A Lesson After Dying

[Elwen]

This is a ten-minute play that I originally entered in the Arena Stage playwriting competition...it didn't win, but oh well.

 

 

 

"A Lesson After Dying"

A Play

 

Characters: (in order of appearance)

Mirya, a young woman

Ariel, a mysterious girl

Aidan, Mirya’s fiancé

Rune, Mirya’s older sister

(…somewhere.)

Mirya: Where am I?

Ariel: On the other side.

Mirya: The other side?

Ariel: Don’t you remember?

Mirya: Remember what?

Ariel: (shakes her head sadly) Poor, poor child.

Mirya: Child? Who are you?

Ariel: I am older then all, except for the Powers Above.

Mirya: I don’t understand!

Ariel: You will. (snaps her fingers.)

(Aidan and Rune enter. Neither of them notice Mirya or Ariel.)

Rune: Poor little sister. It hasn’t been that long…and I…miss her so much…it’s hard to believe…that this isn’t all a dream…

Aidan: I don’t understand! Why, why did she have to do it?!

Rune: I don’t know.

Aidan: I…I thought if I loved her enough, she’d stay. (bitterly) It wasn’t enough.

Rune: You can do nothing to help her now. None of us can.

Aidan: But, if only-

Rune: You cannot help Miri now. She’s…beyond all hope.

Aidan: (breaking and guilt-stricken) And it’s my fault!

Rune: How?

Aidan: I-

Rune: (comfortingly) It wasn’t your fault, Aidan. How is it your fault?

(Aidan is silent)

Rune: Let’s go inside. It’s too cold out, and you’re in no shape to be outside in this weather.

(She leads him partway across the stage, he gives in listlessly. Ariel snaps her fingers and they freeze.)

Ariel: Do you understand yet?

(Mirya shakes her head. Ariel sighs.)

Ariel: Perhaps this will help you. (snaps her fingers)

Aidan: Why…I still don’t understand why.

Rune: (dully) No one understands why anyone chooses to end their own life, Aidan. My sister had so much to live for. You would have been married, soon, she had everything she ever wanted-(stops for a moment.) Gone. All gone.

Aidan: But why, Rune? Why?

Rune: I don’t have the answers. I don’t know what you want to. There is only one person who can tell you now. (she rests her hand on his shoulder for a moment, then walks away and freezes, as Ariel snaps her fingers.)

Aidan: Mirya…wherever you are now…I-

(He can speak no more and begins to walk away. He stops near Rune.)

Mirya: (pleading) I’m right here, Aidan! Can’t you see me? Can’t you hear me? I’m here, Aidan!

Ariel: He cannot see you. He cannot hear you. He cannot find you.

Mirya: …Rune, too?

Ariel: Everyone.

(Mirya is confused at first, but she soon realizes: the weight of the truth seems to crush her for a moment.)

Mirya: (stunned and disbelieving) I’m…dead. (the words rush out of her) I’m dead, aren’t I?

(Ariel nods slowly)

Ariel: You are. And now, all you can do is watch the world, the people you left behind. Watch only, no more: we are invisible observers.

Aidan: (steps forward) You were my strength, Mirya. And it’s my fault you’re dead. If only I’d-(chokes)

Aidan: All I want is to know-

Mirya and Aidan: (simultaneously) Why.

(Ariel snaps her fingers, and Rune and Aidan exit.)

Mirya: Who are you? What are you?

(Ariel smiles, a mysterious smile.)

Ariel: My name is Ariel. But as to what I am-(walks closer to Mirya)

Ariel: (mysteriously and evasively) I am the road that leads to nowhere. I am the darkness that never lifts. I am the cold colder then ice. I am the dream that never awakens. I am the night that has no day. I am the guide to no return.

Mirya: (realizing her identity and stunned at the realization) You’re…Death…

Ariel: Yes. I am the Dark Lady, and you are dead. Do you have any questions for me?

Mirya: How? Why?

Ariel: You took a bottle and a half of sleeping pills. That is the how. As to the why…only you can answer that question.

Mirya: I don’t know why…I wasn’t thinking.

Ariel: It’s too late for thinking, Mirya. You can’t change anything. Look into my Mirror once more. See what you have done. (she snaps her fingers. Rune and Aidan enter. Rune is very upset, but Aidan is hysterical and half-crazy with grief.)

Ariel: Watch.

(Mime. Rune is trying to calm Aidan down. Her attempt fails miserably.)

Rune: Aidan-

Aidan: Don’t tell me it wasn’t my fault! Don’t tell me that! I don’t believe you! I can’t believe you!

Rune: I-

Aidan: See? You can’t even say anything!

Rune: Aidan, stop it!

Aidan: Stop it? What do you mean stop it?!

Rune: (desperately demanding) What did you do? Why do you think that you caused Mirya’s death?

(Aidan is silent)

Rune: Answer me!! (she shakes him)

(Aidan twists out of her grip)

Aidan: I can’t stand it anymore! I can’t stand it! Everything is just so empty and there’s no light anywhere, it’s gone, and it’s my fault that it’s so dark-

Rune: Aidan! Listen to me, calm down! Calm down! (she tries to grab him again, but he twists away)

Aidan: I can’t stand it! I’m so tired, and there’s nothing left! Nothing at all! There’s nothing left!

