The Fissure of the Mind

CHARACTERS: NORAH, popular teenager, 15
MOM,
THING,
GRANDMOTHER,

SCENE: Bedroom, at the grandparent’s house,
present day

AT RISE: NORAH storms onstage, followed by MOM,
mid-conversation

MOM
Will you please just go in there and talk with them? They’re your Grandparents for heaven’s sake!

NORAH
No Mom! I hate coming here! Sitting with them is awkward and boring. All they ever talk about is bird-watching!

MOM
Don’t talk about them like that! They love you!

NORAH
I love them too, doesn’t mean I want to be here! I had plans with my friends this week!

MOM
You see your friends every day. You can spare a weekend for your Grandparents!

NORAH
Come on Mom! This isn’t fair!

MOM
Fine! Stay in here then. But give me your cell phone.

NORAH
No! Not Prospero! I need him to live!

MOM
(Puts out her hand for the phone.)
Give and take dear.

NORAH
This is so unfair!
(Hands over phone.)
Goodbye Prospero, my love.

MOM exits
NORAH sits on the edge of the bed facing away from the entrance/exit.

NORAH
What is that?
(Looking at a crack in the wall.)
Stupid old house.
(NORAH leans in for a closer look and is sucked through the crack yelling. She lands in a dark place, stunned.)

NORAH
Wh-what is this place? Where am I? Why don’t I have Prospero when I need him!
(NORAH gets up looking around.)
Hello? Is there anyone here? Wherever here is...
(NORAH starts pacing around anxiously.)
Uh, um, ok. This is, maybe, a dream? Wake up. Wake up please.
(NORAH pinches herself.)
Ahhh ok, no.

(THING enters, moving placidly across stage and not seeming to notice NORAH. NORAH stares at it a moment before reacting.)

NORAH
Wh- What are you!?

THING
Me? I don’t know.

NORAH
What? What do you mean? How can you not know! You’re a creep!

THING
Am I? Am I even real? What do you mean?

NORAH
What? Just stop- seriously. Stop.

THING
(Sighs dramatically)
Alms for you and alms for me I can’t stand this drama. I am nothing, I’m an echo. A failure of nature destined to be nothing more than what is on the surface. Not only referring to what I lack in personality or structure, see?
(THING turns completely transparent, NORAH looks around wildly)

NORAH
Where’d you-
(THING reappears)
NORAH
Wha-

THING
But also what comes to be on this surface we happen to currently be on.

NORAH
Okay ... um, I don’t follow you. You’re creepy. Why didn’t I just sit with my Grandparents! I want to leave. I need to get out of this freak pot! Let me out of here or I- I’ll kill you!

THING
You can’t kill me; I’m in your subconscious.

NORAH
How is this my subconscious? It makes no sense!

THING
What do you see here?

NORAH
In “my subconscious?” A subconscious isn’t a place!

(THING doesn’t respond.)

NORAH
(Sighs)
There are trees over there, weird ones. Their trunks are white and their leaves are silver and brown. There’s no sky, or it’s night. It’s just black.

THING
Go look at them up close.

NORAH
What the sky?

THING
No, the trees.

NORAH
Why?

THING
Will you just-

NORAH
(Sighs, frustrated)
Whatever, I’m going.
(NORAH walks over to the trees.)
Creep.

(NORAH reaches the trees and turns back to THING.)

NORAH
Now what?

THING
Now what?

NORAH
(Turns back to trees)
They’re like glass.
(Turns back to THING)
How are trees so smooth? I can see my reflection, I think there’s people behind me, and we’re in a room-

THING
What trees?

NORAH
What? What are you talking about? Those trees! Are you mental?

THING
Look again.

NORAH
Why?
(Turning around)
What is so-
(Pause)
They’re gone!
(Turning back to THING)
What’s going on?

THING
(Walking over to NORAH)
What do you see?

NORAH
What! Why are-? Ughh whatever. There’s something here, I think. It’s tiny,
(Leans down for a better look)
Oh man, it’s like, a city! It’s so... tiny. There are, buildings, and roads. Man! How did it-

THING
What city is it?

NORAH
(Straightening up)
What do you mean what city is it? This is your world, how should I know? It can’t even be real... but then again, I don’t even know where I am, or what you are.

THING
Sorry to contradict you, but this place is yours. I’m only here because you’re here, as is this city. So you have to know it.

