by Karen Sunde
PARTS.
PETIE: (THINKING) Guess it’ll take them quite a while. We walked a long way from where we parked the car. Guess I”ll just find out what it’s like around here…mmm…blanket’s already warm. Put my pail down…here it is…No reason I have to stay right on the blanket. It’ll be okay if I just stay near it…(A LITTLE MORE ADVENTUROUS) …Boy, my sneakers must have about a ton of sand in ‘em…take care of that in a hurry…(SOUND: POURS SAND FROM SHOES INTO PAIL. LITTLE GIGGLE) Ooo, my feet sink in…it tickles ‘tween my toes. Mmm, it’s nice and warm…dig into it…(LAUGH)…can’t even get a handful – slips between my fingers like…like, like wheat, only flour, lots finer. Dad says the beach goes on for miles. I wonder how many sandboxes it would make. But so much better than a sandbox…I can dig deeper, and, and build more things. Dig deeper (GIGGLES)…like a dog digs. (EXCITED LAUGHTER THEN PAUSE FOR CONCENTRATED DIGGING SOUNDS) Jeepers, it’s cooler under here…guess the sun can’t reach…wait! It’s wet! It’s not just cool, it’s wet, too, (REALIZING) Oh, sure…It’s the ocean, The ocean must come right in under the land. Boy, I bet if I dig deep enough…it’s packed together down here…good for building castles. Geepers, I’d better be careful… if I should dig way down to the ocean,,,it might come up through the hole and Mom wouldn’t like it if the blanket got all wet, (MUSIC OUT)
SOUND: LIGHT SURF. LAUGHTER OF BATHERS. HOLD UNDER
PETIE: (SATISFIED GRUNTS) Big hole now…high banks…if the ocean wants to come in now…(HARMONICA SNEAKS UNDER)…it’ll make a nice little lake. (PAUSE) Yup. That’s ocean I hear over there. The Pacific Ocean. (REMEMBERING LESSON) “The Spanish explorer Balboa discovered it and he named it Pacific because it was so calm and peaceful.” (LISTENS TO SURF) Sure sounds peaceful…maybe that’s ‘cause of the break-water…out about a 100 feet, Dad said. And the breeze…the breeze smells…well, clean. Hope Mom n’ Dad get back soon so I can
go in. Wonder how big the castle should be…guess I’ll make it real big…the biggest sandcastle ever, maybe…have to get a lot packed together for a good foundation.,. (HARMONICA OUT)
SOUND: LAUGHTER, A LITTLE EXPLOSIVE, AND MUFFLED TALKING – HOLD UNDER
PETIE Lots of people here…guess everybody likes to come to the beach. Wonder what they’re like…
GUY AND GIRL: (LAUGHTER, MUFFLED VOICES BECOME DISTINCT)
GIRL: Come on, let me bury you.
GUY: (DRAMATICALLY) You may bury my body, but my spirit will rise to haunt you. You will always remember. You…
GIRL: All right, Ozymandias, we’ll write it all in sandstone for posterity. Now lie down like a good king.
GUY: Okay, okay, but you must promise not to cut my long locks while I’m helpless, for therein lies all my strength.
GIRL: I’ll promise anything. Now let’s see, I wonder if there’s enough sand on this beach…
SOUND: SLAP
GIRL: Ouch! Hey, lie still, you…
GUY: Hey, cut it out!
GIRL: (CHUCKLING DELIGHTED) What’s the matter, Ozymandias, don’t you want your feet tickled?
GUY: (NOT MEANING IT) Go pick on somebody else. I’m trying to take a nap.
GIRL: Are you now? (TEASING) Maybe I will go look for another little boy to play with. One that isn’t all covered with sand.
GUY: You do and I’ll, I’ll…throw you in the drink!
