Woods, Lakeboat, Edmond Page 2
NICK: In summer?
RUTH: Yes. In Fall. I had the bracelet. I was on the dock. (Pause.) I should not have been there.
(Pause.)
It fell.
It floated down. I dropped it.
(Pause.)
I can still see it.
Floating down.
It went so slowly.
(Pause.)
It was a necklace and I wore it as a bracelet.
Wrapped around.
My Grandmother's.
(Pause.)
NICK: Nothing lasts forever.
RUTH: We could do that.
NICK: What, Ruth?
RUTH: Wear things.
NICK: What?
RUTH: We could wear anything. Rings, bracelets.
Long, slim necklaces.
Gold necklaces.
We'd wear them on our wrists.
(Pause.)
Wrapped around.
To show that we are lovers.
(Pause.)
There are so many things that we could do.
I'm glad we came here.
(Pause.)
Do you know why I love it here?
(Pause.)
NICK: Why?
RUTH: Because it's clean.
NICK: We used to come here all the time.
RUTH: The Winter, too?
NICK: We'd drive up. In the Winter. Summers.
RUTH: You could come up any time you put up insulation.
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: And build the fires.
NICK: We came up here.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Did you?
NICK: Many times.
RUTH: Or maybe just the fireplace, you chinked it up.
NICK: We used to see these men. At stoplights. Way before the Superhighways.
RUTH (to self): That was a long time ago.
NICK: They'd walk between the cars at stoplights . . . selling flowers to the men.
RUTH: Huh!
NICK: Sometimes they had boards with little animals.
RUTH: No.
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: And they would sell them?
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: What happened to those men?
NICK: I don't know. (Pause.)
Or paper boys, they used to walk between the rows.
They'd cry, “All Late.”
RUTH: “ All Late.”
NICK: Yes.
(Pause.)
RUTH: What did they mean?
NICK: The papers were all late.
RUTH: The papers were late.
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: The papers were late.
NICK: Yes.
(Pause.)
RUTH: They had a late edition.
NICK: Yes. Or sometimes they would have balloons.
RUTH: The paper boys?
NICK: No.
RUTH: No, I didn't think so.
NICK: They would sell balloons.
Then you would go home.
RUTH: I would love it up here in the Winter.
(To self:) Buying toys or flowers for their family.
NICK: Mmm.
RUTH: We could sit and watch the snow and make a fire.
We could get a clock. We'd cuddle up inside our quilts and watch the fire.
NICK: We came up here in Winter one time.
Many times.
RUTH: You did?
NICK: A few times.
RUTH: Tell me.
NICK: It was cold.
RUTH: I know. I bet it was.
NICK: We used to sit around, we'd make a fire.
Sometimes he'd tell us stories of the Indians, or from the War.
(Pause.)
RUTH: . . . sitting in the cold and he told stories from the War.
I bet that you felt safe.
NICK: W e did.
(Pause.)
And content.
RUTH: Because all things had stopped.
NICK: What?
RUTH: They had all stopped.
You were up here where you wished to be. (Pause.)
Mmm.
NICK: He used to sit out here all afternoon and work.
(Pause.)
In the Summertime.
He'd weight the papers down with rocks.
He'd sit and work all afternoon.
RUTH: You're like that, Nicky.
NICK: I am?
RUTH: I can watch you.
NICK: . . . in his shirtsleeves.
RUTH: . . . yes.
Because you are serene.
(Pause.)
I know what you are.
(Pause.)
I know.
(Pause.)
NICK: I have to tell you something
(Pause.)
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: I thought that was what life was.
(Pause.)
RUTH: What was?
(Pause.)
NICK: To be still.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Not to want a thing. I know.
NICK: To hear what did go on.
And be content.
RUTH: Yes. It is like a brook. Yes.
NICK: Do you know?
RUTH: I do.
NICK: And be content.
RUTH (pause): Tell me one.
NICK: One what?
RUTH: A story.
NICK: No. I don't think that I ever tried to tell one.
RUTH: No?
NICK: Not one my father told.
RUTH: Or any one.
(Pause.)
Try.
Or one he told you. Or about the Indians.
NICK: I don't know . . .
RUTH: Please. Please. You can. (Pause.) Please.
I know that you know them.
When you'd listen to them all those times.
(Pause.)
Please.
NICK: Alright.
RUTH: Oh, thank you. Good. This is the best.
This is the best thing two people can do.
T o live through things together. If they share what they have done before.
(NICK prepares to tell story.)
NICK: Have you ever fallen from great distances?
RUTH: What?
NICK: Have you ever fallen from great distances?
RUTH: This is the story?
NICK: Yes.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Good. Go on.
(Pause.)
Go on, Nick.
(Pause.)
NICK: I'm not sure I remember.
RUTH: Oh, don't tell me that. You do.
NICK: I want to tell it right.
