Alysse Aallyn

Tag: Psychological Thrillers

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn

    SCENE 4


    (Lights up on Strip club., “Guilty Pleasures”. Pole, stage, cafĂŠ table with chairs on top. MR BUTTERBATCH wearing apron is sweeping floor. Enter WHITNEY with wheeled suitcase)


    WHITNEY
    Didn’t this club used to be The Gentleman’s Secret?

    BUTTERBATCH
    Long, long ago. Are you the new dancer?


    WHITNEY
    Not hardly.


    BUTTERBATCH
    Well, that’s lucky.


    (Shakes his head.)


    WHITNEY
    I’m looking for the owner.


    BUTTERBATCH
    Oh, the owners never come in. Day manager arrives after eleven.


    WHITNEY
    Maybe you can help me. Were you here sixteen years ago?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Lady, I’ve been here since the beginning of time. Butterbatch is the name. Butter by name and bachelor by nature.


    WHITNEY
    You’re just who I’m looking for…if your memory is any good.


    (Takes down a chair and sits exhaustedly)

    BUTTERBATCH
    My memory is fantastic. It’s pretty much all I’ve got these days. What is it that you want to know exactly? Are you implying I’m too old to know anything because I said you were too fat to be a dancer?


    WHITNEY
    Did you say that?


    BUTTERBATCH
    No. I’m polite. So maybe you shouldn’t go casting aspersions.


    WHITNEY
    Honestly I wasn’t casting aspersions. I’m too tired to cast aspersions. I’ve been up all night, flying standby.


    BUTTERBATCH
    (Vigorously sweeping)


    Traveling steerage, were you? Well, that was dumb. That one’s on you.


    WHITNEY
    Let’s start over. I’m investigating a murder.


    BUTTERBATCH
    We’ve got two. Bar fight 96 or stage manager 99?


    WHITNEY
    (Eyes popping)


    Stage manager 1999! Wow! You get right to it.


    BUTTERBATCH
    See? You’ve come to the right place. I know everything. We oldsters are the guardians of the past. Not that anyone cares these days. Crime shows don’t like unsolved crimes. Can’t get the media interested. What’s the “spin” is all they want to know. I can answer any question you’ve got but first, I’ve got a little question of my own.


    (Getting comfortable leaning on his broom)


    What’s it to you?


    WHITNEY
    I don’t understand.


    BUTTERBATCH
    Of course you don’t understand, that’s what I’m here for. I’m gonna explicate. But first you’ve got to riddle me this; Why ya wanna know?


    WHITNEY
    Oh. Well, I think I know who might have killed that guy.


    BUTTERBATCH
    Really? Cold case like that? Why ain’t you talkin’ to the police?


    WHITNEY
    Because I need to talk to you first.


    (Shows her phone)


    Recognize this woman?

    BUTTERBATCH
    I’m not sure. She wasn’t a waitress, I can tell you that, and she wasn’t a patron any night I was here. But those dancers – they change. Wigs, makeup. Costumes. They transform themselves. Professional chameleons.


    WHITNEY
    Her name was Pearleen Purdy.


    BUTTERBATCH
    Oh, Pearleen! Of course I remember her. Destiny! She barely used the pole! She worked the edge of the stage. Everyone remembers her. I’ve got guys that still ask about her. Poor Lester Westerhaven ain’t never got over her.


    WHITNEY
    Destiny?


    BUTTERBATCH
    That was her stage name. On account of the palm reading. Yup, she had quite a following. Now I always thought she was kind of scary.


    WHITNEY
    You did? Why?


    BUTTERBATCH
    She had these terrible eyes. She looked at people like she was trying to figure out how much space they took up and whether she could relieve them of it. Gave me the heebie-jeebies. You think Pearleen killed Burt?

    WHITNEY
    Tell me more about these “heebie-jeebies”.


    BUTTERBATCH
    You know how when women, like, go for things they want, they go all roundabout? Making nice? Playing coy? She wasn’t like that at all! She told you what she wanted right up front! The audience never saw that part. But when she was looking at everybody, it was like she was looking at nobody. I always felt like this was her world and the rest of us were just passing through.


    WHITNEY
    So what did she want?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Well, not me, I can tell you that much. And not Burt either, though he was pretty handsy. Casper the Grasper the girls called him. She was dating a couple of customers, I seem to remember. Rich guys. Married guys. She blew through Lester’s little stash like he was standing still.


    WHITNEY
    (Reads her phone)


    Says here Burt was found dead at nine AM June 16.


    BUTTERBATCH
    By yours truly! You never saw such blood! Handcuffed to his chair; throat slit with a frog-gigger. Nasty little knife. Right here in the office. Blood everywhere!


    (Shivers)

    WHITNEY
    A frog-gigger?


    BUTTERBATCH
    I’m still not over it. But you know I just don’t see how a little thing like Pearleen could manhandle a fellow that size! Burt was 250 pounds of hard blubber! Even handcuffed to a chair…


    WHITNEY
    How about surprise? I mean, what if she just came up behind him? Say he was blindfolded.


    BUTTERBATCH
    That would work. Now you’re talking. And he could have been high. He liked to be high when he thought he was gonna get some.


    WHITNEY
    So what happened to Pearleen? Where was she at the time of the murder? Or after it?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Who knows! You kidding me? Them dancers scattered like cockroaches in the sunlight! Half of ‘em were undocumented and the rest were violating parole. Everybody’s wanted for something or other.


    WHITNEY
    But who had a motive?

    BUTTERBATCH
    Everyone had a motive with Burt! Yours truly excepted, natch. Burt was the drug connection. The police pounced right on the drug angle because his stash was missing. Nobody wanted to be connected to that. Nobody even went to the poor guy’s funeral. It was just me and the owners. This place closed down entirely for a couple of weeks. We had to reopen under a new name, new dancers, everything.


    WHITNEY
    Anything else you can tell me about Pearleen?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Oh, she was a fortuneteller. She’d look deep in your eyes – right through to the back of your head – pretending to read your palm. Oh, my God! Gives me the shiverbumps now.


    WHITNEY
    She never told your fortune?


    BUTTERBATCH
    (Shudders)
    Heck no. I stay away from that stuff. Feels like they’re trying to put a mark on you. Somebody gives you a fortune, it might come true. I like to keep the future unexpected. Keeps life interesting. I wasn’t expecting you, see? Keeps me alert. And I’m still here, aren’t I?


    WHITNEY
    This is just what I needed. Thanks for all your help.

    BUTTERBATCH
    (Calling after her)


    Off to the police? Planning to star on one of them crime shows?


    WHITNEY
    Why not?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Don’t waste your breath. They “lost” all the evidence. It’s just another grassy knoll!


    (Punctuates with finger commas.)


    Lost the evidence! That’s what I’m telling you. Thing they said was, “We don’t have the room to store all that stuff.”


    WHITNEY
    Who said that?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Cold case guy. I called him up because Burt’s dealer turned up dead in a mobile home out on Rt. 80. You’re not the only one wants to star in a crime show. I said should they take DNA for Burt’s case and they told me –


    WHITNEY
    Evidence destroyed. Just my luck.


    (Wheels suitcase away, staggering.)


    BUTTERBATCH
    Don’t take it so hard. What comes around goes around. I always say.


    WHITNEY
    And that helps how?


    BUTTERBATCH
    Nobody gets away with nothing, not in my experience. Say, you’re sure you don’t want to audition? Talking to you now, I see a glimmer of light beneath that bushel of yours. Could be hidden talent. Let ‘er out and let ‘er rip. Tips here are very good.


    WHITNEY
    Thanks but no thanks.


    (Dragging away depressed. Lights out. )

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn

    (Behind WHITNEY’S back appears an old man dressed for fishing. He carries a tackle box and two fishing rods.)


    WHITNEY
    (Shouting after EIGHT)
    Some “master of the elements” you are. Scared of a little chill!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Whitney? Ready to go fishing? The bluefish are running.


    WHITNEY
    (Overcome)


    Dad! Dad! Oh, my God! Dad!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Don’t touch me. I’m covered with hooks.


    (He casts a line)


    WHITNEY
    (Confused)


    Dad, you can’t catch bluefish from here!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Whitney, you’re forgetting that I’m dead. I can do anything I want.

