by Alan Filewod
Almira: No battles are won on the ice floes anymore. It all happens in government offices.
George: Is that why you quit?
Almira: I’ve had it up to here with the seal hunt. I don’t want to talk about petitions and numbers and depleted species.
George: The postcard mail-out was your idea.
Almira: (bundling herself in an old quilt) I’m retreating from society.
George: Sure. I’d forgotten. (Pause.) You can’t stop caring.
Almira: Not caring feels very, very good.
George: You should jog. It’ll help you get on top again. (He picks up the binoculars.)
(The boom.)
Almira: Do you smell something peculiar?
George: No.
Almira: Are you sure?
George: Wait just a minute …
Almira: (uneasy) It’s revolting.
(The sounds of distant crying.)
George: There’s something out on the bay!
Almira: Like something dead. This place stinks! (George grabs his coat.) George?
George: I’ll be right back.
Almira: Don’t leave.
George: I’m just going out … jogging.
(Almira curls up under the quilt. George exits to the beach where he discovers Sedna. To George she appears to be a rotting seal corpse. Revolted he struggles to put it out to sea. The sound of the cries moves closer and can be identified as a herd of baying seals.)
SCENE THREE
(As George turns away. Sedna rolls once more onto the beach. With each roll she moves further up the beach and the cries and Almira’s nightmare intensify)
Sedna: Look at me.
Almira: (tossing) No … no …
Sedna: Look at me.
Almira: No …
Sedna: Thick, crimson blood.
Almira: No … no … no-o …
Sedna: Arms rising and falling.
(George enters.)
George: Wake up, Allie. Honey, wake up.
(Silence.)
George: You were dreaming.
Almira: I was drowning. Down … down … down.
George: (holding her) It was only a dream.
Almira: I’m swimming and on the beach.
George: (startled) On the beach!
Almira: As far as the eye can see …
George: What did you find?
Almira: Oh George.
George: Ssh. Almira, ssh.
Almira: The blood and the smell …
George: It’s all right. On the beach …
Almira: It’s still here. Can you smell it?
George: Listen to me, Almira! (George is frantically removing his sweater, fearing that the smell from the seal corpse is on it.)
Almira: It won’t go away. (She grabs from her purse a bottle of perfume.)
George: Will you just listen to me. I got rid of it.
Almira: (splashing her body with the scent) It’s me. It’s me. It’s me …
George: Almira! Jesus! (Taking the bottle from her) Everything is going to be fine.
Almira: (suddenly Almira stops. Composing herself) I’m all right. (Slowly she eats a chip)
(Silence.)
George: Would you like to hear the text I’ve written for the postcards?
Almira: I don’t think so.
George: Remember when we used to do everything together?
Almira: No. (Softer.) Yes.
George: It’s only rough.
Almira: Go ahead.
George: Dear Friend of Animals, Despite last year’s decision by the European Parliament to ban the import of seal products with the resultant drop in the commercial value of the pelt, the killing continues. Forty thousand kills last year alone.
Almira: They don’t care.
George: Who?
Almira: Great Britain boycotts our fish because of the cruelty of the seal hunt! But at the same time they support the slaughter of sea turtles for a bloody bowl of soup!
George: That’s politics.
Almira: Hypocrites.
George: Life is about compromise.
Almira: Life is about death.
George: The whole world’s idiotic. We go on!!!
Almira: Finish your letter.
George: It is very important, at this time, that the federal government be aware of the desire …
Almira: Desire?
George: … that this slaughter of marine life be ended.
Almira: I have forgotten desire.
Sedna: You have forgotten more than that!
George: … If we try hard enough this year could perhaps see the end.
(The boom.)
Almira: I see the end.
Sedna: You have forgotten our bond.
George: These animals surely deserve to be left in peace.
Almira: (crossing herself) In nomini patri, et filii, et spiritu sanctu.
Sedna: (at the same time) In the name of the mother, the daughter, and the Holy Ghost.
Almira: On behalf of the seals we thank you. No postage necessary for federal politicians.
Sedna: Well, well, well.
(George stares at Almira.)
Almira: It’s fine.
George: How about punch?
Almira: I liked “deserve to rest in peace.”
George: Left in peace. I said “left in peace.”
Almira: It would be nice to rest in peace.
Almira: Words. Words. Words.
George: What was I reading to you?
Almira: Words. Words. Words.
George: You weren’t listening to me!
(The boom. Both Almira and Sedna sit up alert.)
Almira: I’m listening.
George: Be honest.
Almira: What do you think that fisherman saw out there?
George: A rare Hood seal.
Almira: No more seals.
George: No more seals. (Pause.) The line has to be drawn somewhere. We are guilty for so much killing. I know you don’t agree with the seal issue. I’m sorry the fishermen were used to stop the destruction.