(he runs offstage)

Rune: (screams with sudden fear: not for herself, but for him) Aidan!

(she runs after him)

Ariel: How many lives will be affected by you? Your family grieves, and your fiancé mourns.

Mirya: (not wanting to believe what she knows is true) Time heals all wounds. They’ll be…happy again…someday.

(Ariel shakes her head sadly.)

Ariel: Aidan will never be happy again. He loved you more then was good for him. He will never heal.

(Aidan enters)

Ariel: He is fading, falling into shadow. All because of your death. Wracked by grief he should not bear and torn in two…his heart died with you, and his soul is already fleeing into Shadow-realms…

Mirya: (disbelieving) Died with me-

Aidan: Mirya, I knew you told me once that there was nothing so bad it was worth taking your life for.

Mirya: (bitterly sarcastic) I was right. What I did wasn’t worth it.

Aidan: You were my light, Mirya. Now there is nothing left for me but the darkness. I can’t find my way out.

Mirya: Don’t give up, love! There’s always a way out!

Aidan: Not for me. Not this time. Not ever again. I’m sorry, beloved. Wherever you are. (long pause) Thus I atone.

Mirya: (screams) Aidan! No!

Aidan: (slowly and lovingly) Sayonara…aishiteru.

Mirya: (in shock) (whispers) Goodbye…I love you.

(Aidan exits. Mirya stares after him helplessly.)

Mirya: (shrieks) Aidan! No! Don’t-

(A shot rings out. Mirya collapses, crying.)

(Ariel has stood by silently. She walks up to Mirya.)

Ariel: In the end, one person’s actions affect many. To the ruin of all, if need be.

Mirya: I wish…I wish I could take this all back! If only I’d known-if only…

Ariel: But there can be no taking back. You only get one chance. Your chance is gone.

Mirya: But…you’re-if not me, then Aidan! He doesn’t deserve this!

Ariel: It is not within my power. Not even the Powers Above can restore a soul to life when it is gone. I can bring no one back from the dead. I can only guide them to the furthest shore. Even if I could, I would not. For everyone has their time. (she points at Mirya) And you set the date and hour of yours. You and Aidan made your choices. And those choices are final. Forever. Eternal. Nothing can alter them. Nothing.

Mirya: I should have thought…I should have thought before I acted…

Ariel: You should have. For it was your suicide which brought Aidan to his: he was not strong enough to live without you, and the manner of your death only made it worse. And what about your family? What about your sister, who still lives on?

(Rune enters, weeping, clutching a bouquet of flowers)

Ariel: She already had to bury you, her blood sister-and now Aidan as well, who she loved as a brother. What about them who live on? What can anyone say to ease their grieving? Words can’t replace the life you waste, the life you wasted.

(Mirya reaches out for her sister longingly.)

Mirya: Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry, Rune…

(Rune doesn’t hear her, and still weeping, exits.)

Ariel: Death is forever, Mirya. No matter how much you long to say what you have realized beyond the grave, no matter how much you want to redo everything…you can’t.

Mirya: …I know that now.

Ariel: But a lesson learned too late is as useless as a lesson learned not at all.

Mirya: If I could, I would take this all back.

Ariel: So do all who have taken your path. But there is no returning from the furthest shore, Mirya. Death is forever.

(these next speeches all build and get louder and louder in a ‘haunting’ chorus’)

Mirya: Eternal.

Aidan:(offstage) Everlasting.

Rune: (off) Never ending.

Ariel: Your story has ended. Aidan’s story has ended. Those who loved you are tangled in grief because you chose the wrong path.

Aidan: (off) Why, Miri? Why?

Rune: (off) We have questions…that have no answers.

Ariel: Words cannot replace the sorrow. Words cannot replace the life you waste.

Aidan: (off) Tell me why, please! Tell me!

Rune: (off) I don’t have the answers…I don’t know.

Aidan: (off) All I want to know is why!

Rune: (off) You had everything you ever wanted.

Aidan: (off) I can’t stand it! I can’t!

Rune: (off) Gone. All gone.

(all suddenly becomes silent)

Mirya: (sadly) It…doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t matter now.

Ariel: No. It does not.

Mirya: Can…can I ever be forgiven?

Ariel: Ask not of me forgiveness. It is you who must find it in yourself.

(Mirya shakes her head no)

Mirya: No. There will be no redemption for me.

Aidan: (off) Sayonara…aishiteru.

(The shot again is heard)

Rune: I have no answers…gone, all gone…

Mirya: There will never be redemption for me. No matter how long I atone…I can never be forgiven. For I cannot forgive myself.

(Ariel and Mirya exit.)

(End Play)

[Damon Inferel]

Meow! I remember this one ashke... I think. I never really complimented you on your genius, at least not about this particular piece. As always, you astound me with your superior talent, and as such, I look forward to more writings from you... Meow! I really mean it. Please forgive the short review...

[autumn_sun]

=blinks= hey, Lynne...was this something you used for a drama...thingie? I remember one day hearing something like this before..that one day when we were in the drama room after school...I think i fell out of my chair and some girl did a scene from legally blonde...=looks slightly lost= erm...at any rate, I like this, I like it a lot...umm...I don't know much about plays or play writing, so I don't know how you or what you should change. [if anything]