DOWN BY THE TREE

By

Sofie Autero
6th Grade
Communion of Saints School
CHARACTERS:

HUDSON MORENO: The protector. Is always kind, and never has

anything to do with Faye’s teasing

JUNE DRIWSON: A bit clueless, but smarter than people give

her credit for.

FAYE FRENCHE: Clever, but carefree. Lightly teases almost

everyone

PARKER DEWSWORTH: The mischievous one. Always getting into some

sort of trouble. Faye is the usual target.

ELLEN: The doll who lives with Faye. Doesn’t have a

physical form and is cast mainly for her
voice. The actor never comes on stage.
 

Scene 1
 Curtains open to show a small park area, with a willow
tree on Stage Right. There is a doll hanging out of
one of the tree’s various branches. Four Children -
FAYE, PARKER, HUDSON, and JUNE) walk on from Stage
Left, talking amongst themselves.

FAYE
You do though!

PARKER
(laughing) Shut Up.

FAYE
It’s SO obvious. I’m just sayin’.

PARKER
Can we drop the subject?

FAYE
Why? You know you do.

HUDSON
Faye, leave him alone.

FAYE
(makes a fart noise with her mouth) Fine. But still.

PARKER rolls his eyes and walks ahead, sitting by the tree.
JUNE has already made a point of climbing it and is hanging
off of a branch now. HUDSON and FAYE sit down as well. No
on has noticed the doll.

JUNE
What should we do?

HUDSON
I don’t know. There’s nothing to do.

FAYE
(lying down) Yeah.

PARKER
Hey Faye?

FAYE
 (sitting up) Yeah?

PARKER
I bet you can’t hold a handstand for two whole minutes!

FAYE
I’ll take that bet!

FAYE and PARKER quickly stand up, and FAYE gets into a
handstand. HUDSON rolls his eyes, not amused, and JUNE
drops out of the tree. When she gets down, the doll
rolls over and JUNE notices it.

JUNE
Guys? What’s this?

FAYE, PARKER, and HUDSON all walk over to JUNE. JUNE

picks up the doll, tattered and covered in dirt. The
three kids look at each other and sit down again. JUNE
wipes all of the dirt off of the doll, revealing what
It looks like. The fabric doll has long blond hair,
and blue button eyes, with a sewn-on smile. She isn’t
the scary type, just dirt. Her dress is pink.

PARKER
It looks like a doll.

FAYE
(in a teasing voice)
Of course it is, Dingus.

(PARKER sticks his tongue out and FAYE grabs the doll.)

FAYE
She’s pretty. You think I could keep her?

HUDSON
No! We don’t know whose it is, or where it’s been.

(FAYE makes a pouty face)

FAYE
Please!

HUDSON
Fine. But if anything happens, we bury her.
 (FAYE laughs, pushing a piece of the doll’s hair out
of its face.)
FAYE
It’s just a fabric doll. What’s the worst that could happen?

The curtains close, leaving the children where they

are.

Scene 2

Faye’s Bedroom. Curtains open, and the setting is now

a girl’s bedroom. The doll is sitting on the floor by
the bed, and a note is next to it. Unfortunately, it
is too far away from the audience to read it. In the
bed, FAYE is sleeping. An alarm clock goes off, and
she rolls over, sitting up. She turns the alarm clock
off and steps out of bed. The first thing she notices
is the doll, and the note.

FAYE
(quietly)
What’s this?

FAYE picks up the doll and lays her on the bed. Next,
she grabs the note and unfolds it. She clears her
throat and begins to read it.

FAYE
Give me a cracker. What?
(Turns to the doll)
Did you write this?

The doll doesn’t move. Confused, FAYE grabs it, and

puts the note into her pocket. She walks off Stage
Right quickly, and returns again, holding a cracker.
She gives it to the doll.

FAYE
Here, I guess?

When FAYE hands the cracker to the doll, it disappears

into thin air, and the note quickly dissipates as
well. Even more confused, FAYE grabs the doll again,
and walks off Stage Right. Curtains close
 Scene 3

Park. The curtains open again, to the park setting

from the first scene. FAYE, PARKER, HUDSON, and JUNE
are all sitting down in the center off the stage, and
FAYE is still holding the doll. She’s seemingly
telling her friends about what happened.

PARKER
Wait, so you’re saying that this doll… (FAYE nods) wrote a
note… (FAYE nods) asking for a cracker? (FAYE nods) I don’t
get it.

JUNE
Me neither. What would Faye’s stupid doll want with a
cracker?

HUDSON
I say we bury her. She’s writing notes, and asking for
things. Sure, they may be silly requests, but who knows what
they’re used for.

FAYE
Relax, Hudson. It’s only one cracker! I’m sure Ellen isn’t
going to kill me or whatever.

HUDSON
Ellen? Who’s Ellen?

