Людмила Ансельм - Короткие пьесы

BORIS:I couldn’t tell you. You were so happy. I didn’t want to screw it up.

RAECHKA:Yes, I was happy, when you decided to marry me… I loved you… And you, did you love me then?

BORIS:I loved you then, RAECHKA! And I love you even more now…

RAECHKA:You are joking ( she admits a young flirtatious laugh )

BORIS:How do you manage to hide such a flirtatious young laugh?

RAECHKA:I don’t know. Maybe because I so seldom laugh and smile.

BORIS:The divorce ruined the whole of our life. We have lost each other…

( Borismoves chair closer to Raechka ) Do you think it was easy for me to leave you and the old familiar nest?

RAECHKA:What «nest» are you talking about? We had only just arrived here and you continued to feel free enough to chase every pretty skirt you saw. I didn’t trust you.

BORIS:Now you can trust me. I promise. All I want is five years in a peaceful comfortable situation, to help you…

RAECHKA:Do you want us to live together again?

BORIS:Why not? We are of the same ilk. You are also a homebody. We both have so much to talk about, so many common memories..

RAECHKA:Maybe I don’t want to remember.

BORIS:I often think about our past… How close our relationship was in Russia…

RAECHKA:Yes, we were joined by our common danger… survival.

(Pause)

BORIS( dream ): And do you remember how we used to go camping? We lived in tents… We set out to find firewood in the forest and made a fire… And then we boiled potatoes in a kettle…

RAECHKA:We never boiled potatoes in a kettle… We put them right in the fire…

BORIS:Ah, yes! We argued about how long to wait before taking them out.

RAECHKA:We were ravenously hungry… and burned our fingers opening the potatoes’ hot, black skin…

BORIS:The night was cold and clear… All clung to the campfire and each other… ( Boris moves closer to Raiechka )

RAECHKA:Dima brought out his guitar and started to play…

BORIS:We all sang… Let us sing our favorite song?

RAECHKA:“My dearest”? I’ve forgotten the words.

BORIS:I have them right here… Happy Birthday Raechka!

(Lowmusic from CD disk…BORIS and RAECHKA listen to the music)

THE END

MICHAEL:Thirty years old, he is in T shirt, shorts, and slippers.

JULIA:Thirty five years old, she is dressed to the nines.

Sunlight streams into Michaels neatly maintained apartment. A large brass ships bell hangs on the wall as well as some nautical scenes and stuff. There is a sofa with at least one throw pillow on it. Michael is hurriedly choosing a necktie. He lays the tie on a chair where already neatly is hung a white shirt and business suit

Knockingat the door.

MICHAEL:Come in! It’s unlocked!

JULIA:( enters and surveys the scene )

MICHAEL:Hi, Julia!… I’m sorry! Today will be fast… I have a business meeting.

JULIA:Well, well!

MICHAEL:I have a business appointment in an hour. I’ve already shaved and showered. ( Motioning to a closed door ) Ah…I’ve pulled down the bed covers…you can undress in there, while I find some black socks.

Julia,pouting, plunks her self down on the sofa.

MICHAEL:Julia! What’s the matter?

JULIA:With me?….Nothing! Absolutely nothing.

Juliaresolutely makes herself more comfortable on the sofa using the throw pillows. Michael comes to Julia. He tenderly strokes her hair. He moves a few strands of hair away from her ears

MICHAEL:You want me to undress you, just like I did after we met on the “Dating Show”?

JULIA:No… I don’t want…

MICHAEL: Remember, we just had to decide so fast… had to rely just on “chemistry”. Man did I think it was a dumb TV show! But Tom and Ann persuaded me to go…and now look! Almost two whole years together. What a good match we turned out to be.

JULIA( cynically ): Ya’ think so?

MICHAEL:You don’t agree?…You’re mad because I have to hurry out!

JULIA:What do you think? I only come here three times a week, and now you have scheduled something more important than me… Where are you going, anyway?

MICHAEL( condescendingly, slowly ): I explained. I-have-a-business-meeting…

JULIA( suspiciously ):You’re sure? This is really “a-business-meeting”?

MICHAEL:Really Julia…I have missed you.

JULIA( cynically ) I didn’t notice.

MICHAEL:You don’t believe me…I’ll prove it to you…take your clothes off.

JULIA:Earlier you’ve never had “business meetings”. Now practically every time you have a “business meeting”!

MICHAEL:Earlier, I didn’t have such difficult and important situations, as I do now…I have more responsibility… Now let’s move on to our “business”.

