by Erin Mallon
Susan: Me too.
Beat.
Let’s... let’s go home, yeah?
Beat.
Ilda: Yes. Let’s go home.
SCENE TEN
Tilly lays on the bed on her side, eyes closed.
Silence.
Tilly: Come fiiiiiind me.
Beat.
Come fiiiind me.
Henry appears, instead of Margot.
Tilly bolts upright.
Tilly: Papa, what are you-? Where is-?
Henry: This tunnel. This is how she came to you?
Tilly: I- I don’t-
Henry: Did you make it? Did she?
Tilly: No. I don’t know who made it. It was already here when we arrived. I think. I don’t know. (quick beat) Are you mad?
Beat.
Henry: No. I’m not mad.
Silence.
Tilly: Papa?
Henry: Yes.
Tilly: Do you think you know me?
Henry: What? Of course I know you. What a ridiculous question.
Tilly: What’s my favorite sonata?
Henry: ...
Tilly: What tricks do I do to unscare myself so I can fall asleep at night?
Henry: ...
Tilly: What’s the one thing I want from you more than anything?
Henry: ...
Tilly: Papa?
Beat.
Henry: I need to talk to you about your... friend.
Tilly: Margot?
Henry: Mrs. McGuire, yes.
Beat.
Tilly: What did you do to her?
Henry: Sweetheart, we’re still paying the penalty for getting up on our hind legs. All of us.
Tilly: Sweetheart... You don’t call me sweetheart...
Henry: Her organs were exhausted. We needed to relieve them.
Tilly: WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?
Henry: She had an infected uterus.
Tilly: (panicking)
Wait, what is the uterus again? My brain’s not working right now, I’m-
Henry: It’s where healthy women carry babies. Hers was sick, so we had to remove it.
Beat.
I did my best to save her, Tilly. She was a very sick woman.
Tilly: She was fine!!!
Henry: No she was not.
Tilly: She was fine until you started taking her apart!!!! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!
Tilly starts beating on him.
He grabs her by her shoulders.
Henry: I understand that you’re upset, but you are a child and I will not have you questioning my practices.
Tilly: I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!
Henry: Calm yourself right now!
Tilly: Are you going to do the same thing to me??? Cut away all the parts of me that you don’t like?
Henry: Of course not. You’re my daughter.
Tilly: But you never wanted a daughter, did you?
Tilly thrashes around while he tries to control her.
Henry: Calm down! You’re being hysterical!
Tilly: You wish I were a boy, don’t you? You wanted me to be a boy!
Henry: I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO BE ANYTHING! I DIDN’T WANT YOU!!! (quick beat.)
I would give you back in a heartbeat if it meant I could have her again instead.
Silence.
He turns his back to her.
He feels the pulse at his wrist a few moments.
Then the pulse at his throat.
Something is not right.
He’s struggling.
Forgive me, Tilly. I didn’t mean that. It’s... it’s hard for me to look at you. Hard to be with you. To - I’m – (quick beat.) Forgive me.
Beat.
Do you forgive me?
Tilly: I don’t think so. No.
Beat.
Henry: You should never have had contact with that woman in the first place.
Tilly: Her name is Margot. Not “that woman.”
Beat.
Henry clutches his chest.
Henry: Tilly, I’m-
Tilly: What’s happening to you?
Henry: (struggling)
I need you to... call for help. Run down the hall and –
Beat.
Tilly?
Beat.
Tilly!
Tilly: I love you Papa, but I don’t think I can do that.
Beat.
Henry: Matilda!
Tilly: If I help you, you’re just going to... I don’t want any other people to -
Beat.
I can’t help you.
Henry: ...
Tilly: I’m just going to stand here...
Henry: Matilda, please. I need you to-
Tilly: I’m just going to stand here...
Henry: Tilly...
Tilly: I’m just going to stand here.
The sound of a teakettle screaming softly.
We’ve shifted seamlessly to Ilda.
She sits on the edge of the bed, staring out the window, lost in her thoughts. Susan seems to be asleep beside her.
The sound of the kettle continues from the next room.
Susan: (sleepily)
Mom?
Beat.
Mom.
Beat.
Matilda.
Beat.
Tilly!
Ilda: (snapping out of her thoughts)
What. Why are you calling me Tilly?
Susan: You didn’t answer to Mom.
Ilda: What can I do for you, sweetheart?
Susan: The kettle. Don’t you hear the kettle?
Ilda: Oh. Yes. There it is. Give me just a minute.
She exits to the kitchen. She is barefoot.
She walks on tiptoe, as if wearing high heels.
The kettle quiets.
She comes back in and pours tea into two cups.
Ilda: Suzie-Q would you like some tea?
Susan: ...
Ilda: (whispering)
Oh. Having sweet dreams?
Susan: ...
Ilda: That’s good, baby. I’m so glad. Love you.
Silence.
Ilda stands by the window.
Ilda: Do you ever wish you could spend time with the person you used to be?
Tilly appears in front of Ilda.
Ilda and Tilly: I do.
Beat.
Ilda: I’m not quite sure what I would say to her though if I could.
Gently, Tilly takes hold of Ilda’s heels and lowers them to the ground.
Thank you maybe?
Ilda/Tilly stands facing herself. Part small, part tall. They move in unison, a mirror ballet between them.
Would I... prepare her for what’s coming?
Forgive her?
Comfort her?
The ballet continues a few more moments.
Ilda/Tilly moves silently toward the blanket.
Together, they spread it on the floor.
They sit down together, their hands cradling the same teacup, eyes closed.
Ilda and Tilly: (quietly)
Come fiiiiiind me.
The Moonlight Sonata begins to play.
Margot appears, just like old times. She looks healthy, happy.
The moon pours brighter through the window and bathes Ilda/Tilly in her light.
Margot sits across from her on the blanket.
Ilda/Tilly opens her eyes and lifts the teacup in Margot’s direction.
Margot: Cheers honeybun.
Ilda and Tilly: Cheers.
END OF PLAY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erin Mallon is a playwright, auth
or, and narrator of over 500 audiobooks. Her debut romantic comedy novel Flirtasaurus released in July 2020. Erin’s plays have been presented with Urban Stages, New Georges, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Collective, Cherry Picking, Great Plains Theater Conference, Samuel French #OOB Short Play Festival, Project Y Theater, Dreamcatcher Rep, Mile Square Theatre and more. Erin’s play Branched (dir. Robert Ross Parker) premiered with InViolet Theater at HERE Arts Center in NYC and is in print with Original Works Publishing. Her play, The Net Will Appear is an Honorable Mention on the 2016 Kilroys List and had its Off-Broadway Premiere at 59E59 Theaters in NYC starring the great Richard Masur. Other full-length plays include: Good Riddance, Hand Me Down, Stunning Displays of Prowess, Skin Hungry, The Other White Meat and Come Find Me. Along with writer Bixby Elliot, Erin is the founder and co-curator of The Brooklyn Generator (a playwriting engine that creates “plays in less-than-30-days”) and one half of The Theater Husband / Theater Wife Project. She was proud to be one of The Farm Theater’s commissioned playwrights for their ‘18/’19 College Collaboration Project, where she wrote Soft Animals, a play about four medical misfits at a self-healing workshop. One of her current plays in development is Pale Blue Dot(s), an otherworldly piece about an all-female astronaut team (with special appearances by Elon Musk and David Bowie). These Walls Can Talk, Erin’s comedic play about the romance audiobook industry is now available as a multi-cast audio drama with Audible.com. Erin lives in a little yellow house on the outskirts of NYC with her husband and Three J’s.
For the latest on new releases visit me at www.erinmallon.com
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