Prisoners

Kim Parko

I.

two prisoners stand on the outskirts of prison wall

prisoner 1:
what is this? escape?

prisoner 2:
this is uncertainty.

p1:
well, I favor this emotion, but am wary of the expansive field.

p2:
it’s true that there are no shadows.

p1:
nothing between us and parchment.

p2:
here! the scroll!
(prisoner 1 produces a large tightly wound scroll. the scroll is too large to have been carried on his person.)

p1:
that’s no scroll, that is a road that I stowed away for later use!
(as a part of the scroll/road is unwound, highway lane lines are distinctive as black calligraphic strokes on white paper.)

p2:
(quizzically, distracted)
how have I come to possess it?

(p1 grabs for it. it falls. p1 and p2 fight a vicious choreographed fight, so that it is both brutal and high art. there is a great amount of blood that covers the scroll in well composed blotches. as p1 and p2 continue to fight/dance for the scroll, it is ripped to shreds.)

p2:
(serenely)
I was willing to give it to you.

p1:
then why did you fight so fiercely?

p2:
that was fighting?

p1:
that is what landed you in jail.

p2:
if this is delusion, why do I miss mommy?

p1:
you crave a touch other than briar, barbed wire, and goat head.

p2:
(picks a large goat head from his bare foot.)

this is how tetanus is born.

p1:
don’t become feverish in this heat!
(p1 sits at a café table with an umbrella. p2 joins him.)

p2:
an oasis?

p1:
a palmed illusion!

p2:
a coconut?
(a third prisoner is suddenly present.)

p3:
waiter! bring us piña-coladas!
(a waiter appears carrying large frosty drinks.)
(all three prisoners slurp them noisily for a short duration.)

p1:
(drunkenly)
from where did this new prisoner escape?

p3:
I am neither new or old.


p1:
(sobering)
then you are middle?

p3:
I am on the verge of middle.
(prisoner 3 gets up from the table and begins collecting firewood from the surrounding areas. she carefully arranges the wood in a fire pit.)

p2:
you build a fire in this heat?

p3:
I have a chill.

p1:
a symptom of fever.

p3:
look at this.
(p3 lifts her shirt to display a gruesomely colorful open wound that covers her entire chest and stomach.)

p2:
a lovely canvas.

p1:
where did you study?

p3:
oh this.
(she gestures dismissively toward the wound.)
this will be the death of me.
(she lights the woodpile. all the prisoners stand and watch until it is a raging bonfire.)

p1:
(hypnotized)
I feel light in the head.

p2:
how does it feel?

p1:
brackish.


p3:
that’s not light, that’s ocean.

p1:
I feel gelatinous.

p3:
you seem to be leaking
(thick globs of goop fall from p1’s eyes and track his face.)

p1:
is this sadness?

p2:
yes, that is sadness.

p1:
I would rather feel freedom.

p2:
then leave us in search of meat.


II.

prisoner 1 is searching for food. he is emaciated and visionary. he sees in the distance, racing toward him at a rapid rate, a curious sort of lioness/predatory bird/dog.

p1:
good god! I will be a meal shortly!
(the creature pounds, flattens p1 to the ground, then lays on top of him for an uncomfortable amount of time.)

p1:
do you mean to ingest me?
(stares into the creatures face)

creature:
no. I mean to give birth,

p1:
have I become your mate?

creature:
yes, I have exhumed your tadpole.

p1:
my tadpole? my youngster?

creature:
he is with my buttercup.

p1:
ah, his favorite.

p1:
is this a call for celebration?
(the creature stands up and lets out a blood curdling summons. the two wait.)
(p1 stands)

p1:
is it only us here?

creature:
the others are dead, but sometimes they visit just the same.
(she lets out another blood broiling scream.)
(they wait, staring vacantly into the sky.)
(after many minutes, blood soaked, heavy cloth falls from above, causing them to collapse into heaps. their forms are shrouded.)

p1:
is this suffocation?

creature:
is this placenta?

p1:
(excitedly)
placenta! filled with delicious nutrients?

creature:
(removes fabric from over her.)
hurry! untomb yourself!
(p1 flings the cloth from over his head, he is entirely blue.)

p1:
I seem to have lost all oxygen.

creature:
you definitely seem drowned.


p1:
(pulls a long piece of seaweed from his throat.)
have I been submerged?

creature:
for days.

p1:
where is the bundle of joy?
(creature produces a large swaddled form.)

p1:
this came from betwixt you?

creature:
indeed.

p1:
it can swim?

creature:
it has already perused the seas.

p1:
it can pollinate?

creature:
it has already made me sneeze.

p1:
you are allergic? to our kiddy?

creature:
(sleepily)
I am heavily medicated.

p1:
how many fingers do I hold up?
(he raises a mittened hand)

creature:
one large wooly finger.

p1:
I am taking you in for further examination.
(creature faints into sleep, still clutching the swaddle.)


III.

Prisoner 1, creature, and swaddle are sitting in a white waiting room. They are dripping various colored liquids over the sterile furniture and floor. The room is filled with steel utensils and implements. there is a sign above their heads which reads: A FIRE TRUCK.

creature:
dream me, I think I’m waking.

p1:
(with emphasis)
no, you are waiting.

creature:
(anxiously)
where is swaddle?

swaddle:
(from under creature’s chair)
I am here mommy.

creature and p1 in unison:
your first words!

creature:
hurry, record them for posterity.

p1:
I have no utensil.
I have no implement to call my own.

swaddle:
(from beneath chair)
I want toy!

creature:
so soon to demand?
we will ignore your revelry.

swaddle:
(very loudly, deafening, then turning rhythmic, then beautifully sung.)
I want toy!
I want toy!
I want toy!
I want toy! etc.

p1:
a virtuoso!

creature:
give the prodigy a fire truck!
(p1 takes down the sign above their heads a shoves it under the chair. after a minute or so a siren shrieks from underneath.)

p1:
I think we are healed.

P1, creature, and swaddle disappear. a custodian enters and meticulously mops up their leakage until the room is once again gleaming white.


IV.

p1, creature, and swaddle disembark from a fire truck. they find prisoners 2 and 3 who lie on the ground and are unresponsive.

p1:
my cell mates!

creature:
have you brought the placenta?

swaddle:
that would be me!

p1:
(adamantly)
I will not sacrifice my first born!

creature:
(befuddled)
neither will I?

swaddle:
I will!
(swaddle displays a tiny sac.)

creature:
a baby bearing babies? unbearable!

p1:
(sternly)
who has implanted you?

swaddle:
a warm stone done this.

creature:
have you no grammar?

swaddle:
(precisely)
a warm stone has done this to me.

p1:
I feel better already.

swaddle:
it is up for adoption.
(p2 and p3 revive, slowly and methodically they come to stand.)
(they look around in a confused manner.)
(they stop suddenly and, with great intensity, focus on swaddle and the sac.)

p2:
our meat!

p3:
our baby!
(they snatch the sac from swaddle.)
(they place the sac before them and admire it.)

swaddle:
(weeping)
my sac!
(the sac grows larger and larger. a tweet comes from sac.)
it’s hatching!
(from the sac emerges a splendid animal in a elaborate headdress. the animal circles above the players.)

swaddle:
(screeches)
my prodigal son!
(all the prisoners, creature, and swaddle lay themselves prostrate on the ground as the large animal hovers and pleasantly chirps overhead.)