"See You in Heaven"
Characters:
BETHANY: A world-weary barmaid.
FRANK: A good natured regular at Bethany's bar.
JULIAN: A mysterious stranger.
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(A tired bar maid wipes down the counter before closing time. Only a few regulars have stayed for the last call.)
Frank: You look like hell, Bethie.
Bethany: (blowing her hair out of her eyes) I'm suprised you haven't gone blind yet, Frank.
Frank: I probably will if you pour me one last Scotch.
Bethany: You're a beer man, honey. Don't put on airs.
Frank: Whose takin' you home tonight, darlin'? Am I the lucky guy?
Bethany: Keep dreamin'. (It is said with a little smile, no rancor)
Frank: I do, you know. I do.
Bethany: Want me to call you a cab?
Frank: Naw, by the time I walk down to the curb where I parked, I'll be good to go.
Bethany: Remind me never to get on the road at closing time.
Frank: (pointing one finger and exaggerating slurred words and a drunken manner) Bethie... neverrr... get on da road with- with- (he bobs for a second and then recovers) with a handsome drunkard.
Bethany: You're not particularly drunk or handsome, Frank... I hate to break it to you.
Frank: (sighs) I'll bear up under it somehow. Really, though, I can give you a lift. No funny stuff.
Bethany: I need the walk, Frank. I need the moonlight.
Frank: What a romantic. You're bound to be abducted-
Bethany: No alien could ever get that lucky.
Frank: (serious for a moment) I don't mean alien's. Even looking as bad as you do, you're an easy target for some randy guy looking for trouble.
Bethany: You charm my very heart, Frankfurt. You really do. Now, no more of your syrupy sweet talk. The hideousness of my person can be described in better detail tomorrow. Get outta here. Shoo.
Frank: (stands up and pulls his wallet out, laying fresh bills on the counter) Keep the change, darlin'. Get a cab. (He smiles, tips an imaginary hat and leaves the premises)
Bethany: (counting the money) I'm not gonna get very far on $3 bucks, big guy. Men.
(She puts the money in an open safe, shuts it, neatens some bottles, takes off her apron, tosses her towell over her shoulder and closes the place up.)
Ah sweet freedom! (she lifts her tired hands to the sky for a moment and drinks in the night. She begins to walk. It is a quiet walk, and the moon is a constant fixture high in the background. A shadow is leaning against a building up ahead, and she stops about a block short and crosses the street to avoid it.)
Julian: (A voice comes from the shadows as she passes by) Do I scare you?
Bethany: (jumps) Oh my God!
Julian: No... (he emerges from the dark, a strange looking man with rather strange proportions and an extremely pale face) Not god. I have very few worshippers here any more.
Bethany: What do you want?
Julian: Merely conversation. May I escort you wherever you're headed?
Bethany: No. I want to be alone.
Julian: Would you? Do you really, really, really want to be alone? I don't think you do. It is my fault for scaring you that way. I sincerely apologize.
Bethany: Listen, just leave me alone. It's been a really long day, and I'm not up to chit-chat.
Julian: Understood. (He has a rather quaint, old fashioned turn of phrase. To Bethany it seems almost familiar) I shall simply walk beside you then, and remark from time to time upon the flowers, to which you may decide whether to reply.
Bethany: Do you need something? I mean, do you need money? I can give you a little but then you have to promise to go away.
Julian: (wistfully) The most difficult hurdle in every relationship is establishing trust. lt is my feeling that you would be entirely more safe if you walked beneath my watchful gaze tonight. You have my promise that I will do you no harm. I have no desire for your tips, your earnings, your heart or your caress. Just give me your company and I will see you safely home.
Bethany: Did Frank put you up to this?
Julian: Frank. Franklin? Which Franklin, you'll have to be more specific.
Bethany: Oh, that charlatan! You nearly scared the wits out of me, you know? But if you're one of his lot, at least your harmless. Let's go...
Julian: Very good. Remind me later that I am in Franklin's debt.
Bethany: Uh oh. Do you owe him money? That is not a gentlemanly way to settle a debt, you keep your mitts off.
Julian: Understood.
Bethany: (still suspicious) Alright.
(They walk along in silence for a bit)
Julian: Tell me, Miss.....
Bethany: Bethany.
Julian: Glorious! It suits. Tell me, do you always treat gentleman callers to such ferocious scrutiny?
Bethany: You sort of jumped out at me there, from the bushes.
Julian: I do apologize. You see, when you get to be my age, anything that provides a little drama to your ageless, changeless presence is most difficult to resist. The way you greeted me touched my heart, in truth. It's been a long time since someone looked up at me that way.
Bethany: Well, I was startled.
Julian: No... no. I mean earlier.
Bethany: At the bar? I didn't notice you there.
Julian: Before, and after. I cannot gage the time with much accuracy, for it's a different mode of measurement from where I sit.
Bethany: You're pretty odd, you know that? Why do you talk like that.. it's almost an accent. Are you an Englishman? Or maybe a second generation foreigner.
Julian: You could say I'm fairly new to this soil. But I've been here before.
