Scene 2
(morning a few days later. May is sitting on the porch drinking coffee, knees up. We hear the sound of tires on gravel, then the engine shuts off, and a man in bib overalls enters from offstage)
Bill (speaks with a southwestern drawl): Mornin'. You May Wethersfield?
May (standing): I am indeed and you're Bill Perkins.
Bill: I am. So what's this about your apple trees.
May (crosses off porch to Bill and gestures to the opposite side of the stage from where Bill entered): Well, we've got at least 10 acres my husband says and I want to know what it would take to put them back in . . . not sure what you call it . . . production?
Bill: Why?
May: Why? Because it seems wrong to just let them go. They should be cared for and . . . and the apples eaten.
Bill: Apples are good eatin' alright but you don't need 10 acres to get you all the fresh apples and applesauce, and apple pies that you'll ever eat.
May: Well I thought we could sell them too.
Bill: Maybe. Maybe you can maybe you can't. But even if you can, you won't make money. That's why I ask why? What are you hopin' to do?
Henry (enters onto the porch): Good question. What are hoping to do May? Forget about a year, you haven't lasted a second month without trying to go back to work.
May: I'm not trying to go back to work. I just think it's a shame to let the orchard go to rot. You wouldn't call it working if I planted roses, what's the difference?
Henry: You wouldn't try to sell the roses. Hold that, maybe you would.
I like May, I like her thinking.
ReplyDelete