GIRL: Pooh, my big strong hero. I’ve cut your hair. You wouldn’t dare,
GUY: Oh, wouldn’t I? (LAUGHING LOUDLY) (FADE BEGINS)
GIRL: (SHRIEK) Dave, put me down! (HALF-LAUGH HALF-SCREAM, FADING OFF) David Edward Benson, put me down…!
SOUND: MUFFLED SHRIEK CUT SHORT BY DISTANT SPLASH. FADE OUT
PETIE: (LAUGHING) Boy, did he (HARMONICA SNEAK UNDER, HOLD) show her…boy, did she get it! Silly girls, anyway. (WORKING ON HIS CASTLE THE WHOLE TIME) Always botherin’ a guy when he’s doing some important thing. They’re so silly. Even Mom, when I’m out in the apple tree or something. A guy is better off staying away from girls. Guys have lots more fun with other guys anyway…Maybe I could dig some sand out around the whole thing and make a moat…yeah, like this. Then even if the ocean doesn’t come in, I could get water in a pail to fill it…kind of quiet without those big kid…could be everybody else is sleeping…(HARMONICA OUT)
SOUND: JINGLING BELL IN DISTANCE. GIRLS MUFFLED TALK BECOMING DISTINCT AS THEY COME AND SETTLE DOWN NEAR PETIE.
CAROL: What color dreamsickle did you get?
LYNDA: Oh, doggone, it’s orange. I wanted lime.
CAROL: Cripes, look at that, Lynda. I’m burned!
LYNDA: Y’aren’t either. Just a little pink.
CAROL: I’ll look like a lobster. A perfect lobster! Cripes! Why didn’t you tell me I was getting burnt.
LYNDA: Well, I just thought it would add to your charm, Dahling
CAROL: Like mud, you did.
LYNDA: Here. Put some lotion on it.
MUSIC: HARMONICA. SNEAK UNDER.
PETIE: Thought those girls were friends. Don’t sound like it…mmm, I can use what I dug out of the moat to build up the walls…oops, some keeps slipping down…wonder if I’m burnt…I’ll ask Mom…she’ll know. (HARMONICA OUT)
CAROL: Hand me that lotion, again, will you.
LYNDA: Mmm, Carol?
CAROL: Hmm?
LYNDA: You know if Tom’s coming to the beach?
CAROL: He might if he gets out of the shop early. He’s gotta help his dad. After that he usually comes out here. Least he has every day but one this week.
LYNDA: Oh.
CAROL: I always watch over there and I can see him right away. Sometimes he wears white trunks, but mostly aqua knits.
LYNDA: Uhuh, I know.
CAROL: How do you know.
LYNDA: I’ve just seen him here before, that’s all.
CAROL: Well, what about Ben. Is he coming?
LYNDA: Oh, I don’t know. He kind of bores me lately.
CAROL: Well, just be careful who you start after.
LYNDA: What do you mean? It’s a free country, isn’t it?
CAROL: Long as you leave other people’s property alone.
LYNDA: Now he’s your property, is he? How do you think he’s going to take to that idea.
CAROL: You just keep your claws to yourself, you little flirt!
LYNDA: You just watch me, little girl. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or… (CHANGE OF TONE) Oh hello, Tom. I didn’t see you coming.
CAROL: Hi, Tom. Imagine seeing you here. I thought you worked sometimes.
TOM: Hi girls. Seen Ben or George around?
LYNDA: No, don’t think I have. (RUSHING) Wouldn’t you like to…
TOM: Thanks. Bye now.