    WHITNEY
    (Collapsing emotionally)


    Dad, you’ve left everything in a mess!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    I don’t think so. You seem fine to me.


    WHITNEY
    Dad, Charmayne is some kind of monster! She kills people who get in her way! She probably killed you!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    What does that matter now? It was my time to go.


    (Casting, moving up the beach.)


    WHITNEY
    This is NOT the way I imagined it.


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Nothing ever is.


    WHITNEY
    Let me put it this way, Dad. You married a lying, greedy, murderous stripper!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Not bad for a deteriorating old geezer, huh?


    (WHITNEY is gob smacked. Watches him silently for a while.)


    WHITNEY
    (Mustering all her energy)


    Well, I’m not letting her get away with it.


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Forget it, Whitney. Allow an old man to have his fun. I made plenty of money for everybody. Let it go.


    WHITNEY
    Dad! She made you beg for water! I saw it!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Adults play games, Whitney. Conflict makes life interesting; keeps the fish fresh. I guess you wouldn’t understand. You were always so serious.


    WHITNEY
    You made me serious! You wanted me serious! You said life was serious.


    DR QUANTREAU
    (Reflects)


    Besides, I probably deserved it. Ever heard that expression “what goes around comes around?” I made your mother beg for money. We all did it. I regret it now.


    (Shrugs)


    You should have seen the faces on the other guys when I brought Charmayne to the club!


    (Cackles gleefully)


    Were they jealous! Didn’t know I had it in me!


    (Wandering away into the “water” – into the audience)


    WHITNEY
    (Calling after him despondently)


    Dad, don’t go! Let’s talk about…things. We never talked about real things. We only talked about…history. Why Alexander the Great didn’t need armies as big as the people he attacked.


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Honey, I don’t have to worry about “things” any more. Or Alexander the Great. You could come fishing with me. I love fishing. I get to fish all the time.


    WHITNEY
    (With a passion)


    I see now I’ve always hated fishing. It’s the most boring activity on the planet.


    DR. QUANTREAU
    I like it. It relaxes me. It’s just a game, Whit. Our games define us. Elevate your game, Whit.


    WHITNEY
    You against some nine pound fish! Like that’s fair!


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Honey, no one cares about fairness. Fairness is impossible. Expertise, that’s the thing. Self-improvement. Mastering whatever it is you set out to do.


    (Casts)

    WHITNEY
    But you keep leaving me, again and again, over and over! Don’t you still love me?


    DR. QUANTREAU
    Of course I love you, Whitney. And Darby and McKenzie and Charmayne and your mother – what was her name? Doris. I loved Doris and before her I loved Edna. But the fish are running! See them go? If the fish are running, I’ve got to follow! Goodbye, Whitney! Be a good girl.


    (Exit.)


    WHITNEY
    (Shouting after him)


    You’re just a figment of my adolescent imagination!


    (Bursts into tears sobbing her heart out.)


    I refuse to take advice from ghosts.


    (Dries her tears, sighs, takes out her phone)


    Unsolved murders in Branson, Missouri…what was it? Fourteen years ago?

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn

    WHITNEY
    That went HORRIBLY.


    (Goes to sit disconsolately on the beach behind the boulder, hidden from the house. EIGHT appears, wielding his metal detector.)


    WHITNEY
    (Sarcastically)


    Well if it ain’t the Prince of Wands.


    EIGHT
    Excuse me? Name’s Eight. Like pieces of eight?


    WHITNEY
    Well, I found out the demon’s name. And it got me exactly nowhere. It’s Creature from the Black Lagoon one, and Firewalkers zero.


    EIGHT
    One battle ain’t a war. What happened?


    WHITNEY
    She stole someone’s identity! And then that person disappeared! She killed her mentor. Probably robbed her into the bargain.


    EIGHT
    That one’s a piece of work all right.

    WHITNEY
    It’s real bad. But it was fourteen years ago. The missing person’s been declared dead even though no one ever found the body, my father’s trust says it doesn’t matter who he was married to when he died, and if Charmayne hasn’t already legally changed her name now she’s probably going to.


    EIGHT
    Nothing works when you give up that fast.


    WHITNEY
    She even had the nerve to accuse ME of Black Magic.


    EIGHT
    She did? Oh, Whit! Don’t you see how great that is? You recognized the demon, called it by name, and it recognized YOU! You’re on your way, girl!


    WHITNEY
    I thought you were the one warning me against descending to her level.


    EIGHT
    (Hunkers down beside her)


    She believes this stuff, is all I’m saying. She’s not your ordinary con. You can’t get her where she’s fake, so you have to get her where she’s real.


    WHITNEY
    Well, I’m going to need a lot more magic. You got any on you?


    EIGHT
    (Running his metal detector over her body – it rattles excitedly)


    You don’t need my magic. You’ve got plenty of your own!


    WHITNEY
    (Collapsing disconsolately)


    Prove it.


    EIGHT
    Look. I’d say there’s at least two reasons to steal an identity. One is, you actually want to be that person. The other is, you don’t want to be yourself.


    WHITNEY
    Because?


    EIGHT
    Do I have to spell everything out for you? I’m saying, if you’re willing to get rid of one person…


    WHITNEY
    (Starting to get worked up)


    You mean maybe she’s done it before? My stepmom, the serial killer!


    (As EIGHT ambles down the beach)


    Please don’t go! I need you!


    EIGHT
    Don’t you feel the temperature dropping?


    (Shivers)


    Time to take cover.

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn


    (Evening. Lights up on the Hampton house. )


    WHITNEY
    (Banging)


    Charmayne!! Charmayne!!


    CHARMAYNE
    (Appearing at the door – seemingly annoyed)


    Whitney, you really do have to make an appointment. I don’t have time to play with you today.


    WHITNEY
    Oh, I think you’ll see me – Pearleen.


    CHARMAYNE
    (Steps outside, closes door carefully)


    Oh? Are your efforts to master the black arts finally paying off?


    WHITNEY
    There’s no “black ops” about it. I’ve been investigating you.


    CHARMAYNE
    Moi? Little me? How flattering. I love being the center of attention. I revel in your…involvement.


    (Making it sound sexual. Crosses her arms defensively, but says boldly)


    It’s not illegal to change your name, you know. Some names are very common. You can call yourself anything you want. And some of us were saddled by our thoughtless parents with disabling monikers we couldn’t wait to get rid of.


    WHITNEY
    But you are pretending to be someone else!


    CHARMAYNE
    Prove it.


    WHITNEY
    You’re wearing her necklace!


    CHARMAYNE
    She gave it to me. Among many other gifts. I thought I explained all that to you.


    WHITNEY
    And now no one can find her!


    CHARMAYNE
    Poor little know-nothing. You’re not even a Querent, you’re lower than that. Sludge. Pity you didn’t pursue my entire course of instruction. Then you’d see that when there’s a new Queen of Swords it’s traditional for the previous Queen to make herself scarce.


    WHITNEY
    You did something to her!


    CHARMAYNE
    Prove it.


    WHITNEY
    Plus, you misrepresented yourself when we hired you!


    CHARMAYNE
    Oh, I told Arthur all about it! It only made him admire me more. He proposed, didn’t he? I don’t think you knew your father as well as you thought you did, Whitney. He appreciated people who made something of themselves, who figured out the physics of existence. He didn’t care for helpless wannabes who hang around trading on their birth names and trying to cash in on the past. We complemented each other. He told me, I “embraced multitudes.” And that’s what he loved about me.


    WHITNEY
    He was quoting Whitman. I doubt your marriage is even legal!


    CHARMAYNE
    Now hold on, sister. Have you bothered to research common law marriage in this state? Don’t come annoying me when you haven’t done your homework! I’ll give you a head start by telling you Dr. Quantreau’s trust defines his wife as “ux” – not by name but anyone he called his wife at the time of his death.


    WHITNEY
    Prove it.


    CHARMAYNE
    I don’t have to. And a further piece of advice? When you’re coming after someone, it’s very dangerous to put them on notice. Because then they’ll be ready for you…fully armed.


    (Disappears into house, slamming the door)

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn


    (Lights up on The Library Basement Stacks at Dead Lake Community College a mini set with bookcase and elderly woman – MRS PREECE – wearing coke bottle glasses perched atop library ladder, putting books away. )


    MRS PREECE
    Why are all these students so freakishly tall? I’m going to kill myself, one of those days, trying to approximate the eye line of some basketball-playing mutant.
    (WHITNEY appears shyly around the bookcase.)


