WILLIAM HENRY: Aunt Ida
tucked me into my little bed on the sleeping porch. She told me she
was glad I came to stay and kissed me. When she left I could hear her
humming down the hall. In a little while she switched off the last
light and it was dark.
(IDA & ALLY start
humming "Silvery Moon" and move away from each other. They
hum quietly and sway to the music.)
WILLIAM HENRY: I lay
pretty quiet for awhile getting lazy in my mind and thinking dazy thoughts.
(pause)
WILLIAM HENRY: When all
of a sudden there was a...
IDA & ALLY: Whoosh!
(IDA & ALLY move
around stage creating a violent atmosphere.)
WILLIAM HENRY: Like you
never heard and a...
IDA: Clattering!
ALLY: And buzzing!
WILLIAM HENRY: Like
some ferocious space ship is falling...
ALLY: Plum out of the sky!
WILLIAM HENRY: It was...
ALLY: Zooming!
IDA: And whooshing!
WILLIAM HENRY: And then
the darkness just rips apart with a terrible...
IDA & ALLY: SCREECH!
WILLIAM HENRY: And it's
bright like you're standing in a spotlight only it's all around
everywhere you look and things are glowing and looking hot and red
like there's a fire...
IDA: Only there's no fire!
WILLIAM HENRY: I jump
out of my bed and run to the window...
ALLY: But the light's
so bright!
WILLIAM HENRY: It hurts
my eyes. So I take off running and tearing down the steps and out of
the house like a wild Indian and I'm calling Ally! Aunt Ida!
IDA: Ally! Aunt Ida!
ALLY: Ally! Aunt Ida!
(IDA & ALLY &
WILLIAM HENRY twirl frantically calling "Ally! Aunt Ida!".
This commotion builds then suddenly stops.)
WILLIAM HENRY: Then all
of a sudden it's gone, it's over. It stopped.
(IDA & ALLY have
stopped upstage with back to audience.)
WILLIAM HENRY: And
there I am. I'm standing in the middle of the yard and my feet are
all wet and cold from the dew. I can see the soy bean plants rustling
their leaves across the ground like little rippling waves on a pond.
It was all peaceful.
(pause)
WILLIAM HENRY: That's
when I saw him.
(IDA & ALLY turn around
and look out at a fixed point beyond the audience. They gasp.)
WILLIAM HENRY: I could
see his outline like a scarecrow standing way out far in the field
and he's got his arms held high and he's swaying back and forth in
the breeze and pretty soon I know it's Grampa standing straight and
tall and swinging around like he's got a bat in his hand like he's
hitting a ball with all his might.
IDA: But there's no bat.
WILLIAM HENRY: He's
only pretending to hold something.
ALLY: And there's no
ball flying nowhere.
WILLIAM HENRY: Just
then a sound from the house creeps up gentle on me and in awhile I
can tell it's music, it's such pretty music!
(IDA & ALLY sing
"la-la" to Brahms' Lullaby, circling in opposite directions
around WILLIAM HENRY .)
WILLIAM HENRY: I don't
know how I knew but I was sure in my mind that Ally was playing my
records only the record player worked now and the sound was like a
whole chorus of sweet ladies singing lullabies!
IDA & ALLY:
(whispering building) Billy Boy... Billy Boy... Billy Boy...
(continue)
WILLIAM HENRY: And
Grampa's swinging away and he's calling something now but I can't
tell what he's saying and he's pointing to the black sky and we both
look up...
(IDA & ALLY stop
calling and all look up, follow comet across the sky.)
WILLIAM HENRY: ...and
there's a baseball that's made of yellow...
IDA & ALLY &
WILLIAM HENRY: Fire!
WILLIAM HENRY: ...with
a tail that's streaking through the sky like some kind of secret salute!
(They pause looking at
comet then WILLIAM HENRY drops to the ground and gestures out. He is
almost in tears.)
WILLIAM HENRY: Grampa!
Note: This is a
sample from the actual script. To review the entire play, order
the PERUSAL SCRIPT (online instant download).