Swimming, Biking, and Running for President

This is my appeal:

A simple structure of ideas

Centered on a line

Of thought, that seems

Too simple

And yet quizzically complex.

Vote for me.

Three words, one goal-

An all too simple concept.

But somehow

When you break it down-

I still lose. 

Somehow, three

Does not equal three.

It equals one.

And I am less

Than the sum of my whole. 

And each part, 

Is worse than the one before.

Why?

Vote for me?

Good question.

I have no simple answer.

Except that numbers

Are just numbers. 

But for us, numbers are 

Everything.

So give me mine

In permanent marker

On the back of my leg.

And each arm.

And I’ll show you

What digits can do.

At least-

I’ll tri.

Coping (Scene)

ALYSSA: Hey, can I come in? (long pause) 

(cheerily) So I talked to John this morning. 

PAUL: Why are you here?

ALYSSA: (ignoring him) He said he and Mel were going to the movies tonight...

PAUL: I don’t want to go.

ALYSSA: Paul...

PAUL: (sarcastically) Alyssa...

ALYSSA: You can’t stay holed up in here forever. I think going out tonight would be good for you. 

PAUL: I don’t want to go. 

ALYSSA: You haven’t left your room in the past two weeks.

PAUL: No.

(long pause)

ALYSSA: Paul, you need to hear this. I know you won’t like it, but I’m going to say it anyway. Will you just listen to me for 2 minutes? (no response) Fine. Paul, you’re being pathetic. I mean, this is ridiculous. I know Claire was your fiancee and everything, but she’s gone now. And sitting here wasting away in your misery isn’t going to bring her back. You have a family. And friends... And we care about you. And this isn’t healthy. 

PAUL: Shut up!

ALYSSA: No. I won’t shut up because you’re being a... You’re being...

PAUL: What?

ALYSSA: Selfish, irrational, and a jerk! There were other people who cared about Claire too. I probably loved her just as much as you did. She’s been my best friend since middle school. Did you think of that? And what about Mr. and Mrs. Thompson? Her parents? Have you talked to them about how they’re doing? It was their daughter that died! Don’t you think it hurt them too? Did you ever stop to think that more people were crushed than just you?

PAUL: Yeah, I get it okay? I know they’re upset. That part I understand. It’s the fact that they forgot so quickly. I mean, how could they? Why would they even want to? I... don’t... want... to... forget. 

ALYSSA: They haven’t forgotten. They’re coping, they’re moving on, they’re honoring Claire by living their lives. Don’t you think that’s what she’d want... instead of this?

PAUL: Leave me alone. You don’t understand. My entire future just died, and you’re asking me to act like nothing’s wrong? You want me to pretend Claire is replaceable? That I can just “move on”? You don’t get it. Nobody does.

ALYSSA: I’m not asking you not to grieve. I know it will take a long time to build your life back, but you can’t let go. You can’t give your life up because of Claire. She wouldn’t want it to be like that. 

PAUL: But she’s gone. She isn’t coming back. She was my life. My heart was buried with her! I don’t have a future anymore. 

ALYSSA: You’re not listening to me.

PAUL: Well, you’re not listening to me!

(long pause) 

ALYSSA: I need you, Paul. (hesitantly) I’m your sister and I’m alive. I need you because you are my brother and my friend. Mom and Dad need you. They raised you to be a great man, and they need you to be that for them. Your friends need you too. We all need you, Paul. That’s what you don’t see. This Paul that sits in here day and night fading away, this isn’t the Paul we all know, the Paul we all love. I want the real Paul back. I’m willing to wait for him, as long as he needs, but I don’t want to lose him, and I’m afraid that... I don’t want him to... Paul... (starts to cry)

PAUL: Alyssa, I’m sorry. I just don’t know how...

ALYSSA: I’m afraid for you, Paul. I don’t want to lose you too. I can’t...

PAUL: Alyssa, I’m not... That’s not... I’m not going to die!

ALYSSA: The way you talk sometimes now, sometimes it seems...

PAUL: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to... I didn’t know...

ALYSSA: (taking a deep breath) I miss Claire so much. I know it’s hard. I’ve cried myself to sleep every night since she died. But, I’m learning to move on. Slowly. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I don’t want you to give up. Please, just try, Paul. 

(long pause) 

PAUL: (sighing) Okay.

(Alyssa hugs him, relieved)

PAUL: So, what is the name of this movie we’re going to see?

i.e. Soul Friends (Scene)

(ANNE, a high school senior, is sitting in her car in the parking lot, waiting for her brother after school. Her face is red and she has obviously been crying. CARA, also a senior, is sitting in the passenger seat, where she obviously is not welcome. The conversation seems to be a continuation of a previous string of events and we find out that this tension is due in part to a letter CARA gave ANNE earlier in the day.)

CARA: Anne, Anne, listen to me. Look, I know this looks like... (sighs)... It looks like a lot of things. But I think...

ANNE: Shut up. Just leave me alone.

CARA: But you’re mad at me. At least let me try to explain why I did it. (ANNE glares pointedly at CARA) Alright, so I talked to my mom last night, and like I said in the letter, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. I told her, well, not everything, but I told her... a lot... and she had a lot of good advice for us. She doesn’t think we have to stop being friends. I told her that was impossible. But she did bring up the verse about if your hand causes you to stumble...

ANNE: Yeah, I get it. You want to cut me off. You want me out of your life. You hate me. Well, guess what? I don’t hate you and I’m not leaving. Unlike some people, I don’t give up on friendships, even when they’re hard. Can we talk about this later?

