First Playlet
Characters in order of appearance:
SMAK very young man, teens to early 20s
JELLY very young woman, teens to early 20s
LISTENER woman, late 20s to mid-30s
NAMER man, mid-30s to 40s
JOHN man, late 20s to mid-30s
Time & Place:
Several generations in the future. Junk City: a city-sized garbage dump, mountains of ancient trash through which lanes have been dug
and dwellings cobbled together.
Much of the action takes place inside and just outside the
Listener’s House, on the outskirts of Junk City, where Listener lives and
works. The Listener’s House is a specially built hut, reinforced inside with
beams and supports of salvaged metal and wood, rough and unadorned. The central
feature is the Machine. It is a kind of two-way shortwave radio, a device for
calling out and for listening. It is ancient and has been repaired 200-some
times, cobbled and welded and jimmied together out of salvaged parts and
becoming stranger in appearance in the process. There is a separate microphone,
hand-held or sitting on the table. The Machine is a sacred object but unadorned
and pure in its utility. It towers over Listener on a specially
reinforced table. Next to it is something for Listener to sit on while
listening, and nearby is a narrow bed or pallet for sleeping. A bucket of
water, a cup. Not much else.
Beyond Junk City: vast wilderness.
Note:
A paragraph break within a single character’s lines
indicates a beat. It may be a pause while expecting a reply that doesn’t come,
or an interior shift that takes only a scant breath.
Frug rhymes with mug.
THE LISTENER
Part One: A Stranger
Comes to Town
(SMAK and JELLY enter. They are young, thin, dressed in
patchwork threadbare much-repaired odds and ends of old clothes. They’ve got
rope and baskets hanging off them, chains, pockets or pouches all over their
clothes, all kinds of way to bring back what they find, as well as small
repurposed digging tools. They are working: looking for useful things in the
dump hills.)
SMAK
Break.
JELLY (not
stopping, not looking at him)
Dint find yet today.
SMAK
Yuh uh.
JELLY (still not
stopping)
Nuh huh.
SMAK
Found that, that, that, in your—
JELLY (still not
stopping)
That? Namer may differ, Jimmy may find use, but I got Grave
Doubts that dohick good for anything but throw at your head make a dent.
SMAK
Lemme see again.
JELLY (still not
stopping)
Nuh, keep findin, lazy never-ready slack-footed blind-eyed
couldn’t-find-yuh-stones-with-both-hands-and-a-micra-snoop—
SMAK
Play yuh for it.
(Instantly:)
SMAK & JELLY
Crack whack
Turn ‘im back
Up a shiny mountain in a cadillac
One go up
One stay down
SMAK & JELLY cont’d.
One go postal in a see-thru gown
Eeky meeky mikey mo
Man in the moon gonna kill you slow
Ring around a scapegoat
Pocket fulla no vote
Ashheap, ashheap,
WE DON’T FALL DOWN
(On the last word they launch at
each other wrestling-wise; Jelly evades Smak and trips him so he falls but she
loses her balance and falls too.)
SMAK
Hah, you down.
JELLY
You down first.
SMAK
But you down too, give it.
(Jelly fishes out a small object
and gives it to Smak: a metal garlic press, corroded with age.)
JELLY
Oky, oky, fine, here, but we betta do betta today, betta
find something worth finding today or we be the laughing-socks of the Finduhs.
You want to be the laughing-sock? (Using her hand like a puppet, in a high
puppet voice:) Ha-ha-ha, you find FRUG ALL, dope finduhs, ha-ha-ha.
SMAK (paying no
attention to her)
Bet this a new-find.
JELLY
That for Namer to say.
SMAK
Bet it is. Never seen a junk like this before. Bet it’s a
new-found-thing and we found it.
JELLY
Don’t cook your findings before they’re named. Namer will
say. Then Jimmies will make with. Not ours to worry, thank Sam.
SMAK
Wonder what it good for.
JELLY
Not our job, Smak. Let Namer name, let Jimmies jimmy. We
Finduhs. Guess what we do?
SMAK
But wonder what it for, don’t you, why Sam left it for us?
JELLY
Oky, lazy boyo, find or frug, I got no mood for splittin’
hairs of how many rats can dance on a pinhead—
SMAK
Oh, frug, Jelly, frug, I choose frug.
JELLY
Daytime frug when we ought to be findin, you a bad, bad
boyo.
SMAK
Oky, Jelly, what you say, but you the best Finduh in Junk
City and it my pride and priv to ever ever jimmy you, say the word, sweet
Jelly, yow.
JELLY
Screep, Smak, you gotta way, no tweak.
(They begin to maul each other
sexily when a LOUD SOUND is heard off. They instantly look off, in full alert.
They are dead still for a moment, looking and listening, then they exit in
pursuit.
Elsewhere, LISTENER is revealed,
sitting next to her Machine. She is perfectly still for the time it takes to
breath in and out slowly. thrice. Then she speaks suddenly, in a quick, quiet
monotone, words learned by rote.)
LISTENER
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please repeat come in please over.
(She stops abruptly, listens in
stillness for the time it takes to breath in and out slowly, thrice.)
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please repeat come in please over.
