He drops the leaf to the ground in front of him. It becomes windy on the stage and the leaves are blowing all over the place as he continues to tell his vision.
I had no idea where I was anymore. The boat seemed to have a life of its own and it took me where it wanted to go, and I had to go because there was no choice, and the boat landed itself on shore and then the wind stopped and the rain stopped and the sky cleared, and there was the blue and there were the mountains and I still had no idea where I was.
Wind stops and leaves come to rest on the ground. Offstage we hear a wolf howling followed by a voice saying: “Get out of here, you stinking wolf!”
I got off the boat and went down the shoreline trying to figure out where I was, but nothing was familiar to me and it felt like I was in a different world, and then I saw him. He was sitting on a log and he lit a cigarette and smiled right at me.
Spot comes up downstage centre and MISTER WOLF walks into the spot. He is dressed in a three-piece suit and his hair is in two braids. He is wearing sunglasses as he lights a cigarette and blows the smoke into the air as he smiles.
MISTER WOLF
That your boat?
WOODEN MAN stands to answer him.
WOODEN MAN
Yes it is. It’s a good…
MISTER WOLF
I need a boat.
WOODEN MAN
She’s not for sale.
MISTER WOLF
Did I say I wanted to buy it?
WOODEN MAN
No.
MISTER WOLF
No, I did not. I said I needed a boat. Is this one available?
WOODEN MAN
I was going home and the wind brought me here. I have to get home and cook the fish before they go bad. If you like, I could take you upriver a ways.
MISTER WOLF
That would be fine.
They both sit down. MISTER WOLF puts his cigarette out and takes off his sunglasses and put them into his pocket. The spot turns blue as the WOODEN MAN looks down at SISTER COYOTE but she is still asleep.
WOODEN MAN
This vision feels so real.
MISTER WOLF
What? What did you say?
WOODEN MAN
Nothing. You must’ve heard the thunder. It’s been real crazy today.
MISTER WOLF
Can’t this heap go any faster?
WOODEN MAN
She usually goes faster but her belly is full of fish that I caught today. See?
MISTER WOLF looks beside him and pretends to pick up fish and eat them whole until they are all gone. WOODEN MAN whispers to SISTER COYOTE.
He ate all my fish. There must’ve been thirty fish in her belly and he ate them all. He ate them whole.
MISTER WOLF stands and feels his full belly.
MISTER WOLF
Now you can go faster.
WOODEN MAN stands and he is angry because MISTER WOLF has eaten all his fish.
WOODEN MAN
You want to go fast, well here we go!
They both start to shake and twist as if going fast on a boat. They build and build their actions until they both meet centre stage and crash into one another, causing them to fall to the ground onto the now pile of dead leaves on the ground.
MISTER WOLF
Where am I?
WOODEN MAN
I’ve got to stop having these visions. They’re really getting kind of weird.
MISTER WOLF
Where am I?
Both stand and stare at each other. MISTER WOLF has leaves in his hair and his suit is somewhat crumpled and creased. WOODEN MAN limps back and sits down in usual spot.
WOODEN MAN
You’re right here. Where else would you be?
MISTER WOLF stares at him.
MISTER WOLF
Do I know you?
WOODEN MAN whispers to SISTER COYOTE who is still asleep on the ground beside the bench.
WOODEN MAN
Watch this one, he’s very tricky.
MISTER WOLF
What? I didn’t hear what you said. You’re going to have to speak up because I seem to have lost some of my hearing.
WOODEN MAN becomes wooden and silent. MISTER WOLF goes up to him and taps him on the shoulder but WOODEN MAN does not move. MISTER WOLF taps everyone else on the shoulder but they do not move either. He goes back and sits in the blue spot as stage lights begin to fade.
Right back to where I began. No one to talk to. No one to laugh and play tricks on. Just me and the earth.
Reaches into his pocket and pulls out an old pocket watch and chain. He stares at it and he listens to see if it still ticks.
Never know if it’s the right time or not. Can’t tell by this old timepiece. It’s only good to stare at when the sun is out. See how it glows in the light.
He holds it up to the light and watches as it spins and gleams in the light.
Never was good for telling the right time.
He puts the watch back into his pocket.
Always had clocks and timepieces for the time at any time in my life. When I was a kid we had two clocks, one in the kitchen on top of the stove and one in Grandma’s room right next to her bed. You could hear that old clock ticking just as loud as Grandma’s snoring. We used to sneak in there at night and set the alarm to ring at exactly midnight and wait for it to ring and for Grandma to wake up and screams at us kids to stop fooling around, but we would be laughing so hard and she would start giggling too, and swear up and down that all us kids were crazy and that we should be locked up somewhere. We would get Grandma a tea and let her get back to sleep and we would go on to our rooms which were on the other side of the kitchen and we would pass the other clock that was on the stove and it would tell us that it was bedtime and we would all go to sleep and we would all hear the ticking of them two clocks because one was faster than the other: tick tick tock tock tick tick tock tock…
He curls up and goes to sleep as blue spot begins to fade.