NORAH
What? This is so confusing! How is this place mine? I don’t want to be here, I don’t know how I got here! So how can I tell what city this is? Why does it even matter? Why can’t I just go back!?

THING
Will you just figure out what city this is?

NORAH
Fine. Whatever. You are so infuriating!
(She leans down to look again)
I don’t really go to a lot of cities... I live in Baltimore- oh! That’s what this is, Baltimore.

THING
So is Baltimore your home?

NORAH
Yeah, well, I guess you could say that. I mean, I’ve only lived there a few years...

THING
So why is it so small?

NORAH
How should I know?

THING
We’ve been over this haven’t we? Your subconscious here, decipher it already!

NORAH
Uh, well ... I guess the size would mean ... uh-

THING
Do you like Baltimore?

NORAH
Not really. I mean, I never felt at home in the city as much as I did in rural towns...

THING
So it’s small, insignificant? You don’t want to stay there?

NORAH
Yeah, I guess. I- I want to go back up north.

THING
Congratulations, you discovered a want. You won’t go anywhere in
anything if you don’t know what you want! So do you know yet?
What am I?

(NORAH doesn’t respond)

THING
(Sighs)
You come from a place filled with people whose minds are as
narrow as their wallets.

NORAH
So, what is that supposed to mean...?

THING
You will never be real, and I, I will always be here just
existing until I’m changed by some other force.

NORAH
Wait- what? How do you change? What changes you?

THING
I’ve been innocent and I’ve been monsters. I’ve revolved
around myself just like the ordinary man. I don’t know what I
am. What are you?

(Pause)
NORAH
You- you don’t make any sense. You know what, this is probably
just a dream. Just a dream, ok, so I’ll just play along...

THING
Do I?

NORAH
Well, maybe... no? I know what I am. I’m a teenager, a girl. And
you are... a- a thing.

THING
Congratulations on knowing exactly what you are, but who are
you? Got any aspirations? What are you going to do?

NORAH
Well I- I want to get out of here!

THING
Being narrow minded is a horrible way to live. Do you see
anything when it’s not placed in front of your eyes?

NORAH
Just stop! Stop talking! I’m too young to know what I want!
Right now, I want to get out of whatever this is, and go home!

THING
Forget now! Forget where you are! This is just a dream if you
want! Think ahead!

NORAH
Ahead? Like for next semester? Why? Why should I!

THING
Just start there!

NORAH
You- You just- arghh! The semester doesn’t start for another
week, but I guess I want to be accepted, and popular. I’ll be a
senior, I want to get a boyfriend! Why does it matter?!

THING
A want, however superficial, is the start. You have to get out
of the present. The only way to influence your future, is to
consider it, and how what you’re doing in the present will
influence it.

NORAH
So what do you have to do with all of this? How is right now
going to influence my future? You know what, how about you just
show me the way out of here, and I’ll pretend to listen to my
grandparents while thinking about my future?

THING
Do you think you’ll remember this?

NORAH
Well, what is this, a dream? I normally don’t remember dreams.

THING
Have you ever had a dream quite like this?

NORAH
No, I haven’t. This is a really odd dream, I don’t even know if
it qualifies as a dream. I’m worried about waking up, this isn’t
going to turn into one of those awful movies where some idiotic
character is stuck in a dream, is it? Cause that would really
suck.

THING
Again, your world. You’re in control. When do you usually wake
up from dreams?

NORAH
In the morning, the sun always wakes me up. But the sky here-
oh! What- why is it like that?
THING
Like what?

NORAH
There are weird, like, blocks or something, of red in it.

THING
Red?

NORAH
How is it red?

MOM
(Snapping her fingers in NORAH’S face)
Norah! Norah!

NORAH
What? What?

MOM
Yes ... cardinals are red.

NORAH
What are we talking about?

GRANDMOTHER
I was saying how the cardinals are always the first ones at
the feeder. The jays always follow, I love seeing the red and
blue together. Then the chickadees are always scavenging below
the feeders, they’re smaller than the other birds...

MOM
(Aside to NORAH)
You are spacey! What did you say you were doing with your
friends? You’re not on ... weed? Whatever they’re calling it
now, are you?
NORAH
(Aside)
No! Seriously Mom, I was just ... ugh, whatever. Can I go in the
bedroom? I don’t really want to be here right now.

MOM
(Aside)
No! We are only here for the weekend so you can spare two days
of your precious time here with your Grandparents!

(NORAH begins to retaliate, but thinks better of it. She goes back to staring out the window...)