    WHITNEY
    Are you Mrs. Preece?


    MRS. PREECE
    No need to shout. I’m half-blind, not deaf. Depends who’s asking.


    WHITNEY
    I’ve been researching past Dead Lake students and the girl at the front desk said you know everything.


    MRS. PREECE
    (Coming down the ladder)
    Then I’m that Mrs. Preece. For all I knew you were looking for my mother in law and she’s been dead these forty years. And believe you me, she was no picnic when she was alive, and now that she’s dead she’s been particularly troublesome.


    (Looks WHITNEY up & down)


    Aren’t you a nice young lady! Most girls these days look so terrible I pity them. They want to look terrible is what I conclude. It’s all I can do to keep from jumping back and gagging when I see one coming – it’s like some vision of the Apocalypse. They’re arming up for something – God knows what.


    (Crosses herself)


    You look like a strong healthy girl. Not like those female zombies.


    WHITNEY
    I missed a lot. I guess I’ve been… held back.


    MRS. PREECE
    Well, stay in school forever, that’s my advice. You, – you play hockey? What’s your sport?


    WHITNEY
    God no. I hate sports.


    MRS. PREECE
    Don’t say that, girl. Games are all we have to look forward to. The only time we get to win. I was a left wing in my time. But you can’t even say “left-wing” these days.
    Teatime!


    (She swivels the ladder & bookcase to reveal two basket chairs and a squat bookcase holding a smoking kettle, which she unplugs. She pours two mugs of tea and settles into chair with a sigh.)


    WHITNEY
    (Accepting a mug)
    Do you live down here?

    MRS. PREECE
    Might as well. They’ve got facilities, haven’t they? Heat, light, the whole ball of wax. I’ve got a home but why go there? The spirit of my dead mother-in-law makes it clear she doesn’t approve of my housekeeping. No, libraries are where it’s at! Temples of learning, sanctuaries of knowledge. And they’re too cheap to hire a security guard for all this treasure. Scary. All they’ve got is little old me. When I go, it’s “poof” for all these memories. If I’m going to be haunted by somebody, I choose Emerson. Or any of the Transcendentalists, really.


    (Waves a hand)


    Education is SO wasted on the young. And it don’t stick long on the old folks, neither. People remember the way things SHOULD have happened. But I –


    (Taps her head)


    Been blessed in the brain-basket. I like the past. I remember the way things REALLY happened. So, long story short, you’ve come to the right place. Sit down and make yourself to home.


    (Long sip)


    Such a pleasure having company I’d smoke if I thought I could get away with it, but they’ve got them damn detectors. Interested in the Lake, you say? Good riddance to it! The Black Lagoon, we used to call it! Oh, it was a pile of muck after all the frogs died. You one of those conservation nuts? An echo-terrorist?


    WHITNEY
    Eco-terrorist? No. Actually I’m looking for a person. I’m Whitney Quantreau, and I’m looking for Charmayne Carr. She claims she attended this school. Charmayne Carr?

    MRS. PREECE
    I should have guessed right away that’s what you wanted! EVERYBODY’S looking for that one. Nobody knows what became of her. She just abandoned her house and walked away! But she wasn’t a student, she was a teacher. Health Ed.


    WHITNEY
    She was? Who – who’s looking for her?


    MRS. PREECE
    Her family. They need to know where she’s at! Got no idea in hell what’s become of her! And she used to support the lot of them. So it came as a shock. Does make a motive for sneaking away, having that pack hounding after you, I’d be thinking. And the cops say adults can go where they please. It’s a free country. You know what became of her?


    WHITNEY
    Well – she got married. That’s all.


    MRS. PREECE
    Married? To a MAN?


    WHITNEY
    (Flustered)
    To my father, actually. What did you think?


    MRS. PREECE
    Well, I’m not sure what’s the PC word for it, but she was one of them long-time dykes. Dressed like a man most of the time! Oh she was miserable when they tried to get her up into any sort of skirt. Nowadays she’d just go and get her sex fixed to something matching her desires.


    WHITNEY
    (Shows her phone)


    Is this her?


    MRS. PREECE
    (Clutches her heart like she’s seen a ghost)
    Oh my goodness!


    (Takes the phone)


    Never thought I’d see HER again. So she’s a blonde now? She was a redhead when I knew her.


    WHITNEY
    Isn’t that Charmayne Carr?


    MRS. PREECE
    No, it most certainly isn’t! That’s Pearleen Purdy – Charmayne’s – I don’t know WHAT you’d call her. Doctor Carr’s girlfriend.


    WHITNEY
    Are you certain?


    MRS. PREECE
    How could a body be wrong about a thing like that? Nobody ever forgot Pearleen once they saw her. I’ve even got a picture of them together here somewhere.


    (Produces a pile of college yearbooks from squat bookcase and shuffles through them)


    These are my own personal Firewalkers. I don’t let them out of my hands.


    WHITNEY
    Firewalkers!


    MRS. PREECE
    Name of our basketball team, you know, the Firewalkers. Ought to be Airwalkers, but that was taken and we’re obligated to honor the Indians since we took their land whether they like it or not. Everyone walks through fire around here. Burning up the countryside’s practically a ritual. Let’s see, fourteen years ago, wasn’t it? The two of them were in a play together. “The Real Inspector Hound.”


    (Offers the book)


    Charmayne’s the one with the moustache. She was playing a man of course. Inspector Foot of the Yard.


    (Agitated)


    Now don’t you get stains on that!


    WHITNEY
    (Puts mug down respectfully)


    She – Pearleen looks so different!


    MRS. PREECE
    Pearleen was older than most of the students. Word was she’d been a stripper out of Branson, Missouri. You’ve heard of Branson, Missouri? At The Gentleman’s Secret.
    Well, Dr. Carr had a nice big house out on the Heights and poor Pearleen grew up on that sorry lake. She came home when the developers passed out education money. Dr. Carr liked to invite girl students – poor students – I should say PRETTY students out to the Heights to live with her. She “helped” them. Folks around here called her place “The Opium Den” because it was so – I don’t know what you’d call it. Eastern-like. Cultish. With draperies and bronzes and incense. The works.


    WHITNEY
    Cult-ish?


    MRS. PREECE
    Yeah, Dr. Carr had one of them goddess religions she was the queen of. To each her own, I say. Live and let live.


    WHITNEY
    Isis? TAROT? Let me guess, was she…the Queen of Swords?


    MRS. PREECE
    Bingo. That’s it exactly. She played the cards and Pearleen played her. Dr. Carr made a pot of money with one of them role-playing games. Dr. Carr was the Queen and Pearleen was supposed to be a Princess, I think that’s the way it went. But Pearleen got rid of all those other girls one by one. Reminds me of a cat I used to have. He just couldn’t share. He chased all the other cats right off my bed. Couldn’t abide the competition. We try to turn the other cheek to promote a professional atmosphere but I‘m telling you, it was the scandal of the campus!


    WHITNEY
    (Produces phone, uses zoom)


    Did Charmayne Carr – Dr Carr – ever wear this necklace?


    MRS. PREECE
    That dagger there? Well, it looks familiar. She had lots of totem like materials. But Dr. Carr had all these folds around her neck, you see… No one wants to gaze at that too closely! No, she was never one of the “pretty ones!”


    WHITNEY
    And then she disappeared! Didn’t anybody find it suspicious?


    MRS PREECE
    Suspicious! Wasn’t I telling you her family had a meltdown! They came out here screaming like banshees! Finally declared her legally dead so they could sell her property!


    WHITNEY
    Do you remember any of their names?

    MRS PREECE
    Her brother had some very ordinary name. Like John. But I’m telling you, they don’t care anymore. The estate’s settled! They’ve even got a fake gravesite established somewhere – had a service with shrieking and wailing. Be quite a shock to them when she comes back. They’re not wanting to resurrect the dead. You’ve got a different problem than that.


    WHITNEY
    My stepmom’s an identity thief!


    MRS. PREECE
    Your poor dad’s the one got trouble, bless his heart. Play and then pay, I say! Usually through the nose. I demand all my bills up front.