Tick tick tock tock tick tick tock tock…
Lights go to black.
Scene 6
In the black we hear horses and men screaming: CHARGE! Lights come up slowly. Night. More leaves on the ground. WOODEN MAN and WOODEN WOMAN are sitting in their places on the bench. SISTER COYOTE stands to the right of WOODEN MAN, BROTHER RAVEN is standing to the left of WOODEN WOMAN, MISTER WOLF is standing behind and in the middle of the bench. They hold their pose as the TOURIST, now dressed as a Mountie, enters and sets up his camera and tripod. He sets the timer and goes behind the bench and stands beside MISTER WOLF. As the timer beeps, the TOURIST raises his hand and makes the peace symbol, as all the other characters each raise one of their middle fingers. TOURIST looks at each of them as if they did move, shakes his head and gathers his camera and exits. Again sounds of horses and men screaming: CHARGE!
WOODEN MAN
He smelled like horse shit!
SISTER COYOTE
He must’ve stepped in it when he got off his horse.
MISTER WOLF
Smells more like he was rolling around in it, you know they do that.
BROTHER RAVEN
Do they really?
MISTER WOLF
Sure they do. Some sort of ritual. Some sort of ceremony to make them stronger when they go into battle.
WOODEN MAN
He’s going to scare the other side away smelling like that. They won’t be able to see him coming because he’ll be covered in flies. All they’ll see is a cloud of flies coming over the hill.
WOODEN WOMAN stands and walks downstage left. She takes out her red marble and stares at it through the light. SISTER COYOTE walks up to her and lights a cigarette and blows the smoke into the air and into the light that WOODEN WOMAN is staring at.
SISTER COYOTE
Did you smell the horses?
WOODEN WOMAN
All I can smell is smoke.
SISTER COYOTE
I couldn’t smell the horses. I think those guys we
re just kidding about him smelling like horses. He did look pretty in that uniform and that big hat, they sure got big hats.
WOODEN WOMAN stops looking through her marble and puts it away. SISTER COYOTE offer her a drag from her cigarette.
Here, have a taste.
WOODEN WOMAN takes the cigarette and takes a drag. She blows the smoke toward the men who are all now sitting on the bench checking their shoes to see if they are the ones who have stepped in horse shit.
WOODEN WOMAN
Everything becomes different when you look at it through smoke. Nothing is as clear as it should be. It looks older and worn.
She hands the cigarette back to SISTER COYOTE.
Thank you.
SISTER COYOTE
You’re welcome.
SISTER COYOTE takes a drag and blows the smoke at the men who are now sniffing each other trying to figure out where the smell is coming from.
The smoke makes them disappear.
WOODEN WOMAN
I know. It’s like they’ve never existed. One minute they’re talking and smiling and the next they’re gone.
SISTER COYOTE
Wait till the smoke clears and then we can see and hear them again.
She puts out the cigarette and looks back at the men who are now standing and have moved away from each other.
MISTER WOLF
I had a horse once.
BROTHER RAVEN
Was he fast?
MISTER WOLF
No, not really. He would just stand there and eat and shit.
WOODEN MAN
Doesn’t sound like much of a horse.
MISTER WOLF
He wasn’t. I won him at a card game. I had three queens. I bet all my belongings on that hand. There was no way I was going to let that horse get away from me. Three queens won me that horse.
MISTER WOLF sits down on the centre of the bench.
BROTHER RAVEN
What did you bet for that horse?
MISTER WOLF
I bet my life.
WOODEN MAN
What did you do that for? That sounds pretty dumb to me, betting your life on three queens.
MISTER WOLF
I wanted that horse. There was no way I was going to walk out of that game and have no horse. It was like nothing else mattered and the only way Ii could go on living was if I won that horse. So I put down my three queens, stood up, walked out the door, and I got on that horse and rode into the night.
MISTER WOLF pretends to ride a horse.
BROTHER RAVEN
A horse is no good if he’s not fast. What did you do with him?
MISTER WOLF
I rode him until the sun came up and then I sat there and just stared at him. He was one ugly horse.
WOODEN MAN
Three queens, your life, for an ugly horse?
MISTER WOLF
Yep. He was the ugliest animal I had ever seen. He only had one eye and his mouth sat there half open and his tongue hung out like a big snake.
BROTHER RAVEN
I hate snakes. They’re always trying to get me with their big teeth. Sometimes I can’t get five steps without one of them trying to bite me. You ever been bitten by a snake?
WOODEN MAN
No, but I did get bit by a dog before. Big dog bit me on the ass. He wouldn’t let go, just bit right into my ass and stared at me with crazy eyes.
BROTHER RAVEN
What did you do?
WOODEN MAN
I tried to spin him around and knock him off but he had a hold of me good. I spun and spun but he wouldn’t let go. I stopped and looked down into his eyes. I tried to warn him to let go but he held on, so I took out my knife from my pocket and I stabbed him right in the ass. His eyes and mouth opened wide enough for me to get my ass out of his mouth. I turned around and showed him the piece of his ass that I had just cut out and told him that we were even, and that he better get on down the road or I was going to cut him somewhere else. He turned and ran away leaving me there with my bloody knife and my bloody and sore ass.