(She listens again for the time
it takes to breath in and out slowly, twice. Below her tone becomes less
rote, more intimate. She regularly stops short into a brief listening silence,
then resumes speaking as if there has been no interruption.)
Calling anyone repeat anyone.
This is Listener calling. This is the Listener of Junk City.
There was Listener before me. Listener before him. Back and
back. No one knows how far back. Always been a Listener in Junk City.
He never heard. Got the long silence. Her too. Both
listened. All their years. Listened, listened. Heard nothing. Died all right, I
think. Did their jobs well. Gave onto me the know-how. Words, tools, machine.
Safe keeping of all that.
How to keep, how to tend, how to keep it running. Mostly how
to call and how to listen. That’s me. Only me. Only ever one, at a time. Only
can spare one.
All others have their work. Finders. Namer. Jimmies. Finders
find junk, Namer names junk, Jimmies jimmy junk together. Build or cook or what
it needs. What junk needs done to it, Jimmies do. That’s how it works in Junk City. We inherited. We re-jimmied. We make it work.
How do you make it work?
(A two-breath listening. Back to rote
speech.)
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please repeat come in please over.
(She listens in stillness again.
Smak and Jelly enter
dragging/pulling/pushing JOHN, who is tied up with old phone cord or electrical
wires or rope made of braided plastic shopping bags. John is taller and
healthier looking than the Junk City people, wearing synthetic clothes, boots,
and some sort of gas mask that covers his face. Smak & Jelly are gleeful,
knocking him around playfully and bouncing around themselves.)
JOHN (shouting as
they enter, slightly muffled by mask)
This is unnecessary, I’m here on a peaceful—let me go,
listen, this is completely un—*hey, listen to me, I came here to find you, I’m
not—
SMAK (*overlapping)
What we found—
JELLY
What we found—
SMAK & JELLY
What we fruggin found!
(They have reached Listener’s House and are
suddenly still.)
JOHN
Listen, you can let me go, I won’t—
SMAK & JELLY (physically
subduing him)
SHHH!
(Listener hears them. She goes
to the door of her House, opens it. Throughout the following scene, she stays
in the doorway, sometimes tilting her head back toward the inside, listening.
When she does that, Smak & Jelly fall instantly silent.
Listener stares at John, then looks at Smak
& Jelly, which starts them up.)
SMAK
Hey Listener. We found this—
JELLY
Found it.
LISTENER
What is it?
JELLY
Don’t know—
SMAK
Don’t know what is.
LISTENER
So? Take to Namer.
SMAK
Asked for you, Listener—
JELLY
Kept asking for you—
SMAK
Don’t know what it is but—
JELLY
Kept asking for Listener.
JOHN
Listen, this is totally unnecessary, if you’ll just listen
to me—
JELLY
Ooh! Hear that?
SMAK
Hear that, there it go, listen, listen—
JELLY
Hear that?
SMAK
What is it, Listener?
JELLY
What the frug it is, Li—?
(Listener tilts her head back
inside to listen and Smak & Jelly instantly fall silent, but John comes
right in:)
JOHN (to Listener)
I’m sorry, are you—
SMAK & JELLY (short
sharp shush)
SH!
(Listener listens briefly to the
Machine, then turns her attention back and looks at John. He stammers slightly,
a little agitated from his rough treatment. He leaves room for her to respond
but she doesn’t speak, which is confusing to him.)
JOHN
Are you the, are you the leader here? Is that why they…
I need to talk to someone in, someone in charge, the person,
your top— I’m here to—
I’ve come to survey you, I’ve been sent to ascertain the
state of affairs here, to see how many of the unfit have survived, I’m in
advance of a larger mission, depending on my report.
I just want to talk to you.
JOHN cont’d
Are you, I’m sorry, are you, is there someone I should be
talking to, someone…
LISTENER
Come from where?
JOHN
What?
LISTENER
Come from where, sent from where?
JOHN
Oh. From the Office of Historic-Archeological
Investigations, Department of Old Earth, in New Wash, S. of T. Uh, Sea of Tranquility.
JELLY
What’s it saying?
SMAK
What’s that?
JELLY
Where he say?
SMAK
What the frug?
(Listener gestures for silence, without
taking her eyes off John.)
LISTENER (to John)
What’s all that?
JOHN
I don’t know how to—what do you mean?
LISTENER
Office, ‘partment, Tranquil. Where’s all that?
JOHN
Well, you know. Nerth.
New Earth, you know.
The moon? Used to be called The Moon?
(Slight pause as Smak and Jelly inhale, then
burst out:)
SMAK
FRUG!
JELLY
SCREEPIN’ FRUG!
SMAK
It’s a Lunie!
JELLY
It’s a screepin’ Lunatic!
SMAK
That’s why its face is so—
JELLY
That’s why it’s so—
SMAK
It’s a screepin demon Lunie son of —
JELLY
Frug sake who takes that literally, I thought it was
screepin metaphor—
SMAK
Meta-frug, there it is, that real enough?
JELLY
A fruggin demon Lunie!
