The

Cold Bridge
By Joseph Frost



Draft
8/3/15




written as part of the 31 Plays in 31 Days project












Joseph Frost, 2015
4550 Normandy Dr.
Jackson, MS 39206
atticscripts@gmail.com
* member, Dramatists Guild

2
A bridge. A darkened sky. Winds blow.

Anna, a young woman in a skirt, waits in the middle of
the bridge.

Kind, a middle-aged man, walks onto the bridge,
tentatively. He sees Anna and stops.

Anna turns to see him. She smiles.

Anna: You.

Kind: I had thought I would be here alone.

Anna: Alone? Of course not.

Kind: I thought

Anna: I could never let you be.

Kind: I should have expected you.

Anna: Yes, you should.

A moment.

Kind: How long has it been?

Anna: Since the last day of summer.

Kind: Summer?

Anna: That summer.

Kind: And you have missed me.

Anna: Not half as much as youve missed me.

Kind: That is true. So true. Ive missed you like some nightmare that goes on long
after youve woken. That haze of the following day.

Anna: Have you?

Kind: Have I what?

Anna: Missed me. In that way.



Kind: I didnt know what to do after that day. After youd said what you did. I
walked home along the bank, the riverside, each foot falling forward a bit. I dont
think my eyes focused once the whole stumble home.

Anna: And since then?

Kind: What do you want me to say?

Anna: The truth. Thats all I have ever asked of you.

Kind: You say that like its a possibility. For me to tell you the truth. I have never
promised you that.

Anna: I wanted you. You know that. Nothing more.

Kind: I could never be enough, Anna.

Anna: Im sorry you believe that.

Kind: In the grand scheme of the world, I know only a few things. One is that you
thought too much of me. That I could be something something that would be
enough.

Anna: But I

Kind: I am so much less than you think. Than you thought. Look at me.

Anna: This is who you are now. You cant see who I saw.

Kind: That day?

Anna: And before.

Kind: What a fool you were.

A moment

Anna: And yet you return.

Kind: A promise I made once.

Anna: Not to me.

Kind: No.


Anna: Then to whom?

Kind: Myself. The only person I love enough to keep my word to. After that day, I
promised myself that I would return.

Anna: One day.

Kind: One day.

Anna: A man of your word.

Kind: Of that word.

Anna: And now?

Kind: Now?

Anna: What happens now? Here?

Kind: If only I could tell. All I promised was to be here. Nothing more.

Anna: Nothing more. How disappointing.

Kind: Letting you down, once more.

A moment.

Kind: I have a question.

Anna: Yes?

Kind: I feel like a fool. Asking this of you. Now. Do you do you regret that day?

Anna: Oh, that day.

Kind: Well?

Anna: I still think of the sun that day.

Kind: You remember?

Anna: I do.

Kind: I remember the wind. Blowing the ends of your skirt. You had to keep
brushing the hair from your face. When you did that


Anna: You loved me.

Kind: I remember the wind. (beat) Im sorry that I asked.

Anna: Why?

Kind: I should have expected that answer. It was foolish.

Anna: No more foolish than to return on a promise.

Kind: I had made a sacred promise.

Anna: Made of words no more sacred than the all words youd ever spoken to me.

Kind: Why do that to me?

Anna: I never let myself be as kind to you as you deserved.

Kind: I would never have said that.

Anna: I know.

Kind: I would never have believed it. It isnt true.

Anna: I couldnt. You know that.

Kind: I know.

Anna: My love. Was flawed. You know.

Kind: No.

Anna: Incomplete. I couldnt complete my love for you. I didnt have the capacity.

Kind: Dont say this to me. Please.

Anna: You need to understand.

Kind: I dont want to. I dont want to understand, Anna. I beg you.

Anna: I wanted nothing more than to be that for you.

Kind: This is not why Ive returned here.

Anna: No?

Kind: I promised myself I would return for only one thing. One thing.

Anna: One thing.

Kind: I didnt know you would be here.

Anna: Where else would I be?

Kind: I didnt know for sure.

Anna: For you, always, I am here. For you, I haunt this place. This bridge. And only
for you.

Kind: I know.

He moves in close to her, face an inch from face.

Anna: I can feel you breathe.

Kind: I know. This. This is why I returned.





They breathe for a moment.

Anna: You asked me a question.

Kind: I did.

Anna: I would like to answer.

Kind: Go ahead.

Anna: All I do. All I do is regret.

Kind: Shhh

Anna: I should never

He raises his hand, gently, to almost touch her face.
They slowly turn, trading places.

Anna: I want this to never end.

Kind: I know.

He steps back from her, then turns to go.


Anna: Will you return?

Kind: I made a promise to myself. A second promise.

Anna: You will never return.





He takes a step.

Anna: I will be here. I will.

He walks away.
He is gone.
She looks down below the bridge.
Lights down.