND Thank you very much anyway. I have a lot of work to catch up on. Even interns have work. (He touches GWENs shoulder.) Take care. Ill tell Mr. Laemmle you said hello. GWEN You can tell Archer to go fuck himself. that I love him and Ill call him. Cmon, Maddie. DOUGLAS Lets show Raymond out. No, no. Tell him

(DOUGLAS starts leading RAYMOND out. MADDIE dawdles and DOUGLAS gives her the universal parent I mean right now look.) Maddie. (They go. DOUGLAS CLAIRE calls after them.)

CLAIRE Thank you for coming. Youve had such an interesting life. Ive never helped save villages or been to prison. GWEN I remember when I used to be able to say that. (Theyre gone.) JULIAN He sent an intern to stand in for him at a social occasion? Have you ever even heard of someone doing that? (The grill pops and he notices.) Im going to get a clean plate for the meat, because done is done, isnt it? Get your private girl shit on fast and then well eat some charred flesh. (JULIAN leaves.) CLAIRE (to GWEN)

Whats going on?

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1/28/13 GWEN Really bad things. Really, really bad things. You just dont know how bad things can be and then suddenly things are really bad. CLAIRE But you were doing fine. GWEN I took some money. And then I had to replace it so I sold some drugs. And I got caught and I went to jail. And when I got out the people I got the drugs from wanted me to pay them and I couldnt and they were threatening me and following me-(The sound of a CAR STARTING.) CLAIRE Following you like following you here? No. In Phoenix. GWEN I mean, I guess eventually. CLAIRE I dont know.

Gwen.

GWEN I know. I didnt want to tell you. Archer then maybe...

I thought if I could see

CLAIRE Hed give you money to pay off drug dealers? GWEN Hed give me money to keep me from being killed. Hed give me money if I needed it for a kidney transplant, wouldnt he? I dont know. CLAIRE I dont think so. GWEN CLAIRE GWEN CLAIRE

But were friends. Are you? Arent you? Friends with Archer?

GWEN What else would I be asking?

Friends with me?

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Of all the things we have to talk about, is this the thing we should be talking about? GWEN Do you have tens of thousands of extra dollars? No. CLAIRE

GWEN Then really any topic is the same as another. meaningless. At least to me. Hows work? Meaningless, I guess. CLAIRE At least to you.

And ultimately

GWEN You say that like I did this on purpose. How many people do you know who destroy their lives on purpose? (The distant sound of a CAR HORN, first a bleat and then a long, loud, continuing blare.) GWEN I saw that fire on the way here. It sure is thorough, isnt it? CLAIRE There must be another way to fix your situation, right? GWEN When I was in 7th grade, I was watching with my dad, what, some cop show, and someone, a guest star, killed himself. And I turned to my father and said, If I was ever that unhappy, Id move somewhere else and start over. And he gave me this look, a Look, and he said, Gwen-(MADDIE runs in, moving toward hysteria.) MADDIE He went over the embankment! What? The intern. Shit. Raymond. CLAIRE MADDIE CLAIRE

MADDIE Daddy called 911 and he and Julian are running down. 23

1/28/13 CLAIRE Lets figure out what we can do to help. fine.

Its going to be

(CLAIRE hurries into the house, tucking her arm into MADDIES and taking her along. GWEN watches them go.) GWEN I guess thats what you get when you send a fucking intern. (GWEN downs the rest her drink. A piece of meat on the barbecue flames, then fades smokily.) END OF ACT ONE

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1/28/13 BETWEEN MADDIE enters carrying her laptop. MADDIE George Baker, a guy a lot of people quote on the internet, I guess he said But what is drama? Broadly speaking, it is whatever by imitative action rouses interest or gives pleasure. Not too much help for a sixteen year old who has to write a play. (She stares at the screen blankly for a moment.) MADDIE Mrs. Terrell says she knows that theres nothing more terrifying than the blank page, but whats scary is the blank mind. (She stares at the screen blankly for a moment.) MADDIE Mrs. Terrell says you can make a whole world yourself when you write a play. To me, that is just too much responsibility.

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1/28/13 ACT TWO Guest room and maybe the hallway leading to it. Maybe some long-unused sports equipment. RAYMOND, adorned with medical paraphernalia is in the bed, asleep. CLAIRE sits reading. MADDIE tiptoes in, carrying sheets. MADDIE Is twin the same thing as double? No. What am I looking for? Twin. CLAIRE MADDIE

CLAIRE What we used to call single. MADDIE

One person.

Twins are two people.

CLAIRE One twin isnt. Two twins is double. Which is called full by sheetmakers. Full of what, I dont know. Twins. But not royal twins, queens and kings. They have their own beds, which presumably they sleep in alone, what with the loneliness of power and all that. I think theyre all antidemocratic tools, so their personal pain doesnt bother me. Plus we probably dont need it until tomorrow. MADDIE Arent we going to wake him up? (CLAIRE looks at her phone.) CLAIRE Not yet. His naps are as regular as the cycles of the moon. Its the medication. JULIAN (off)

Where is everybody?

MADDIE Now were going to wake him up. Shhhh. CLAIRE

(JULIAN enters, sees RAYMOND.) Is that Raymond? JULIAN

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1/28/13 CLAIRE They were discharging him. He needed a place to go where he could get some basic care. JULIAN Why isnt Archer making sure hes at his own place with a nurse? Archer sent flowers. CLAIRE They died. He didnt send more.

(DOUGLAS comes in carrying a television. MADDIE and CLAIRE go to help him and they put it on a thing youd put a tv on.) DOUGLAS Were going to wake him up. MADDIE Naps as regular as the cycles of the moon. (SOFIA enters with a wooden bowl of fruit and puts it where a fruit bowl might go.) JULIAN Are we going to wake him up? Hes a missionary. SOFIA Maybe hell wake you up. Hah.

JULIAN But why would he want to come here? Why wouldnt he? MADDIE

JULIAN Because you almost killed him? We did not. help him. CLAIRE But if we did, all the more reason for us to

JULIAN I get why youd want to help him. help?

But why would he want the

MADDIE He comes from a place where people help each other. used to it. I was the one who asked him. DOUGLAS (about the television) We need electricity.

Hes

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1/28/13 SOFIA Very Frankenstein. Not that hes dead. Dear me. converted, the way electricity is. Converted. CLAIRE Whats he being converted to? SOFIA Maybe your life philosophy. Thats a big thing, a life philosophy. A conversion. JULIAN Electricity is generally converted to light, heat or motion energy. Of course, electricity was itself converted from some other energy form-- coal, hydro, solar. The thing that makes the change, the transducer, then were getting into the good stuff, arent we? SOFIA I would love to be a transducer. MADDIE (to CLAIRE) Do you have a life philosophy? (RAYMOND moans lightly. Everyone ducks.) CLAIRE The cycles of the moon are not supposed to change. (Everyone but CLAIRE begins to sneak out.) JULIAN Thats setting the bar kind of low as a life philosophy. GWEN (off) I knocked at the front and no one answered so I came in the back. (GWEN enters, and everyone but CLAIRE swarms past her to get out. CLAIRE jumps to GWEN and puts her finger to her lips in a shhh signal. RAYMOND settles.) CLAIRE That doesnt actually follow. What? GWEN

Just being

CLAIRE Because someone doesnt let you in the front doesnt give you permission to come in the back.

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1/28/13 GWEN I went to see him at the hospital and they said he was here. CLAIRE I dont think he wants to see you, Gwen. scary. Im not. GWEN Youre a little

CLAIRE Sofia says when the police came to the accident you hid in your car behind her house until they were gone. So they wouldnt see you. GWEN That makes me scared, not scary. CLAIRE You chose to become a criminal. GWEN Its not like converting to Buddhism or joining the Libertarian Party. CLAIRE It seems like that to us non-criminals. choice. Its a very big

GWEN Its an incredibly easy one. Youre driving down one crowded road and its full of people who really are trying to do the right thing and can be trusted and then bam, suddenly youve merged, without noticing, onto another very crowded road with people who are not trying to do the right thing but they dont look any different. CLAIRE Maybe we shouldnt be talking about driving. GWEN So its like standing still in a giant room and youre surrounded by money. At first, theres this thick glass wall between you and it, and all you can do is look, and marvel. Then you reach your hand to the wall, and you just give a leeeettle push and you find that your hand can go right through. And you can touch everything beyond the wall, and hold it, and make it yours, and its so nice. CLAIRE Some people wouldnt try to push their hands through the wall. Some people wouldnt even touch the wall.

29

1/28/13 GWEN Why is it that the sins that you take seriously are the only ones that count? Although even those are so haphazardly applied. What does that mean? CLAIRE

GWEN You were like that in college, Oh, yeah, everyone should tithe to the poor, EXCEPT when you wanted to go out for cheesesteak. Exceptions to your moral order abound but can only be granted by you if it serves your own needs. Tithe? CLAIRE I never said we should tithe. Thats a church word.

GWEN You knew what it was though. What?! CLAIRE

GWEN Your version of it. Wear a hairshirt. Put rocks in your shoes on purpose. Dont get a soda with your cheesesteak. You and Archer, smiling and drinking your big glasses of water. A long time ago, Archer drinking tap water. CLAIRE You cant win an argument by just making shit up. Sure I can. GWEN How is Raymond?