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAK UNDER. HOLD
PETIE: Boy, I sure wouldn’t call that friends…girls are stupid…wonder why they came out here together…wonder if they pound on each other like guys. Naw, I bet they just pull hair or scratch or something sissy. No wonder Tom didn’t stay around…boy, I’d hate to get in a mess like that. This ledge is kind of messy…too crumbly…if I get some more wet…there, that’s it. Now, if the people in my castle get in a war, they can put guns and cannons along this wall. That’ll keep the enemy away…and they can put sharks in the moat, too…they used to do that…those girls, Lynda and Carol, didn’t seem very happy…wonder if I could make a tower right here on top…yeah, think I’ll put a tower up here. Maybe I should build it up from the bottom…first the castle needs some windows…carve one out here…and here…and a tiny one here. (HARMONICA OUT)
SOUND: MUFFLED DOG BARK, THEN PUFFING
OLD MAN: Ah, so you’ve decided to come back to me, have you Prince? What’s that you’ve brought, fella; here let’s see it. (LAUGHS) Why it’s just a piece a’timber ye’ve found, me lad, an old and rotting piece a’timber. (PAUSE) Oh, now, don’t look so disappointed. Don’t hang your head, boy.
Why, Prince, it’s not as though you came back with just any old worthless stick of wood. Why, no Sirree. This is a worthy timber, if ever I laid eyes on one. (LITTLE BARKS) For sure, Prince…I’ll wager this timber was part of a stout royal vessel that set sail with the Queen’s own navy. How about that, now. Eh? You like that better, do you? Can’t you just picture her with proud flag flying high? Sure, sure, and it’s a good strip of wood. That I know. But maybe, maybe it wasn’t a Queen’s ship at all. Maybe it was an adventurous Spanish galleon, bright against the…(MUFFLED)
MUSIC: HARMONIA SNEAK UNDER. HOLD.
PETIE: Prince, he calls the dog…Prince…boy, I miss Clipper…way back at home…always talk to him just like the old man’s talking to Prince…bet Prince isn’t as big as Clipper…they’re nearer to the water than I am…but pretty close to me. Both of them are talking quietly…Clipper and I make up stories and games, too…not as good as the old man’s…wish I could think up stories that good…(HARMONICA OUT)
SOUND: MUFFLED VOICES, DOG SOUNDS
OLD MAN: (VOICES BECOME DISTINCT) Come now, Prince. Don’t be so anxious to leave me again, fella. (DOG BARK) Rest a bit with me. Come on…come on…that’s it, that’s a good fella. The old man’s bones just aren’t what they used to be. (GROANING AS HE SITS DOWN) Oh, long ago is the day, my Prince, when I would dash through those waves with a light foot and a soaring heart. Ah, what’s that you say? You don’t remember? Of course now, girl – why your great great grandmother was yet a pup. Ahhh, then I was all fire, in such a hurry to bite off a chunk of life that I didn’t take time to chew it properly, and now, now I can’t move quite so fast. I have to make my way slowly…but it does give me a chance to think a bit more, to just stop and soak in the world that’s about. And you know, Prince, sometimes I wonder if it isn’t better this way. (BECOMING MUFFLED)
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAK UNDER. HOLD
PETIE: I guess he’s a pretty old man. Poor old man, all stiff and everything…and here I am getting bigger and stronger every day. (STRETCHING) He’s right about soaking in the world. It’s fun…a guy can learn a lot when he’s just being quiet…here, some of this wet stuff should help the tower,,,there, and I can mold this how I want it – roof and ridge and everything. (HARMONICA OUT)
SOUND: DOG NOISES
OLD MAN: (VOICE BECOMING DISTINCT) Each person lives in his own little world, Prince. But you know that very well, don’t you, now? Ah, I wonder how life seems to you…just what you stop to take real notice of…oh, I can watch you sure enough…but what really goes on behind those dark eyes, how you really picture thiPngs…that I can’t imagine.