RUTH: Well, tell it right, then. You can do it.
NICK: Would you think a man's life could be saved by someone's garter belt?
RUTH: A man's or woman's garter belt?
(Pause.)
NICK: Men do not wear garter belts.
RUTH: They didn't then, though?
NICK: No.
RUTH: To hold their socks up?
NICK: At their calves?
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: Those are just called “garters.”
(Pause.)
RUTH: I'm sorry. Go on, Nicky. Yes. I would believe it.
Have I ever fallen from great distances and lived. (Sotto, to self:) This is the story.
(Pause.)
NICK: In the War.
In The Black Forest.
Long ago.
My Dad went looking for a man he lost out on Patrol.
In Winter.
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: His name was Herman Waltz.
RUTH (to self): Waltz.
NICK: When the War was over, they would be involved together.
RUTH: Uh-huh.
NICK: H e was nuts.
RUTH: Waltz.
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: H e was insane?
NICK: Yes. He thought his head was a radio.
He had had dental work and said that Hitler told him things about his wife. Things h
e should do to her.
He later killed himself.
RUTH: When?
NICK: In the fifties.
(Pause.)
RUTH: And he's in this same story?
NICK: Yes.
He came up here. He said he had been kidnapped by the Martians.
RUTH: No!
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: No.
NICK: He said he'd driven up . . .
RUTH: . . . Wait. Wait—he said the Martians kidnapped him up here . . .?
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: No.
NICK: He was on some road up here—he had come to see my Dad, he saw the lights.
He told us he had fallen from great distances.
Inside their craft.
RUTH (softly, to self): No.
NICK: When they'd finished with him.
RUTH: No.
NICK: Yes.
(Pause.)
RUTH: And you saw this man?
NICK: I knew him. Yes.
RUTH (to self): He had been kidnapped by the Martians.
NICK: He said that he had.
RUTH: Did you believe him?
NICK: Yes.
(Long pause.)
RUTH (softly): I know.
NICK: He'd come up here . . . (Pause.) . . . he would be up here . . .
RUTH: Yes. In the War, too.
NICK: We do not know what goes on.
RUTH: I know we do not.
NICK: Feelings, madness . . .
RUTH (softly): Everything.
NICK: The Indians.
RUTH: That bear came back here.
NICK: That bear here?
RUTH: Yes.
NICK (pause): I'm sure it did.
RUTH: They built the house upon its cave and it came back.
NICK: I'm sure it did. These things go on.
RUTH: I know they do.
NICK: They all go on.
(Pause.)
All we have are insights.
(Pause.)
Who knows what's real?
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: They exist all independent of our efforts to explain them. Everything does. (Pause.) We cannot know it.
(Pause.)
My father. Waltz.
(Pause.)
They had seen things.
(Pause.)
Who knows. If they were real or not.
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: Whether they were real or not.
(Pause.)
He had had his insights.
(Pause.)
The things he saw. (Pause.) Whether he had imagined them or not. He had had insights.
(Pause.)
Do you know?
RUTH: Yes.
(Pause.)
NICK: You do?
RUTH: Yes.
(Pause.)
NICK: You know what I'm talking about?
RUTH: Yes. I believe these things.
(Pause.)
NICK: You see what I mean by his insights?
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: The things he'd seen.
RUTH: I know.
NICK: That Waltz had seen.
RUTH: But we don't have to be afraid.
Because we have each other.
(Pause.)
NICK: I'm not afraid.
RUTH: Of course you're not. But I meant if you were.
As in a story. (Pause.)
Because we have each other.
(Pause.)
Will you take me in the house?
I want to lie down next to you.
(Pause.)
I want to hold you with my legs.
I want to stick my fingers in you.
I'm so glad we are here.
When I am with you, Nick, I feel so strong.
I feel like I know everything.
(Pause.)
I wish we could stay up here forever.
NICK: You wouldn't like it.
RUTH: No?
NICK: No.
RUTH: Yes, I would.
NICK: You'd be bored.
RUTH: No, I wouldn't. No.
(Pause.)
Why would I be bored?
I love it here.
NICK: Things change.
RUTH: In Winter?
NICK: Yes. In Winter. Many times.
RUTH: I know they do. That's why I like the country.
In the city we can never know each other really.
(Pause.)
It's clean out here.
And, plus, it's quiet.
Anything is possible. (Pause.)
You can see the way things are.
NICK: Like what?
RUTH: Like stars. (Pause.)
Like the way you look. (Pause.)
Many things. (Pause.)
Many things.
Can we go in now?
NICK: Yes. (He gets up.)
RUTH: And later, Nick . . .?
NICK: What?
RUTH: I will give you something.
NICK: What?
RUTH: That I brought.
NICK: You brought something for me?
RUTH: Yes. A present.
NICK (pause): Thank you.
RUTH: Well.
(Pause.)
NICK: What is it?
RUTH: A surprise.