MISTER WOLF stops riding his horse. WOODEN MAN sits down in his spot very carefully and on one cheek.
BROTHER RAVEN
I’ve never been bitten by a dog but I have been bitten by a snake before.
MISTER WOLF
Did he bite you in the ass?
BROTHER RAVEN
No, he bit me right on the heart.
He lifts up his shirt and shows both men where he has been bitten by a snake, there should be bite scars right where his heart is.
WOODEN MAN
That’s gotta hurt.
MISTER WOLF
How in the heck did you let a snake bite you on the heart like that?
BROTHER RAVEN
I didn’t let him, he took a bite when I was sleeping right beside him.
WOODEN MAN
What were you doing sleeping beside a snake? I thought you hated snakes.
BROTHER RAVEN
I didn’t back then, I thought he was okay. He gave me some of the chicken that he had stolen from some farmer. Any snake who would give me some of their chicken must be a good snake, I thought.
MISTER WOLF
You ate raw chicken with a snake?
BROTHER RAVEN
No, he cooked it up, made a nice sauce out of some of the old berries that I had picked up along the road. We cooked it over a nice fire and sat there by the river and ate that chicken whole.
WOODEN MAN
And then he bit you on the heart?
BROTHER RAVEN
No, not right away. He told me stories about where he had come from and as it got later and later I began to fall asleep. He must’ve curled up beside me for warmth because I woke up one time and found him right there beside me. I didn’t want to be rude and ask him to move away because he had given me his food and he had let me sleep by his fire. So I let him sleep there beside me, closed my eyes, and tried to dream.
WOODEN MAN
That’s when he bit you?
BROTHER RAVEN
No, not right away.
WOODEN MAN
Gee, did he bite you at all, or are you just making this story up?
BROTHER RAVEN sits down on the bench.
BROTHER RAVEN
No, he bit me. But not right away. It was like he was trying to get close enough to me so he could bite right into my heart. I went back to sleep with him there beside me and then I woke up again and this time I found him right up my shirt and he had his head right next to my heart. I tapped him on top of the head and asked him: “What are you doing?”
MISTER WOLF
What did he say?
BROTHER RAVEN
Nothing. He looked right up at me with those green eyes and he opened his mouth up real slow and then he bit right into my chest. I let out a scream, and jumped up and tried to pull him off, but he was under my shirt and I couldn’t get a good grip on him so he bit harder and deeper. His teeth felt like they were razors cutting into my chest. I tore my shirt off and now I had a hold of him but still he wouldn’t let go, and all this time he looked at me with those green eyes and had those razor teeth buried into my chest. It was as if he was smiling at me. Smiling because he knew I was going to die. I tugged and tugged and slowly he started to get weak and his hold wasn’t as strong as before. I pulled and pulled on him and it felt like I was stretching him. His eyes closed and he knew that he had to let go so he opened that big mouth and his teeth slowly came out of my chest and I swung him around in the air and I threw him into the river.
MISTER WOLF
Could he swim?
BROTHER RAVEN
Yes, he could swim. But not fast enough. When he hit the water the sound made a big splash and an owl who had been watching all this jumped from its tree and it glided toward the struggling snake. All I could see were those green eyes as they tried to make it back to shore but the owl came down and snapped that snake in half. Those green eyes closed one more time and
disappeared with the owl as the night became quiet.
SISTER COYOTE and WOODEN WOMAN clear a small circle in the leaves by their feet and sit down beside it. They begin to play marbles as the men sit and become wooden. SISTER COYOTE shoot first, makes the first shot but misses the next.
SISTER COYOTE
Wasn’t much of a marble player.
WOODEN WOMAN
This is a magic marble, watch how it moves and takes the other marbles from the circle.
She takes out the rest of the marbles and sits and stares at the red marble as a single spot lights the marble circle area. Stage lights begin to fade until only the single spot is left.
SISTER COYOTE
My brother used to play a lot of marbles. The other kids would save up their money until they could buy a couple of marbles at the rez store. They would come by all ready to take on my brother because he was the champ.
WOODEN WOMAN
Did he have a marble like this one?
SISTER COYOTE
No. But he had the magic within him. The other kids would watch as he gracefully took their favourite marbles. They watched as he took the marbles they had saved up for.
WOODEN WOMAN
Did anyone ever beat him?
SISTER COYOTE
They say he beat himself.
WOODEN WOMAN
What do you mean?
SISTER COYOTE
He had won all the marbles on the rez and no one would play with him anymore. So he gathered up all his marbles and he went into the woods to play one final game with someone who had a chance to beat him.
WOODEN WOMAN
Who did he play against?
SISTER COYOTE
They say the spirits came to his game and they brought all their magic marbles. My brother played each one until all their marbles were now his.
WOODEN WOMAN
What did you do with those magic marbles?
The Exile Book of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama Page 11