SOUND: DOG AND SURF
OLD MAN: What I do know is the more you take your time, the more you see and know about what goes on…and I’ve found, in all my years of watching, I’ve found there’s a lot of sorrow in living, an awful lot, boy. So much sometimes that a man wonders if it’s all worth it. And it’s so, it’s surely so, Prince, that a man’s got to be very strong sometimes – but if he is, if he’s a man who stands up to life and takes all the bitterness it’s got to offer him…then boy, then he’ll be human enough to find its beauty too. And I think, I think, that once he sees the beauty and the goodness in the world, he knows that the long road of sorrows was worth its end, and he can be happy just soaking in the world about him. (VOICE BECOMES MUFFLED)
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAK UNDER. HOLD
PETIE: I know…I know what it is…my castle doesn’t have a gate. There’s no door in my castle…that old man must’ve had a pretty hard life, talking so much about sorrow and everything…poor old man…funny him saying that the world is sad…maybe I’m just a lucky kid. Maybe things are tougher when you’re grown up…but golly, Dad seems happy. He’s right about things being beautiful though…life is beautiful…it’s fun…wonder how I could build a drawbridge…hmmm. (HARMONICA OUT) (LIGHTLY SURPRISED) Oh! (UNCERTAIN) Hello.
SANDRA: (GIGGLE) Hullo.
PETIE: I’m Petie. What’s your name?
SANDRA: (RECITING) Sandra. My name’s Sandra Lynn Shane. Wanna play with me?
PETIE: Sure…
SANDRA: What are you looking at?
PETIE: (MATTER OF FACT) I’m looking at you.
SANDRA: Well, why are you looking at me so “funny?”
PETIE: Am I looking at you funny?
SANDRA: Yes – like you don’t really see me.
PETIE: I guess I don’t really see you – like you see me. I’m blind.
SANDRA: Blind. You mean you can’t see anything?
PETIE: Right. Not with my eyes, anyway.
SANDRA: (A LITTLE WHINY) Well, you already said you’d play. You’ll play with me anyway, won’t you?
PETIE: (MALE EXASPERATION, BRAVADO) Sure. You wanna help build my castle?
SANDRA: Nooo, that’s no fun. C’mon. Let’s go in the water.
PETIE: I don’t think I’d better. I oughta stay here and watch the blanket till my mom and dad get here.
SANDRA: Oh, come on…please? I’ll even let you pay with this.
PETIE: What is it?
SANDRA: (HALF-GIGGLE REMEMBERING HE’S BLIND) Oh, I forgot – here.
(SOUND: SMALL SQUEAK OF HANDS ON INFLATED RUBBER)
SANDRA: It’s a raft. A rubber raft; it’s blown up. You can lay on it.
PETIE: Jeepers, really? It’s smooth and, and bouncy…like a beach ball.
SANDRA: Yup. And it’s all blue on one side, and on the other side it’s got blue flowers…(RUNNING RIGHT ON) I think that’s kinda silly ‘cause I never saw any blue flowers yet…
PETIE: (AS IF TRYING OUT THE WORD) Blue. Blue?
SANDRA: Sure, you know – blue. Like the sky or the water or…well, you know. It’s just the color blue.
PETIE: (VAGUELY) Oh, color. Blue is a color.
SANDRA: (RELIEVED) That’s right. Well, are you gonna go in? Don’t you wanna play with the raft?
PETIE: I’d sure like to, but I don’t know…
SANDRA: Aw, come on, Petie… (FADING) Here I go. Are you coming?
PETIE: Wait… (CALLING) Wait for me, Sandra.
SANDRA: (OFF, LAUGHTER, SPLASHING) Hurry up, Petie. Come and get on the raft.
PETIE: I can follow her, if I just go this way… (NEARLY RUNNING, CALLS) I’m coming, Sandra! (TO HIMSELF) Nobody’s in front of me. Least I hope they aren’t…
SOUND: SURF, HOLD UNDER
PETIE: Ohoo…I’m not sinking in anymore…and the sand is cold…ohoo, water! It’s right here! It’s the water! ,,,but, but it’s gone. It’s not here anymore…where did it go? …Oh, there it is…must be the waves, waves coming in and out. Sure is cold…
SANDRA: (OFF) Come on, Scaredy. You gotta get more than your feet wet.
SOUND: SPASHING AT HIM.
PETIE: Don’t worry. Here I come. (TO HIMSELF) She’s right ahead of me…(RIPPLING WATER) It’s cold…creep up my legs…she should be close.