    WHITNEY
    Too late for that. He’s dead, too.


    (MRS PREECE drops her Firewalker with a resounding bang. Lights out.)

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot play by Alysse Aallyn

    WHITNEY

    (Thinking aloud)

    A demon’s real name…

    (Silence while WHITNEY thinks.  Decision.)

    WHITNEY

    Be not afraid.

    (She resumes hammering on the door.)

    Charmayne! Charmayne! Charmayne!

    CHARMAYNE

    (Seductively from the door open only a slit)

    I thought we had an agreement, Whitney.

    WHITNEY

    (Bravely)

    I’d like you to tell my fortune.  Give me a reading.  You know.  With the cards.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Instantly interested)

    Oh, you’d like that, would you? Why the sudden change of tune?

    WHITNEY

    (Graceless shrug)

    I don’t want to come back on Thursday.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Rippling laugh)

    I like you, Whitney. You shouldn’t be so teasable.  I guess it’s Ramon who will have to come back Thursday.  Surprises refresh me. You’ve never availed yourself of my gift of cartomancy before. Let me get my cards.

    (Door snaps shut)

    WHITNEY

    (Seats herself in a patio chair)

    Here goes nothing.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Appearing with a full tray)

    Here, take this.  

    (Lumbers WHITNEY with enormous tray while CHARMAYNE carefully closes door behind her)

    Careful with that!

    (WHITNEY unloads tray onto patio table)

    CHARMAYNE

    I’m so pleased about this little tĂŞte a tĂŞte. Choose your poison. Kids these days drink only vodka. Vodka! (She snorts) Youth is so wasted on the young.

    WHITNEY

    I drink tequila.

    CHARMAYNE

    Oh, I bet you do.  Care to knock back some shots?

    (She mimes it)

    In vino veritas, Whitney. I’ll save you the worm.

    WHITNEY

    Please don’t quote Latin at me.  It makes me feel I’m back at boarding school.

    CHARMAYNE

    Life’s one school after another, Whitney.  Endless initiation into unimagined horizons.  All birth’s painful. A little medicine eases the transition.

    WHITNEY

    No thanks.  I still have to drive home.  Water’s fine.

    CHARMAYNE

    You always were as stubborn as a mule.  So be it! Ready to concentrate on the future?

    WHITNEY

    I still have some questions about the past.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Sits, bounces a leg impatiently)

    Oh, Whitney, Whitney!  If I could only get you to see that your obsession with the past is so self-defeating!  Here you are a young girl – an almost beautiful young girl who could be better than beautiful if she made any effort – and all you do is look back.  On a mere nineteen years of life!

    (Shakes her head)

    If I’d stayed stuck like you, I’d still be gigging frogs down by the lake.

    WHITNEY

    What lake?

    CHARMAYNE

    (Immediate self-protection)

    Oh, I grew up on a lake.  Didn’t I mention?  A sad sleazy little lake surrounded by wooden cabins – some of them actually on wheels. It’s all gone now.

    WHITNEY

    Maybe, but surely the lake is still there.

    CHARMAYNE

    Oh no.  It’s all gone now. Paved over. Things change, Whitney.  Get used to it!  The past is always more disgusting than people are willing to concede.

    WHITNEY

    But who would pave a lake?

    CHARMAYNE

    The water was attacked by some invasive…they had to get rid of it. I would have walked through fire to get out of that place.

    WHITNEY

    (Very stubborn)

    But how could you still be at the lake if it’s gone?

    CHARMAYNE

    I would have fought the changes, that’s my point.  But what would I get? A dead lake and a dying life ! Instead, look at this!

    (Waves over the audience)

    I have the ocean!  The whole Atlantic Ocean…

    WHITNEY

    So tell me about that dagger you wear around your neck.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Playing with it)

    A girl after my own heart!  No sooner do I give one gift than you want another. This golden dagger is a dear memento given to me by my mentor years ago. On completing my study of tarot.

    WHITNEY

    (Flat footedly)

    What was her name?

    CHARMAYNE

    Oh, Whitney…Whitney…You can never bathe in the same river twice!  I only care about the future. All this could be yours someday… if you play your cards right.  

                                                    WHITNEY

    Depends which deck we’re using.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Silvery laughter)

    My deck of course! You don’t have a deck! Whitney, I want to be your friend. I treasured my own mentor – she made all the difference in my life –  I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a protĂŠgĂŠe. I never knew it would be you.

                                                    WHITNEY

    Why do you think so? 

    CHARMAYNE

    You’re so young, so unformed. And you have such a thirst for knowledge!  I was that way once, wondering how things work.

    (Reaches out to touch WHITNEY’S hair – WHITNEY steels herself)

    If only you knew how much I want to give you things.

    WHITNEY

    You do?

    (This disturbs her)

    Like what?

    CHARMAYNE

    I could show you the lynchpins of the universe if only you would let me.  Very few of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouths and a golden rattle clutched in our chubby baby hands the way you were, Whitney.  You need to see the world for what it really is. You don’t accept what’s on offer – you go your own way – I was like that, too. I can teach you how to never be defeated. But first I must know.  Are you a Querent or a Firewalker?

    WHITNEY

    A what?

    CHARMAYNE

    Is this idle curiosity or will you accept the challenge that is offered – whatever it requires? Can you stand up to what must be revealed?

    (She produced and shuffles the tarot cards – with threatening skill)

    The time is never riper.  Open your mind, Whitney and accept.  IF that’s what you’re here for.

    WHITNEY

    I’m definitely a firewalker.

    CHARMAYNE

    I thought so! Welcome to the Way of Fire.  Enter the temple. Cut.

    (Offers cards to WHITNEY who cuts the deck and selects one.)

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    Don’t just take a card. Wait for the proper moment. 

    WHITNEY

    Did you ever wait? 

    CHARMAYNE

    (CHARMAYNE takes the card from her and studies it)

                TouchĂŠ!

    I suppose you chose the card most eager to speak to you.  Look, it’s The Fool!

    (Tarot of The Fool springs up as a hologram or on projection screen)

    WHITNEY

    That’s supposed to be me?

    CHARMAYNE

    It’s the card you chose so yes, it has something to say to you. Look at it.

    WHITNEY

    That I‘m a number zero? Is that what it’s telling me? I don’t like your tarot language.

    CHARMAYNE

    You’re always braced for insult, Whitney. In your private language you can never be defined by someone else. Open your cage. The Fool is stuck, he can’t move on. Moving on is the First Principle of Life.

    WHITNEY

    (Leaning across the table)

    My father is gone.

    CHARMAYNE

    He was almost ninety, Whitney.  Death happens.  You had him longer than I did.  Get over it. I never question the past.

    WHITNEY

    I was raised to appreciate history because if you don’t understand it, you repeat it.

    CHARMAYNE

    We all were born graceless and angry, raging and accusatory.  It’s only a shame if you stay that way. Look at the fool’s face. He thinks he’s free.  See the rose he picked?  All the while he’s standing on a cliff edge!

                                                    WHITNEY

    I reject this card. I demand another card.

     (Snatches one up. CHARMAYNE is unflustered.)

    CHARMAYNE

    That’s not the way this game is played.

    WHITNEY

    Maybe it’s the way I play.  You don’t get to define me.

    CHARMAYNE

    Fortunately the tarot is wiser than you. Look what you’ve chosen! The Tarot laughs!

    (Queen of Swords card appears onscreen – bare breasted and swinging double knives)

                                                    WHITNEY

    You put that there!

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    You chose it yourself!

    WHITNEY

    You probably had that card up your sleeve. Here’s my card – I’ll turn it up myself.

    (Priestess Tarot card onscreen)

    CHARMAYNE

    The High Priestess! How appropriate! 

    WHITNEY

    What’s appropriate about that?

    CHARMAYNE

    The High Priestess is a woman pretending to be a man, Whitney.  She abhors feminine wiles. Because you’re so interested in history you might as well know she’s base on Pope Joan,  the only female Pope.  She’s the guardian of hidden knowledge. See, she’s holding the Torah with the last letter hidden.

    (WHITNEY bridles)

                                                    WHITNEY

    She looks like a little old man.

    CHARMAYNE

    Don’t take everything so personally.  Seekers are often forced to wear disguise. Life’s a contest and the weak go to the wall.  Look at the Priestess standing on the moon between the lotus pillars and ask yourself, how does that make you feel?