CLAIRE Hes not a path to Archers money, if thats what youre asking. GWEN Even I draw the line at exploiting children. CLAIRE You thieves and your rules. GWEN I know youre thinking that theres something pathetic about my being reduced to a character from a television show. I was thinking movie. Now theres a friend. CLAIRE GWEN

30

1/28/13 CLAIRE We have about $6,000 in the bank. Thats okay. GWEN

CLAIRE I wasnt actually offering it to you. I was just letting you know that we dont have enough to bother stealing. GWEN You think I didnt check already? CLAIRE Is that a joke? I really dont know. I cant believe I dont know you anymore. Its making me hurt. (RAYMOND stirs. CLAIRE jumps up, as if to move GWEN out the door. GWEN doesnt move and CLAIRE puts her hand up to move her. GWEN reaches up to defend herself, and they are both surprised by the physicality. Then RAYMOND is awake, and pulls himself up in the bed, straining with awkward soreness and looking at them. CLAIRE pushes GWEN out.) Wait! Hello? RAYMOND

(No answer.) Hello? (Still no one. peeks in.) Hello back. RAYMOND He leans back and starts to pray. MADDIE

MADDIE But I dont want to interrupt.

RAYMOND Id really like it if you came in. MADDIE My mother sent me to check on you. Theres fresh water. And snacks. And heres the remote for the tv. You can get any movie or sports events available anywhere in the world after Daddy brings the extension cord. Its really great. Thank you. RAYMOND It is great. So much stuff.

(She pours him water.)

31

1/28/13 MADDIE Mommy thinks that when youre sick, distractions are better than real life. (DOUGLAS enters with an extension cord.) DOUGLAS Theres a life philosophy. How are you feeling, Raymond? Im not sick. RAYMOND Just damaged. But healing.

DOUGLAS I know Claire has told you how sorry we are that this all happened. (DOUGLAS works on plugging in the television.) Many, many times. stronger. RAYOMND But I didnt die, so Ill just get DOUGLAS Take advantage of any chance to get

Thats a good attitude. stronger.

MADDIE Is that your life philosophy? (DOUGLAS stops for a minute.) No. Do you have one? Love my family. DOUGLAS MADDIE DOUGLAS (To RAYMOND) Call your parents.

RAYMOND My mother. Shell worry too much. And shes afraid to fly. Although she should be afraid to drive. DOUGLAS I bet shes not afraid to talk on the phone. (DOUGLAS grabs RAYMONDs phone and hands RAYMOND the phone and the remote.) (to MADDIE) DOUGLAS Dont forget your homework.

32

1/28/13 MADDIE

I know. (DOUGLAS exits.) You want to call? Later. Maybe later.

MADDIE RAYMOND

MADDIE Do you remember when you said that everything happens for a reason? I couldnt really figure one out for this. RAYMOND Sometimes we just need to be reminded of our mortality. keeps us humble. MADDIE Did you think you were going to die? RAYMOND I dont know. Where I come from, death is a big deal. I guess it is everywhere. What I mean is that its spiritual. That moment when I realized I was going over the edge, it felt stupid. MADDIE Did your life flash before your eyes? RAYMOND My mom. Church. Camp. Only beautiful things. beautiful goodbye card. Like a It

MADDIE I dont even know what Id have to flash. In kindergarten maybe, Id always ask my parents to tell me stories from when they were little. My mom told me about when her friend Lizzy cut her foot and my mom had to carry her home piggy back. And once there was an ice storm and her family had to start burning furniture to keep from freezing. And my dad told me about when his sister made him run across the back yard with his eyes closed and he ran into the grill and he still has the scar. Mean. Not beautiful. RAYMOND

MADDIE So one time my dad asked me if I had stories from when I was little. All I could think of were their stories. Its like Im still too young to have stories. I just have life.

33

1/28/13 RAYMOND My mother was in a tornado when she was 4, and she remembers everything about it. She thinks American kids these days dont have enough bad things happen to them to make memories. MADDIE Im pretty sure some kids do. But maybe they dont want to keep them. RAYMOND Id be happy to forget that accident. (MADDIE takes a toy safe off a shelf.) MADDIE Here. I used to use this to lock away bad thoughts. Different from memories, but it ought to still work. (She gets it for him to show him how it works.) MADDIE You can type a number or it can recognize when you say the password. Whats the password? RAYMOND

MADDIE I dont remember. But the combination is 0,0,0,0. changed it from the preset. (RAYMOND presses the numbers and the safe beeps. opens it and looks inside.) Empty. RAYMOND

I never

RAYMOND

MADDIE Mybe bad thoughts evaporate with time. room. Great.

So theres plenty of

RAYMOND Im putting the accident in, and then we close.

(He thinks and then closes the safe.) MADDIE Do you still remember it? What? RAYMOND

MADDIE Gwen didnt used to be like that.

She was really nice. 34

1/28/13 RAYMOND Satan hides where we least expect him. MADDIE Do you actually believe in Satan, like a something, like a dude? RAYMOND Hes not like a something. He is something. Not a dude exactly, I dont think. A meta back-up plan for when you need it. If you try to ignore what God tells you to do, Satan is there to get you back on track. Right. MADDIE

RAYMOND My mother used to say Be right or be left behind and my brother was a lefty, so when he was nine, he tried to cut his hand off. Thats awful. MADDIE

RAYMOND He didnt do it. He just tried. My mom saved him. Or God did. Same thing. MADDIE My dad said when he was growing up, people talked about saving the world, like it was a shorthand, like Oh, hes going off to save the world. They could be doing anything, really. It was just about generally doing good. But when people like you talk about saving, its not a metaphor, right? RAYMOND Exactly. There is saved and unsaved. Just that simple. Very real. And very important when Judgement Day comes. MADDIE I dont expect that day to happen. RAYMOND My mother is a big believer in the End of Days. They show up in all three Abrahamic religions. The hard times before the Second Coming is where my mother puts her energy because theyll bring an end to suffering and evil. But the world also ends before Allah's final assessment of human beings, and in Judaism the Messianic era leads to the coming of Mashiach. Its a very popular concept. Maybe you could make your play about that.

35

1/28/13 MADDIE Im still on the first line.

Ugh.

RAYMOND Sometimes the actual words dont matter so much. Da da dadada, Da dadada da dada da da da. Da da da da dada da, da da; da dada da dada da da da da da. Da da Dada da Da da dada da da da da dada. Da Da da: Da da da da; da da da da. I dont get it. MADDIE

RAYMOND My mother and I would test each other with just that, seeing whether we could recognize passages from the Bible just by the rhythm of them. You know what that was? No. MADDIE

RAYMOND Your first line: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Okay, so you do it. What? Da da da da da da da. I cant. (Or maybe she can.) MADDIE Da da. (Still I cant.) Da da, da? RAYMOND (You can, see?) MADDIE RAYMOND (Write the first line of your play.) MADDIE

MADDIE Dada. Da da da. Da da DA? (Okay. Here I go. He said WHAT?) RAYMOND Na na na na na na na na na na. Ma ma mama ma? Mama? MADDIE

36

1/28/13 RAYMOND

Sa sa sa.

MADDIE La la lalalala la la, la la la. Ga. Wawawawa wa wa wa. Pa. (MADDIE nods.) Pa. Da Da. (The End.) (They laugh.) MADDIE Is that what speaking in tongues is like? Not at all. RAYMOND MADDIE RAYMOND AND MADDIE RAYMOND MADDIE RAYMOND

(They keep laughing. JULIAN comes in.) Hey, there. JULIAN Is it Mario Andretti?

(He reaches over and JULIAN and RAYMOND shake hands.) Who? Famous driver, right? Right. MADDIE RAYMOND And youre Julian? JULIAN

RAYMOND I dont remember too much after the accident, when I was still in the car. But I remember you talking to me. Thanks. Sure. Who wouldnt? JULIAN I took over for Claire.

37

1/28/13 RAYMOND Didnt you tell me about other life on earth, something? JULIAN The shadow biosphere. Maybe life on earth started more than once. Could there be different kinds of life inhabiting the planet with us right now? Actually right now? I love that. Really? MADDIE

JULIAN Maybe in extreme heat or cold. Or even some microbial presence that would be in the air? Could be, right? Something is sufficiently different in origin from ours that its undetectable. Wouldnt that be great? (MADDIE squints.) I dont see it. MADDIE

JULIAN Maybe its not there. This is the good part of doing Future and Foresight Studies, isnt it? Ill be dead before anyone knows whether I was any good or not. RAYMOND How do you do it, tell the future? JULIAN Scenario planning. Imagine all the things that could happen. What if? Narrow them down to a few most emblematically significant, say, heaven version, hell version, and a third somewhere in between. Make sense? Get the people who pay you to plan for all three, up front. RAYMOND So theres not one future. JULIAN Well, there will be. In our universe. But is it the future after it becomes the present? That shakes things up. RAYMOND A season for everything. JULIAN Some people like the cyclical perspective, dont they? But political scientists? They love pendulum models. Both models go back to a starting point, right? But that might be because weve been seduced by our inventions.

38

1/28/13 RAYMOND Ive never invented anything. Who has? MADDIE

JULIAN Not us us, big us. Most of the things we built over the past hundred-and-some years were built to be stable, to bounce back when they are stressed. Isnt it pleasant to assume that there is some sort of grand equilibrium that is the natural state of everything? But is it true? No. No? No. Nonlinear systems, because theyre so complex, can go through violent, unpredictable and permanent change. Where are my fine scenarios then? Maybe nowhere. Maybe worth nothing. (CLAIRE enters.) CLAIRE Clearly, this is where the partys happening. Is this a party? MADDIE

(The sound of a helicopter.) It must be, right? down. JULIAN The cops are already trying to shut us

MADDIE They probably heard Gwen was here. Shes gone. CLAIRE

MADDIE I told Raymond she didnt used to be a criminal. CLAIRE No. I dont--. No. She wasnt. cant think about her now. (SOFIA comes in, breathless.) SOFIA The fire. Its turned. We have to evacuate. They gave us fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes. What? Shit. CLAIRE JULIAN She was great. But I

39

1/28/13 CLAIRE

How do you know?

SOFIA Theres someone going door to door.

Person to person.

JULIAN This is the hell version scenario, isnt it? I cant believe that. CLAIRE I thought it was mostly contained.