(Pause.)
Something for you. (They start to walk in.)
Wait! Oh, wait!
How did they find that man?
NICK: Who?
RUTH: Herman.
NICK: Herman Waltz.
RUTH: How did they find him?
(Pause.)
NICK: My Dad fell in a hole with him.
RUTH: No!
NICK: Yes.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Will you tell me?
(Pause.)
Because I have to know it.
NICK: Yes. I will.
RUTH: No. Do you promise?
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: Good. (Pause.) Oh! I'm so happy, Nick.
I never had a place like this.
With porches. (They continue going in.)
NICK: What did you bring me?
RUTH: You will have to wait till later. (She turns back.)
“They had fallen in a hole.”
NICK: They did.
RUTH: Yes. (RUTH turns. They go in.)
You must tell me.
Scene 2
Night
RUTH is sitting on a chair on the porch, looking out. NICK comes out.
NICK (enters): My watch stopped.
RUTH: Can't you sleep?
NICK: What are you doing out here?
RUTH: Sitting.
NICK: Do you know what time it is?
RUTH: No.
(Pause.)
NICK: My watch stopped.
RUTH: Can't you sleep?
NICK: No. I woke up.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Are you restless?
NICK: I don't know what time it is . . .
RUTH: Come here. Come here.
(Pause. NICK goes to her reluctantly.)
Did you have a bad dream?
NICK: No. I was not dreaming. No.
RUTH: Well, you're alright now.
(Pause.)
NICK: I know.
RUTH: You're alright. (She begins to rock him. She holds him.)
You are fine. (Pause.) Everything is just the way it should be.
NICK: I can't sleep.
RUTH: Why? Why, Babe?
NICK: I don't know.
RUTH: You want me to come back and hold you?
NICK: No.
RUTH: Alright.
NICK: It's cold. It's going to rain.
RUTH: I like it. I like Northern weather.
NICK: Why?
RUTH: It's clean.
(Pause.)
NICK: I can't sleep.
RUTH: Do you want to take a walk?
NICK: Now?
RUTH: Yes.
(Pause.)
NICK: It's dark.
&
nbsp; RUTH: It's night.
NICK: It's going to rain.
I don't want to go out there in the rain.
RUTH: We'll wear the rain things.
NICK: No. It's wet out there.
RUTH: Come on.
NICK: No.
RUTH: We'll go put the rain stuff on and go out to the Point.
NICK: No.
RUTH: Where the old rowboat is.
NICK: It isn't on the Point.
RUTH: It's not? The rowboat?
NICK: No.
RUTH: I saw it out there.
(Pause.)
NICK: The Point is over there. (He points.)
RUTH: That's where the rowboat is.
NICK: It is?
RUTH: Yes.
NICK: Then it's not our rowboat.
RUTH: No?
NICK: We kept our rowboat in the Cove.
RUTH: It's not your rowboat?
NICK: No.
RUTH: Oh.
(Pause.)
NICK: IS it blue?
RUTH: It's a kind of blue.
NICK: What is it?
RUTH: Green.
It could of faded.
NICK: What's it called?
RUTH: I don't know.
NICK: Did you see a name on it?
RUTH: No. I don't think so.
NICK: On the transom?
RUTH: Near the back? The transom's near the back?
(Pause.)
The transom is the stern. Right, Nicky?
NICK: Yes.
RUTH: It's gone. It doesn't have one.
It got rotted off. I told you.
(Pause.)
What was yours called?
NICK: I don't remember.
RUTH: Let's go take a walk. We'll put the stuff on. Boots and stuff.
NICK: There's lightning.
RUTH: No, there isn't.
NICK: Well, there will be.
RUTH: I don't think it's coming here.
NICK: You don't.
RUTH: No. And it cannot kill you.
NICK: It can't.
RUTH: No.
NICK: You think that it can't kill you?
RUTH: No. It isn't going to hit you.
Come on, Nicky.
NICK: I do not want to get wet.
RUTH: You won't.
NICK: I'm wet now, Ruth; it's blowing.
(Pause.)
RUTH: Nick. It's lovely.
It is poetry.
The damp.
You know what this is? Bracing.
Come on. We'll put stuff on and you'll like it.
It will be nice by the Point.
NICK: It's night.
RUTH: That's alright.
Are you hungry?
NICK: No.
RUTH: Well, I could put food on, and we'll go out and we'll come back here and eat.
We'll have an appetite.
(Pause.)
We'll feel good.
(Pause.)
But we don't have to.
NICK: If you want to, take a walk. It's alright.
RUTH: Come on, Nick, I don't want to take one by myself, for chrissake. (Pause.)
I want to be with you out there.
It will be wet, but we will not be getting wet. Our faces, just. The two of us.
I always thought, I always wanted it to be like this.
(Pause.)
With my lover. In the country.
In the middle of the night. This is so beautiful.