    WHITNEY

    Weak.   

    CHARMAYNE

    Well don’t admit it ever. Never spill your guts. The first law is bluster.  After awhile it comes naturally. 

    WHITNEY

    I thought the first law was moving on.

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    (Irritated)

    That’s the first principle.  Try to keep up.

                                                    WHITNEY

    Doesn’t bluster risk losing yourself? 

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    There is no self! We are self-created. Your father always used to say – oh, never mind. The Priestess reveals her secret when the time is right.

                                                    WHITNEY

    What did my father always say?

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Now allow me to choose a card for you.

     (Prince of Wands appears. He looks a lot like EIGHT) 

    CHARMAYNE

    I knew a man would show up sooner or later. Do you know this handsome devil?  What do you suppose is the meaning of his big, big stick?

    (She laughs)

    (WHITNEY works hard to stay cool)

    WHITNEY

    I‘ve met him.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Surprised and nettled that there’s anything she doesn’t know)

    Oh? Where? Is he your boyfriend?

                                                    WHITNEY

    (Smug)

    You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

    CHARMAYNE

    Still waters run deep!  Possibly he’s your power card, Whitney. The elegant Prince of Wands has been pushed out of his home and sent on a journey with no weapon to protect himself other than sticks he picks up.  He’s a dowser.

    WHITNEY

    He’s a treasure seeker.

    CHARMAYNE

    Well I’d very much like to meet him.  We could have a tequila party. Would you like that?

                                                    WHITNEY

    No. Just tell me what it means.

    CHARMAYNE

    This must be very new – I don’t blame you wanting to keep him to yourself. The Prince of Wands is about developing intuition, cultivating talents. He’s a wily character, not well born like the Prince of Swords. He’s scrappy, like me, came from nothing. He’s had to learn to excel at something – to master it. He presages sudden changes of direction, even a journey.  It could be a lucky card, Whitney, especially since you rejected The Fool.  But like everything else in life, you must claim it. Claim your power, Whitney, I can show you how. Should you fail; the card’s power is reversed.  Then it presages devastating loss, capture, and imprisonment.

    WHITNEY

    Imprisonment?

    CHARMAYNE

    (Exasperated)

    I could say more if you would tell me about him.

                                                    WHITNEY

    Forget it. Give me another card.

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    You’re entitled to an eight card spread.

    WHITNEY

    Eight?

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    Is that your lucky number?

    WHITNEY

    Maybe.

    (WHITNEY spreads cards messily over the table)

    CHARMAYNE

    This isn’t slapjack, Whitney. We all have to play the cards the goddess deals. You’ll cancel out the reading!

    (WHITNEY throws cards to the ground.)

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    Some reverence if you please!

    WHITNEY

    (Produces a card triumphantly)

    Here’s the one I want!  Judgment!

    (The Judgment card appears onscreen)

    Even this one’s not very impressive. Why does the Tarot show nothing but little old men? 

    CHARMAYNE

    It doesn’t. The Major Arcana is strongly female. 

    WHITNEY

    Well the Judgment Card looks like my Dad to me.

    CHARMAYNE

    That shows your ignorance. Some have eyes but are too blind to see.

    (Wearily picking up cards)

    The Tarot won’t be mocked, Whitney.  You’re asking for trouble.

    WHITNEY

    I don’t think I’m the one in trouble.

                                                    CHARMAYNE

    Believe me, you are.

                                                    WHITNEY

    I DON’T believe you. Your threats are vague – you can’t even be specific.

    CHARMAYNE

    (Threateningly)

    It’s whatever you most fear that stalks you. Behind the fear lies…the wish.

    (She laughs)

    The ignorant are so helpless! This card doesn’t even signify what you think it means.

    WHITNEY

    So what does it mean, then? 

    CHARMAYNE

    It’s the regeneration card. See the dead rising on the bottom of the card there? That angel’s going to suck them right up into her trumpet!

    (She laughs wildly)

    WHITNEY

    You don’t think the dead can rise?

    CHARMAYNE

    Depends on how they died.

                                                    WHITNEY

    What do you mean, HOW?

    CHARMAYNE

    (Threateningly)

    They can’t rise if they’ve lost their souls.

    WHITNEY

    (Shaken)

    Oh, that’s bullshit.  Who says that?

    CHARMAYNE

    The Book of the Dead.  They’re the experts. Your firewalk is just beginning, Whitney! I’ve been doing it for years. My feet are well-hardened. There’s so much you don’t know.

    WHITNEY

    (Overturns the table standing up)

    I guess the reading’s over.

    (They face each other across the mess)

    CHARMAYNE

    I guess it is.  Some people can’t be helped. 

    (As CHARMAYNE bends down WHITNEY pretends to leave but hides behind the boulder, trying to calm her breathing).

    CHARMAYNE

    (Calling after her)

    That was a one-time offer! Let me know if you ever get serious about claiming your power!

    (Shrugs)

    Kids. They insist on leaving the field to me. Which is fine, knowing how I hate to share.

    (Clears the table, takes tray into house EXIT).

    WHITNEY

    (Pulls out her phone and starts typing)

    Book of the Dead, eh?   I have some magic of my own and it’s called Google.  I remember now, that faked up rĂŠsumĂŠ said something about Dead Lake Community College…

    (Lights down.)

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot Play by Alysse Aallyn

    WHITNEY

    (Getting up her nerve…calling after CHARMAYNE â€Śtoo late)

    Like you speak French!

    (Goes to sit disconsolately on a boulder.)

    This is MY story and I’m not letting her tell it.

    (A beachily dressed;  closely shaved man with a metal detector comes up the beach slowly.  Investigating.)

    WHITNEY

    Hey!  Don’t you know this is private property?

    EIGHT

    Only to the waterline.  No one owns the ocean.  Which means it belongs to everyone. This your place?

    WHITNEY

    No.  Belongs to my stepmother.  The place she sold to buy this one was the house I grew up in.

    EIGHT

    So now you’re free.  Like me.

    WHITNEY

    (Watches him work)

    Who are you?  What are you doing?

    EIGHT

    I’m a beachcomber and a treasure hunter. Name’s Eight.  Like Pieces of Eight.

    WHITNEY

    Is that what you find?

    EIGHT

    I find everything eventually.  Look at this.

    (She comes closer)

    WHITNEY

    What is it?

    EIGHT

    Prehistoric shark’s tooth.

    WHITNEY

    Looks like an arrowhead.

    EIGHT

    They could have used it for that.  You want it?

    (She shrinks from contact)

    WHITNEY

    I don’t know.  What would I do with it?

    EIGHT

    (Lifts his arm)

    Treasure seekers help other treasure seekers. It’s the beachcomber’s code.  Otherwise it goes back to the sea.

    WHITNEY

    Then I’ll take it.

    (Turns it over in her hands.)

    I wish it was a magic charm.

    EIGHT

    Really?  Why’s that?

    WHITNEY

    I need magic to fight her.

    (Gesticulates at house and whispers)

    She’s a demon.

    EIGHT

    You mean demonic?  Or an actual demon?

    WHITNEY

    I mean an actual demon.  Like from another planet.

    EIGHT

    Most demons are homegrown.

    WHITNEY

    This one cultivates magic.  Reads Tarot.  Calls herself The Queen of Swords.

    EIGHT

    That’s nothing but a pack of cards. No magic there.

    WHITNEY

    She murdered my father.  I know it.

    (A beat. Game change.)

    EIGHT

    You sure of that?

    WHITNEY

    Absolutely certain.  He had this neurological condition, and he hired her to be his attendant. She wasn’t qualified – not at all.  He had me sit in the interviews since I lived there too.  I could see how taken with her he was.  I begged him not to do it but –

    (she shrugs sadly)

    EIGHT

    Let me guess.  She was a sight for sore eyes.

    WHITNEY

    (Nodding)

    Yeah.  But so fake, though!  Fake everything: hair, breasts, accent.  Fake rĂŠsumĂŠ, even.  But he didn’t want to see through her.  He just didn’t care.

    EIGHT

    I get it. He wanted to take his own path to health.

    WHITNEY

    He wanted to grab for the gusto. As soon as they were married –

    (Slits her own throat with a finger.)

    EIGHT

    Any idea how she did it?

