February 20 Play: NIGHT IN THE WEST

51: NIGHT IN THE WEST - by Ed Valentine
© February 20, 2010 * ed@edvalentine.com

LIGHTS UP: The West. Again. A campfire. Blue night. A couple of stars, not too many. 2 lanterns. 2 wizened cowboys: DOUBLE-D and POKEY.

DOUBLE-D: It comes in the darkness. When the darkness comes down.

POKEY: An’ what does it look like?

DOUBLE-D: No one knows. No ones’ never seen it and lived.

POKEY: P’shaw I say.

DOUBLE-D: Don’t say p’shaw.

POKEY: P’shaw I say and I’ll say it agin.
P’shaw. P’shaw! You’re just trying to scare me.

DOUBLE-D: Am I?

POKEY: Sure you are. You’re always just trying to scare me

DOUBLE-D: Maybe there’s enough to be scared of. It’s a big scary world.

POKEY: Well, I may be stupid, but I ain’t that stupid. I’m leaving.

(DOUBLE-D stomps out the fire.)

POKEY: What’d you go and do that fer?

DOUBLE-D: We’ll see now who’s just trying to scare who. We’ll see now.

(They’re only lit by a lantern each.)

POKEY: That ain’t fair! That ain’t fair!

(A pause. DOUBLE-D’s lantern goes out.)

POKEY: Double-D? Double-D? I’m scared. You hear me? I’m scared.

(A wolf howls. POKEY looks around, sweaty. Terrified. His light goes out.)

END OF PLAY.

NOTE: Pokey and Double-D were characters in "Cowboy Kabuki," which I performed as a puppet piece recently with puppet playlist. I enjoyed bringing them back, and playing with the idea of lght and darkness in the play -as well, of course, as the idea of the Unseen Other, just outside the circle of light. What are they waiting for? What's happening? It may be up to you to decide. I just wrote this thing - you don't expect me to have all the answers, now, do you?