A Bedtime Story by Christopher Williams
~ A Play in Three Acts ~
ACT ONE - SCENE ONE
A messy young man’s bedroom, last night’s pants are half off the chair, underpants splayed beneath the bed, abandoned beer bottles inhabit a corner, piles of discards and dirty clothes are scattered about. The young man lies face down on his crunched pillow, his mother has placed herself at the foot of the bed to get him up for his day’s work. He sleeps on.
MOM
“Dear, you are going to be late.”
(The young man twists)
MOM
“I have a nice breakfast just waiting for you.”
SON
(Foggy voice)
“OK mom, I’ll be there.”
(She gets up and leaves. She calls from the hall)
MOM
“Hurry up before your eggs get cold, dear.”
SON
“Yes, mom.”
(He turns over with squinting eyes. His hand reaches to the small table next to the bed and closes on his device)
SON
(Still groggy)
“What’s up?”
(A smooth, androgynous voice comes from his device)
DEVICE
“You had best be on your way, your program is due to be sent to Mr. Sloan by noon, and it is in poor shape; your shirt needs pressing for the unexpected visit you will be having with Mr. Sloan after he receives your program. Your car needs gas, and you forgot to flush the toilet last night. Your father is mad at you, he won’t say, but you forgot your rent last week. Don’t fail to brush your teeth, your breath is bad, and you are almost out of your hair stiffening cream. The pants over the chair are not wearable, there is one decent pair in the closet with a blue shirt back from the cleaners, your last. And, you also forgot to charge me last night, even as I reminded you five times.”
(The young man fumbles through his morning routine. In his stocking feet, with shoes in hand, he goes off to the kitchen)
ACT TWO - SCENE TWO
(An ordinary kitchen with a center dining table. The table is set for one, the young man’s mother is sitting at the end of the table in her bathrobe, she has long since finished her breakfast and sips at a small cup. The young man enters from the hall and folds into his chair.
He has brought himself around and looks almost ready for the day)
SON
“Hey, thanks, Mom. You’re great, but gotta go. I gotta get that report out pronto this morning.
Is Dad’s car in the driveway, can I get around it?”
MOM
“Yes dear, it is in the drive and mine too. You will have to jockey them around to get yours out, but you can’t leave them in the street, you know, and please don’t drive on the grass, it’s just been seeded, dear. You’ll just have to work it out, you know, move his first, then you’ll have to move mine to the side, before you can move yours, you’ll work it out. Sorry dear, but I have to run now, please leave your dirty dishes in the sink. Bye-bye dear.”
(His mother leaves the room. The young man power shovels his eggs, quaffs his coffee and stands. A look of dismay has been building on the young man’s face as he finishes his breakfast. He reaches into his breast pocket for his device)
SON
“Hey, please help me out with this damn thing, will’ya? Gotta move my mom’s car, dad’s car, and get mine outta there real fast. And don’t drive on the grass, and don’t leave it in the street, and there is only one of me, and I got about three minutes. What’ll I do?”
DEVICE
(In a mocking voice)
“I am sorry dear, but you will have to be on your own for this one. My battery is just about gone, and I am too.”
(The voice fades away. The young man stands at the window looking out at the three cars in alarm. He has no notion of the sequential logic needed to get his car onto the street. He reaches into his pocket where his Smart Circle should be, but it is not there. He looks at his arm and the wristband binding his Time Pack to him; he touches it, and it immediately responds. He speaks into his wearable device and tells it what he needs to do)
TIME PACK
“You will first get into your mother’s car, run it into the garage and park it, leave the motor running, then move your car alongside your father’s car on the driveway, leave the motor running, then get into your father’s car, start it and bring it alongside your mother’s car, park it but leave it running, then get into your car, put it where your father’s car was, then go back to your mother’s car, pull it out onto the edge of the driveway, set the hand brake, then go back to your own car, move it past your mother’s, which you must now replace and turn the motor off.” The young man scrunches his face in a fierce effort to follow the sequence. “Now all you have to do,” the Time Pack continues, “is to replace your father’s car, turn it off, and you’re on your way. It will take you seven and a half minutes. You will be late for work. Again.”
ACT THREE - SCENE THREE
(The young man is at the wheel of his car and is on his way to work. But the traffic is backed up at the entrance to the freeway as the result of an accident. He must find an alternative route. He glances up at his eye/ear/GPS device implanted into his earlobes and eyelids. He blinks twice to activate it )
SON
“OK, I’m at the 6th Street freeway exit, how do we get to work as fast as possible on surface roads, quick please.”
IMPLANT
“Would you like a direct brain contact, nerve stimulation, or just an ordinary auditory?”
SON
“Which is faster?”
IMPLANT
“Nerve stimulation is the fastest, then you don’t have to use your own mental capacity, which you know, will hold things up immeasurably.”
SON
“Then do it.”
(The young man firmly grips the wheel, leans back against the seat, focuses his eyes on the street ahead. He feels his head turn (without his instructions) to the left over his shoulder, his eyes swing their vision out into the traffic, his right foot presses firmly on the throttle. His left foot eases off the break. On the road, his arms, legs, hands and feet move the car swiftly and smoothly, dodging through fenders and bumpers, traffic signs and side roads, on-ramps and off-ramps. He has become a living part of his environmental situation and his car. His eyes take in everything as they flick to the left and right, into the rear and side view mirrors. The command is not him, his body belongs to others, astute others, knowing others. He is their work, then he arrives at his work in record time)
(As he parks the car, he stretches a broad smile across his face. Then to himself)
SON
“Pretty cool. Now, if I could just beg a tad extra time from the Boss-man I might just have my little friends straighten up that report some.
It needs a bit of concept.
Wouldn’t hurt now would it.
My dear little implant one more tiny bit of help. Pleasey weazy.”
.
(CURTAIN)