(CLAIRE grabs the tv remote.) Its fire. JULIAN

(DOUGLAS comes in pushing a wheelchair. He takes the remote out of CLAIREs hand and throws it away.) DOUGLAS No time for watching. Just time for going. (To RAYMOND.) That means you. I cant-RAYMOND People first.

DOUGLAS I know that its difficult to fully understand your bad luck at ever having met us, having come to our home for not one but two disasters. And I understand your desire to avoid pain. We all feel that. But we have to go. (SOFIA, JULIAN and CLAIRE both go to join him in getting RAYMOND up. The pain is clear.) JULIAN (to CLAIRE and SOFIA) Let me do this, okay? Get the things you need. (SOFIA dashes out.) CLAIRE (to MADDIE) You have three minutes to take what you want from your room. Then you go to the back gate and stay there. My phone. (Ah, yes. RAYMOND I need my phone. He has things, too.)

40

1/28/13 CLAIRE Yes, of course, well take it. Well take it all. hardly anything.

Its

(CLAIRE turns and grabs a gym bag from the foot of the bed. She grabs things and drops them into the bag.) Ill do this. MADDIE I have time.

(CLAIRE sees the wisdom of MADDIES idea, hands her the bag.) Where are we going? MADDIE

(DOUGLAS and CLAIRE look at JULIAN.) JULIAN My place is stairs to get there? Stairs to pee?

(Thats not going to work for RAYMOND.) RAYMOND I can figure something out. You dont have to-DOUGLAS Theyre making Lincoln Elementary a shelter. Well start there. (CLAIRE is gone.) MADDIE (to RAYMOND) I liked it before when you were praying. (RAYMOND starts to pray as they complete the transfer. DOUGLAS joins in and DOUGLAS and JULIAN wheel RAYMOND out. MADDIE, almost done packing RAYMONDS things, unzips the end pocket of the bag to put something in it and stops, staring in the bag.) Daddy--! MADDIE CLAIRE

(But she realizes she has to deal by herself. She takes a gun out, holding it with her pinky. She goes to the closet-- one of those wide, slotted door kind-- and pulls open the door. She is surprised at what she sees: piles and piles of books filling the closet. Still holding the gun with her right hand, she pulls one out with her left and looks at it: The Long Emergency. She takes out another: Storms of My Grandchildren.) 41

1/28/13 MADDIE

Jesus.

(She takes a broader glance, reaching in and rummaging when she needs to. Another title: Now or Never.) MADDIE Who buys this many books about climate change? environmentally unsound. Its ...

(Not a question to answer now. What the hell should she do with the gun? She sees the safe still near RAYMONDs bed. She grabs it.) MADDIE Mommy wont figure this out. (The safe beeps, unlocked at hearing the password. She puts the gun inside it, puts the safe in the closet with the books and closes the door.) Jesus. MADDIE

(She grabs RAYMONDs bag and runs out of the room.) END OF ACT TWO

42

1/28/13 BETWEEN MADDIE comes in, still holding her laptop. MADDIE And sometimes, you dont really care about plays at all. (She puts her laptop on the lip of the stage and leaves it there as she exits.)

43

1/28/13 ACT THREE Back on the patio. RAYMOND sits and prays by the gate. Some things piled, including RAYMONDs bag. CLAIRE comes running on, holding a phone and checking things off a list. Distant sirens. That strange light that fire makes. CLAIRE Theyre sending a medivan to evacuate you, Raymond. How soon? Thank you. JULIAN RAYMOND

CLAIRE They understand the situation. As soon as possible. The Manor is also on a single access road and the fire is cutting across the top there. JULIAN The fire department said fifteen minutes, right? CLAIRE If they dont come, well take you out. (JULIAN goes to his bike.) I need to go. Dont be an idiot. roads. JULIAN CLAIRE You cant bike out.

Fire jumps across

JULIAN Dont you have a Prius, Claire? we wont all fit.

If you need to take Raymond,

CLAIRE You can ride with Sofia. We stay together. Is her car charged? Its charged. Im checking. JULIAN She never charges it. CLAIRE JULIAN CLAIRE stands in the gate

(JULIAN exits out the back gate. looking for the medivan.)

44

1/28/13 CLAIRE Who designs neighborhoods with only one road out? RAYMOND Where I grew up, a lot of them are like that. it keeps out bad guys. My uncle said

CLAIRE Its stupid. Kids on bikes get hit by cars more in the suburbs than the cities because the suburbs are designed to be inefficient. Ironic, right? The things we do to ourselves. Why am I talking? (DOUGLAS comes in with a backpack. the house.) CLAIRE start to cross into

DOUGLAS The passports arent there, just copies. CLAIRE No border crossings for us. Except into hell. DOUGLAS Hard drives. Chargers.

CLAIRE What about your journals? I dont need them. You need them. Its okay, Claire. DOUGLAS CLAIRE DOUGLAS Everything is replaceable. MADDIE comes running in

CLAIRE Okay. (DOUGLAS runs back out again. and drops stuff.) I have to go get my-MADDIE

CLAIRE Maybe you dont need anything else. MADDIE Yes I do! I at least need some more clothes. gone for-In case were

CLAIRE The stores wont burn down. Everything is replaceable.

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1/28/13 MADDIE

No, its not!

CLAIRE Did you get Raymonds medication? MADDIE (off)

Am I an idiot?

(JULIAN enters and grabs things to take to the car, as he does throughout the scene, maybe. CLAIRE looks at the list, is tempted to give up.) CLAIRE (to JULIAN) We should just get in the car right now. Shit, my wedding dress... JULIAN We need the medivan to come. We still have a couple of minutes, dont we? Family photos. Art. Are you looking at your list? (CLAIRE looks at the list.) Family photos. jewelry. Art. CLAIRE Maddies schoolwork and stories. Moms

(DOUGLAS comes out with computer stuff in a box as she goes in to the house.) It wont all fit. DOUGLAS (Calling to CLAIRE) RAYMOND You have the violins?

Its because of me.

JULIAN Its because of me, too, isnt it? sleep.

Im not going to lose any

(CLAIRE comes out with a box of photoish type things.) CLAIRE I think I have the negatives for everything on the walls. Negatives. Wow. Imagine them naming a thing negative these days. Would not happen. The violin. DOUGLAS

46

1/28/13 CLAIRE

Both violins.

DOUGLAS We dont play either of them. CLAIRE Theyre musical instruments. Theyre sacred. Why? DOUGLAS

(MADDIE comes out with loose papers and mementos.) I dont need my violin. MADDIE I dont play the violin anymore.

CLAIRE Leaving an instrument is like leaving a pet. No, its not. JULIAN Why do you think like that?

MADDIE We might never be back here, right? Well be back here. CLAIRE Here might just be different.

MADDIE Like non-existent different. CLAIRE Im sure it will be fine. Its a fire. MADDIE

CLAIRE The world doesnt have to end. (To DOUGLAS) Your fathers tools. I dont need them. You love them. DOUGLAS

CLAIRE Whats the difference? DOUGLAS It wont all fit. CLAIRE Jesus, the Bible.

It doesnt matter.

Then just Maddies art.

47

1/28/13 MADDIE We dont believe in God. CLAIRE I believe in family heirlooms. (She runs into the house. MADDIE runs after her.)

DOUGLAS Get your ancestry research! JULIAN Wait-- this is what crisis does, doesnt it? other people whats important to them. DOUGLAS I never wanted to be that person. JULIAN Its not all going to fit anyway, is it? Is Sofia ready? SOFIA! DOUGLAS Now we tell

(DOUGLAS goes out though the gate.) I shouldnt have come. RAYMOND

JULIAN Cant think like that. Let me check for the van. (DOUGLAS comes back in, bringing something back. RAYMOND tries to move. Pain. MADDIE and CLAIRE come out with insane amounts of stuff.) We cant take it all. Im sorry. your life. DOUGLAS Thats it. We need to go.

RAYMOND I feel like you have to choose between me and

CLAIRE Dont be silly. We invited you here. And your van will get here any minute and everything will be fine. Its time to go. DOUGLAS So were taking Raymond.

CLAIRE In the time it will take to unpack the car, the van will be here.

48

1/28/13 MADDIE But we dont even have everything in yet. RAYMOND

Unpack the car? Im so sorry.

CLAIRE We cant take everything if were taking Raymond. But I thought the van-Maddie! No van. Lets go. I can wait for the van. We stay together. Just my yearbooks! MADDIE CLAIRE DOUGLAS RAYMOND CLAIRE MADDIE Ill just get my yearbooks!! Good?

JULIAN Ill ride out and Raymond can go with Sofia. (MADDIE starts to go through the bags.) You can replace those. DOUGLAS Leave them!

MADDIE I want to decide what I lose!

I want to decide!

CLAIRE Thats not a choice we always get, honey. (She goes to her daughter to take her out.) I can ride out, okay? We stay together. JULIAN Itll be fine. CLAIRE

JULIAN Ill ride ahead. We see the fire, we stop and leave things by the side of the road and Ill climb in. Easy, right? Ill climb in on top of them.

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Were not going to talk about this. No, I didnt mean-He knows. We are. MADDIE

CLAIRE We are done talking. JULIAN

(JULIAN heads his bike toward the gate. CLAIRE grabs a knife off the grill and plunges it into JULIANs tire.) Shit! Now were done talking. I wasnt-What the hell was that? Were leaving. (SOFIA comes in.) I need your hoses. Why? SOFIA You have a bunch of hoses. CLAIRE JULIAN CLAIRE MADDIE JULIAN DOUGLAS

(SOFIA starts dragging a hose across the yard. Not very long. She goes and grabs others, starts attaching them.) Im staying. SOFIA Staying home. DOUGLAS

Youre not staying.

CLAIRE No one is staying. Its a fire.

It will kill you.