Almira: George? I’m frightened. There’s something going on and it’s far more insidious than the seals and the fishermen. It’s sneaky. The last memo I received I had to read it over a few times. Then I caught it. Most of the sea turtles killed are nesting females. Pregnant turtles lumber up onto the beach, to lay their eggs … then calipee hunters flip them over and with machetes hack off their belly plates. Getting inside to the precious calipee. Turtle soup won’t thicken without the calipee. Then they are left mutilated, gutted, lying in the sun till dogs and pigs, or gulls … (Almira gags. George tries to hold her.) Vomiting develops the stomach muscles. You think I’ve taken leave of my senses! Slipped over the edge.
George: You’re not eating properly.
Almira: I’ve got a morbid preoccupation with death because I’m vitamin deficient!
George: You’re a good fund-raiser. You got too close, that’s all. You need a break.
Almira: Listen to me! The seals slaughtered on the ice floes? Nesting females! The annihilation of the penguins, gannets, spearbills, swiftwings … How was it accomplished?
George: By eggers. Allie … lie down.
Almira: I’m not finished! Nesting females have their eggs smashed because, fools that they are, they just keep laying more eggs ensuring freshness.
George: I’ll take care of you.
Almira: You don’t really understand.
George: I’m trying.
Almira: It doesn’t pay to be female and pregnant. (Pausing.) That stench …
George: I can’t smell it. (Grabbing the binoculars he looks for the dead seal corpse.)
Almira: It’s back again. That same smell.
George: Some fishguts. That’s what it is … (He stops. Silence.)
Almira: What’s on the beach?
George: (lowered the glasses. Relieved.) Nothing.
(Almira lies on the cot pulling the quilt up to her chin. She also w
ears her dark glasses. George steps outside. After a few breaths of air he re-enters.)
SCENE FOUR
George: I spy! (Removing Almira’s glasses.) I spy!
Almira: Oh George.
George: When was the last time? You can’t remember.
Almira: Last summer … in the park. Pip. Pip. Pip.
George: That’s right! We were watching the snipes on Cavendish Beach. Inside or outside?
Almira: Outside.
George: I see a jay.
Almira: (looking.) Sorry.
George: I see a … fish jump!
Almira: I see a fish jump. (Her turn.) I see a Javex bottle.
George: Go on. Where?
Almira: Not really.
George: This place is right for us! (Pause.) Why don’t we stay!
Almira: What?
George: Let’s move here.
Almira: For how long?
George: Forever!
Almira: Too long.
George: This is a great site you know. Gravity feed, wind power, tidal power, solar …
Almira: Power!
(The boom.)
George: Peace.
Almira: Our own CMHC-approved family bunker.
George: A bunker? Sure! Why not be prepared.
Almira: You’re amazing.
George: I am?
Almira: George, this place barely has walls!
George: I could fix it up!
Almira: You and your tool bag. A hammer, a tape measure, and four nails.
George: So I’m not Mr Fix-it.
Almira: Always when something needs fixing you say you’ll do it.
George: So.
Almira: Then you get out your tool bag.
George: So?
Almira: Then I fix it.
George: So what?
Almira: Why do we pretend that you do it?
George: Because it’s no big deal.
Almira: It is a big deal!!! (Silence.) You’re obsessed with survival.
George: I certainly don’t want to die.
Almira: Don’t you?
George: Look out the window. I see a gull.
Almira: I see a gull.
George: I’m happy we both see a gull. Now you.
Almira: (explaining) I also see a dragger. But it isn’t just scraping the bottom of the ocean. It’s inside me.
(The boom.)
George: There is life in everything outside that window only it’s secret and quiet. On a day like today you can feel it. Walking, collecting stones, letting the old grey matter unravel. Nature is very subtle.
Almira: It’s so darn fragile I have to hold my breath.
George: Actually it can’t be that subtle. People haven’t stopped having babies.
Almira: Maybe we should.
George: You want to have a baby!
Almira: I’m not sure.
George: We talked about it.
Almira: We had a fight.
George: It didn’t seem natural.
Almira: That’s what’s wrong!
Sedna: Life didn’t seem natural?
Almira: Life doesn’t seem natural.
George: It didn’t seem natural to plan it. It should just happen. You say… “Guess what, George?”
Almira: I’m pregnant.
George: I’m pregnant. Right! Then I’d be a father.
Almira: You’d hand out cigars.
George: It wouldn’t work.
Almira: I’d be a terrible mother.
George: Neither of us are really prepared for such a big change.
Almira: You have to get up early.
George: (stunned) Allie? You are pregnant.
Almira: Me. Us. Together?
George: I guess not. (Pause.) It’s been a long time, hasn’t it. If you felt…
Almira: (cutting him off.) Nine months is a long time to be up. You know what I mean?
George: For you it certainly is.
Almira: I could say something.
George: Sorry. (He picks up the binoculars.)
Almira: Would my being a mother mean anything to you?
George: (not looking at her) You’d be a mother. Would my being a father mean anything to you?
Almira: You’d be a father. (The boom. It continues to rumble in the distance.) After the successful explosion of the first atomic bomb, the National Baby Association named Robert Oppenheimer its “Father of the Year.”
Sedna: If he was the father and the bomb was his baby … who was the mother?
Almira: Eve! She was the first.
George: Pardon.
Almira: Eve was pregnant.