SMAK
I knew they was something up there—
JELLY
You didn’t—
SMAK
I did I said so, could see lights moving, how they move if
something don’t move it—
JELLY
Just moon lights don’t mean anything—
(Listener tilts her head back to
listen inside again, and again Smak & Jelly fall silent.)
JOHN
If you’ll just let me—
SMAK & JELLY
SH.
(After a moment Listener turns
her attention back to John.)
LISTENER
Are you telling truth? You come here, from there? What, are
you Lunatic?
JOHN
Well, I, yes, I came from there. From N—from The Moon. But
I’m not crazy.
LISTENER
Who said crazy?
JOHN
You did, you called me a lunatic.
LISTENER
Lunatic is name for creature from moon.
JOHN
Oh. Oh I get it. But I’m not a creature, you know.
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know about how we changed the moon, settled it, to
escape? It’s been a long time, but don’t you know the history of it?
LISTENER
Who’s we? Who changed and settled?
JOHN
People. You know, humans.
LISTENER
You? You’re human?
JOHN
Yes.
(Listener pauses. Then moves to
remove his mask. He recoils. During the following he protests as Listener
gestures for the Finders to hold him, and removes his mask.)
JOHN (cont’d)
No, no—No! I need this, I need this, your air is poison,
don’t, don’t…
(He falls silent at his face is revealed,
breathes fearfully as they stare at him.)
LISTENER
Human. Looks like. Where’d you come from? Why’re you telling
stories?
JOHN
I’m not, I’m telling you the truth, please give me back my
mask, I don’t want to breathe this shit, you think I want to die at 40 like you
fucking savages— No, listen, I’m sorry, I’m just upset, just please give me
back my mask, the air down here is carcinogenic.
LISTENER
Carcino—?
JOHN
It’s poisonous, it’s still contaminated, it’ll be what,
another thousand years before—Listen, I’m not a danger to you, you can let me
go, I came here to talk to you.
LISTENER
How long you live? On the moon?
JOHN
Average life expectancy is 195 years.
(Smak and Jelly exchange a look,
as John and Listener continue to regard each other.)
SMAK
Man, this Lunie frugged.
JELLY
Let’s bring it to the Jimmies, see what they can do with it.
SMAK
Hah, hah, see they can find some use.
JELLY
Frug that screep, lets us find some use.
SMAK
Urgh, you tweaked!
JELLY
Nuh, it’s not so urgh, I’d jimmy it.
SMAK
Urgh, you screepin tweaked!
(Listener again listens to
inside the House and they fall silent. John this time knows not to speak,
though he doesn’t know why. Listener turns back and looks at John. She makes a
gesture that invites him to speak. Her silent attention makes him uneasy, leads
him to talk more and more. Some of this is pat, what he learned in school.)
JOHN
You really don’t know?
Do you want me to, should I, uh..?
It was, uh, three generations ago? Well, more, for you. The
earth became uninhabitable. And so global resources went toward terraforming
the moon, creating an atmosphere, artificial gravity. Some factions, I guess,
argued in favor of putting all that effort and money into repairing the damage
done to the earth’s ecosystem, but that would have entailed changing basic
lifestyle behaviors, and it was felt that given human nature, it was more
logical to just start over…
And the population was already depleted from its early-21st
century peak, after the Great Pandemic of [year after current year; ie,
2008], and all the other disasters, the super-acid rains, the planet-wide
atmospheric brown-outs, the famines and droughts, wars and mass terror attacks
bio and nuclear, on top of the series of cataclysmic earth events—tsunamis and
quakes and storms and floods. And the, you know, the Warming. So they went.
My—our ancestors. Everyone. Almost everyone. Everyone but a few too stubborn,
or too stupid, or, or… Or the unfit.
That’s why I’m here. There are some people, especially in my
department, who think it was criminal to have left anyone behind. We knew there
were descendents, we’ve studied the sims, plus what little hard data has been
collected. Not pretty. De-evolution. Low birth rates, high rates of cancer,
especially; very low average life spans, very poor quality of life. Primitive,
anarchic social arrangements. So, that’s what we expect to find….
So I’m, I’m here to make contact, make a report, do a field
census, find out how many of you there are, what sort of state you’re in, what
kind of arrangements would have to be made for your well-being, your placement,
what degree of quarantine would be….
You’re dying out. Do you understand? We’re sorry we left
you. Some of us are. We’ve won the point, we’ve gotten the funds allocated.
We’re going to bring you home. Bring you to Nerth.
JOHN cont’d.
It’s better up there. You can’t imagine. There are comforts,
conveniences, entertainments. It’s not perfect, I guess. There are some who
think—Well, maybe we haven’t learned from the past. That’s my personal view,
actually. The fact that the Agency is already well into the planning stage for
the next move…. Some say it’s our manifest destiny to leave a trail of junk
worlds in our wake, and that’s just fine… It’s a big universe, after all…
Anyway. That’s not, that’s not…
Listen. Are you in charge? Is that why they brought me to
you? Or is there someone else I should be talking to? This is a big day for you
guys. You’re being, this is a rescue. Do you understand me?
(Pause.)
LISTENER
How did you come here?
JOHN
How did I… Oh, my ship. Well, just a boat, really. (a
small joke. Doesn’t get a laugh) It’s small. A small space-worthy vehicle.
