ACT ONE SCENE ONE — DINNER
SETTING:
The family home. Evening.
A modest dining room is connected to the living room. A small dining table is set with plates of food.
JOPLIN has been preparing dinner since late afternoon. She looks exhausted, but she continues arranging the table.
SIYA, about seven years old, sits nearby doing her homework.
ECHO, five, is playing with a small toy.
ZIA, two, is sitting on the floor with a stuffed animal.
(Joplin checks the food one last time.)
JOPLIN:
Siya, sweetheart, put your books away. Dinner is ready.
SIYA:
Just one more question, Mummy.
JOPLIN:
One question?
SIYA:
Yes.
(Joplin smiles despite her tiredness.)
JOPLIN:
Go ahead.
SIYA:
Why do people have to follow rules?
JOPLIN:
Because rules are supposed to protect people.
SIYA:
Even when the people making the rules are wrong?
(Joplin pauses.)
JOPLIN:
Sometimes people who make rules can be wrong too.
SIYA:
Then who tells them they're wrong?
JOPLIN:
Someone brave enough to speak up.
(Siya thinks about this.)
SIYA:
I want to be brave.
JOPLIN:
You already are.
(Echo runs into the room.)
ECHO:
Mummy! Zia took my toy!
ZIA:
Mine!
ECHO:
It's mine!
JOPLIN:
Girls, girls. Come here.
(They both approach.)
JOPLIN:
Echo, let Zia play with it for five minutes.
ECHO:
But—
JOPLIN:
And after five minutes, she gives it back.
ECHO:
Fine.
(Echo reluctantly gives Zia the toy.)
JOPLIN:
Thank you.
(She gently touches Echo's hair.)
JOPLIN:
That's my good girl.
(A car is heard outside.)
(The girls immediately look toward the door.)
SIYA:
Daddy!
ECHO:
Daddy's home!
(The front door opens.)
KILLIAN enters. He is dressed neatly after work and carries his briefcase.
The girls rush toward him.
YOU ARE READING
THREE WAS NEVER ENOUGH
General FictionSiya is the eldest of three daughters, raised by a hardworking mother and a father who believes having daughters is never enough. While her mother, Joplin, keeps hoping that Killian will change, Siya slowly realizes that she cannot wait for someone...
