Ends and Odds Read Online Free Page B

low and slow throughout.
    Curtain. Stage in darkness. Faint single chime. Pause as echoes die. Fade up to dim on strip. Rest in darkness.
M
discovered pacing approaching L. Turns at L, paces three more lengths, halts facing front at R.
    Pause.
    M: Mother. (
Pause. No louder
.) Mother.
    Pause.
    V: Yes, May.
    M: Were you asleep?
    V: Deep asleep. (
Pause
.) I heard you in my deep sleep. (
Pause
.) There is no sleep so deep I would not hear you there. (
Pause.
M
resumes pacing. Four lengths. After first length, synchronous with steps
.) ................... seven eight nine wheel ........seven eight nine wheel. (
Free
.) Will you not try to snatch a little sleep?
    M
halts facing front at R. Pause.
    M: Would you like me to inject you … again?
    V: Yes, but it is too soon.
    Pause.
    M: Would you like me to change your position … again?
    V: Yes, but it is too soon.
    Pause.
    M: Straighten your pillows? (
Pause
.) Change your drawsheet? (
Pause
.) Pass you the bedpan? (
Pause
.) The warming-pan? (
Pause
.) Dress your sores? (
Pause
.) Sponge you down? (
Pause
.) Moisten your poor lips? (
Pause
.) Pray with you? (
Pause
.) For you? (
Pause
.) Again.
    Pause.
    V: Yes, but it is too soon.
    Pause.
M
resumes pacing, after one length halts facing front at L. Pause.
    M: What age am I now?
    V: And I? (
Pause. No louder
.) And I?
    M: Ninety.
    V: So much?
    M: Eighty-nine, ninety.
    V: I had you late. (
Pause
.) In life. (
Pause
.) Forgive me … again. (
Pause. No louder
.) Forgive me … again.
    Pause.
    M: What age am I now?
    V: In your forties.
    M: So little?
    V: I’m afraid so. (
Pause.
M
resumes pacing. After first turn at R
.) May. (
Pause. No louder
.) May.
    M (
pacing):
Yes, Mother.
    V: Will you never have done? (
Pause
.) Will you never have done … revolving it all?
    M (
halting):
It?
    V: It all. (
Pause
.) In your poor mind. (
Pause
.) It all. (
Pause
.) It all.
    M
resumes pacing. Five seconds. Fade out on strip. All in darkness. Steps cease.
    Long pause.
    Chime a little fainter. Pause for echoes. Fade up to a little less on strip. Rest in darkness.
M
discovered facing front at R.
    Pause.
    V: I walk here now. (
Pause
.) Rather I come and stand. (
Pause
.) At nightfall. (
Pause
.) She fancies she is alone. (
Pause
.) See how still she stands, how stark, with her face to the wall. (
Pause
.) How outwardly unmoved. (
Pause
.) She has not been out since girlhood. Not out since girlhood. (
Pause
.) Where is she, it may be asked. (
Pause
.) Why, in the old home, the same where she— (
Pause
.) The same where she began. (
Pause
.) Where it began. (
Pause
.) It all began. (
Pause
.) But this, this, when did this begin? (
Pause
.) When other girls of her age were out at … lacrosse she was already here. (
Pause
.) At this. (
Pause
.) The floor here, now bare, once was—(M
begins pacing. Steps a little slower
.) But let us watch her move, in silence. (M
paces. Towards end of second length
.) Watch how feat she wheels. (M
turns, paces. Synchronous with steps third length
.) Seven eight nine wheel. (M
turns at L, paces one more length, halts facing front at R
.) I say the floor here, now bare, this strip of floor, once was carpeted, a deep pile. Till one night, while still little more than a child, she called her mother and said, Mother, this is not enough. The mother: Not enough? May—the child’s given name-May: Not enough. The mother: What do you mean, May, not enough, what can you possibly mean, May, not enough? May: I mean, Mother, that I must hear the feet, however faint they fall. The mother: The motion alone is not enough? May: No, Mother, the motion alone is notenough, I must hear the feet, however faint they fall. (
Pause.
M
resumes pacing. With pacing
.) Does she still sleep, it may be asked? Yes, some nights she does, in snatches, bows her poor head against the wall and snatches a little sleep. (
Pause
.) Still speak? Yes, some nights she does, when she fancies none can hear. (
Pause
.) Tells how