    WHITNEY

    Smothering? Drugs?  It wouldn’t have been hard. She cremated him right away and there wasn’t even an autopsy.

    EIGHT

    Did you tell anybody?

    WHITNEY

    I told everybody. But she has them all under her spell. People were relieved he was gone!  Less trouble for everybody.  Even my sisters who – neither of them can stand Charmayne  – said, “Well, at least he died happy!” I was the only one who even missed him.  He was already old when we were born, you see. Darby – that’s my oldest sister – said – “Oh, he’d been gone a long time already.  Can’t you see that?” And McKenzie – she’s the other one – said – “Everyone dies “unnaturally” nowadays.  That’s what death is.” I was the only one who thought it was wrong. My dad said the only education worth having is learning to tell right from wrong.

    EIGHT

    I get it.  You thirst after righteousness.

    WHITNEY

    Justice.  Justice is what I want. People keep telling me it doesn’t exist.

    EIGHT

    Are you certain it’s not revenge you’re looking for?

    WHITNEY

    Well, that would be nice too.  I mean, she makes me so mad. Don’t you feel it?  Wouldn’t anyone? But justice is what I’ll settle for.

    EIGHT

    It’s a bad situation.

    WHITNEY

    You don’t know what a relief it is to have someone actually listen to me. I even – one day – I saw him.

    EIGHT

    You saw him? Your father’s – ghost?

    WHITNEY

    (Nodding vigorously)

    I did.

    EIGHT

    Was he all about vengeance?

    WHITNEY

    He didn’t speak.

    (Tears up.)

    He just showed up in my room at college – probably the same moment she was killing him – and looked at me so sadly.  I knew it was some kind of vision because he was his younger self  â€“ from before he had his stroke.  I thought he was angry at me.  Going away to school and leaving him alone with Charmayne – maybe I let him down.

    EIGHT

    Hey, you told him not to hire her.  I mean, you were just a kid!   What could you do?

    WHITNEY

    He admired people who “spoke truth to power”.  He wanted me to be self-sufficient, use logic and hone my own instincts.  She was awful to him!  She made him beg for water.  I saw it.

    EIGHT

    Sounds like a demon all right.

    WHITNEY

    “Withholding hydration” they call it. I should have protected him, the way he always protected me. He said I was his intellectual heir.

    EIGHT

    Are we talking money?

    WHITNEY

    No, I don’t mean that.  We already had trust funds and things.  What I mean is, he told me I was like him, that I had the same kind of mind. He said knowledge is everything and you have to cultivate a bullshit detector. Even though I was the youngest – me and my sisters have different mothers – he told everyone only I was fit to stand in his shoes.

    EIGHT

    Well, I’m starting to see why your sisters might not want to cooperate.

    WHITNEY

    People have to stand up for what they believe!

    (Very earnestly.)

                                                    EIGHT

    You blush when you’re angry.

                                                    WHITNEY

    I blush whenever there’s another person in the room.  But what do you think I should do?   I’m scared of her.  She threatened me.

    EIGHT

    How?

    WHITNEY

    She said I’m nothing and she created everything.  She’ll send me back into the darkness.  She wants to “tell my fortune” so she can predict all the terrible things that are going to happen to me.  When she calls herself Queen of Swords, she tries to sound like she’s Master of the Universe.

    EIGHT

    Sounds like a con artist to me. They just feel around for anything someone will believe. Don’t let her get the drop on you. 

                                                    WHITNEY

    But what if those cards tell the future?

                                                    EIGHT

    Tarot’s just another dead language, Whitney. You could learn it if you really wanted to. Language shapes how people think.

    (Taps his head)

    Don’t meet her on her turf. Predators like their prey frozen.  And confused.

    WHITNEY

    How did you know my name?

    EIGHT

    I hang around.  I hear things.

    WHITNEY

    So, you’re an eavesdropper.

    EIGHT

    Treasure seekers are serendipitous. We pick up what we can find.

    WHITNEY

    Well, you can’t pick me up.

    EIGHT

    (Still working his stretch of beach)

    I wouldn’t dream of it.

    WHITNEY

    (not thrilled to hear this)

    But what if she really is magic? It seems that way sometimes.  I don’t know how to stand up to her.  

    EIGHT

    Don’t sideline yourself so quick. You’re here, aren’t you? A person who can see the dead can do anything. Magic’s a game and anyone can play.  Games are about rule-making – about control – gaining advantage on somebody, Whit.

    WHITNEY

    My father said never to play a game that’s rigged.

    EIGHT

    What if its rigged in your favor?  And this one is. You know what happens to murderers?

    WHITNEY

    I’m hoping they get caught.

    EIGHT

    The truth will out.

    WHITNEY

    (Looking nervously up at the house)

    Charmayne thinks she’s indestructible.

    EIGHT

    Wow.  Sounds like a dare. I’m partial to dares myself.

    WHITNEY

    She says anything anybody tries to do to her comes back on them a million times. That it’s pointless to fight her.  But I’m not giving up. You see why (looks at the tooth) I might need all the magic I can get?

    EIGHT

    Make her play your game. 

    WHITNEY

    I’d love to see that!  What do I do?  Exactly?

    EIGHT

    Today’s your lucky day.  I just happen to know some magic.

    WHITNEY

    Is that part of being a treasure seeker?

    EIGHT

    Sure. First, you master the elements. That’s way bigger magic than flipping cards and cutting off old men’s hydration.

    WHITNEY

    (Skeptical)

    So how’d you that?

    EIGHT

    I’ve been swept out to sea. I’ve been buried in sand and I’ve been frozen in snow.

    WHITNEY

    We’re going to need way bigger magic than that.

    EIGHT

    See this mark on the top of my head?

    WHITNEY

    (Rubbing his head)

    Looks like scars!  Where did they come from?

    EIGHT

    I had a demon of my own. Once.

    WHITNEY

    You did?

    EIGHT

    Yeah, and he was hard to destroy.  Took a piece out of me, I can tell you.  He marked me right here.

    WHITNEY

    (Very hopeful)

    Did you mark him?

    EIGHT

    I told you I destroyed him. And then I marked myself.

    (Opens his Hawaiian shirt to show tattoo)

    WHITNEY

    (Reading)

    “Be not Afraid.”  How’s that help anything?

    EIGHT

    It’s a reminder.

    WHITNEY

    But you defeated him?

    EIGHT

    Sure did.  He’s locked in a box and he’ll never get out. That’s what sent me wandering.

    WHITNEY

    How come?

    EIGHT

    Because every action produces an opposite reaction.  He’s static, I’m in motion.  Searching.

    WHITNEY

    But if he’s still alive…can’t he still hurt you?

    EIGHT

    No.  He’s lost all his power.  But I did have to take control.  And I had to work on setting myself free.

    WHITNEY

    (Flouncing down onto the beach)

    I’d rather just kill her.  Serve her right.

    EIGHT

    No, no; don’t give her that. That’s what she wants.

    WHITNEY

    Trust me, that is NOT what she WANTS.

    EIGHT

    (Nodding vigorously)

    Trust ME, it is.  She’s hoping to turn you into HER.  She’d have a new young life, a new young body.  I’m not sure anyone could rescue you then.

    WHITNEY

    So tell me what you think I should I do.

    EIGHT

    Play it by the Bible.  You’ve got to call a demon by its name.

    WHITNEY

    (Unimpressed)

    Really? The Bible?  That’s all you’ve got?

    EIGHT

    Hey, the Bible’s full of demons.

    WHITNEY

    So how do I learn her name? Tell me.

    EIGHT

    You said she had a fake everything. If that fake rĂŠsumĂŠ still exists.  I’d start there.

    WHITNEY

    (Arms crossed)

    She probably destroyed every copy.  Then what?

    EIGHT

    Don’t be a “yes, but”.  You know she’s got secrets.  The past’s the best predictor of the future. Find out her past and make sure she knows you know.  Believe me, suddenly she’ll find you the most interesting person on the planet.

    WHITNEY

    Why’s that?

    EIGHT

    Because here’s the secret.  Demons long to be revealed.   If she invites you to dance –

    (Does a little dance, waltzing the metal detector)

    Dance with her.  Then – suddenly, at the time of your choosing you – step aside.

    WHITNEY

    Step aside?