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1/28/13 SOFIA You have each other to make your home. (Pointing around to folks.) Home, home, home, as good as home, guest living at their home. Special. What I have is my actual home. It turns out I am all geography. JULIAN Just take the family photos and art. SOFIA Have you been in my house? Thats all it is! And really, if everyone did that, you know what well be in five years? A continent covered in family photos and art and nothing else. Imagine that, and plan your meal from that worthless crop. Nasty plateful of existence. But this is what life is becoming, one disaster after another, floods and fires and earthquakes and tsunamis. This is what the future looks like, everything burning and breaking and eroding and no time and no resources to fix it and theres no progress or egress, just regress. Someone needs to be a grown-up. People stay and fight fires off all the time. They die all the time. DOUGLAS

SOFIA Part of being a grown-up is that you get to make your own decisions. No, you dont. MADDIE You dont. Mom just said that!

CLAIRE Sofia, if the medivan doesnt come-- Douglas, check-- theres no room in our car. You need to take Julian. SOFIA He can take my car. That way you have more room for your family photos and art. Yum. Ill run out if it looks bad. I can still run. JULIAN So can I, right? Although the bike would have been safer. CLAIRE Why are we having this ridiculous conversation? (Looks at his phone.) JULIAN Cancel that. Theres secondary fires already started. says they tripled the evacuation zone. Zones now. No containment yet. Jay

51

1/28/13 MADDIE

Mommy!

Daddy!

SOFIA Guess I better get started. Here I go! CLAIRE Sofia, this is not going to happen! What is wrong with you? People

SOFIA Whats wrong with me? Whats wrong with you?! shouldnt have to live like this! Like what? CLAIRE

SOFIA Fighting everything. Fighting nature. realities. Its stupid. JULIAN Is that our best definition of stupid? DOUGLAS Thats all people do. Its not stupid. So its not stupid. SOFIA Its my smart.

Fighting existential

Im smart.

Im staying.

JULIAN This is what my friend Jay barely got away from. (JULIAN walks up to SOFIA to show her his phone.) Its an inferno. JULIAN Can you see that?

(SOFIA wont look and pushes him away.) Thats him. SOFIA Thats not me. CLAIRE

Youre being crazy.

(JULIAN takes her arm and she hits him. JULIAN tries to control her, and DOUGLAS goes to help, but she puts up a fierce struggle, grabbing things, hanging on, kicking. THEY all yell at SOFIA, try to get her to calm down. CLAIRE grabs MADDIE and starts dragging her toward the door.) In the car! CLAIRE

52

1/28/13 (Before they get to the gate. DOUGLAS and JULIAN stop and SOFIA breaks out and goes to the hose again, defiant.) JULIAN You hear about people being dragged out kicking and screaming, but the real thing? A lot more intense. No! Daddy, Daddy! MADDIE DOUGLAS You dont. MADDIE

She does get to choose. No, we cant.

Lets go.

(DOUGLAS puts his arm under MADDIES shoulder, and she goes with him toward the gate. The sound of a vehicle approaching, horn blaring. It pulls to a stop. GWENs voice bellows.) GWEN (off)

Anybody need a ride?

(And there she is inside the gate, already grabbing things.) GWEN Thats what you get for buying a fucking hybrid. Fortunately, I dont have the same pretensions of environmental responsibility so I can actually provide what you need in an emergency. (CLAIRE throws her arms around GWEN.) Thank you! done! Aw, Claire. Thank you! CLAIRE I forgive you for everything youve

Cmon.

GWEN Lets go.

(JULIAN starts pushing RAYMOND to the gate.) First things first? JULIAN

GWE I can take him and the chair. God I love SUVs. seats out years ago. All that space. Devil turns angel. DOUGLAS

I took the

53

1/28/13 JULIAN But fortunately still comfortable around fire, right? (DOUGLAS and JULIAN push RAYMOND out through the gate. MADDIE and CLAIRE start loading their own stuff out. Appropriate noises from outside. SOFIA gets the hose finished and turns it on, watching the water pour out of the hose. Noises and grunts off, doors opening and closing. An engine begins, then another. CLAIRE comes back in.) CLAIRE We arent taking your car. The keys are in the ignition. Please come. (SOFIA looks up at her.) SOFIA I couldnt decide what to take. Everything was equally precious. Is that possible? Things are more important than one might think. (CLAIRE crosses to her friend.) CLAIRE Your parents would not have wanted you to die for their shit. SOFIA All kids are fucked up by their parents shit. CLAIRE Youre changing my meaning. SOFIA We all die. We all do die. CLAIRE Well, right. Okay, if youre going to die anyway, why not do it chained to the White House gate or infiltrating North Korea? Can we get some meaning going here? DOUGLAS (off)

Claire!

SOFIA I cant do those things. CLAIRE You would be surprised whats possible. Oh, please. Please! SOFIA Please! Please! Ask Gwen.

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1/28/13 (CLAIRE goes to the barbecue, grabs the lighter and goes to the gate.) CLAIRE One of the things about having a hybrid that no one talks about is that because youre so unused to getting gas, you run out of gas a lot more. DOUGLAS (off) SOFIA You.

Claire! Your family needs you.

CLAIRE What that means is that we keep gasoline here at the house. And Im going to get it, and pour it on your house, and then light your house on fire with this lighter. So then you will know what were really talking about and you will decide that you dont want to die in a raging inferno. SOFIA You cant do that. Its crazy. Crazy crazy. Wrong. And our houses are right next to each other. Right next door. Youll burn your own house down. Your own house. CLAIRE If you die in this fire, Maddie will spend all her brain time imagining how it happened, and wondering what we could have done differently to save you, and well have to move and shell be in therapy for the rest of her life and shell never trust us again. Fuck the house. This is a hell of a lot easier for me. (CLAIRE lights the lighter and goes through the gate.) Shit. Shit! Shit! SOFIA Shit! Fine! Shit!

(She turns the water off and runs after CLAIRE. Doors opening and closing off. Another engine starts. Cars pull away. Suddenly, yelling, hard to make out, No! Maddie!) CLAIRE (off)

You dont need it! (MADDIE runs in.) And sometimes you do.

MADDIE

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1/28/13 (She runs to the lip of the stage and grabs her laptop, looking around.) MADDIE I dont want everything to end. (MADDIE goes back out. A door slams shut, the last car pulls away. The sound of a helicopter approaching, its blades whirring louder and louder. There is the sound of a water drop, loud and whooshing, followed by the sound of a hissing, crackling surge as the fire finds new fuel despite the drenching.) INTERMISSION

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1/28/13 ACT FOUR MADDIE sits with her laptop, thinking alone in a pool of light. Is this a Between? Hard to tell. She turns to the audience, then gets up and walks to the edge of the stage. She looks at individual audience members one by one as if shes trying to figure something out about them. The whole thing needs to take at least a couple of minutes. Before shes found her answer, though, the lights come up on the rest of the stage. A science classroom, with sciencey displays. CLAIRE and RAYMOND, are sitting at scattered chairs and tables and cots among the detritus of shelter living. RAYMOND is lying on a better cot. MADDIE joins the scene. I dont understand. MADDIE

SOFIA It wasnt just me. They run the plates of everyone who goes to shelters during emergencies. Emergencies bring out the examinations. Why? MADDIE

(SOFIA holds out her hands for MADDIEs laptop and MADDIE gives it to her.) Because shelters are their valuables with are empty and can be just arent thinking SOFIA good places to find people who have them. Scared. Or people whose houses gotten to. Vulnerable. Or people who straight. Me. Us.

CLAIRE And sometimes the police get lucky and a wanted criminal had to evacuate just like everyone else. (JULIAN and DOUGLAS enter.) DOUGLAS No new folks coming for a while. The road closures are too unpredictable. What did they say-- 10% contained? Theres a fresh outbreak by the McKennas up over Gianellis. I dont know how many acres. Some of the volunteers, their neighborhoods are evacuated but they couldnt even get back to them before they were closed. We should offer up any clothes we can spare. (DOUGLAS goes to a bag.)

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1/28/13 SOFIA Oh, no. First fatality reports. A heart attack. Oh, no! family got trapped. Got trapped evacuating when the wind turned. Did they die? I dont know. MADDIE SOFIA They dont know, I dont think.

JULIAN I called Archer again. His assistant promised me hed call back. Shes the best of him, or it seems like that. She knows someone at a private nursing company. Or maybe ambulance company? Im not sure. RAYMOND Ellens a very kind woman. Theyll get it done. JULIAN

SOFIA Whats on the tv? Theres no footage up our road that I can find. There are cameras we cant access but maybe not where we live. You might have to be important. JULIAN I think theyre following the wind and fuel just like the fire is. So when can we go home? SOFIA Going home is my plan. We wait.

DOUGLAS When theres no more wind and fuel.

CLAIRE Although if they evacuate the other nursing home, you might lose your priority, Raymond. Why? Hes still hurt. MADDIE

DOUGLAS Its all about who has the best immune system. I can get a hotel room. RAYMOND Theyd have room service.

JULIAN There might not be any left.

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1/28/13 DOUGLAS

Its crazy out there.

JULIAN Im going to make sure Archer comes through for you. He doesnt have to. Of course it is. RAYMOND Its not like its his fault. CLAIRE

JULIAN Didnt Archer assign you to go to a barbecue that he didnt want to go to? RAYMOND Its not that he didnt want to. Right. He was working.

CLAIRE AND JULIAN

RAYMOND And it wasnt his fault I went to stay with you. That was my fault. MADDIE

CLAIRE Okay, lets not put it in terms of fault. RAYMOND Not that I dont appreciate it. MADDIE You helped save people from starving. It seemed like the thing to do. I didnt know about this. Who could have? JULIAN

RAYMOND Thinking through scenarios must take a lot of time. When you were things. Like the seat belt into oncoming happened. CLAIRE born, Maddie, Id imagine the the car door swinging open at failed so your car seat would traffic. Over and over. But worst possible the exact moment be catapulted it never

DOUGLAS Youre lucky you have a beautiful young brain, Maddie. waste it.

