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Authors: Sergio De La Pava

Tags: #Fiction, #General

Personae (12 page)

BOOK: Personae
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CLARISSA: I’ll go like we decided. (
Charles
and
Nestor
exchange
a
quick
glance
) If everything’s fine I’ll come back for the rest. If not you’ll be safe here.

CHARLES: I’m not safe here, I’m not getting better.

CLARISSA: Maybe not but you’re also not getting appreciably worse. I’ll come back if everything’s fine.

CHARLES: No you won’t, why would you? Linda said she would return and the only thing that replaced her was desolation. She said we would never part.

CLARISSA: She was using metaphor Charles.

LUDWIG: A perfectly legitimate way to speak.

CLARISSA: You know that.

CHARLES: I’m going, I have the most to lose.

(
He
resumes
hobbling.
)

LUDWIG: Wait!

(
Ludwig
removes
his
hat
and
beautiful
long
hair
unfurls.
He
removes
his
jacket
to
reveal
that
he
is
a
woman,
a
striking
one!
Adam
and
Clarissa
look
at
each
other,
Nestor
doesn’t
react.
Charles
moves
closer
to
get
a
better
look.
)

CHARLES: Heaven!

LINDA: See, it’s me. It’s Linda. I told you I’d return and I did. We’re together again, don’t leave.

CHARLES: Linda?

LINDA: Yes, Linda. Stay.

CHARLES: Say my name. Say my name Linda.

LINDA: What?

CHARLES: Say my name. The first time I heard you say it the sound fluttered my heart and though the effect did dim over time it remained perceptible to the end.

LINDA: There was no end, it’s me.

CHARLES: Say it!

LINDA: There was no end Charles.

CHARLES: (
upset
) Oh. No. Say it. Say it please.

LINDA: I just did Charles.

CHARLES: Oh. (
looks
away
then
up
) What did we call soft displays of affection?

LINDA: What?

CHARLES: What did we name them, it’s a simple question.

LINDA: I don’t… know.

CHARLES: A photograph. A remarkable photographic likeness but displayed in Hell not Heaven. Tell me, if left in the sun will you fade and desaturate?

(
He
hobbles
off.
)

LINDA: This is a confusing place, give me a moment.

CHARLES: I don’t have one to give. Chubby, we called it chubby.

(
He
leaves.
)

LINDA: Wait! You’re right! Charles!

(
The
four
stand
dumbfounded.
Charles
is
gone.
Suddenly
Adam
draws
a
sword
heretofore
unseen
and
points it at Linda’s neck
.)

ADAM: Who are you? Speak!

CLARISSA: Where the hell did he get that?

LINDA: I’m outspoken. I’ve said all I will. If you want more verbiage you’ll have to provide it yourself.

ADAM: I’m not playing! (
pushing
sword
closer
)

NESTOR: Easy Adam, (
taking
the
sword
and
throwing
it
offstage
) silence is always a woman’s prerogative. Right Lud old boy?

CLARISSA: Wait! Do you guys hear that?

(
Soft
and
vague
human
sounds
are
heard.
)

Those are muted squeals of delight. Charles is in a better place!

ADAM: No, I think they’re cries for help.

(
more
sounds
)

CLARISSA: No I tell you. Can’t you divine the meaning of those sounds? We’re in a safe place, protected by a benevolent deity, partaking of splendid riches of florabundant variety and an enriching power that offers powerful enrichment.

(
As
Clarissa
speaks
a
ball
rolls
in
from
where
Charles
left.
Clarissa
stops
as
Linda
approaches
it
to
investigate.
She
moves
closer
and
closer
until
making
the
wretched
discovery
that
it
is
Charles’s
head!
What
was
his
head.
She
unloads
a
grievous
scream
and
recoils
in
abject
horror.
Adam
and
Clarissa
are
so
stunned
their
horrified
grief
is
displayed
as
if
underwater.
)

CLARISSA: Oh my…

ADAM: God.

Nestor
calmly
removes
his
jacket,
wraps
it
around
his
elbow,
and
goes
over
to
the
case
where
he
smashes
the
glass
with
it
and
removes
the
gun.

ACT TWO

The
same
room,
but
different.
In
fact
nothing
in
it
is
the
same
as
before.
At
a
small
round
table
sit
Adam
and
Linda
in
a
seeming
portrait
of
placid
domesticity.
The
beds
are
gone
and
in
their
place,
near
the
exit,
a
stack
of
sandbags.
 

ADAM: Wait, what are you saying exactly? No equivocation please.

LINDA: I’m saying behave like an adult. Change fuels the world and powers the globe’s rotation. Leaves lose their grip on the tree that provided them sanctuary to then brown and curl on the ground. But their decomposition feeds the soil that greater splendor might grow thereon.

ADAM: That’s your version of unequivocal?

LINDA: I’m sorry, did I promise you a lifetime?

ADAM: Yes! Precisely that!

LINDA: I may not have realized at the time how precious a commodity that is.

ADAM: I’d respect you so much more if you’d just come out and say it.

LINDA: Well Adam, if that’s your real name, I’m afraid this may seem premature but I don’t think this is working out.

ADAM: Premature? We’ve been together decades!

LINDA: Does seem that way at times doesn’t it? I’m sure you understand.

ADAM: I most definitely do not! Is it another man?

LINDA: No.

ADAM: Then?

LINDA: Another woman.

ADAM:
What
?

LINDA: I was another woman when I declared that lifetime thing. Such another in fact that I’m only taking your word for said declaration.

ADAM: That’s outrageous.

LINDA: Understand. What we call a person is just a product of their particular genetic stew as basted and braised by the particular experiences found in its kitchen. Do I not get to produce different flavors as those experiences change? You would bind me through the words of my priors but I state honestly that you might as well seek to use the disembodied words of a radio announcer for all the connection I feel to them. Is it solace then to say that I have not fallen out of love with you but rather that this
I
never loved you at all?

ADAM: No, it’s not. Not even close.

BOOK: Personae
4.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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