    EIGHT

    (Involving her in his dance)

    Step aside. Let her own momentum bring her down.

    WHITNEY

    (Very frustrated, dancing like she has two left feet)

    I‘ll never get it.

    EIGHT

    First you have to tell your own fortune. Then you tell hers.

    (Heads off down the beach while she’s thinking about it)

    WHITNEY

    She’ll try to put ideas in my head!

    EIGHT

    But if she’s a demon, your ideas are stronger than her ideas.

    WHITNEY

    You don’t know how persuasive she can be.

    EIGHT

    (From the end of the beach)

    Oh, I know.

    WHITNEY

    Wait!  Where are you going?

    EIGHT

    I’ve got to get moving.  I only found one treasure here.

    WHITNEY

    And you gave it away.

    EIGHT

    (Looking at her meaningfully)

    That’s not the one I mean.

    (Resumes his quest)

    WHITNEY

    Wait, wait!  Give me your phone number!

    (Pulls out her phone)

    EIGHT

     I don’t use those things. 

    WHITNEY

    But where can I find you? When will I see you again?

    EIGHT

    Don’t worry.  I’m always around. I like this beach.

    (Exits)

  • Queen of Swords – the Tarot Play by Alysse Aallyn

    CHARACTERS (4)
    Charmayne: a beautiful, powerful woman just at the drop off point into middle age
    Whitney: a stubborn, determined girl on the cusp of adulthood who doesn’t give a damn about her looks
    Eight: mysterious male beachcomber, late 20’s
    The Guardians of the Past: (can be played by a single actor)
    Dr Quantreau: elderly male in fishing regalia
    Mrs. Preece: bug-eyed, spry, elderly woman
    Mr. Butterbatch: an old man leaning on his broom; a fount of knowledge
    Mrs. Davish: motherly, grave-tending woman

    SCENES:

    1. A “beach cottage” exterior in the Hamptons & beach
    2. The basement “stacks” of a community college library
    3. Hamptons beach
    4. Empty strip club “Guilty Pleasures” in the early morning
    5. Hamptons
    6. Dead Lake Cemetery

      • SCENE 1
        (Morning. The seaside. Corner of a Hamptons-type “cottage”, boulder, hammock, patio set, easy chair, beachplum. WHITNEY forcefully banging on the door.)

      • WHITNEY
        This is MY story and she DOESN’T get to tell it! Charmayne!! Charmayne!!

      • (Through the French windows above the front door we see a man and a woman waltzing together. CHARMAYNE, expensively dressed for glittering “sport” opens the doors and leans out over the balcony. Man hovers in background. All we can see of him is his lithe figure, a glitter of gold necklaces and a shirt open to the navel. )

      • CHARMAYNE
        Go away little Whitney. Can’t you see its time for my fencing lesson?

      • (Making cha-cha moves)

      • WHITNEY
        Is that what you call it?

      • CHARMAYNE
        That’s what everyone calls it. You’d do well to engage in a little exercise plan of your own.

      • (WHITNEY resumes hammering on door which CHARMAYNE eventually opens carrying a pair of old-fashioned sabers, one in each hand. Door closes behind so WHITNEY can’t see in)

      • CHARMAYNE
        (Swinging the swords in her hands)

      • Really, Whitney. Hasn’t anyone ever told you how unattractive it is to make a pest out of yourself?

      • WHITNEY
        Why can’t I go in?

      • CHARMAYNE
        (Briskly)
        Because it’s my house now, Whitney. I don’t want you to see it till it’s done. It’s going to be a work of art. This morning I had the carpet men; this afternoon I had the drapery men, and this evening…(sniffs the air)

      • WHITNEY
        That’s a lot of men.

      • CHARMAYNE
        One shouldn’t be afraid of these things, Whitney. And this evening… Who knows what the evening holds? En garde!

      • (She treats WHITNEY to a frightening display of swordswomanship. WHITNEY tries to remain calm)

      • WHITNEY
        I didn’t come to see your games.

      • CHARMAYNE
        These aren’t games, poor little Whitney, these are the skills of life. Look! I’ll show you a few moves!

      • (Tosses a saber at WHITNEY who ducks – it clatters away.)
        Oh, Whitney, you’re no fun. You really need to step more boldly in the world.

    WHITNEY
    (A little sad, childishly punctured. She’s easy game)


    I’m here, aren’t I? I like fishing. And skeet shooting.


    CHARMAYNE
    Both of those can be done from an easy chair! Where’s the challenge in that? Why not crouch in a dark basement under a garden hose waiting for rats to skitter past if that’s all you’re going to do.


    WHITNEY
    Seriously, when am I going to see inside? I just wondered…you know, about the family things…


    CHARMAYNE
    There are no family things I like everything new. Antiques are a fraud perpetrated on the unwary. Don’t you remember we agreed you’d give me twenty-four hours notice before showing up?


    WHITNEY
    I doubt we ever agreed about anything.


    CHARMAYNE
    I’m afraid your lack of planning doesn’t constitute my emergency.


    WHITNEY
    I’m giving you twenty-four hours notice now, then.


    CHARMAYNE
    I’m so sorry, no can do tomorrow. How about Thursday?


    WHITNEY
    (Like she’s never heard of it)


    Thursday!!


    CHARMAYNE
    (Silky)


    Do try to squeeze it in. Young people fetishize spontaneity. When you’re all grown up I’m sure you’ll realize everything worth having comes through careful planning. Shall we say “tea?” Cinq à sept is my favorite hour. Ta ta, then.


    (Disappears without waiting for the response.)

  • The Demon Lover – a play for 2 voices by Alysse Aallyn

    SCENE IV – THE LAST SCENE

    EVA
    I am gnawed by an aching hopeless wish.
    Loneliness leads to breakdown,
    Becomes dementia. I batter
    Around the rooms of this castle,
    However brightly-plumaged,
    Knocking into furniture,
    A tragic bird who’s trapped indoors.
    Even dizzy with drink I maintain the frigidity
    Of an Edwardian hostess
    Intolerant of scenes at meals.
    Without you life’s a half-lit room.

    EVAN
    I’ve become a character in your melodrama
    An absurd creature of romantic vice.
    Hopeless dilemma.

    EVA
    What could be more beautiful than our ten days in New York,
    Walking among the perverted architecture.
    No loss of illusion, rather an increase.
    I’m in the midst of a dreary financial crisis,
    Having breakdown on my feet.
    I hope I don’t sound too shocked and sad.
    You are life to me as nothing is.
    My fingers still tremble,
    Touching you after 17 years.

    EVAN
    This is the Eva I first met, first knew, first loved.
    We waited it out and didn’t lose each other.
    I was sane or mad to doubt you & myself.
    We are like two people sweating blood
    I feel further from you than ever. I dread losing you
    But Elayna’s power still holds me.
    I fear I may do one of you harm.

    EVA
    Thanks for the money,
    I hope it doesn’t embarrass you too much.
    You are a reviver and a balm.
    We must be in Paris together before we die.

    EVAN
    If you want me to be unselfish, let me be unselfish.
    You are my greatest friend. I’m
    Trying to keep off the drink while you’re here,
    Otherwise I know I’ll wreck everything.
    Three manhattans makes me crazy.
    Your feverish cheer does not seem solid.
    Is this the wreckage of our love?
    Once frightened of your clinical eye
    Now I’m more frightened of my own.
    I’ve matriculated in
    Your fearful university.

    EVA
    We sheer away in horror
    Scenting fumes of evil
    As we lose control.
    Defeat and exhaustion, alarm and despondency.
    Demoralized and sad.
    Slam down the lid on pain and resentment:
    I have taken against your family.
    Let’s dance. To sit
    In silence denigrates our love.

    EVAN
    My heart aches for you.
    We talked for the first time in weeks
    About hurt and resentment.
    I could manage my life if it weren’t for you
    And you could manage yours if it weren’t for me.
    You infect me with your despair and I flee to my wife
    To release the pressure.
    Her quickening influence works my imagination.

    EVA
    I hate that you are in New York without me.
    You pervade that place as God pervades our hearts.
    My life is based on my assumption
    Of togetherness and my
    Secret fear you’re being got at
    When we could be snug together.
    I obsess that you’re in places where I’m not.
    I could not live without seeing you.
    I dread our visit may turn sour.