Dont

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1/28/13 JULIAN Childrens brains are more flexible, but the longer we maintain that flexibility, theres some evidence that we diminish our capacity to make decisions. Thats not good for adults, right? Adults need to decide, dont they? CLAIRE Isnt there some evidence of just about anything? Claire. I am. JULIAN Im shocked. Arent you a science believer? CLAIRE

Im just tired.

SOFIA Of course its true. Thats why nothing ever fucking gets done anymore. Dont say you dont know what Im talking about. Dithering springs from us like Old Yeller. Isnt Old Yeller a dog? DOUGLAS

SOFIA Old Faithful. I meant Old Faithful! The geyser that goes off so regularly. And I wont mention that its over a giant volcano that will erupt one day and destroy everything west of the Mississippi. Im going home. DOUGLAS Theyre not going to let you. How do you know? SOFIA How do any of us know?

JULIAN Lets go check the tv, Sofia, okay? SOFIA I guess now that Gwens gone I get to be the crazy one. CLAIRE Gwen saved us from some really ugly decision making. dont mean leaving anyone behind. Violins. I should have stayed. And I

SOFIA Staying would have been better.

CLAIRE Your suicide is never going to be anyones salvation, okay? Except maybe mine. SOFIA My own.

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1/28/13

CLAIRE What does that even mean? (JULIAN grabs the clothes DOUGLAS collected. SOFIA and JULIAN exit.) Anybody need anything? No. Thank you. Thank you. CLAIRE DOUGLAS, MADDIE AND RAYMOND RAYMOND DOUGLAS AND MADDIE

(CLAIRE points to a poster of the center of the Milky Way.) CLAIRE We sort of take those pictures for granted, dont we? But they are astounding. That we can see that is astounding. Those images would make anyone a science believer. Or a real believer. A real believer? Mom, please. What? Ouch. RAYMOND CLAIRE MADDIE CLAIRE

MADDIE Its not always about you. What? CLAIRE

MADDIE I think its interesting to hear about God. I dont know anything about God. Maybe you do, but you never told me anything. CLAIRE I used to believe in God.

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1/28/13 RAYMOND What took that from you? CLAIRE Church. Common sense. Science. Not being afraid of being lonely even knowing that were ultimately alone. Alone? DOUGLAS Youre not alone. Thats what God is,

CLAIRE When we die. We do that by ourselves. you know. God is death.

DOUGLAS There are things you say that you regret, Claire. me saying that-- its you. When?

Thats not

CLAIRE Ill be dead one day and I wont have any regrets.

DOUGLAS And well get to keep them for you. CLAIRE But Im right. Death is why we built God. Because we had to have something to hold us up when we thought about it. If there were no death, God would be nothing more than a parttime hobby for those inclined to persistent sorrow. RAYMOND Thats not true. Im proof thats not true. Because I know there is no death, just transformation into perpetual life. And I believe with every part of me in Gods divinity. CLAIRE Okay, then. So what was the big deal about Christ dying for our sins? His death doesnt matter if all death is just a doorway to perpetual life. You cant have it both ways. RAYMOND God killed his own son for us so we would know he could understand the worst pain a human can suffer: losing a child. CLAIRE Im not going to talk about that. RAYMOND My mother talks about that. We can trust that his knowledge of us would hold us in his arms as we fall.

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1/28/13 CLAIRE And who the hell asked him to do that? Who required that of him? Its fucking sick to base a religion on killing your child. For Gods sake, give me science any day. MADDIE So if I start believing in God, then what? CLAIRE Listen, Raymond, do you ever have doubts? Why? RAYMOND

CLAIRE I dont need to know the details. I have at times.

Just please, do you?

RAYMOND God understands that.

CLAIRE I know that we are stuck with each other. I get that. Your beliefs arent going anywhere and neither are mine, and if we could have gotten away from each other once, or think that we can because we all live in our own enclaves, thats not true. RAYMOND I would like everyone to live in salvation. CLAIRE I know. Me, too. So how about this? I will admit, I have found myself praying sometimes. Maybe its pathetic, but some part of me figures, Hey, I could be wrong! Why not just cover all my bases? RAYMOND I dont think it works that way. CLAIRE God hears all prayers, doesnt he? Thats true. RAYMOND

CLAIRE So in your moment of doubt, why dont you take a chance on science the way I take a chance on God? RAYMOND I believe in science. I fly on planes. doctors. God created science. I listen to my

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Exactly. So go to your people and tell them that Gods science needs them. RAYMOND What are we talking about? CLAIRE Were talking about what were not talking about. Were sitting in the middle of a fire in the middle of the warmest decade in recorded history. The Arctic ice is what now? Gods planet needs help. Gods people on Gods planet need help. MADDIE Raymond helped save people from starving. CLAIRE They were starving because they didnt have water. How many more people are not going to have water in ten years? Twenty? After that? Emergency irrigation in one village is not going to help. It helped the village. MADDIE

RAYMOND People have shouted fire in crowded theaters when there was no fire and people died in the panic. CLAIRE (to MADDIE) Go check on Julian, will you? MADDIE Why do you want me to leave? CLAIRE Because you dont have to hear this. I want to. MADDIE

RAYMOND I always try to do what my mother says. Im a heathen. MADDIE My parents raised me that way.

DOUGLAS Claire. Hes trapped here. CLAIRE And so are we all, right? 64

1/28/13 DOUGLAS We have two cars sitting outside.

No, were not.

CLAIRE I mean on earth. Thats the real thing about Oliver Wendell Holmes and theaters. Theres nothing wrong with shouting fire when there is a fire. There is a fire. Nobody serious is even arguing the reality of it, not really, even that blah, blah, no single event, not todays fire, can be connected to blah, blah. Hardly anyone disputes that its happening faster than anyone predicted. But, still, somehow, religious fundamentalists and corporate Cathedral of Greed sociopaths have partnered up to refuse to act like grown-ups and do something about it. DOUGLAS Although Julians point was that non-flexible thinkers are the grown-ups. CLAIRE Theyre bad grown-ups, then. Theyre keeping us from doing something about it. Are they? DOUGLAS

MADDIE (to CLAIRE) Its got to be something because you must think about this a lot. (To DOUGLAS) She has like 200 books about climate change in the guest room closet. You do? I have books. DOUGLAS CLAIRE

DOUGLAS How much do 200 books cost? I dont know. CLAIRE

DOUGLAS Why do you keep them in the closet? I dont know. Cheery? CLAIRE Theyre not cheery. MADDIE

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1/28/13 CLAIRE There are some things you shouldnt ever know.

For you.

RAYMOND My mother tried to protect me from unpleasant things, too. MADDIE She told you the world was going to end. RAYMOND For her, thats not a bad thing. For Claire, it is.

MADDIE (to CLAIRE) So you think the world is going to end? No. Youre lying. CLAIRE MADDIE

For real?

CLAIRE I think that stability-of-civilizationwise, were at the eleventh hour here. But that means theres still time. RAYMOND Matthew. Chapter 20, verse 6 is a parable about workers who arrive at the eleventh hour of the workday and who are still paid a full days wage. Most people use it as a negative, last minute, get-out-of-the-way-of-whats-coming kind of thing. But I was taught that its about how people who come to Christianity late in life, at the eleventh hour, will still earn the joys of eternal life. CLAIRE And if the earth itself could go to heaven after weve screwed it up, and then the greenhouse gases would be restored away, and the oceans would desalinize and stop rising, and the deserts would blow back to where they belong, that might be comforting. But you all are the ones always pointing out that heaven and earth are different things. Increased greenhouse gases, increased storms, increased ice melt, increased ocean salinization, increased worldwide desertification, melting permafrost. If there is a God, he seems to be sending a really clear message that were not taking care of his world anywhere close to well enough. We are in the middle of planetary catastrophe. MADDIE But you always say that everything is going to be fine. CLAIRE What am I supposed to say? 66

1/28/13 MADDIE That you believe something. CLAIRE (to RAYMOND) Take your moment of doubt and make good out of it, and Ill do the same. Lets cover all the bases just in case. We get this right and we can get the joys of life on earth and also those in heaven. Ill think about it. RAYMOND

CLAIRE Okay. You like to think. Im glad of that. Think fast, because we have to work fast to make that bright future, and we have to work collectively. It is still possible. RAYMOND Thats different from what you said when I was trapped in the car. At the crash. Im sorry about that. What? CLAIRE MADDIE

CLAIRE I was supposed to talk about happy things, hopeful things, future things. And I couldnt think of any. Everything in my head was-DOUGLAS Although happy things put you to sleep, right? want for a concussion. Not what you

CLAIRE (to RAYMOND) I was afraid you might die. You dont say pessimistic things to someone who might be dying. MADDIE And thats why you wont let me see those books. same thing, right? Its the

CLAIRE No. No. Never. I grew up in this glorious moment when you could hike in the mountains and drink the water and there were so many birds singing and you could just throw things away, but you didnt much, cause there wasnt so much stuff, and it was such a lovely time.

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1/28/13 DOUGLAS Except when we were on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Science is death, too. DDT. Love Canal. Coal mining. CLAIRE Fine. But there was a trust that things would be okay. That glorious moment. I mean, not the throwing away part. Wed still recycle. DOUGLAS The glorious moment was being a kid. I am a kid. MADDIE An old kid, but still.