SANDRA: (GIGGLE) Here, grab the raft.
SOUND: SHOVING RAFT THROUGH WATER
PETIE: I…I’ve got it. What do I do now? How do I get on?
SOUND: TRYING TO GET ON RAFT
SANDRA: Just hold onto it with both hands and climb on. That’s right…oops!
SOUND: SQUEAK OF RUBBER, SPLASHING
PETIE: Oh…oh! It’s gone. I lost it!
SANDRA: (LAUGHING) You’ve got to hold on tight, silly. Here, I’ve got it.
PETIE: Thanks. There…there. If I push it down while I climb
on…
SANDRA: Here, I’ll hold on, too. Now…
SOUND: SQUEAK , SPLASH OF KICKING HIMSELF ON
PETIE: There, I’m on! I’m on. Look at me, Sandra. I’m on the raft! (GAILY) Sailing, sailing… (LAUGHING)
SANDRA: (LAUGHING) Come on, now, Petie…push! Put your feet on the bottom and push! (SPLASHING)
PETIE: (LAUGHING) Hey,
quit splashing me!
SOUND: LOUD HOLLOW PLUNKS OF HIS KICKING SPLASHES
SANDRA: (SHRIEK) Oh!
PETIE: Gottcha, huh? Wet, isn’t it.
SANDRA: I’ll fix you.
PETIE: Hey…leggo, Sandra! Let go of the raft! (SOUND OF RAFT BEING ROCKED) Stop tipping the raft…oh!
SOUND: LOUD SPLASH. THEN SANDRA LAUGHING. PETE SPUTTERING
SANDRA: Guess I fixed you, Smarty.
PETIE: You sure did. I’m all wet now. Even my hair… (DISCOVERING) Sandra, I had my head under!
SANDRA: Sure you did. Didn’t you ever do that before?
PETIE: ‘Course, but…
SANDRA: C’mon! Let’s dunk our heads.
PETIE: Okay… What for?
SANDRA: Just to see how long you can do it. Come on, now. Take a deep breath…(TAKING BREATH)…and you can hold your nose if you want…but I can stay under longer than you.
PETIE: Bet you can’t. Let’s go. Just…bend over…ooo, it’s cold…tickles my nose…
SANDRA: Here we go. One, two, three…go!
SOUND: SPLASH OF ONE HEAD DUNKING
PETIE: All at once…(DRAWS DEEP BREATH). Now!
SOUND: PLUNK OF ONE HEAD DUNKING. PAUSE WITH SNEAK IN SURF IN DISTANCE. SPEECH ECHOING AS IF UNDERWATER
PETIE: Mmmm…all around me…like another world…waves sound so very far away…funny…it’s like a guy is all by himself, away from the whole world. Wonder if this is how a fish’s world seems to him. Bet he just sits still like this sometimes, and…and listens. Maybe he can hear his friends swim by, or…or the bigger fish he has to watch out for. But a fish swims, too. He just moves his fins and goes. Bet I could swim under here…funny, how my head won’t stay down, keeps bobbing up like the raft. Guess I can’t hold my breath much longer…have to go up…need air…
SOUND: POP INTO WORLD OF SOUND – SURF, BATHERS, SPLASHING
SANDRA: There you are, finally!
PETIE: That’s fun! Did you feel how different it was under there, how quiet?
SANDRA: (UNCERTAIN) Huh? Sure, I guess.
PETIE: Hey, Sandra. Let’s play like we’re fish. Like we have to stay underwater all the time and we just swim around, and…
SANDRA: (BRIGHTENING) Okay, good. And we can dive for food, too.
PETIE: (PUZZLED) What do you mean?
SANDRA: Oh, you know. We find a rock or something, and toss it. Then we dive down to see if we can find it again. We play like the rock is food.
PETIE: Okay. Let’s find one.
SANDRA: Up along the shore. Come on.
PETIE: I’m coming.