Bethany: So you travel! How did you meet Frank?
Julian: Well... it depends on which Frank.
Bethany: (laughs) You're not much for answering questions.
Julian: I suppose that's true.
Bethany: Would you like to ask me something, then? As long as it's inconsequential.
Julian: (muses) Is there such a thing?
Bethany: Sorry?
Julian: It's just so strange to set out to do something that has no consequence. I would say it's impossible, because even if you've only changed the course of events by doing something with no meaningful repercussion, still there's the alteration of any witness to the act knowing that you've set out to purposefully waste your finite stretch of time here on the planet.
Bethany: (turns to face him.) Listen here. I'm just a barmaid, ya? And I'm very tired. It's been a heck of a day. But don't talk over and around me. I understand more of what you say than you think, and I'd understand a lot more if I were rested. But I'm not. So don't patronize me. If you want to ask a question, ask! If you don't want to talk, we won't; it doesn't matter to me. But I'm not dumb. Don't think I"m dumb.
Julian: (looking stricken) My dear girl...
Bethany: See that? What's that... 'My dear girl', nobody talks like that. Nobody.
Julian: I do.
Bethany: And who are you?
Julian: Are you asking for an answer with consequence, or without?
Bethany: (begins walking again) Forget you.
Julian: That has been happening. (he takes up walking again beside her.) I do have a question, actually, but first I have a hint.
Bethany: (in a flat voice) Marvelous.
Julian: No, this is of consequence. Darkness lies in the way of your usual route. I propose we take a detour, and go up the street named for blossoms, and cut across the small back drive to get to your quarters.
Bethany: (slows down) You know where I live?!
Julian: Mmm... you've lived there quite some time now.
Bethany: Who are you? Are you a stalker? Are you some crazy, stalker guy whose been watching me from the bushes?
Julian: (laughs) No! No! Bethany... can we go this way, please? It's easier.
Bethany: So you can attack me in the shadows?
Julian: It is this I'm hoping to prevent. I see you are frightened again. It's difficult for me, you understand, to work within the parameters of general acquaintance. Not that we know each other, Bethany, but- I am not someone who crouches in the Lilac bush. This way, please?
(He ushers her down a road titled "Daisy Lane". )
Bethany: You explain yourself. Now.
Julian: I shall. I promise you, and that is an answer of consequence, but I wonder, first... do you care for poetry?
Bethany: I-
Julian: (waits, eyebrows raised)
Bethany: Poetry?
Julian: You've heard of it, surely?
Bethany: I guess. Yeah, some... I don't read it, really.
Julian: That's fine. I'm going to give you a little excerpt I particularly enjoy:
"Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a Joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?"
Bethany: Hm. Who is it?
Julian: Percy Bysshe Shelley. The young, romantic poet.
Bethany: I liked his wife.
Julian: You prefer the chills and horrors of fantastic stories?
Bethany: I don't think I read Frankenstein, but I read somewhere that she wrote it at the age of 19. She must have been a really spunky lady to dream up a monster that we're still talking about to this day. Y'know?
Julian: Yes... very spunky indeed.
Bethany: What's it called, that poem?
Julian: "To the Moon".
Bethany: Well, that's a lofty audience.
Julian: Not nearly so lofty as the stars, I mean- everyone writes about and to and for the stars. They are much further afield than I.
Bethany: Than you and everyone else.
Julian: Well, the poem wasn't addressed to everyone else, was it?
Bethany: (uncertainly) No?
Julian: Oh no. That one was specifically for me.
Bethany: What do you mean? I don't understand you even when I'm trying to track the conversation. Tell me how you know where I live.
Julian: Mmm. Very soon.
Bethany: (she stops) Now. Or I won't walk another step.
Julian: (sighs) But we were having such a nice conversation. And I fear you won't much care for me after I say something of consequence.
Bethany: That's a risk you'll just have to take.
Julian: Very well. My identity. My reason, my purpose, Bethany- I am the man in the moon. (she stares) That' right! The soul, the heart, the personified essence of that hunk of rock so many of you walk beneath dispassionately. Most of you- yes: But not you. You declared your need of me tonight, and raised your hands to my glory! It was beautiful. It warmed my heart. So I made way for your safety, tonight. I appeared, and gave you escort, but now... (he checks an invisible watch on his wrist) my time wanes and I must leave you at your door.
Bethany: (wide-eyed and child-like) Ah. Am I asleep then?
Julian: (smiling) If you wish.
Bethany: Okay. A dream. I thank you for the safety thing you did, if that's what you've been doing.
Julian: It has been my pleasure. And goodnight, dear lady.
Bethany: Yeah... (she turns to her door, then turns back again.) Hey. Maybe I could give you a kiss on the cheek, since it's just a dream.
Julian: I would like that very much.
Bethany: (stands on tiptoes to kiss his cheek) You're cold!
Julian: But I burn brightly....
Bethany: Good night then, Mr. Moon.
Julian: (giving her a sweeping bow) Good night, Bethany. Sweet Dreams