where the wind blows backwards

SCENE 2

A young boy, about 16, lies on the tin roof of a shed staring up at a sky. Clouds covering the light from the stars, only the faint glimmer from a moon can be seen. The boy begins to hum along to a song that has been playing in the background: "Embryonic Journey by Jefferson Airplane". The wind blew backwards.

With a CLAP of thunder and a FLASH of lightening, the music stops suddenly. A tall figure enters stage left, a man wearing a khaki uniform. The boy jumps up abruptly, breathing heavily.

BOY: [breathing calms as he recognizes the figure] You gave me a heart attack!

MAN: What are you doing up there? It's not safe!

BOY: I was just thinking [pause, deep breath then rapid speech] Wouldn't it be awesome if you could teleport? You could let the wind take you wherever it thought you should go! I could be watching a circus one second and then standing on the giraffe the next! Can you imagine being that tall? [reaches towards the sky] Being so close to the sky you can almost touch it! Just to be able to smell the breeze as it rushes past your face!

MAN: [uninterested] You're talking nonsense. [boy hops down from top of building]

BOY: [un-deterred] Look at this box. [picks up a large cardboard box] well no it's not really a box? Technically it is a box but no, [he unfolds the cardboard to reveal ... nothing] it's not a box. it's cardboard holding nothing. and everything.

MAN: That just makes no sense.

BOY: [sigh] Come onnnn! It's all about, what's the word? [clicks his fingers trying to think] It begins with an R - NO a D! It's all about diameters.. No, distance! No.. [claws at head]

MAN: [slowly understanding] So, the box is a dimension.

BOY: YES! See you get it now, the box is a dimension!

[pause]

BOY: [contemplative] Have you ever thought about the wind? It sort-of whispers back and forth. I was lying here and I could tell it was going backwards. It was a nice feeling, sort of like the murmur of a friend you haven't seen in a while.

MAN: hmmm... yes that's a good point. I guess you could say it's like the sole of an old shoe. It doesn't matter what type of shoe, if it doesn't belong to you it just doesn't work. However, if it's your own shoe it fits like a glove and has a familiar, friendly feel.

BOY: Yeah! So this box, which isn't really a box, is just a dimension, a piece of space being taken up in a part of time. Imagine if we can use this idea to teleport, all we need to do is test the -

MAN: No! This still doesn't make sense, it's just a piece of cardboard made into a box. There's nothing more to it than that.

The MAN takes the piece of cardboard and tears it in half. The stage splits in half. Stage left becoming dark, decaying death. Stage right becoming lighter and full of new life and energy. MAN stands on stage left, BOY stands on stage right. They stand facing each-other, unaware of the change that has just taken place. From this point onwards, neither of the characters cross to the other side of the stage.

BOY: I still think that teleportation is possible. I don't care what anyone says, I just need to do some more calculations and then I will be able to understand the physical nature of...

BOY trails off as he goes inside the shed from the stage-right door and brings out a pen-like thing and begins writing in midair. A holographic screen shows a series of calculations and formulae as he writes

BOY: [coming out of shed] And there we will have teleportation!

MAN: No. [muttering] Foolish, childish thoughts. Honestly, I'm going to work on something based on reality that has potential. That something, young man, is called...

MAN goes inside the shed from the stage-left door and pulls out some paper and a pencil, sits on the floor and begins working. BOY doesn't listen to any of this.

BOY: I can't concentrate with all that scratching going on! Just give the holo-pen a go!? [offers his pen to MAN]

MAN: I'm quite alright using my pencil -

BOY: give it a go!

BOY tosses the pen towards the MAN, across the stage split. The scene pauses and a light flashes from the stage split, the pen disappears. The scene continues.

BOY: [amazed] WOAH! Did you see that!? It just disappeared! And if it can't disappear, it must have ended up in a different place or time. [he looks around excitedly, scanning the place where the pen disappeared.]

MAN: Now I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all of this! Objects can't just vanish.

BOY: [disheartened] You just don't understand!

MAN: Now you listen here young man. It's a tough world out there, and one day I won't be around to bother listening to your absurd imagination. You need to start living in reality.

MAN storms off stage left. BOY hangs his head and returns to his starting position, perched at the top of the shed roof. He stares up at a half moon, the half on his side of the stage. The wind blew backwards.