SOUND: SPLASHING OUT OF THE WATER
SANDRA: (OFF MIKE) Over here…where the raft came back in. Come on over by me. There’s lots along the shore.
SOUND: SCROUNGING THROUGH SMALL ROCKS
SANDRA: Here. Here’s one that’s just right.
PETIE: Let me feel it.
SANDRA: There. How’s that.
PETIE: Just right.
SANDRA: Come on…beat ya back in.
PETIE: No, you won’t.
SOUND: RUNNING WITH LAUGHTER, SPLASHING IN
PETIE: Now what, are we fish?
SANDRA: Sure, we’re fish. I’ll be Goldie fish.
PETIE: (LAUGH) Okay…and I’ll be Tuna fish.
SANDRA: (LAUGH) All right, Tuna fish. Now this rock is food and we both want it, okay?
PETIE: Okay, you want to throw it?
SANDRA: Here goes. I’ll throw it straight out ahead of you.
SOUND: PLUNK OF ROCK IN DISTANCE
SANDRA: Now!
SOUND: SPLASHING, AS TWO GO AFTER THE ROCK
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAKS IN, BUILDS TO A LIVELY TUNE, FADES UNDER, AND HOLDS
PETIE: (TO HIMSELF) It went straight ahead, except a little to the right. (CHUCKLE) Only about twelve feet out, a little to the right…Sandra’ll never come close…bet she doesn’t listen careful enough, but I know…I heard exactly where it went in. Burrummm…(LIKE A MOTOR) Here goes Tuna fish, yum yum yum, burrummm…(BLOWING AIR INTO WATER, THEN GIGGLE) Guess fishes don’t make noise. (SPLASHING IN WAIST-HIGH WATER) Near here, now…dive!
SOUND: ALL REALISTIC SOUND OUT. ECHO UNDERWATER
PETIE: Let’s see…along the bottom…the rock should be, ah…here, here it is…same one, too, the very same one.
SOUND: SPLASH UP. REAL SOUNDS RETURN
MUSIC: OUT
PETIE: (SHOUTS) Sandra, I’ve found it. Here it is! Sandra!
SANDRA: (SPLASHING TOWARD HIM, AMAZED) Golly, you did. You really did!
FEMALE VOICE: (OFF MIKE, CALLING) Sandra…Sandra…
SANDRA: Aw, gee. That’s my mother…
SOUND: TWO SPLASHING IN TO SHORE…FADE IN BATHERS AND SURF
SANDRA: See you later, maybe.
PETIE: Sandra, aren’t you going to take your… (TO HIMSELF) Guess she’s gone… but I don’t think she picked up her raft.
SOUND: SPLASHING AROUND
PETIE: Hey! Bet she wouldn’t care if I play with it. Sure. And it’s right along the edge of the…(MOVING ALONG SHORE) Yes! Here it is…now…(PLAYING WITH RAFT, TO HIMSELF) “Shove off, mate”
“Aye, aye, sir. Where are we bound?”
SOUND: SCRAPING OF RAFT AGAINST SANDY BOTTOM
PETIE: “We’re bound for the South Seas, mate.”
“Very good, Captain…a little island, maybe?”
“Yes, matie. A little island with lots of sunshine and lots of fruit, and nobody to tell us what to do.”
“No other people at all, Captain?”
“Well, maybe just a few.” …Gee, the sand is all rippled under the water. Doggone. The waves keep pushing me back to shore.
SOUND: SCRAPING OF BOTTOM OF RAFT ON SHORE, INTERMITTANT WITH SURF. HOLD UNDER
PETIE: Never make it to the South Seas this way…mmm, it’s warm…guess the sun dried me out…
SOUND: LAPPING OF WATER AGAINST RAFT. DISTANT GULL SOUNDS. BEACH SOUNDS BEGIN TO FADE OUT.