CLAIRE That cant be all of it. RAYMOND If it happened before, it can happen again. miracles or mine. With your

MADDIE You believe God could just make everything better. Of course. Will he? RAYMOND MADDIE

RAYMOND I dont predict what God will do. I couldnt even begin. Julian predicts, though. When he took over talking to me, he told me wild things. Things we dont imagine. Our miracles are so literal sometimes, making a crippled man walk. But Julian, hes like, were going to make a crippled man fly. Hes got all kinds of miracles hes imagined. Science miracles. I like hearing about new miracles. There is a miracle that can fix whats happening to the earth. Okay. CLAIRE But please, remember that miracles take work.

RAYMOND Theres something we agree on. Tell people. CLAIRE Your people.

RAYMOND Im not home anymore with my people.

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1/28/13 CLAIRE

That must be hard.

(They sit a moment with their thoughts. DOUGLAS looks to the Milky Way poster.) Maddie. CLAIRE

(MADDIE stays with her thoughts.) DOUGLAS Its funny to think what a different conversational path we might have traveled if they had put us in a different classroom. Algebra. Italian. Home Ec. Shop. MADDIE RAYMOND CLAIRE MADDIE

Those were classes? (JULIAN comes back in.)

CLAIRE We were just talking about you. Is there news? DOUGLAS

JULIAN Theres still fire and wind and nobody can tell which way its going to go. What it is, right? But miracle of miracles, I got Archer. (to RAYMOND) Theres a medical transport coming for you. Youre going to your place, okay? And youre going to have professionals taking care of you, okay? And your mother may not love flying, but she can come first class if she wants. Okay and okay? And we are supposed to thank Gwen for saving you when we see her again. Anybody know where she went? CLAIRE No. When did she leave yesterday? from her. Better that way. JULIAN I forget. I havent heard

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1/28/13 CLAIRE

Why?

JULIAN (to RAYMOND) The transport will be here almost right away, so we better get you ready. Julian-CLAIRE

RAYMOND Did you say thank you for me? I did. work. JULIAN And you can thank him yourself when youre back at

CLAIRE Wait, why is it better that way? Later? You cant do that. JULIAN MADDIE

Better than what?

CLAIRE Im with Maddie on this one. JULIAN Shit, Claire. The police want to talk to her. plates when she brought us here. They ran her

CLAIRE What, is she behind on her community service? Or is she still a a drug dealer or still an embezzler or something? JULIAN She was never an embezzler. Or a drug dealer. Isnt it strange that thats strange? She needs that money to pay off a civil court settlement. For what? You dont want to know. Yes. I do. DOUGLAS JULIAN Really. CLAIRE

JULIAN I dont care, but I dont think youll want Maddie to know. 70

1/28/13 MADDIE No. Its okay. I can know things now. I didnt say that. Mother. Fine. CLAIRE MADDIE

CLAIRE She can know this. Like that? JULIAN CLAIRE JULIAN CLAIRE MADDIE

Really? Really.

Statutory rape. What?! Ewwww....

CLAIRE Knowing things isnt always so great, is it? JULIAN She was romantically involved-- can you call it that?-- with a fifteen year old boy. No. Generally in that SUV, the one she used to save us yesterday? It was described in the complaint. Oh, dear. You couldnt know that. RAYMOND CLAIRE

JULIAN The police could. No question there. They are really negative about sexual predators at evacuation shelters. Theyre going to come interview us about where she is, but we dont know, and its better that way for all of us, isnt it? It is. No. CLAIRE

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1/28/13 JULIAN Shouldnt we be happy that shes not a thief and a drug dealer? DOUGLAS If she made up a story to hide the statutory rape, youd think she would have made up being a thief OR a drug dealer. Why both? RAYMOND A guilty conscience is a powerful thing. DOUGLAS Makes a better story, I guess. Shes a liar. We all lie, dont we? CLAIRE JULIAN We all lie. A longer tragic fall.

CLAIRE Not so much so theres nothing else left. Why does that happen to a person? How do things get so fucked up? JULIAN Were not a linear system are we? (to RAYMOND) Is your stuff together? Ill take you outside. I think we all know this is a good resolution in a world without resolutions. RAYMOND I bet you make resolutions. Do I? JULIAN

CLAIRE (to RAYMOND) We wish you all the best, Raymond. RAYMOND Thank you for taking care of me. (CLAIRE laughs.) Bye, Raymond. Its not luck. MADDIE Good luck during the End of Days. RAYMOND

(She indicates his injuries, the school, everything.)

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1/28/13 MADDIE

You got that right.

RAYMOND You keep those bad memories locked away, okay? Oh. Very Pandoras box. I--. Okay. MADDIE DOUGLAS MADDIE CLAIRE

Call your mother.

RAYMOND Her being able to get on a plane. Now that would be a miracle. But I might just go back home. Its pretty intense out here in the shadow world. CLAIRE Youll be fine. Tell them. Off to the future. JULIAN Yes? Yes.

(Half-hearted waves and general helpfulness and JULIAN and RAYMOND are out the door. Just the family left.) Not the best day. But were all right. CLAIRE DOUGLAS

CLAIRE There are certain things you dont plan for. Im sorry about Gwen. I dont know. What? DOUGLAS

CLAIRE I just dont know. DOUGLAS

CLAIRE Still, were together. And you are wonderful, extraordinary people and I am so lucky to have you be my life. Its such a great thing, being alive. Really. 73

1/28/13 DOUGLAS

And well be home soon.

MADDIE (to DOUGLAS) Can you do one of those prayers Raymond does? To save our house? Just in case Mommys wrong? DOUGLAS Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy word be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. And wind. And fire. Amen. CLAIRE So what if we do lose the house? Maybe we should anyway. Maybe we should be different. Not be tied down by 21stcentury-American-what-weve-done. Get to know nature before... Or not. Spend our lives not making things worse. Plant things. Devote ourselves to making it all better. Why not? Why not? Please? It could be so perfect and better for all of us. Sweetie. (SOFIA enters.) SOFIA The fire is at the Lorenas. So its the Franklins then us. I couldnt watch. I couldnt expect that of myself. MADDIE What happens after the 11th hour? Midnight. Mid-night. SOFIA DOUGLAS

DOUGLAS Maybe. But maybe its noon. Like high noon. when good takes on evil.

The moment

SOFIA Like the movie. But most of the people in that movie dont stand up for good. Nope. Theyre too... small. CLAIRE No, high noon like a reset hour. What does that mean? MADDIE

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Everything starts again. (A ding. MADDIE looks at her phone.) Oh my God. What? MADDIE DOUGLAS

MADDIE It was Clancy Spiveys family. Remember, we were talking about her? She broke her arm when they were mountain climbing. Its her, its her family. Her, her mom, her dad, her two little brothers. They were the family that died in the car. They all died. DOUGLAS If everything starts again, maybe it can be different next time. Please. CLAIRE END OF ACT FOUR

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1/28/13 BETWEEN MADDIE enters. MADDIE So according to some very famous person who writes plays whose name I forget, plays shouldnt have messages, or not too much. Ill take my agitprop elsewhere, he said, although Im not really clear what agitprop is, except that maybe youre not supposed to be encouraging people to do something, organizing people toward a greater good, like thats a line youre not supposed to cross with true art. I havent been doing this long, but I see problems with that at this point. Sure, plays are artist-made worlds, so who cares, right? But maybe plays should get out in front of stuff to defend themselves. I mean, if the scientists are right about the danger of us losing the real world, then the created worlds, the artist-made worlds, you gotta figure theyll go first. Well push them right off the end of the pier trying to save our own skin. Not that it will do any good. Like they say, first they came for the fictional characters, and I did not speak out because I was not a fictional character. Although I dont know if you should really care about the play Im writing. Its theoretical. My world is fake. But yours isnt.

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1/28/13 ACT FIVE The patio again. There are burnt places visible in the background. Someone has started cleaning the furniture, but there is still an ashy grime over everything. CLAIRE and SOFIA sit. DOUGLAS cleans. CLAIRE It might have been Archer, back in the that the main cause of damage in a lot At the time it just seemed like just a that fire and flood would be related. early warning that we totally missed. day, who first told me of fires is the water. weird little irony Now it seems like an

SOFIA I really tried to do everything right. I grow my own food. I drive an electric car. I dont even take airplanes anymore. And it got me anyway. Fucking hell reality. CLAIRE Maddie and her friends are starting a fund to help the fire victims. At the school. Theyre naming it after Clancy and her brothers. SOFIA Thats a good thing to do with grief. Its like a hell blanket the size of the sky. You have to fold it when you can. CLAIRE You know youre welcome as long you need to be here. SOFIA Only as long as it takes to get the insurance paperwork lined up. The beginning of that hell blanket. Then Im going to stay with my parents for a time. Theyre far away. Theyre old. It will be good to be needed. I miss them now. I didnt. What about Hugo? (SOFIA shrugs.) Well miss you. CLAIRE CLAIRE

SOFIA Maybe. Geography is different from family. chosen like friends are.

Neighbors arent

DOUGLAS Theres a sweet freedom in that, isnt there? Just accepting what the world delivers to you and appreciating its delights? 77

1/28/13 SOFIA I dont feel delights right now. I know. DOUGLAS I know you will again.

SOFIA Although what was it that got me? Let me see if I can remember. Oh, seductive trust. Trust your neighbors. (JULIAN enters from the house.) JULIAN I think all the arts back up. Thank you. CLAIRE

SOFIA I left because Claire threatened to burn down my house. didnt give me a choice. Say that again? DOUGLAS

She

SOFIA So Maddie wouldnt have to deal with the guilt of my dying. JULIAN You threatened to burn her house down? CLAIRE You tried to kidnap her. SOFIA So thats the way Ill think about this. I sacrificed my house for Maddie. Thats more than you can say. Youve never really sacrificed anything. Zing! And it hits. Sofia. CLAIRE Isnt that illegal?

SOFIA I wont tell her. (She stands.) need space.

The items I salvaged.