LISTENER
You came alone?
JOHN
Yes…
LISTENER
You see this vehicle?
JELLY
Nup—
SMAK
Just him—
JELLY
But we can find it—
SMAK
Frug yeah, we can find it.
LISTENER
Find it. Take it apart. Bring the parts to Namer. Find use
for them.
JOHN
What? No, no, what are you—No, no, you can’t, wait, listen—
JELLY
How about him?
LISTENER
Take him too. Keep him, don’t let him loose. Find use for
him.
JELLY
YOW!
SMAK
Come on, Lunie,* let’s go.
JELLY
Let’s go, Lunie, let’s make you useful.
(They drag John off as he shouts back at
Listener.)
JOHN *overlapping
Wait, no, listen, you don’t understand, listen to me, this
is a mistake, you’ve got to listen to me, I’m here to help you, listen!
(They’re gone. It’s quiet again.
Listener goes inside, sits again, is perfectly still for the time it takes to
breath in and out slowly, once. Then she speaks into the microphone, as
before:)
LISTENER
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please over.
(She is silent and still again,
listening, for a three-breath.)
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please over.
(She is silent and still again,
listening, for the time it takes to breath in and out slowly once. Light fades
on her, rises on NAMER, in the place of Naming, which is densely adorned with
nailed-up CDs & DVDs, and other detritus of extinct technology.)
NAMER
Dirt, I can name you. Sky. Cloud. Sun. I name you. Chest,
ribs, heart, I name you. Old things, known things, I know their names. New
found things, I divine their names, I bring their names forth. I can name the
unnamable, the never named, the once-named and long forgotten, I can name the
most darksome mystery that all else quail from speechless. But I cannot
name…but I cannot name this…augh! in me. I can name around it—it is sharp, it
is biting, it is restless, it is relentless—but I cannot come at its true name.
If I could dig it forth, hold it in my palm, if I could see it clearly, I could
name it. But it’s locked in
darkness, like its name. Unless its name is… (whispers
with his hands over his mouth; we can’t hear the name. Then speaks again.)
That was your name before you were Listener, and only I remember now. And I
will never speak it.
(Smak & Jelly enter. Maybe
one of them is wearing John’s mask backwards as a hat. John stumbles trailing
behind them at the end of a rope, still gagged and tied. He is much more
disheveled, his clothes disordered, and sinks to the ground when they stop.)
SMAK
Hey, Namer.
JELLY
Hey, Namer.
(They begin pulling objects out
of their pockets or bags. Namer is staring at John. He wants to ask what it is,
but that’s beneath his dignity.)
JELLY cont’d.
Finduhs creepers,
SMAK
Lose no weepers,
JELLY
Found and ready for naming!
(They’ve lined up or piled up
the objects in front of Namer. Tearing his eyes off John, he dutifully picks up
the first thing, a CD. There is something lightly ritualistic about this
process, a prescribed pattern of words.)
NAMER
This is known, it is a relic, an Eye of Tek. Namer will keep
to adorn the place of Naming.
SMAK (murmuring
routinely)
Eye of Tek.
(Namer glances irresistibly at
John, back to objects. Picks up the next thing, a bundle of two-by-fours.)
NAMER
This is known, it is good Junk, its name is lum-bar, give to
the Jimmies to find use.
JELLY (taking the
wood, murmuring)
Lum-bar.
(Namer picks up the next thing, a rectangular double-d
battery.)
NAMER
This is known, it is a juice-box. It is dangerous, it leaks.
Take it to bury. But treat it with respect. It is a sacred relic.
(Smak is taking the battery when Jelly speaks
up.)
JELLY
Hey, Namer. Why Sam leave us dangerous relics?
SMAK
Jelly!
JELLY
Just wondering, how’s that make screepin sense?
NAMER
Sam works in mysterious ways. Do not you presume to
penetrate the intentions of Sam.
(Slight pause. Jelly is abashed. Then Smak
puts away the battery, carefully.)
SMAK (murmuring
pointedly)
Juice box.
(Namer picks up the thing that
Smak & Jelly were looking at in the first scene. It’s a metal garlic press.
It’s new to Namer. He examines it. Hefts it, feeling the weight. Opens and
closes it, observes how it moves. Runs his fingers over its surfaces. Smells it
carefully, maybe detecting a faint remnant of garlic scent. Uses it as a
mallet, lightly tapping his palm. Maybe puts some small thing—a scrap of cloth,
say, or a leaf—into it and sees how it is pressed through the tiny holes. Smak
& Jelly are watching as alertly as dogs watching someone handling a bone.
Finally:)
NAMER
This is a new find. (Smak & Jelly inhale sharply.) You
may claim a new find.
SMAK & JELLY
YEEE-OWW!!!
JELLY
Thanks, Namer!
SMAK
Screepin crool!
JELLY
No tweak, yow!
SMAK
But what’s it, Namer?
NAMER
It is… a small… prink. For its use, let the Jimmies say. But
it is safe and useful Junk.
(Smak and Jelly put it away,
immensely proud.)
SMAK & JELLY (murmuring)
Prink, prink, prink…
(They look at each other and
bounce slightly, wanting to celebrate more but inhibited by Namer’s presence.