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAK UNDER, HOLD
SOUND: SLIGHT SPLASHING
PETIE: (SLEEPILY) Water…cool water…tugs at my hand…down, down…waves all over the whole ocean…where did you come from, waves? Wonder if the waves make the ripples in the sand…mmm, so warm…bet this is what the South Seas are like…warm…my head seems all full of water…(GIGGLE) Water-logged…water…sun…sand…rippled, all…(SIGH)
MUSIC: HARMONICA OUT
SOUND: SILENCE. THEN, IN DISTANCE – SHARP DOG BARK. WHISTLE OVERLAPS. QUICK SPLASH OF RUNNING IN AND OUT OF WATER
PETIE: (SUDDENLY AROUSED) Oh. Oh, Geepers!
SOUNDS: DISTORTED NOISE OF BATHERS, DISTANT SPLASHING, WAVES
MUSIC: HARMONICA SEEMS DISTANT, YET FLUCTUATES ABNORMALLY IN VOLUME AND PITCH THROUGHOUT…BECOMES PANICKY
PETIE: (NOTE OF FEAR HE DOESN’T WANT TO ADMIT) Have I been sleeping? Sun’s so warm…golly, maybe Mom and Dad are at the blanket…better get back.
SOUND: BATHERS DISTANT, STILL DISTORTED
PETIE: (UNCERTAIN) Oh, but…which way…could have gotten turned around. Oh, of course (BRAVE ATTEMPT)…I’ll tell the way back by the way the bottom slopes…easy now…push back with my hands.
SOUND: SPLASH OF ARMS INTO WATER.
PETIE: (SURPRISE) Oh…can’t quite reach. Better use my leg.
SOUND: SQUEAK OF LEG SLIDING OVER RAFT…SPLASH
PETIE: (FRIGHTENED NOW) Oh…oh…I can’t touch bottom.
SOUND: SPLASH OF LEG BACK ONTO RAFT
MUSIC: HARMONICA GETS MORE ENERGETIC
PETIE: But, oh…how far am I? (NEARLY A WAIL) Where… No! Now stop it, Peter…I can tell by the voices…if I listen…(BREATHING RAPID, SHALLOW) Yes, listen, Petie.
SOUND: WILD FLUCTUATION OF SOUNDS ENDING AT HIGH VOLUME AND PITCH WITH SHARP GULL CRIES
PETIE: (THOROUGHLY FRIGHTENED) I
can’t tell, I can’t tell…It’s so loud…It’s not right…I can’t hear…oh, deep…deep water…How will I get back…can’t tell which way…waves everywhere…(PANIC RISING) Who will see me,..who will know…maybe nobody…just drifted out…see you later maybe…see…you…later.
MUSIC: QUIET EXCEPT FOR WAIL OF HARMONICA…OUT
PETIE: (SOBBING) Oh, Mommy…Mommy…
SOUND: WAVES LAPPING, GULL CRIES
PETIE: (LITTLE HUFFS) Come on, Scaredy…that’s not going to help…you can figure this out…you’re all right…now, take a breath, quiet down…really…listen…
SOUND: WAVES AND GULLS FADE, AND DISTANT VOICE SOUNDS BECOME AUDIBLE.
PETIE: That’s people…people playing. That’s the direction to go. Heave to, lubbers,..pull!
SOUND: SPLASH OF ARMS BEGINNING TO PADDLE
PETIE: People sound ahead…is it louder…
SOUND: PADDLING SOUND AND DISTANT VOICES, SAME LEVEL
PETIE: Not louder…and…not ahead…more to my side…but I’m moving…maybe turn a little…this way…
SOUND: LOUDER PADDLING, VOICES SLIGHTLY CLOSER
PETIE: (HUFFING) Oh, Mommy…I hope …
SOUND: SPLASHING FADING IN. LAUGHTER
SANDRA: (CALLING FROM OFF) Come back here, Petie? Did you think you were going to get away with my raft?