CARA: No, we always talk about stuff “later”. That’s why this happened. 

ANNE: Oh! So now this is all my fault? I think we can both agree this is a mutual misdemeanor. 

CARA: No, no, no... I’m not blaming you. If anything, this is all my fault. Look, Anne, I love you, and I’m sorry I hurt you this much. (starting to cry) I know right now that more words are only going to make this worse. But I can’t change the facts, I can’t take back the pain, but I would if I could. If I could take it all away so you didn’t have to hurt, I would. But that’s not gonna happen. So, I did the only thing I could think of: I tried to get us help. Please, please try understand. I’m not trying to hurt you.

ANNE: Well, you did. 

(Silence. Anne reaches up to wipe Cara’s tears. Cara turns away.)

CARA: (whispers) I know. 

ANNE: So what am I supposed to say? I love you more than anyone in the world and you’re telling me you don’t want to be my friend anymore? You told your mom, Cara. You’re mom. That’s like, I don’t know... No more sleepovers for the rest of our lives. No more nothing. She’ll never let you hang out with me again. And what now? You tell me how we’re supposed to be “just friends”? What does that even mean? Cara, you promised---

CARA: I know, but I was wrong. We both were.

ANNE: Wait, are you saying the promise is off? Like, forever? Cara, this isn’t a joke, you swore that you would always be my blood sis---

CARA: No. We can’t be like that. 

ANNE: But David and Jonathan! Cara, it’s from the Bible! It’s a covenant, so that when things like this happen, we’ll still know that it will all work out. Please, don’t do this to me. Promise me that when this is over, you’ll still be here. Please...

CARA: But we were wrong.

ANNE: Is that all you can say? “No, we were wrong?”

CARA: Well, I have a lot more to say if you’d let me. 

ANNE: I’m done. Get out of the car, I’m going home. Actually, I’m not going home. I’m running away, but it’s not like it matters to you where I go. 

CARA: Anne, calm down. I’ll leave, but promise me you wont do anything rash tonight. Anne? Anne, look at me. Promise?

ANNE: (deliberately not looking) I take no responsibility at this point.

CARA: (starting to cry again) Oh my gosh, Anne. No. Please. I’m sorry. Please, please just promise you wont... hurt yourself. 

(ANNE simply watches as CARA cries, waiting for her to leave.)

CARA: I’m not getting out of this car until you swear that nothing is going to happen to you tonight. I’ll blame myself if you... if it happens again. 

ANNE: (Exhasperated.) Ugh! Why would you care? You don’t. If you did, then you wouldn’t have talked to your mom. You would have waited for us to talk about this civilly. We could have figured it out. 

CARA: For the past five months we’ve been trying to “figure it out,” Anne! And look at us now! We can’t even have a normal conversation with each other! And you’re back to cutting and me, I’m... I’m...

ANNE: Don’t say it. 

CARA: We’re not okay! (Takes a deep breath and exhales slowly to stop her hiccuping sobs.) I want it to be okay. And I don’t know what we did to make it go wrong, but it is messed up now, Anne. My mom... my mom didn’t even want me to tell her everything.

ANNE: (Deliberately changing subjects.) I talked to Ms. Elliot today.

CARA: What?

ANNE: I told her about the letter. 

CARA: What did you say? Oh my gosh, she probably thinks I’m---

ANNE: She’s not judging either one of us. That’s why I went to her. I thought it would be better to cry in her classroom than in the bathroom and risk the counselor finding me.

CARA: Oh... Well? 

ANNE: She just hugged me and tried to get me to stop crying. I think I scared her pretty bad. 

CARA: Was this during 8th period? 

ANNE: Yeah, you were in athletics. I told Mrs. Carlson I needed to go to the library to take a test. I tried to hold it together after I read the letter... but I couldn’t. And I didn’t want to cry in the middle of study hall. 

CARA: I’m sorry.

ANNE: Stop saying that. 

CARA: Well, I am. 

ANNE: “Sorry” doesn’t fix anything. 

i.e. Soul Friends (Monologue)

ANNE: This necklace? Oh, it’s nothing... and everything. You know what I mean? I don’t know why I still wear it. See, my best friend gave it to me. My ex-best friend. Here look at it, it says, “I’m so thankful our paths crossed.” But that’s all it was, a crossing, you know. A hello, a goodbye, and we’re on our own again. I met her my junior year of high school. I was new at the school and couldn’t get my locker open. She offered to help. Well, we went from athletics class partners to eternal soul sisters in two years flat. Then graduation came, and heck, I still don’t even know what all went wrong. I do know that it took me a whole semester of college to forget. I mean, it still hurts to think about, but at least I stopped waking up hoping today would be the day she’d call, today would be the day we could be best friends again. I remember the last time I saw her before we both moved to school. She didn’t even say goodbye, just walked away. Ran, actually. And didn’t even look back. I guess everybody has their own road. She had to follow hers, and I had to follow mine. Maybe it’s better that way. But you know, as much as I wish I could hate her for how much she hurt me... “I’m so thankful her path crossed mine.” I guess that’s why I still wear it. It’s life, you know, you just have to keep walking and don’t look back. Cara taught me that.


(This is a monologue that goes with the "Scene" I will be posting soon. They're both, in theory, from a more developed play that I hope to eventually complete. Feedback on both is greatly appreciated, since I will eventually be trying to complete the work as a whole!)