by Karen Greenberg

Created on: March 20, 2009   Last Updated: March 21, 2009

Drama: Death of a Spouse

Scene: A small house in a quiet neighborhood. The sun is shining brightly. The house is meticulously clean. The woman is dressed casually, sitting on the sofa, reading a novel. (Knock, knock) There are two men knocking on the front door. They are dressed in police uniforms. They wear somber expressions. The woman answers the door. She wears a blank expression. Woman: Hello Officers. What can I do for you? Officer #1: Mrs. While? Woman: Yes. Officer #2: Mrs. While. I'm sorry. Your husband was in a terrible accident this morning. His car was hit head-on by a semi-truck on the highway. It appears that his car drifted into the lane of on-coming traffic. He has been taken to Mercy Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Again, we are very sorry to inform you of your loss.

Woman (calmly and with no evident emotion): Thank you, Officers.
Officer #1: Is there someone we can call for you? I know this comes as a surprise.
Woman: No, thank you. I need some time to myself. I need I need to think. I appreciate you coming. I will be in touch with the hospital shortly. For now I just need to be by myself.
(As the officers turn to leave, Officer #1 hands the woman a business card.) Officer #1: Please don't hesitate to call if you have any questions. If you need anything at all. We are so very sorry to break this news to you. (The stage curtain closes, and opens again. The room is dark. There are papers scattered on the coffee table.) Woman to unseen person: It looks like Rob left me with an insurance policy worth a quarter of a million dollars. After I pay off the house and my car I should have about $150,000 left. Not a whole lot, but something. It will let me start over again without worrying about money for quite some time.
Unseen male voice: No, you won't have to worry about money at all. You're covered. Woman: I didn't expect this to be so hard. What did I do? Maybe I should call the officers and tell them. Male voice: Are you crazy, Cindy? We had this planned from the beginning. You put a little sleeping pill in Roy's coffee this morning. You knew it would kick in right about the time he was on the highway.
Woman: I didn't know how much I would miss him, though, Chad. I'm so upset. Please understand. I need some time to myself before we start our lives together.
Man (stepping out from around the corner): Cindy, that's ridiculous. We've been waiting for this opportunity for months. We've got tickets to Hawaii waiting for us. We just need to get

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