Namer at last feels free to gesture at John.)
NAMER
And this? Do you bring me this to be named?
JELLY
This? No, this got a name. It’s a john.
SMAK
It’s a Lunie—
JELLY
Lunie john—
SMAK
John the Lunie—
JELLY
It named itself—
SMAK
When Listener asked it—
JELLY
It came right out and named itself—
SMAK
But we got its vehicle—
JELLY
Yeah, we got its boat—
SMAK
Too big to carry, we still gotta take it apart—
JELLY
We bring you the pieces later—
NAMER (re John)
You brought this to Listener?
SMAK
It came askin for her—
JELLY
Askin for Listener—
SMAK
So we brought it to her—
JELLY
And she gave it to us, said—
SMAK
Said we could use it—
JELLY
And we using it, huh Lunie?
SMAK
Frug, yeah.
NAMER
Can it speak?
JELLY
Can it speak?
SMAK
Why you think we got it muzzled?
JELLY
Lunie never shut up!
(John has been looking Namer in
the eye.)
NAMER
Finders Smak and Jelly. Will you leave this with me a little
while?
JELLY
It’s already named, Namer.
NAMER
It may have another truer name. Things can sometimes lie.
Things can sometimes give up false names. Leave it just a little while with me.
SMAK
Huh, yeah, Lunie may have give up a false name, screep.
JELLY
Could be, sure, sure, Namer, you keep it a while. We come
back for it later.
SMAK
We come get you later, Lunie, yeah.
JELLY (exiting, to
Smak)
Prink, prink, prink, hey Smak!
SMAK (exiting, to
Jelly)
Fruggin new found prink!
SMAK & JELLY (almost
or entirely off)
YOW!
(They’re gone. Namer looks at
John. Gestures for him to stand. Walks around him, examines his clothing.
Finally ungags him.)
JOHN
Oh, thank you, OK, listen, are you in charge here, can I
talk to you, can you, will you let me explain, I’m—my name is John, I’m
from—Oh, fuck, I don’t know if I should trust you but you’ve got to listen to
me—
NAMER
I’m not Listener. She has already listened to you. I am
Namer. I name.
JOHN
Yes…so I saw. But…I already have a name.
NAMER
We’ll see.
What did you tell Listener?
(Lights shift to Listener. She
is still for a moment, listening. But she is unusually restless. She lies down
on her little bed or pallet, but almost immediately gets up again. She goes to
the door and looks out. She goes back and sits by the machine, listening. She
gets up and paces around, sits again to the machine.)
LISTENER
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please repeat come in please over. (Pause.
Still into the machine, but not rote:) Are you listening? Can you hear and
can’t answer? Am I only voice with no meaning? I ride sound waves, fly unseen
forever, voice goes out into wilderness where I never follow, never will. It’s
enough, calling is enough, what I’m for. No reason to ever expect answer. No
right to expect, arrogance to think I’d be the one to hear… But I’ll whisper
only to you, unseen one, if you exist: I want to be the one. I want to hear
your voice. I want to be the Listener who hears.
(Outside, Jelly enters, carrying
a small container. She puts it down on Listener’s doorstep, starts to leave.
Listener hears the tiny sound, instantly goes to the door and opens it.)
LISTENER
Finder.
(Jelly stops and turns around.)
JELLY
Yuh, Listener?
(Listener hesitates. Jelly refers to what she
left for her.)
Jimmy Crunk made that. Best baker Jimmy in city. It’ll be
good, no tweak.
LISTENER
Where is the Lunatic?
JELLY
Namer got it.
LISTENER
Namer? It is already named.
JELLY
Namer think maybe it’s a false name. Namer’s lookin’ into
it.
LISTENER
Oh.
Bring it back to me.
When Namer’s done.
I will listen to it again.
I listened hastily last time.
Bring it back.
JELLY (starting to
go)
Oky, Listener.
LISTENER
Thank you, Jelly.
(Jelly stops, looks back. That
was a little unusual, and unnecessary.)
JELLY
Oky, Listener.
(Jelly exits.
Listener sits back to the machine, listening. She hears something a little bit
off in the normal workings of the machine. She opens a panel, examines
something inside the machine. She pulls out a box of tools and begins to work
on the machine. Lights down on her, up on Namer and John. John is still bound.)
JOHN
So, I know, I guess, this is hard for you to understand—I’m
sure this is just sort of mind-blowing—but you have to try to believe me, it’s
incredibly important that you accept certain facts—
NAMER
You are in terrible ignorance. Do you not know the True
Story?
JOHN
The true story? But I just told you—
NAMER
I have heard you. Do not repeat your evil tale. I will tell
you the True Story. Listen for once. Be rescued yourself.
JOHN
Maybe you didn’t understand—let me try again to explain—I’m
here to help you—Hey, no, wait, I’ll— (be quiet)
(Namer replaces his gag. If John
is not already sitting, Namer helps him firmly down to sitting or kneeling.)
NAMER
In the beginning was the Tek and Sam saw that it was good.
Sam the Uncle made the Tek to help the people. Ones and zeros created He Tek,
and it was good.