George: Almira! She was not.
Almira: Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and put two and two together. She produced life!
Sedna: Eve rejoiced more for the coming of her child than all the trappings of Paradise!
George: She didn’t.
Almira: (grinding her hips) A fusion … a fusion … But that wasn’t enough. We took two-and-two apart.
(The boom increases into a long slow explosion.)
Almira: The knowledge of life required the knowledge of death. A fission. A fission. We all fall down. (Leaping onto the fishcrate.) Hallelujah! Death worshippers unite! (The boom reverberates into a dark mushrooming cloud.) A baby is born! Bearers of life know thy enemy.
George: I am not your enemy.
Almira: (leaping onto the cot) Every human being including myself is my enemy. (Sedna sits up. In a very high sound she hums the tune of ring-a-ring-a-rosies.) Ring a ring a neutron, a pocket full of positrons, Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. (All sound stops.) What are we doing holed up in this shack hanging off a cliff half into the sea? Tell me!!
Sedna: Waiting.
Almira: Waiting?
Sedna: It’s very hard waiting for that moment when a baby is born.
Almira: I’m so tired. Honestly, I feel like God’s grandmother.
(George helps Almira to the cot.)
George: Come and lie down.
Almira: There’ll be no more babies. Woman won’t be able to have them. We’ll keep getting bigger and rounder only there’s nothing inside. Nothing! Only some grey mushrooming gas that bloats us. But there can be no baby …
Sedna: We’ll see, Almira. I have other plans.
(George wraps Almira in the quilt.)
Almira: Oh George. Please, oh please …
George: (stroking her hair) I would like to have a baby. My mother had 12 and after each one she said, “A baby brings love into the world.”
Almira: Please don’t touch me.
George: Let me kiss you.
Almira: I don’t want you to.
George: (teasing) Then you kiss me.
Almira: No. It’s sad without love.
George: You love me.
Almira: I don’t love. I don’t hate. Don’t!
George: I can touch you, for cripes sake.
Almira: I just want to keep dissolving.
George: You can’t. (Softly touching her.) You’re in a body that’s healthy, and round, and soft.
(Sedna stealthfully slips from her tail.)
Almira: I’m not soft.
George: Look at me, Almira.
Almira: Be aware of desire.
George: Look into my eyes.
Almira: You have black eyes.
George: (slowly lowering Almira to the floor) I love you.
Almira: Leaden lovers living love lower me to my grave.
George: (on top of Almira) A baby brings love into the world … (As George kisses Almira ever so slowly Sedna rises from behind the fish shack. Playfully she tosses a piece of musket shot … A gentle sound of wind chimes is heard. It continues until Sedna stops it by placing the musket shot down near Almira.)
Almira: There it is again.
George: What?
Almira: The smell!
George: There is no smell.
Almira: Get … it … out … of… here!
George: There is
nothing here.
Almira: (beginning to gag) Take it away … take it away …
Sedna: (picking up the musket ball Sedna returns to the beach) It stinks of fear.
(The sounds of George’s theme music. It is soothing and comforting for both Almira and George. George wipes Alimira’s face. Places her on the cot. Slowly wipes clean the floor where Almira has vomited.)
SCENE FIVE
(Almira is asleep. George sits beside her. His arm around Almira echoes that of Sedna around her tail. Downstage right.)
George: There aren’t enough temptations in my life. You’re the only one. I should leave. Right now.
Almira: (opening her eyes sleepily) … George?
George: You were sick.
Almira: I don’t remember.
George: I scratched your back. I stroked your hair. I held your hand. All the time you lay with your eyes closed so you couldn’t see who it was …
Almira: I knew.
George: Go back to sleep. Sleep Almira. I won’t leave you. Who would hear your whimpers … who would hold you in the dark? Me! And in the morning you will have forgotten.
What am I saying! (Picking up the binoculars.) People close their eyes when they’re being sick. This place is getting to me! (Watching.) Nothing! Not even a buoy. Fog and water. Water and fog. Where the hell are all the gulls!? (Grabbing his notebook and the sick towel he exits tossing the towel outside.) (Sedna gives a gull-like movement … screams of gulls … circling ghostlike. Sedna slips into her tail.)
SCENE SIX
(Almira opens the crate and discovers the plunger and child’s plastic pail, a tattered old man’s sweater, and a pair of rubber boots. She decides to plunge for clams.)
Sedna: (A soft whistle. Almira stops. Another whistle.)
Almira: Go away. (Sedna moves closer to Almira, creeping out from her hiding place behind the sand dune)
Almira: I want to be alone. (Another whistle. Turning.) … I mean it. (Sedna slithers towards Almira.) Trick or treat George. (Sedna lifts her head and waves, echoing the old woman in scene I.)
Sedna: George?
Almira: George?
Sedna: What’s a George?
Almira: My husband.
Sedna: Oh. Yes. Him.
Almira: You’re not George. (She returns to plunging with quiet determination.) I’ve had too much fog!
Sedna: That’s no way to forage for clams.
Almira: This is a very sensible way to pick clams.
Sedna: Tusks are far superior!