VANISH
CHARACTERS:
Ainsley: Early to mid twenties and 9 years old. A somewhat quirky and jaded girl. She no longer has an imagination and feels like she had to grow up a little too fast.
April: Early to mid twenties and 9 years old. Strong, tall, calm and confident. Intimidating, but incredibly sweet. She always has your back.
These actresses should not be dressed down for age. Rather it should be performed by actresses in their twenties and they should look like they are in their twenties.
One late evening in December. Ainsley sits alone on a stairwell. Ainsley speaks to the audience.
AINSLEY
I suppose at some point in our lives we all have wished to be a superhero or to have some sort of a magical power. Maybe it’s because we want to be unique. Or maybe it would be a great way to escape the lives that have been given to us by some unknown force in the sky. Or maybe it’s because you want to change the world. Me, I wanted to uniquely escape. It worked every time until one day, when my magic became its own disappearing act, and simply vanished into thin air. Everything about that day is fresh in my mind. The day you lose hope? The day you realize magic isn’t real? That is a day you never forget.
The sky was painted with sponged clouds and the air was dry without a breeze. The faded green apartment complex that my parents called “home” seemed frozen in the universe, as if it were isolated from the entire world. No cars pulled out of their assigned parking spaces, and no residents exited their homes. I sat alone outside on the gravel-like stairwell leading up to the lesbian lovers’ apartment, which, unfortunately, was immediately above ours. Unfortunate not because they were lesbians, but unfortunate for a 9-year-old to have to hear rowdy lesbian sex when she is trying to a fall asleep on a school night. Sitting alone was something I did quite frequently. After relocating yet again to a new elementary school, I had become semi-pro at not making friends. I was awkward and quiet and theatrical… to myself. I survived. In my eyes, friends meant attachments. Attachments meant the moment I became close with them, the moment I would be told by the parental units that we had to pack up everything we owned (which wasn’t very much) and move. Attachments meant judgments. Loneliness was my friend. My imagination was my best friend. My magical powers saved me from everything. They were my unique escape.
And then April came along.
I tried so very hard not to be friends with her. She was a lot bigger than I was… towering over me in height and doubling my weight as well. At the tetherball court, she dominated. Little boys ran in fear from her and she laughed. She jabbed her industrial-strength fist into the air after every annihilation.
Pound. Swish. Pound. Swish. Pound pound pound swish swish swish! April the third grader: One.
Pound. Swish. Pound. Swish. Pound pound pound swish swish swish! April the third grader: Two.
Pound. Swish. Pound. Swish. Pound pound pound swish swish swish! April the third grader: Three.
I watched her closely on the playground before I even dared to step in.
I walked the walk.
I told her straight away that she was going to kick my ass (in third grade vocabulary) and she told me I was probably right. I was a half-pint, scrawny, competitive pain in the ass who believed that I could win- that I could beat the unstoppable April Chaffin.
I served.
The shot hit directly towards her powerful right fist.
The ball shot back at my freckled face, but I blocked a bloody-nose with a wimpy left-handed whimper.
She hit it harder, over my head.
Swoosh.
She hit it even harder.
Swoosh.
It was the end at that moment.
Pound. Swish. Pound. Swish. Pound pound pound swish swish swish! April the third grader: The Dominator.
My ass was handed to me on a chocolate colored cafeteria lunch tray.
She had magical powers.
It is summer and a younger Ainsley and her friend April sit on the very same stairwell that Ainsley sat on in the first scene. The two are fidgety and slightly bored.
AINSLEY
I just made the clouds move.
APRIL
If you made the clouds move, than I’m famous. The clouds can’t move with your mind. There’s no way they could move.
AINSLEY
So explain how the clouds just moved! I wished for the clouds to move and the clouds moved!
APRIL
It’s called a breeze.
AINSLEY
There isn’t a breeze.
APRIL
You didn’t make the dumb clouds move!
AINSLEY
If I want the clouds to move… they’ll move.
Again the lights fade out and the scene changes. The girls are standing on opposite sides of the stage. Ainsley is clearly distressed.
APRIL
We’re all packed.
AINSLEY
Don’t be a big fat liar. You can’t move. I’m the one that moves and we’re not moving. And you’re not moving.
APRIL
I’m moving.
AINSLEY
But you can’t move! You’re my only friend, what am I going to do? Who’s going to beat me at everything? Who’s going to even want to be around me?
APRIL
I know and you’re my best friend but…
AINSLEY
But what? Let’s figure something out! What do we do? What are we going to do? We could… I don’t know, hide the keys to the truck? We could… we… we’re the only ones… we’re the only ones who could fix this!
APRIL
I don’t know. We can’t fix anything. It’s done. We’re packed and I’m moving and I came to say goodbye. I have to go back home for dinner.
AINSLEY
What do you mean you have to eat dinner? You’re leaving me now? We have some serious planning we need to do. We have to devise a plan! An escape! Maybe you could just stay with us…
APRIL
I can’t devise a plan and I can’t stay. I’m sorry.
AINSLEY
Okay, I’m making the time stop and we’re going to be friends forever and you’re not leaving because I’m going to make the time stop. You’re my only friend, so I’m stopping time and you’re not going to move. And we can just hang out here on the stairs and throw acorns.
APRIL
You can’t make the time stop.
AINSLEY
I have magical powers. I can make things happen! I can keep you here if I just close my eyes and wish it!
APRIL
No you can’t! You can’t change this. I have to go…
Ainsley watches as April leaves. A beat after April leaves.
AINSLEY
Bye.
Ainsley looks out to the audience and turns her back to move back to the stairs. She looks up at the clouds. After a moment of silence, Ainsley speaks to the audience again.
AINSLEY
She treaded in her converse sneakers across the evenly mowed grass, past the electric box and away to her apartment on the other side of the universe. My best and only friend had left me, alone on the stairwell in front of this complex. Cars sped out of their spots, trees rattled in the wind. My great escape became a great disappointment. My best friend became a memory. My magical powers disappeared.
