ACT TWO

B is sitting facing the audience, on the floor, crossed legged. H is sitting on a box, center stage, facing the curtain. C and J are standing by the curtain. I is laying on the ground next to a box. There are many more images of different colors and sizes, some moving some not.

J: There must be a more to this.

C: How do you figure?

J: Well, why do some go and some stay, some move and some don’t, color and size, height and width; there must be a reason for the change.

C: [Sitting on a box] I heard that it’s all an illusion.

J: And how can that be? I’ve used my own eyes and you can verify with yours. Now how can it be an illusion?

C: But if it’s not an illusion, then how do they change?

J: [Sitting on a nearby box] Something must be changing them.

C: Are you changing them?

J: No, I don’t think so. I bet it’s someone on the other side.

C: Why would anyone change them?

J: Maybe it’s a message.

C: That makes sense.

J: But what is the message?

C: That there is someone on the other side!

J: Genius!

C: Wonderful, now I can go back to what I was doing before.

J: Wait, wait, wait is that all the message is trying to convey?

C: I don’t know.

J: There are many things, so wouldn’t it mean that there are many messages?

C: That makes sense.

J: So what are the other messages?

C: That there are things that appear and disappear.

J: Genius!

C: That some things go and some stay, some move and some don’t, color and size, height and width… they all can change.

J: And all because of someone on the other side!

C: [Standing up] Oh my, I just thought of something crazy.

J: Come on, out with it.

C: Aren’t we things too?

J: [Looking at arms] I can’t see why not.

C: Well what if that someone on the other side could change our width, height, size and color?

J: [Standing up] I don’t see why not.

C: And if someone on the other side could do all that, couldn’t that someone make us appear and disappear?

J: I don’t see why not. Oh, oh, what if that someone already made us appear?

C: That makes sense. I really can’t remember before I was, can you?

J: No I can’t.

C: Isn’t that strange that neither of us can remember before we were?

J: That is suspicious, but it’s just more evidence that we’re right.

C: You’re right.

J: So are you. [Shaking hands]

C: [Pacing back and forth] So if we were made to appear by someone on the other side, then we can be made to disappear.

J: [Following C back and forth] I don’t want to disappear.

C: [Stopping and turning, J almost bumps into C] Neither do I.

J: How can we avoid disappearing?

C: [Turning towards the curtain] The answer is probably in a message.

J: But what if we the message came already and we missed it?

C: We just have to try to think like someone from the other side.

J: So, if I was on the other side what would I tell me?

C: I would say that I am in control and you better be listen to me or else!

J: I would say that if you’re not nice, I’d make you disappear.

C: I would say that everything I say goes.

J: Why?

C: Because I said so.

J: Now were onto something.

C: The most important something.

J: [Sitting down] I feel relieved.

C: [Pointing at I] Should we tell him?

J: Why bother?

C: Maybe he’d like to know.

J: If he wants to ask then we’ll tell, otherwise who cares?

C: What if someone on the other side cares?

J: [Head shaking] I don’t see how.

C: Well I’m going to tell him. [C walks over and taps I on the shoulder, he wakes up with a jump]

I: [Sitting up] What nerve? Can’t you see that I’m resting?

C: I’m sorry but there is something, the most important something, that I have to tell you.

I: [Turning away from C] Who cares?

C: [Stepping into I’s line of sight] Exactly. See we figured out the secret about those things over there?

I: [Turning away from C] Who cares?

C: [Stepping into I’s line of sight] You see there’s someone on the other side making those things and us as well.

I: [Irritated] Making us?

C: Yes, that someone has control.

I: [Head shaking] Control?

C: [Head Nodding] Control.

I: [Head shaking] Over us?

C: [Head Nodding] Over us.

I: [Getting up] So anything I do, it’s not really me doing it?

C: I guess you’re right.

I: So if I do this [Punching C in the stomach and C keels over] then it’s not really me doing it?

C: Oh, I guess you’re right.

I: This too? [I kicks C]

C: Ouch, right again.

I: What about this. [I pushes C to the ground and kicks him again]

C: [Hurting] Ah, still not you, but you do seem to be enjoying it.

I: But it’s not me enjoying it, it’s the… um… the…

C: Someone on the other side of the wall?

I: Right you are. [I kicks C one last time and C crawls over to J. I lays back down in a huff]

J: [Smiling] How did it go?

C: [Getting up] Well I think he got the point, but I got a beating.

J: I told you it was a bad idea.

C: But if I didn’t tell him he might have accidentally made himself disappear.

J: But then you wouldn’t have gotten beaten.

C: [Sitting on a nearby box] You’re right.

J: That’s why you should keep things to yourself.

C: I still would have done it if I had known the outcome.

J: You’re an idiot.

C: [Pointing to the curtain] What if it was a test from the other side, to see how well I was getting the messages?

J: Well how do you know that letting others know about the other side is in any of the messages?

C: It only makes sense. If we were created by that someone from the other side wouldn’t it be right to give credit where credit was due?

J: I guess it would be wrong not to, but I still say that you didn’t have to go and tell him. What would you do next; tell everyone else?

C: [Getting up] You’re absolutely right.

J: [Shaking head] You’re an idiot on a mission.

C: A mission from the other side.

J: [Shaking head] You’ll get beaten again.

C: It’s out of my control. [He walks up to H, between her and the curtain]

H: Do you mind?

C: Oh, sorry. [C steps out of the way] Have you come to any conclusion yet?

H: Many. Each one is different and unique unto themselves. And then you have combinations and permutations of existing conclusions. Sequences and sets. The possibilities are endless.

C: Have you figured out what these things mean?

H: What do you mean mean?

C: I mean that the things have meaning. Something is conveyed with those things.

H: Of course, color, size, duration…

C: No, no, no. Why are they there?

H: Because they had the potential to exist?

C: No, because someone on the other side made them appear. They’re messages from the other side.

H: Have you ever seen the other side?

C: No, not exactly… but I’ve never seen my insides either but they’re there.

H: Just because you have insides doesn’t mean there’s another side.

C: But it makes sense.

H: Many things make sense. It makes sense if I were controlling the things.

C: [Suspicious] Are you controlling them?

H: No, I don’t think so. But I don’t think it’s someone on the other side.

C: But the other side makes everything easier to understand.

H: By making it more complex?

C: It makes more sense.

H: Sense doesn’t make sense.

C: And random chaos does?

H: [Nodding] Sometimes.

C: [Head shaking] I’m getting nowhere with you.

H: At least it’s not the wrong direction.

C: [C, irritated, walks away over to B] Are you crazy too?

B: I don’t think there’s anybody qualified to answer that question.

C: Well, I’m done with riddles and doubt. I need answers.

B: You already carry them with you.

C: I can’t find them.

B: You’re not looking hard enough.

C: But, I’ve tried.

B: That’s where you failed.

C: Can you help me?

B: I don’t think I could.

C: Will it hurt to try?

B: It depends.

C: I’ll take my chances.

B: Then proceed.

C: Well, first off, I don’t know if there is another side.

B: Both sides are different perspectives of the same thing.

C: I don’t know which side to focus on.

B: Focus in between.

C: I don’t know what to want.

B: Stay that way.

C: I don’t know who created me.

B: There is no creation.

C: I don’t know when I began.

B: There is no I, and there was no beginning.

C: I don’t know if we will end.

B: There is no end.

[Stage lights turn off, followed by the lights on the curtain]

The End