The first people dwelt in the Mall of Us, which was a great
temple, filled with gardens, and with everything the people needed. And in the
center of the Mall was the tree of knowledge, heavy with fruit.
And Sam the Uncle said, do not eat of that fruit, for I have
given you everything you need, and you are to be happy and innocent and
grateful, and live amid my bounty, and enjoy all the happiness of my Mall.
But there came to be some who were not content, and they
were restless and curious. Sam forbade questions. But doubt had been planted.
And so it was one day that a woman named Eve, one of the
doubters, went secretly to the Tree of Knowledge. And daring mightily she ate
of the fruit.
And then her eyes were opened, and she knew the truth of
good and evil, and understood the secrets of Tek. And she brought the fruit to
others of the doubters and they ate of the fruit, and their eyes were opened
too. And they turned from Sam and hid themselves.
But He found them out, for Sam is always listening. And He
cast out all the people from the Mall and locked its doors forever.
And the people went forth into the land without Tek and they
suffered. Sam in his anger made great storms to come upon the earth.
From the North He caused great cold to bury the people in
ice.
From the South He caused great floods to bury the people in
water.
From the West He caused great bolts of lightening to bury
the people in fire.
From the East He caused great quakes to bury the people in
mud.
NAMER cont’d
The children of Eve knew that Sam would never stop smiting
them. So with their forbidden Tek they built a giant sled of metal, and it was
called the Cadillac. And all the children of Eve got into the Cadillac and fled
the earth.
They flew to the moon, and there they lived, but outside of
the wisdom of Sam they fell from grace, and became unhuman, and were lunatics,
mad demonic pitiable wicked creatures.
But the Sons of Sam stayed, scattered across the earth, and
they prayed to Sam saying, forgive us, Uncle, relent, for we are your faithful
ones. And Sam relented, and forgave the people, and peace came upon the land.
And Sam gave to the people the mighty Junk of the ancient
times, to live upon and use, and so that His terrible destructive wrath might
be always remembered.
And as a sign that His mighty anger had passed, He left his
gifts, the relics of divine Tek. But He forbade the people the sin of pride,
and so they were forbidden to usurp the role of Sam and make new tek, lest the
terrible storms return.
And that is the will of Sam.
(Pause.)
Well? Did you hear?
(John nods.)
What do you have to say?
(Namer un-gags him. John
hesitates.)
JOHN
Well, that was… a fascinating, uh, mytho-historic
reconstruction of events—very impressive in its way, a really interesting
metaphorical narrative—but essentially false. You’ll understand when you come*
to Nerth—
NAMER *overlapping
Quiet.
You are a child of Eve. That is not in question. Your story
confirms it.
JOHN
Well, I, sure, you could say, viewed through your, your
viewpoint, but no, but that’s not what I’m—
NAMER
And so your name seems true. It is a name a child of Eve
might have. You are a John.
JOHN
Well, John, not a John, if that makes a—
NAMER (to himself
really, working it out)
The only question that remains is, are you useful junk, or
are you sacred relic? Listener chose to consider you Junk, and give you to be
used. It is not for the Listener to name a thing, but you are unusual in every
way. You are new, you upset order, it is not her fault.
JOHN
Wait a minute, please, I need to point out. How can I be
either junk or, or a relic? Can’t you see that I’m human?
NAMER
Jimmy can carve the image of a dog out of lumbar. It is
still lumbar. It is not a dog. You are a child of Eve. The children of Eve are
no longer human. You are not human.
Never before has a child of Eve appeared among us, since
they fled the earth. You say you came down from the moon, you say you chose to
come, but I have no way of knowing if that is true. You may have been thrown
out of the Moon for some reason. Or Sam may have sent you to test us, or to
reward us. All I do know is that Sam gives us
many gifts. Whatever we find, all that we find, are Sam’s
gifts to us. These are of two kinds, Junk, which is useful, and Relic, which is
sacred. I am inclined to agree with Listener. How can a child of Eve be sacred?
You are junk, and may be freely used.
JOHN
But, but, how can I prove to you that I’m—
NAMER
I do not need to hear more from you on this point. There is
another point…there is another part of your story…
JOHN
Yes?
NAMER
You say, you claim, you claim you have looked upon the earth
from your lunar exile.
JOHN
Yes, sure, we’ve made observations—
NAMER
And you have seen only us? Or have you seen any of the other
Sons of Sam? In all the earth, have you seen any others?
JOHN
No. No, we haven’t found any other survivors, any other, uh,
sons of sam.
I mean, that’s not necessarily definitive, without
technology there are certain absent signatures, and taking into account terrain
features, forest cover for example, that could obscure findings—
NAMER
You have seen only us, only Junk City, yes or no?
JOHN
Well, OK, yes.
NAMER
We are alone. We are alone.
JOHN
Well, again, that’s not—
NAMER
Do not speak of this to anyone else. I am Namer. I can say
that you are in question, and that only by examining you from the inside can I
know your true name. No one would stop me from cutting you open. Do you
understand me?
JOHN
You’re saying, you could kill me.
NAMER
Yes. So fear me, and do as I say. Tell nobody else your
demon story.
JOHN
All right.
