Title: Conversation #23
Author: Peter Wood
Draft date: 13-08-05
Contact: peterwood2@gmail.com
LIGHTS UP
Two people sit on a bench looking out at the ocean. There is the sound of waves, seagulls, and children playing. It is a cool fall day.
A PERSON
Do you remember the library? The head of holding hands? Holding in the silence. Not talking. Not wishing for more. Not knowing to wish for more. Just the warmth. Your hand in mine. So young. So naive.
Pause.
A PERSON
Do you remember the beach? Cold. Sleeping bag hot with out bodies. Fully dressed, of course. Unsure. I wanted more. We were older then. Knew to want more, but things were fumbling. Wrong. And so we stopped. And so. And no.
Pause.
ANOTHER PERSON
I never
A PERSON
It didn’t matter.
ANOTHER PERSON
It should have. The fact that it didn’t . . . made me mad. I mean . . . I don’t mean to be rude, but you pissed me off with your blind adoration, your “love.” It’s not like I didn’t care. I was just as young, stupid. Didn’t know what to do with such . . .
A PERSON
Adoration?
ANOTHER PERSON
No.
A PERSON
Love?
They both laugh.
ANOTHER PERSON
Intensity
A PERSON
Me neither.
Pause.
A PERSON
A lifetime ago.
ANOTHER PERSON
Yes.
A PERSON
This was going to be a different play.
ANOTHER PERSON
I know. Sorry.
A PERSON
It’s ok.
Pause.
A PERSON
You know that I’m at peace with the fact that I will always adore you. No matter our lives or circumstances. And I don’t need us to be more than what we are. Friends. Old friends. Distant friends at times.
ANOTHER PERSON
That wasn’t very poetic.
A PERSON
I know. Sorry.
ANOTHER PERSON
It’s ok. Poetry is overrated.
A PERSON
Lots of things are.
Long pause. The sound of the ocean. Seagulls. Children playing. Another Person takes A Person’s hand. They smile and look out at the ocean for a long, long moment.
BLACKOUT