SOUND: SPLASHING CLOSER, SQUEAK OF SANDRA GRABBING RAFT
PETIE: (SWALLOWING LUMP IN HIS THROAT) Yup. On my way to the South Seas. Don’t bother me, little girl.
SANDRA: (GIGGLE) You’re not going anywhere. (LITTLE SPLASHING )
PETIE: Hey…hey don’t pull!
SANDRA: Hafta take the raft. We’re going home now.
SOUND: PULLING RAFT THROUGH SURF AND HITTING SAND
PETIE: There it is – the sound of sand. Lucky.
SOUND: SPLASHES AND SQUEAK OF CLIMBING OFF RAFT
SANDRA: What do you mean, lucky?
PETIE: (LIGHTLY) Sandra…was I very far out?
SANDRA: A little far. Up to my nose, maybe. You were riding out a little, and in with the waves.
SOUND: DRAGGING RAFT ONTO SHORE AND ALONG SAND
SANDRA: If you wanna know, your blanket’s right ahead of you. I hafta go now.
PETIE: Thanks, Sandra. Bye.
SANDRA: (FADING, GAILY) Bye, Petie.
PETIE: (DISGUSTED WITH HIMSELF) I could have walked in…if I’d just calmed down! Oh…there it is. Better stay off the blanket…not get it wet…Oh! (STUMBLING ON CASTLE) Doggone…there you go, Petie…knocked the tower off my castle…see if I can fix it…
BRUCE: (FADING ON) Hey there, fella…How we doing?
PETIE: Hi Dad…Mom.
IRENE: (FADING ON) Sorry we took so long, dear, but some ladies had a flat tire, and… Petie! You’re all wet!
PETIE: Yeah, I know, Mom. See, this girl came along, and she didn’t have anybody to play with, and, well…
BRUCE: (LAUGHING) A female, yet. Here, here’s a towel.
PETIE: Well, jeepers, Dad. You should see the rubber raft she let me try. It had blue flowers on it, and…
BRUCE: Blue flowers?
PETIE: Yes, and it felt like a beach ball, and it could float when you…
IRENE: Hey, isn’t anybody hungry?
PETIE; Boy, I am. Let’s eat!
IRENE: Here, young man. You certainly should have an appetite. Try this chicken salad.
PETIE: Thanks, Mom. Worth the wait…
MUSIC: HARMONICA SNEAK IN SLOWLY…HOLD UNDER
PETIE: Boy, I’m glad Dad doesn’t know was a scaredy I was…Mom’s an even worse scaredy…course she’s a girl…wonder if Sandra’ll be around tomorrow.
MUSIC: HARMONICA THEME UP GENTLY. LAP OVER WITH SOUND OF GULLS
SOUND: LIGHT BEACH NOISES IN BACKGROUND (BACK TO NORMAL) HOLD UNDER ANNOUNCER
ANNOUNCER: The Sound of Sand…
SOUND: BEACH SOUNDS UP SLIGHTLY…SEGUE WATER LAPPING…HOLD UNDER BACKGROUND
ANNOUNCER: Written by Karen Sunde
SOUND: GULLS OVER BEACH NOISES…HOLD UNDER BACKGROUND
ANNOUNCER: Produced and directed by Patricia Burt
SOUND: LAUGHTER OF BEACH WITH BACKGROUND NOISES
ANNOUNCER: Petie was played by ___________, etc
MUSIC: HARMONICA THEME UP FULL…THEN FADE UNDER FOR
ANNOUNCER: In cooperation with the American Foundation For The Blind…
MUSIC: THE RADIO PLAYERS THEME…BREAK IN AND HOLD UNDER B.G.
ANNOUNCER: The Iowa State University Radio Players have presented an original drama…THE SOUND OF SAND. Our guests have been_______etc.
MUSIC: THEME UP FULL…THEN UNDER…HOLD B.G.
ANNOUNCER: Iowa State University has presented a workshop production by student members. Special harmonica music was composed and played by__________ CREW CREDITS, ETC.
END OF PRODUCTION