CLAIRE Ill clean out the closet in your room. Ah, the books. Ill help. DOUGLAS

JULIAN Didnt I see empty boxes in the garage? 78

1/28/13 SOFIA Ill do it myself. CLAIRE

No, thank you. nothing else. You do. (SOFIA leaves.

Right now.

I have

CLAIRE and DOUGLAS clean.

JULIAN rests.)

CLAIRE (to JULIAN) I know why you stayed at the shelter. JULIAN Neither did you, did you? More than you. I dont know. CLAIRE JULIAN

You didnt have to.

CLAIRE You were protecting him. Until you could get him away from me. JULIAN You think thats what it was? Not that it worked. He told me. CLAIRE We had words. JULIAN

CLAIRE I took care of him. It was the right thing to do. I want to do the right thing. Thats why we talked about changing our lives. Dedicating ourselves to something meaningful. Getting out of this house and to somewhere we can breathe differently. Claire. We talked about it. You talked about it. Stop cleaning. Please. DOUGLAS CLAIRE DOUGLAS CLAIRE

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1/28/13 (He doesnt.) DOUGLAS Sofia lives here now, too. We need to take care of her. Not for long. CLAIRE

DOUGLAS We have a damaged house that we owe more on than its worth in a newly discovered fire zone. We cant sell it like this. Were middle aged, middle class people. Well never be able to sell ourselves again, either. Thats not good enough. CLAIRE (to JULIAN) Is that good enough?

JULIAN Why are you even having this conversation in front of me? CLAIRE I need help. You tell Maddie that we have already passed the tipping point and that we are actively approaching the point of no return and theres no meaningful contribution we can make to stopping it. This is NOT shouting fire in a crowded theater when you know the theater is actually on fire, or even mentioning it quietly so that the audience might have some chance to survive. This is not letting everyone on the planet fucking fry. DOUGLAS I dont know what to do about that, Claire. But getting a different house, living differently, that doesnt solve the problem either, does it? The present exists. Maddie needs to go to college. Maddie needs to eat. CLAIRE Youre the one whos supposed to be able to fix things. Can you fix this? Can you at least try? DOUGLAS Its always been horrible to be alive, one tragedy after another, except for the moments when time stops long enough for you to take a breath, stop thinking, stop the adrenaline build-up, sit in contentment even though, even though. And sometimes thats all you get. I need to go to work. The fire wreaked havoc everywhere. CLAIRE No, please dont go. Julian, you know what we should do, right? Its the future.

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1/28/13 JULIAN Its the big question. I can tell you about the future of computers, the future of artificial intelligence, genomic medicine, nanotechnology, longevity, efforts to undermine gravity. I go to conferences about them. But we dont know how to fix the earth. CLAIRE Do you all even talk about it? JULIAN Sure. But do we come up with anything? No. We dont live in a simple age, do we? Our cell phones murder miners. Our vegetables eliminate topsoil. Our chocolate enslaves children. To be in our modern world is to destroy. We have accepted that for well beyond decades, and we are not going to go back to a time when there was some hope of not doing harm to our fellow man. Are we? Really? Given how quickly and completely we made peace with that immorality, how willingly we adapted to the hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance our world requires, I cant see anything to suggest that we are good enough, as a country or a species, to fix this thing. Can you? We take resources out faster than we can return them and we contaminate everything in the process, and we do that because of each persons inescapable, sensible drive for food and shelter and prosperity in the name of security and safety and survival. Can we change instinct? I dont think so. And if we cant, then we cant solve the problem, can we? So the best thing to do is accept the liberating and practical reality that what we really need to do now is figure out how to cope with the consequences. Not that futurists do that. But were all ready to tell you whats next when its figured out. DOUGLAS If its all going to hell anyway, literal endless hot hell, Im going to keep Maddie cool and happy as long as I can. No. CLAIRE Thats not good enough.

JULIAN Im going to help Sofia. Okay? Okay. (JULIAN exits. CLAIRE DOUGLAS bends down and kisses CLAIRE.)

DOUGLAS Ill clean more when I get back. Its funny, you tear through all the unimportant things when youre looking for the important ones you want to save.

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1/28/13 But when you come back to them, the unimportant things dont look so expendable anymore. (DOUGLAS goes to the gate.) Douglas. Claire? CLAIRE DOUGLAS

CLAIRE Be careful of the embankment. I will. DOUGLAS

(He stops with his hand on the latch.) CLAIRE What, is it really broken? DOUGLAS No. It works just fine. (He opens and closes it to show her.) What are the chances that we-- you and me-- would be alive at the moment the fate of the earth is determined? Someone has to be. CLAIRE

(DOUGLAS opens the gate and turns back to her.) DOUGLAS You think youre alone, but youre not. start. Thats where to

(DOUGLAS exits. CLAIRE cleans. She stops, sits on the ground, and holds her head in her hands. There is a rattling at the back gate.) Its not broken. CLAIRE

(GWEN comes in carrying flowers.) GWEN I tried your landline but the phones are a mess. Im off for parts unknown soon enough, but I thought Id make sure you were back safely. You are welcome to go kneel before my SUV if you feel like giving final thanks. (She takes in the reality.) Ugh. Smoke damage is the worst. Ill get a vase.

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Dont go in my house. Why? GWEN

No.

What?

CLAIRE A teenage boy? What were you thinking? Youve gotten unpredictable and therefore you shouldnt be near my family. I dont know anything else to do. GWEN You could get over your fucking self. What?!? CLAIRE

GWEN Dont you think the pearl clutching and the fainting couch are a little much? Youve always been so proud of who you were fucking when you were 15. CLAIRE You are an adult who had sex with someone younger than my daughter. As a parent-Here we go. GWEN

CLAIRE You have no capacity to understand this, Gwen. GWEN Because Im not a parent? Bullshit. CLAIRE Why dont you tell me why you did this? GWEN You forgave me for everything I did up until I saved your family. You volunteered it. Im not going to let you go back on your word. CLAIRE This isnt a negotiation. You pretended to be a thief and a drug dealer rather than admit that youre a pedophile. GWEN Oh, please. Im not a pedophile. Youre just trying to make me scary. And I do have different stories for different people. I knew you wouldnt care that I was stealing from rich people and youd be only sympathy that I turned to dealing drugs out of desperation. As long as I didnt bump into your sphere of concern. 83

1/28/13 CLAIRE GWEN

Who thinks like that? I am a grown up.

CLAIRE No. You become a grown up when you care about other things more than yourself. When your perspective is changed. GWEN Parents always say that these days. Oh, I changed when I had a kid. Well, you all must have been absolute shits before. Just because you didnt have kids doesnt mean they didnt exist then but you didnt care about them, did you? CLAIRE Raymond was right. He told Maddie he believes in Satan, and look! Shes right here in my back yard. GWEN His name is Riley. Hes a fine person. Hes in college now. Pre-med. Beautiful girlfriend his own age. Tennis star. Hes thriving. And for the record, he didnt consent, he chose me. Thats your why. CLAIRE People that young cant consent or choose. arent developed enough. Their brains

GWEN Of course they are! Of course they can. Sex is one of the few areas of their lives they can consent and choose. God knows in your collective eagerness to protect them, you have taken away most of the areas where they would have been able to make choices about their own lives. But no, we have to take that away from them, too. CLAIRE You took that childs childhood away from him. GWEN I have no doubt that losing your child to corruption or accident or whatever is your worst fear. But your extreme vulnerability doesnt do Maddie any good. Because you focus on your potential pain. Old people have always let young people live in the shit-filled downstream of their decisions or lack thereof while they feel sorry for themselves. CLAIRE Which seems like a pretty good description of what you did to Riley.

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1/28/13 GWEN He wouldnt say that, and I dont feel sorry for myself. Why did you do it? Does it matter? I guess not. that lonely? CLAIRE GWEN

CLAIRE Its wrong and selfish and creepy.

Are you

GWEN Its got nothing to do with that. I dont think in those terms. I like being alone. It wasnt an accident I didnt have kids. I know the down side is that therell be nobody who loves me there to find my body but the upside is nobody who loves me has to find my body. But I did think about it, kids. CLAIRE You made the right decision. Ill give you that. GWEN And now you think you scored a point with that. Nope. All that proves is that I actually thought it through and you only pretended to. CLAIRE I dont know what the fuck youre about to say-GWEN I didnt have kids because I knew I wasnt up to the task. And you know who made me realize that? You did. How many years have you been chirping about climate change like a useless, paralyzed bird? Ten years? Twenty years? And that doesnt even consider that there are no more fish in the ocean and theres not going to be anywhere near enough fresh water very soon, we all have enough pesticides in our body to make every graveyard in America weed-free thanks to our rotting corpses, and the first and most important thing to do is to stop using rubber to make car tires and use it only to make condoms because there are going to be too many goddamned people. CLAIRE Wait, why are you talking about this? GWEN I listened to your useless chirping. Hell, Im probably the only one. And I said no, Im too selfish. Im not capable of doing what it would really take to care for my child.

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1/28/13 And even if you get lucky, Claire, and the shit doesnt unfold as fast as it might, and you miss the guilt of actually destroying your own childs life, what happens to your grandchild? No way theyre missing the fun at this rate. And no way to stop it by then. So your child will visit you in the warehouse where they will be stacking old people up like cord wood in 30 years and she will scream in your face You killed my child. You will have done to her the worst possible thing that could happen to her. CLAIRE If you dont leave, Im going to call the police. like you. They dont

GWEN Im not here to make you feel bad. Im here to get you on track. Raymond said you needed help about this. Raymond? CLAIRE

GWEN Sure. I talked to him. Hold the follow-up question for a moment and listen: the problem with mythical Cassandra isnt that she was wrong, its that all she did was Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak. I dont know. I admit its hard to think what would work. Maybe go assassinate someone. The head of an oil company? An agribusiness? A country? Really, youd think that would be a no-brainer: those lives against your daughters. Its more moral than self-defense, and selfdefense is even legal. CLAIRE I dont assassinate people. GWEN Just bicycle tires. And neighbors houses, or I guess that was just a threat. Still, short trip after that. But, youre right, I suppose Im really the one for the job. Nothing left to lose and like that. CLAIRE Youre not really going to assassinate anybody, right? No. GWEN Im ultimately too selfish. See?