    EVAN
    Everything except your beautiful self rusts
    Or dies or goes away.
    My love only seems dead;
    it’s alive underneath. If you die
    I shall never forgive you
    We need ideas that are less about ourselves.

    EVAN
    I hurt Elayna tonight
    But there’s no help for it.
    She cares for me and I only care for a life apart.
    A clean break, an amputation
    Makes me frantic and guilty.
    She says we have a happy marriage only because
    She willed it. This smell of death and decay
    Makes me long for sex.
    Could you help me find a girl – any girl you choose –
    Or will you call me a sex mad degenerate?
    Panic makes my hands shake.
    I thought of Elayna and I wept.

    EVA
    I received your sad, wild letter.
    I accept that you can’t free yourself.
    Do you accept it?
    I feel so very near you.
    I accept that you make sex
    Desperately with strangers –
    Do you accept it?
    Can anyone love such a cold-blooded person?

    EVAN
    How silly I am, I thought
    I was reconciled to our ending,
    Expected a falling off of tension & illusion.
    But it’s a prospect I can’t face.

    EVA
    Miracles happen but
    The gift of love causes guilt & pain.

    EVAN
    I am utterly becalmed.
    What I dread most is silence,
    The latest form of impotence.
    I need stringing up and tautening.
    Revenge on love. Revenge on me.

    EVA
    I am suffused with love because I am free.
    My work becomes our child,
    An extension of us. Immortal. Still,
    Something vanishes when you’re not there.

    EVAN
    Elayna broke her hip.
    How irreplaceable she is to me.
    Our brand of married happiness is entirely unsung.
    I shrink to leave her even for a day.

    EVA
    I’m sorry it’s not fatal.
    Am I dispensable to you?
    You love no one. If you turn against me
    I’ll die in a week because
    I have no one looking after me.

    EVAN
    Turn against you! Agonizing!
    In spite of the hangover of humiliation
    I broke down all reserves so we could be together.
    A very happy day and I was sorry to leave you.

    EVA
    Wed & sad.
    Past distress is muffled by age & habit.
    Today we meet formally as if at a garden party.
    A promise unfulfilled.

    EVAN
    You looked so ill
    I was nagged by fear I bored you.
    I long for the happiness of old age,
    Guilt free, pain free, fear free.
    In your silence
    I feel your calming hand.

    EVA
    I invited Elayna to lunch.

    EVAN
    I am not best pleased.
    The day you come to like each other
    Our love will die. It will be
    Poison to our love.
    Elayna rarely admits depression.
    I have had not just love but loyalty.
    Your ghost will haunt me till I die.
    You force ruthlessness.
    It is a good thing your throat is sore
    Or you would never stop talking.

    EVA
    Are you sending me your signet ring?
    I want something solid to remember you
    As I dodge death, fight off this
    Paralyzing loneliness.
    Our last communion.

    (EVA fades away. EVAN is alone.)

    EVAN
    Is the flaw in love a flaw in me?
    I never should have married.
    My heart jumps with pain like a hooked fish.
    I am rudderless. Upon your death
    My ring comes back,
    All your contrivances revealed.
    Now you are gone, I find you everywhere.
    We will never see each other again;
    Never, never, never.
    You are gone from me forever.
    I walk the streets and weep.
    Is this delayed shock? Boredom or despair?
    I will never cease to feel this pain till
    I cease feeling anything.
    For the last three nights, I dreamed of you.
    Did I anger you, neglect you?
    It’s too late to pray –
    I await your final book with horror.
    I need to know I was your life.
    Please
    Come back one last time to tell me
    Just for an hour.
    If you ever thought you loved more than I
    You are revenged.

    THE END

  • The Demon Lover – a play for 2 voices by Alysse Aallyn

    SCENE III

    EVAN
    This is the letter I would write you if I dared,
    if I weren’t frightened bf the cancer
    Of your Elayna-hatred.
    I am overworked, wrung out.
    I feel possessed by you.
    You must always live at the pitch of anguish.
    Our love has roots in good and evil,
    It lives in the darkest places of our natures
    Despite of its pleasant surface.
    Shall we end by destroying each other?
    You have the deadlier weapons.

    EVA
    I have a bad effect on people.
    Guilt, conspiracy, love,
    I cannot breathe without them.
    Oh, the pain of your reproach!
    Not seeing you would kill me.
    I live for the memory of our every moment.
    I wouldn’t give a damn if I had a month to live.

    EVAN
    Boredom, dissipation, remorse,
    And apprehension– I can’t escape this obsessive cycle.
    Beneath the controlled surface of my mind
    Opportunities to be frenzied are endless.
    I’m afraid of saying something evil which many stick.

    EVA
    Gratitude for our happiness chokes me.
    This restlessness of things going to waste.
    Missing you is like an illness.
    I have never fallen out of love with you.
    The flame is always there.
    The place is full of you.
    I can no longer look at hyacinths

    EVAN
    There’s a worm in this bud
    But who is its corruptor?
    Your insights are so powerful they alter mine.
    I’m sorry for your husband’s death.
    I feel a shift in the angle of vision.
    A sadness fell on me
    A foreboding so final it seemed the end.
    Your pleading for our life dissolved my will.
    I agree to renewal, something I can live by
    But I refuse your guilt.

    EVA
    Did I leave my diary behind?
    Don’t read it, not that you would.
    It’s anaphrodisiac. I am filled with envious admiration
    For the way you spend your time.
    You get so much done!

    EVAN
    Of course, it’s an incentive to work, being alone.
    You have created your own circle
    Even if the intelligentsia is as insensitive as you say.
    I’m grateful we are calm,
    Those fearful scenes never likely to begin again.
    I’m sure the panic of youth has played a part.
    I used to hope you would love me less over time
    But now I think we love each other equally.

    EVA
    I believe we should exchange rings.
    Do you think this faux? Would Elayna object?
    This is so I have something in case you die of that itch or fall out of an airplane.
    I wonder why Elayna’s throat won’t heal?
    I believe she is ice-bound.
    She’s sealing you away from life.

    EVAN
    You witch, you have
    Frozen Elayna’s throat.
    I begged you not to. You make
    Sadness physical.

    EVA
    Elayna’s frozen her own throat
    I wish you’d see it.
    Depression is hallucinatory.
    Guilt and sorrow undermine all confidence,
    I refuse to give them credence.

    You are so near me I feel we are one person.
    I feel you now beside me.
    I will make you real.

    EVAN
    These acute waves of feeling sometimes come over me
    As if you’re signaling.
    I owe you happiness
    But I can’t express it.
    We must always believe life is as beautiful as the music
    Says it is. The illusions you must cultivate are in fact
    A form of courage.
    Forget my deficiencies
    Find amusement in the worldly game.

    EVA
    Without Allen, I re-experience my youth.
    Oh, the bafflement of the young!
    I broke off my engagement because I loved too much
    And cast about for a spouse I could
    Control. I believe you did that, too.

    EVAN
    Our parting was unbearable.
    I had to run away –
    Your rush of talk was like someone bursting into tears.
    I feel like an executioner robbing you of sleep.
    My nose began to bleed and
    It’s been bleeding ever since.
    We must love each other less to become more tranquil.

    EVA
    I am a witch and you should fear me.
    I glow with contempt and boredom and fury.
    I don’t understand why
    I can’t experience life by your side.
    We share the same senses,
    The same vein of joy.
    Our life together is timeless, continuous.

    EVAN
    Your letter’s fraught with dynamite.
    I can never be alone, it is me and the gin bottle.
    I am home nowhere now – except with you.

    EVA
    I don’t want you getting yourself into a state
    But Edgar has proposed, forcing me to face the fact
    That I literally cannot live without you.

    EVAN
    I dread you will fall for Edgar.
    You called him “sweet” and “cozy” and “brilliantly entertaining”
    And I am none of those things. Did you bewitch him?
    he said in a persecuted voice.
    It would your justice, sending me to hell.
    We would lose each other by inches,
    But aren’t we doing that already?

    EVA
    I can’t show Edgar the brutal candor
    Behind my loving kindness.
    He mistakes the hostess for a person.
    I arrange the flowers in symbols of you
    And everyone’s too stupid to notice.
    To bed alone again tonight.
    I wish Elayna would die.
    Then we should be equals.