NAMER
Answer me by name, junk. Do you understand me?
JOHN (slight
pause)
Yes, Namer.
(Smak and Jelly enter.)
JELLY
Done with it, Namer?
NAMER
You may take it for now. But don’t let it loose, and do not
give it to the Jimmies. I may need to examine it again, after I have
considered.
(Smak and Jelly exchange a glance.)
SMAK
Can we use it meantime?
NAMER
Yes, yes, do whatever you want with it. But keep it alive.
JELLY
Oh, sure, screep yeah.
SMAK
No fruggin’ fun if it’s dead!
(Namer exits.)
JELLY
Screep, this lunie got everybody’s balls rattled.
SMAK
No tweak. (to John) Trouble-making demon, aren’t ya?
JOHN
All right, listen, you two, once again, I am not a demon, I
am a person, and you have got to start treating me like one. How would you like
if—No, damn it, wait—
(Jelly and Smak have exchanged a look, and
replaced John’s gag.)
SMAK
I don’t care what it is, I just wish it would shut the frug
up.
JELLY
Come on. Listener wants it back.
SMAK
Popular lunie. When we gonna have time to use it?
JELLY
Maybe we take our time on the way over…
SMAK
Yow, yuh, Jelly, you no dope.
(They start to exit, pulling
John behind them, but he resists. They look at him, surprised. He makes a
humble, imploring gesture, as best he can.)
SMAK (cont’d.)
Huh.
JELLY
Huh.
SMAK
It want something.
JELLY
What you s’pose it want?
SMAK
Probably wants to yap some more.
JELLY
Yuh.
(They look at him, considering,
then shrug and turn to drag him off again. He resists again, again implores.)
SMAK
Huh.
JELLY
Screep.
SMAK
It really want to yap.
JELLY
Well, what the frug, maybe it thought of something new.
SMAK
Oky, but if it don’t start making sense (pointedly to
John) there be trouble.
(They ungag John, look at him
expectantly. He hesitates, looking for the right words.)
JOHN
What are your names?
(Smak scoffs and goes to re-gag him. Jelly
stops him.)
JELLY
Nuh, that sensible. Jelly. Smak.
JOHN
I’m John.
SMAK
Dank, that not news, it stupefied.
JOHN
Please, I just want to understand, I want to understand…Junk City. And, and how you live here. Your customs. And how, and how to convince you to
see me as, as. Not a demon.
JELLY
It want a lot.
JOHN
He.
SMAK
Huh?
JOHN
He wants a lot. I’m not…not an it.
(Smak and Jelly exchange a look.)
JELLY
Oh, I get it.
SMAK
What you think?
JELLY
Well, it get promoted, fun’s over.
SMAK
Dank, yeah.
JELLY (to John)
Look, lunie, journey’s still out on your what-you-call,
stats. Not for us to say, oky?
SMAK
Namer and or Listener, they’ll jimmy it out—
JELLY
So settle down—
SMAK
And we’ll have some more fun.
JOHN
Well, you know, it’s not so much fun. For, for me.
SMAK
Oh, complaining? Could be much, much rougher, john.
JELLY
Oh, lighten, it don’t mean harm. Hey, john, you want
to be one of us? That your big idea? Want to be a real junk city boy?
JOHN
Uh… yes.
JELLY
Who your dema-gog?
JOHN
My...? Oh, uh, oh. I don’t have…
SMAK
See? It don’t even! Demon, demon lunie for sure.
JELLY
Well, give it a chance, they don’t know anything up there.
We could teach it.
SMAK (sulky)
Listener’s waiting.
JELLY
Won’t take long. Oky, lunie. You want to know customs?
JOHN
Yes. Thank you.
SMAK
Oh, so polite all a sudden. Watch it, Jel, it up to
something.
JELLY (ignoring
Smak)
Oky lun. Everybody got a goggling on they side. Not talking
about Sam the Uncle, he the big man, he for everybody. But the others help out
day to day, get it?
JOHN
Uh, yes, I understand, I think…
JELLY
Only don’t talk about them to Namer, ‘cause they, like,
unofficial. He say, Sam all we need, Sam the only lonely gog they is, no Sam
but Sam, yappa yappa. But everybody know you need the others, just don’t yap
about it, got it?
(John nods.)
So, like, first there’s Okra. She the gog a wisdom an
bounty, big time. Wife a Sam, some say more powerful even, mother all the other
gogs. Everybody love Okra. Lot of Finduhs got her on they side, cause she give
the best Junk, you bet.
SMAK
Yuh, everybody love Okra.
JELLY
And there Thump, dema-gog a building. Jimmies dig him. He
not my favorite. He stuck up, you don’t jimmy way he like, he get mad, fire
shoot out his fingertips. (She makes a fingers-together darting gesture, as
Thump:) Yo, FIRE.
SMAK
Yeah, oky, and then there My Donna, goggess of
fec-fec-fecund-ditty.
(Smak & Jelly begin to dance around
sexily.)
JELLY
She always young, she dance, she sing—
SMAK
She bring fu-uh-uh-un!
JELLY
No matter how many times she comes—
SMAK
She always always—
JELLY & SMAK
Like a virgin, huh huh for the merry first time!