CLAIRE Its not just that its wrong. It wont work. Because then everyone will focus the methodology, and ignore the reason one might do it. Which is? GWEN

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1/28/13 CLAIRE To stop one person from perpetrating evil. To call attention so that other people also stop. The assassination itself might just be a distraction. GWEN Although if there is going to be some sort of violence, better now when it can still make a difference. CLAIRE We dont know whether it will, not in the right way. GWEN Youve thought this through. CLAIRE People think a lot of things late at night. Good for you. GWEN

CLAIRE We have outpaced our evolution. We were given fight or flight. These are short-term, protect yourself in the moment reactions. We werent designed to be able to destroy the planet. GWEN Sure we were. Thats exactly what we were designed for. We know that because were doing it so incredibly well. So what now, Claire? Archer figured it out. At least for Archer. You talked to Archer? CLAIRE

GWEN The fire knocked out his security system. I showed up and Im a hero to him, for saving Raymond. He called Raymond right there from his patio and Raymond and I had such a nice talk. And then Archer wrote me a check. The whole sixtyfive thousand. So if you see him at a party or something, dont go telling him what the money was really for. Between that and paying for Raymonds nurse, Archers so happy with his good works that hes going to start a foundation that might do some real good. Hard to find peace in this world. It is. CLAIRE

GWEN Its good to have good friends that do good things.

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1/28/13 CLAIRE I stayed in touch with Archer because middle aged people dont make new friends. You do it when youre young, and then when your kids are young theres another brief window and then thats it. We dont add anymore. We just lose. It means that, although its hard to imagine right now, Im going to miss you. GWEN Ill miss you, too. Weve known each other a long time. I dont know who Im going to ask to fill in the blanks when I start to forget things. Just make it up. CLAIRE

GWEN Thats not as fun as it sounds. Its true, I do miss so many things from before. My whole world. Do people really know what its like to lose a world? I didnt. CLAIRE What is Archer doing now to have that much money, to start a foundation. This, that. What? GWEN Now something new. CLAIRE

GWEN Since the ice is going, someones gotta help them figure out the rights to all that oil theyll be able to drill. He gets what he wants, Claire. But youre letting the world end and youre barely lifting a finger. We clear now? On what? CLAIRE

GWEN Youre failing the most basic requirement of being a parent: keeping your child safe. Which means youve fucked your teenager much worse than I ever fucked mine. (CLAIRE shoves GWEN, who yelps in satisfaction.) There you go! GWEN

(CLAIRE moves, maybe to go after GWEN again. MADDIE enters. She has a gun in her hand, lying flat. Her safe, closed, is under her other arm.)

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1/28/13 MADDIE

I have a gun.

(CLAIRE turns her attention to MADDIE.) Maddie! CLAIRE

GWEN Thats not the way you hold a gun. (She moves toward MADDIE. Maddie, give it to me. Whoa, hold on! Give it to me.

Here, Ill take it.

CLAIRE matches her.)

CLAIRE MADDIE CLAIRE

(CLAIRE grabs MADDIEs arm and takes the gun.) Ow. MADDIE

GWEN Hard to tell which one of us she trusts less. CLAIRE Do you not see that Im armed now? you get a gun? (To MADDIE) Where did

MADDIE It was in Raymonds bag when I packed his stuff. You touched it? CLAIRE You dont touch guns. MADDIE I thought it was better than having it

We were evacuating. in the car.

GWEN Here I was thinking he was some dewey eyed innocent and he was packing the whole time. MADDIE And I thought we might get in trouble if we brought it to the school so I put it in my safe. CLAIRE That seems like a great place to keep it. Lets do that now. 89

1/28/13 (CLAIRE takes the safe.) CLAIRE Mommy wont figure this out. (The safe beeps. closes it.) CLAIRE opens it and puts the gun in and

GWEN You want me to take it to him? (CLAIRE looks at her like shes insane.) Ill take care of it. Or use it. CLAIRE

GWEN Reach out your hand--

MADDIE Like best friends do without being asked. GWEN --and push it through the glass, Claire. the only ones who get rude. What? MADDIE Dont let them be

GWEN The glass isnt real. Its a metaphor. Everything else, not so much. Except best friends. Im your best friend, Claire. Be smart, Maddie. Bye, Gwen. (GWEN leaves. MADDIE CLAIRE holds onto the safe.)

MADDIE Is she going to come back? No. CLAIRE

(SOFIA enters with a wheelbarrow full of books and dumps them in the middle of the stage.) Anybody got a match? No. SOFIA CLAIRE

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1/28/13 (SOFIA goes back in the house.) Shes kidding, right? Itll be fine. MADDIE CLAIRE

MADDIE I looked at those books. The one that talked about how bad it could get? The Venus effect? I read it. CLAIRE

MADDIE Earth becomes like Venus. 500 degrees. Toxic atmosphere. And Venus is the goddess of love, right? CLAIRE Maybe everyone over 50 should off themselves simultaneously to reduce energy usage, delaying the worst of the change long enough to give you all the time to fix things. Great. We do. MADDIE So convenient we have a gun. CLAIRE

MADDIE I dont think God is death, Mommy. maybe you are. CLAIRE Your life is everything to me. death.

But Im starting to think

You have nothing to do with

MADDIE Thats not true. My life is important to you until you die. No regrets after that, right? CLAIRE Thats not what I meant. MADDIE Really? Because its hard to see it another way. All this crap about Dont tell Maddie about how horrible things could get, its just a dodge. Its not about protecting me, its about protecting you. From what? CLAIRE

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1/28/13 MADDIE From having to explain to me why you arent trying to save me. Maddie-CLAIRE

(MADDIE puts her hand over CLAIRES mouth.) MADDIE It doesnt matter why. Theres no why good enough. Everything thats going through your head right now, sitting there in your chair, all those swirling thoughts cataloguing all your important, cowardly, selfish justifications for making me suffer horribly, you sit with them as long as you need to for them to disintegrate under their own shameful weight. You say you acknowledge the reality of this, but you really dont, because if you did, there would no choice to make, not really, but to devote yourself to this, and youre not brave enough to do that. Sit with that. (MADDIE takes her hand off of CLAIREs mouth. CLAIRE sits and doesnt talk. MADDIE turns away from her and looks at the audience again. After a minute or so, CLAIRE puts her hands together in careful prayer.) Or change. MADDIE

CLAIRE Okay, God, whom I still dont believe in, please tell me what Im supposed to do. Specifically. (MADDIE looks back to CLAIRE.) MADDIE Gods not the internet. Grow up and use google and find something. Attack on all fronts. Government. Corporations. Energy. Agriculture. Industry. Good planning. Bad manners. On and on. Focused popular will. Its possible. Ever heard of World War II? The Civil Rights movement? Act Up? Jesus. Learn some history. What did they teach you in those schools back then? CLAIRE I dont really remember. (MADDIE picks up GWENs forgotten flowers, but doesnt stay with them long.) MADDIE I remember taking the dirt path through the woods, coming home from Ninas house, maybe it was 4th grade.

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1/28/13 Mrs. Alexander had told us that day in science that sun was going to die in 14 billion years and so the earth would, too. And I knew I wasnt going to be alive then, but I was so sad for those people. That they wouldnt be able to walk on that path, and see how beautiful everything looked at 5:30 in the afternoon, with the sun just so, and it was spring and I knew dinner was ready. CLAIRE I was always waiting for you to get home. MADDIE Like daddys friends used to say, Im going off to save the world. Like religious people say, Im going to save all the worlds souls. Like Gwen said, thats all metaphor. We get to do it for real. We get to save the real world. How cool is that? But you have to, you know, do it. Starting now and not stopping. CLAIRE Okay. 11th hour. 60 minutes a day. whatever I can to move this along. Til noon. Ill do

MADDIE Ill have to do it eleven to midnight.

I have school.

(MADDIE opens her laptop to get back to her life.) CLAIRE Im not letting you stay up that late every night. You can have your 11th hour before dinner. Everyone feels that way about my cooking anyway. Did you get your play done? Doing it now. What? Shit! MADDIE CLAIRE

MADDIE The quote isnt shouting fire in a crowded theater, its The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. Theres no crowded. The theater could be practically empty. CLAIRE Not for your play, dear. MADDIE Will people even do plays anymore?

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1/28/13 CLAIRE Sure. Theyll rip the roofs off all the theaters so the outside light can shine in, and the shows will be timed to the sunrises or the sunsets or the nights with the brightest moon. Theyll forget the other tricks because maybe we dont need them, not really. I like the tricks. Me, too. MADDIE

CLAIRE Maybe well fix it so we can still do them.

(The lights give us a lovely day, a starry night, other earthly beauty while CLAIRE and MADDIE watch until it settles back to light just on them.) Let us be light. Okay. My play. CLAIRE MADDIE

(MADDIE returns to her computer for a few seconds of typing.) Done. MADDIE

CLAIRE So whats the first line? MADDIE The whole thing is just one line. Whats the title? Ready, Aim Youre so clever. I dont know. CLAIRE MADDIE CLAIRE MADDIE Just one word, actually.

CLAIRE Shall we see what it would feel like to sit in a crowded theater and perform it? MADDIE Will it change anything?

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1/28/13 CLAIRE They hug as

I hope so.

(MADDIE takes a second, then decides shes in. they prepare to shout.) Fire! MADDIE AND CLAIRE

THE END

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