One

Lights up on a bright, soon-to-be
hot July morning.

BARRY, sifting at the table, is
staring at his laptop computer.
He hits the enter key on his
computer. (The computer should
speak in a slow but easily
understood voice. It shouldn't
sound human.)

     COMPUTER
Some ... say ... the ... world ...

OLIN, wearing work clothes,
walks in from the left pushing a
wheelbarrow that's filled with
plants and tools.

     COMPUTER
... will. . . end ... in ... fire.

OLIN pulls a sprinkler out of the
wheelbarrow and puts it on the
ground.

     OLIN
(Muttering to himself)
Only so many hours in the day ... acres of work ... acres of work.
we're burning daylight.

OLIN now sees that BARRY is
there.

     OLIN
     (Now seeing BARRY)
Hey, you. Computer. Tell me when this comes on.

OLIN then picks up the
wheelbarrow and exits off to the
right. SARAH, also wearing work
clothes and work gloves, walks
in from the left.

     SARAH
Oh. Barry. I thought Anna was here.

     OLIN
     (Off)
Is it on?!

     SARAH
Olin left this sprinkler. He forgot it. Look.

BARRY doesn't look.

     SARAH
He left this sprinkler.

BARRY doesn't respond.

That's that old sprinkler. That's the one that's broken. The water
just shoots out of one end I think. It shoots out in one long stream.
Yeah. That 's that old sprinkler. It's gonna be hard to water the
whole garden with one old, broken sprinkler. We'll have to use the
hose.

BARRY doesn't respond.

All of Anna's tools are old and rusty.

     OLIN
(     Off)
Is it on now?!

     SARAH
I thought you'd be working on your house today.

ANNA, wearing casual clothes
walks, in from the left. She has
mail in her hand. She sits down
at the bench.

     SARAH
Did she send another letter?

     ANNA
Yes.

     OLIN
(Off)
Is it on?!

     SARAH
(Looking at BARRY)
He can't tear himself away from that computer, can he?

     ANNA
It's gonna get to a hundred today.

     SARAH
I know.

     ANNA
One hundred.

     SARAH
What am I supposed to do with Olin? He has to come out here,
Anna. To keep him in the house is dangerous. He tries to fix
things that aren't broken and he ends up breaking them. I had a
curling iron that worked fine until he took it apart. Now he has his
eye on the washing machine.

     ANNA
Don't stay out here all day.

     SARAH
We have to water or everything will bum up. That old sprinkler
won't work. It just shoots out one stream of water. We'll have to
use the hose.

     ANNA
OK, use the hose.

     SARAH
It would be better if the sprinkler worked.

     ANNA
It would.

     SARAH
We're gonna pull weeds in that garden by the birdbath.

     ANNA
That garden might as well be dead, Sarah. There's no reason to
work it because nobody cares.

     SARAH
It isn't dead, Anna. It's hardly dead. Did you know there are wild
strawberries growing down there? You ought to take a walk and
see.

     ANNA
OK

OLIN walks in from the right.

     OLIN
Damn it to hell! I've been screaming my lungs out.

     SARAH
Well Olin, you could walk up here.

     OLIN
Is the sprinkler on?

     SARAH
No. There's no hose attached.

     OLIN
(Goes over and picks up the sprinkler)
Can't do this all by myself ... got acres of work. . .

OLIN walks off with the sprinkler
to the right.

     SARAH
I better go.

Small pause.

I wouldn't read the letter. I don't know what good it would do.

Small pause.

Anna. I'm worried about this trellis. The vines are getting so thick
in there. You can't walk through anymore. You gotta go all the
way around the hedges. Aren't you worried?

     ANNA
I suppose.

     SARAH
Your dad was so proud when he built that. I remember that day. It
was a hot day like today. I think it was June. But it could have
been July. Your dad was beside himself and he so wanted your
mother to be impressed.

     ANNA
There was no hope for that.

     SARAH
Well, she had her mind on higher things. But look at the trellis
now, Anna. We ought to try to do something. We ought to try to fix
it.

     ANNA
I could fix it with a bulldozer.

     SARAH
Anna. I'm serious.

     ANNA
If you and Olin want to take it on as a project, I guess can't stop
you. I won't spend one minute on it. It's beyond help.

ANNA opens up the letter.

AURORA steps out of the trellis
and talks directly to the
audience.

     AURORA
Hey Anna, the only paper I could find was from the Gideon Bible,
so I thought I'd write on the edges. Mother would be so proud.

     SARAH
Tomorrow is July Fourth.

     ANNA
     (Stops reading)
Right.

     SARAH
There's a parade in town. What are you doing?
Staying away from town ANNA

     SARAH
The church is havin' a social. A picnic. That's at noon before the
parade. They haven't seen you at the church in a long time.

     ANNA
Sarah. They haven't ever seen me at your church.

     SARAH
Oh. Right. They'd like to see you.

     ANNA
No they wouldn't.

     SARAH
Anna. What an awful thing to say. Why wouldn't they want to see
you?

     ANNA
I can't imagine anything worse.

     SARAH
Well.

ANNA continues to read the
letter.

     AURORA
I knew you were cold and heartless but I guess I had to get this far
away to find out how cold.

     SARAH
Oh Anna. Anna.

     AURORA
I had to get this far away to find out how cold.

     SARAH
There's a new minister at church. He's young but you need to
meet him.

ANNA stops reading the letter.

     ANNA
What did you say?

     SARAH
He wants to see the garden and to meet you. Anna, you can't just
stay up here alone. They talk about you in town. They talk about
you like you're a ghost.

     ANNA
I'm busy, Sarah. I'm busy.

ANNA, crumpling up the letter
and throwing it on the ground,
gets up and walks off to the left.

OLIN walks in from the right. He
is obviously looking for
something.

     SARAH
What is it?

     OLIN
Nothin'.

     SARAH
Olin?

     OLIN
Where the hell is ... the sprinkler ... the sprinkler ....

     SARAH
Didn't you just pick it up?

SARAH and OLIN walk off to the
left. BARRY gets up and picks up
the letter that ANNA has thrown
to the ground. He reads it.

     AURORA
I'm only your flesh and blood little sister. Part of the house is mine
you know. Wire me money. Yeah, I'll buy drugs but I need food,
too. It's hot here and dark. I don't have AIDS. Wire money to
Tulsa. I went to a cockfight. The roosters really fight to the death.
No, I'm in St. Louis. Please, Anna. No, I'm in Tulsa. Please,
please. Please.

BARRY walks over and sits down
at the table. He hits enter in his
computer.

     COMPUTER
Some... say ... the ... world... will... end... in ... fire.

Lights dim to blackout.

End of One

To Two

HOME