JELLY
And her little sister—
SMAK
No, she the same, she version one point one—
JELLY
Oky, whichever, she called Brinny—
SMAK
And she carry a spear—
JELLY
Show the sharp side of fun—
SMAK
Brinny is fickle—
JELLY
Brinny will leave you empty—
SMAK
And sick—
JELLY
Yeah, so watch out.
SMAK
And My Donna-Brinny the sister of the first son of Sam,
goggling El Vis.
JELLY
Oh, El Visto the Christo.
SMAK
He walked among us—
JELLY
He walked the roads of Junk City—
SMAK
He sang an sang a gimme an heartcrack—
JELLY
He too sad to live—
SMAK
He died, he was harvested to Sam—
JELLY
But he come back, he come back and back—
SMAK
Never know—
JELLY
Yuh never know when yuh gone see visage of El Vis—
SMAK
You’ll see, we got the El Visto festo, every year—
JELLY
Jimmies build a great big El out of the best burnable junk—
SMAK
And we burn it up and we dance—
JELLY
And we sing—
SMAK
And we yell—
SMAK & JELLY (singing)
SEE YOU WHEN YOU COME BACK EL
WE SEE YOU NEXT TIME
YOU AINT NOTHIN BUT A NOTHIN BUT A NOTHIN BUT A
BREAKIN MY HEART AGAIN
SMAK
That a great party.
JELLY
You’ll see, Lunie, if you still here.
JOHN
If I’m still here?
Where else would I be?
Where else would I be? You dismantled my ship. I can’t go
home. So where else would I be? Is there something you—wait, tell me—
(Jelly has shrugged at Smak, and
he replaces the gag. They exit in silence, pulling John.
NAMER enters, outside Listener’s
House. He rubs on the door briefly with something, maybe his sleeve; it makes a
barely audible whisper. Listener hears it. They are both still for a moment. He
backs away a bit. She opens the door, surprised to see him, stands in the
doorway.)
LISTENER
Namer?
NAMER
I want to see you. I want to talk to you.
LISTENER
To me? I’m Listener.
NAMER
I know.
LISTENER
You’re Namer.
NAMER
I know.
LISTENER
So?
(Pause. Listener starts to go back in.)
NAMER
Wait.
The new thing. The Lunatic.
LISTENER
You saw it?
NAMER
Yes. Yes. I have confirmed its name. It is a Child of Eve,
and, now that it has fallen back to Earth, useful Junk.
LISTENER
What I thought.
(Pause. Listener starts to go back in.)
NAMER
Wait.
LISTENER
Say what you came to say.
NAMER
Let me come in.
(Brief shocked pause.)
Let me come in.
LISTENER
You? Come in? Come in here?
No one comes into Listener’s House. No one. Ever. No one but
Listener.
NAMER
Before you were Listener—
LISTENER
We were hatchlings.
NAMER (almost
continuous)
—you had another name—
LISTENER
DO NOT.
(This is the loudest she’s
spoken. They’re both startled. She instinctively half-turns, listening to the
Machine, which is silent. Namer waits, still, while she listens. She turns back
to him.)
I’m not yours to Name. Go partner up with a nice cooking
Jimmy. I’m Listener.
NAMER
Then listen to me.
LISTENER
Got bigger listening to do.
(She starts to go again.)
NAMER
What if you’re Listening for nothing?
(Slight pause. This is huge.)
NAMER cont’d
What if, what if there are no lost Sons of Sam? What if we
are all there is? What if we’re alone?
LISTENER
Do you know *what you’re—
NAMER (*overlapping)
What if you are listening for nothing, what if you are
wasting your *life?
LISTENER (*overlapping)
Stop! You don’t believe that.
NAMER
The John said* they saw no—
LISTENER (*overlapping)
Believing Lunatics now? Who knows why it says anything?
NAMER
What it said could be true. It sounds true. I could name it
true. Then it would be a new truth, a new order, * better than before.
LISTENER (*overlapping)
You could be cast out for this. Into the wilderness. Die
alone. You know that. Anyone interferes with the Listening. I can out-cast.
NAMER
Not Namer.
LISTENER
Anyone.
NAMER
You wouldn’t.
LISTENER
Don’t make me.
(Tense pause. She is furious.)
You’re Namer, act like it, go, go, don’t come here, I won’t
listen to you again, go.
(She goes back inside, closes
the door. Namer stands tensely for a moment, then exits. At the end of
Listener’s speech the lights fade, so she speaks the last words in the dark.)
LISTENER
Calling anyone repeat anyone is anyone out there this is
Junk City calling repeat this is Junk City do you read me repeat do you read me
come in please repeat come in please repeat come in please over.
For your reply, I would do anything. Would give my life.
Have given it. Nothing I wouldn’t give or do. But is that true? Would I
anything? There is something… But. But I would have to do what no Listener has
done, would have to risk everything, everything every Listener ever lived for,
and end of hope, if I failed, end of future, and to never never hear your
voice. How can I dare? But how can I not? What should I do? O, tell me, tell
me. What should I do.
End
Of Part One
(No
intermission, probably)
CONTINUED IN NEXT ISSUE
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