JULIA:Now you talk about “our business”…earlier you called it different.

Michaeltries to hug Julia. Julia pushes him away

MICHAEL( surprised ): Hold up! What is this?

JULIA:Don’t touch me… Do you remember the “Sacred Trip” you talked about right as we walked off the TV set?

MICHAEL:I didn’t really know what I meant by “A Sacred Trip”… Just wanted to get the sex going…

JULIA:We giggled together while we scrubbed the make up off… You stuffed the roses the show host gave us in your vest pocket and we went for coffee with Ann and Tom.

MICHAEL:I remember how long we had to talk and moon at the restaurant before they decided it was time to go.

JULIA:Our journey started as we flouted from the sofa to your bed…

MICHAEL:I was floating….drifting… to you…

(Pause)

JULIA:Me too. ( Beat ) Now it’s turned into an obligation… We never sit on the sofa…You never light candles. Right to bed… Our trip lasts only fifteen minutes.

MICHAEL:Julia, that’s a terrible way to talk! We are fine together.

JULIA( cynically ): You’re fine!

MICHAEL:You don’t get any kind of pleasure?…Some..?

JULIA:Cosmic flood?… Ecstasy?… Vibrations?… Needling Sensation?…Well….

MICHAEL:Well…what more can I do?

JULIA:Value me more… Why don’t you ring the ships bell anymore?

MICHAEL:I will ring it… on my own yacht…

JULIA:Yacht!… Where…?

MICHAEL:Soon we will really be floating on the waves. I’ve always dreamed of sleeping on a boat…

JULIA:Where is the money… for this yacht?

MICHAEL:I’m saving for it!

JULIA( exasperated ): You have no house, and you are saving for a floating palace!

MICHAEL:Why do I need a house?

JULIA:Don’t you want a family? Children?

MICHAEL:I don’t want all that… until…

JULIA:Until what? Michael, how old are you?

MICHAEL:Thirty.

JULIA:I’m thirty-three. I’m a woman…

MICHAEL:I see…

JULIA:You don’t see any thing! I want my own home… I want…ch…

MICHAEL:I didn’t know…

JULIA:When I hint about “home and hearth” you always change the subject…

MICHAEL:I just never understood your gist.

JULIA:Remember when we went to the zoo? There were those little baby monkeys. They had such cute expressions. They were so inquisitive and had such pleasure… Rolling around with each other. Hugging their mother….They even seemed to look at me with devotion…love…

MICHAEL:They didn’t make that much impression on me…Monkeys are monkeys…

JULIA:I wanted to take them in my arms. Right then, in the zoo, I knew how much I wanted to be a mother. To hug my babies. There is nothing so joyful as to think of a happy, sweet smelling, and warm baby. You felt nothing watching the baby monkeys?

MICHAEL:No… Nothing.

JULIA:Michael, how long do I have to wait? We have been together long enough.

MICHAEL:Not enough!

JULIA( exasperated ): Two years is not long enough? Let’s stop and look at our relationship. You first of all love sex…

MICHAEL:Love without sex doesn’t exist. We really show love through sex.

JULIA:You think you’re a good lover?

MICHAEL:Sex is my specialty… Yes, I think most of the time I’m a good lover…

JULIA:But you don’t even know my hot spots!

MICHAEL:Well…your… we never….

JULIA:You think my erotic zone is my ears? Why are you always playing with my ears?

MICHAEL( also angry ): You have never objected…

JULIA:I have a lot of patience…You don’t know anything about me, and you don’t want to know!

(Pause)

MICHAEL:What more do you want? I spend a lot of thought and energy on work. I expect a better job…. Better pay… I’m working longer. I’m working my way up the ladder. It’s hard to find this little time to spend with you.

JULIA( bitterly ): And I thought in the end you would ask me to be your wife!

MICHAEL:What kind of a wife would you be? You don’t like to cook. Every time you spend a weekend here I have to clean up for an hour. You don’t even rinse your glass. Every time you want a drink you take a new glass from the shelf.

(Pause)

I’ve decided that if you get pregnant, I’ll marry you…

JULIA:How could I have become pregnant with you? I had no confidence that you’d marry me! And now you say you want to live on a boat!

MICHAEL:Well maybe… I…

JULIA:Michael, my time for kids is slowly slipping away. I’m really getting stressed about it…

MICHAEL:I don’t have those problems…

JULIA:You men don’t understand mothering. All women want to get married!

MICHAEL:Not all! My girl friend before you was dead sure she didn’t want to get married.