PARKER
Faye named the thing.

JUNE
Why would you do that?

FAYE
That doesn’t matter. We’re all going to be fine, I know it.

Curtains close

Scene 4

Faye’s Bedroom. There is a montage in FAYE’s bedroom,

with the doll sitting on the bed. The lights on the
stage are brightening and dimming over and over to
show days and nights. Each time the lights dim,
 someone throws a new object on stage, so a new object
is visible each time the lights brighten. This happens
about seven times, until the lights stay dim for a
long period of time. This time, when the lights
brighten, the doll is on the floor with all of her
objects. FAYE is lying in her bed, and when she wakes
up, she grabs the doll and the note, used to this by
now. She unfolds the note and reads it to herself.
Shocked, she drops the doll and runs off Stage Right.
Curtains close.

Scene 5

Park. When the curtains open again, the stage is set

to be like the park once again, with JUNE, HUDSON,
PARKER, and FAYE on stage. FAYE is holding the doll
and has clearly been crying. HUDSON is pacing, JUNE is
rocking back and forth on her knees, thinking, and
PARKER is sitting still, chewing a piece of mint
grass, thinking hard.

FAYE
(scared)
What do we do?!

HUDSON
I’ve already said we bury the doll, but every time the
answer is no.

PARKER
I don’t think that’s how it works.

JUNE
Same. I… I think if we bury it, she’ll just come right back.

FAYE
And take me with her.

(JUNE nods.)

HUDSON
Well, we’re not going to let that happen. We’re going to put
an end to this. We have to.

(PARKER, FAYE, and JUNE nod in agreement.)

FAYE
(quietly)
Then… What can we do?

PARKER
I don’t know. But we’ll figure something out, I promise.
(FAYE smiles) But for now, we need to keep watch on this
doll. So… Faye?

(FAYE looks up, clearly still nervous.)

PARKER
Do you think you could keep this doll for one more night? We
won’t let anything happen.

(FAYE hesitates, then nods. Curtains close.)

Scene 5

Faye’s Bedroom. When the curtains reopen, the lights

are fairly dim. FAYE is lying in her bed, with the
doll on the dresser, across the room. It is so silent;
you could hear a pin drop. Until the doll begins to
speak.

ELLEN
You can’t make me go away.

(FAYE ignores her, but noticeably stiffens in her bed,

pulling the blanket up more.)

ELLEN
Tons of people have tried. But it’s never worked. Sometimes
I wonder… How is everyone so naïve? Is it because I don’t
look scary?
(soundtrack breaks, voice deepens)
Because I can be much, much scarier

FAYE
Go away! You’re fake, I know it! You can’t hurt me!

ELLEN
I’m not fake. And I won’t go away. Not until I get what I
want.

FAYE
Oh yeah? Well, you’re not getting it.
ELLEN
But I want it. And if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll
have to get it myself.

FAYE
You’re not taking my soul, you pushy little brat!

FAYE stands up and angrily rushes up to the dresser

where the doll is sitting. She turns on the lights,
and turns to grab the doll, only to find she’s gone.

FAYE
(confused)
Ellen?

FAYE trips backwards, and the lights blackout for

about 5 seconds. When they brighten again, FAYE and
the doll are nowhere to be seen. There is the sound of
a door knocking coming from Stage Right, and soon,
HUDSON walks on from Stage Right, PARKEWR and JUNE
trailing behind. They look around, and don’t see FAYE.

PARKER
Faye? Faye!

JUNE
Where is she?

HUDSON
I don’t know.

(They venture a little further in the bedroom, over to

the bed.)

JUNE
Uh oh.

HUDSON
What is it June?

JUNE
The doll’s not here.

PARKER
Do you think…
 (The three look at each other and nod grimly. They
rush of Stage Right. Curtains close.)

Scene 7

Park. The curtains reopen, and the stage is set for

the final time as the park, with the same tree as
always. PARKER, JUNE, and HUSON all rush on from Stage
Left in a panicked manner. They are running and come
to a stop in front of the tree. They all sit down in
front of it.

HUDSON
Maybe she just swung by earlier and really did bury the
doll?

(JUNE and PARKER frown, and HUDSON does too. PARKER

crawls behind the tree.)

JUNE
Do you see Ellen?

HUDSON
Please don’t use its name.

(JUNE ignores him, and PARKER continues searching.)

JUNE
Well? Anything?

HUDSON
Parker? We don’t need you going missing too.

(PARKER comes back from behind the tree, holding a

dirty fabric doll. His face is grim.)

JUNE
Oh, you found the doll? Where’s Faye?

(PARKER shakes his head)

HUDSON
Then… What doll is that?

(PARKER holds up the doll, but it isn’t the same on as

before. This time, the doll has a strong resemblance
to FAYE.)
PARKER
It’s Faye.
(Curtains close)

THE END