Cast of Characters

Jamie: a woman in her 20s. She wears a snowboard and brightly colored snowboarding gear. She also wears a helmet and goggles which cover her face.

Jeff: a man in his 20s. He wears skis and dark, solid-colored ski gear. He wears his goggles up on his helmet so we can see his face.

Scene

A ski area.

Time

Modern, midday.

SETTING: The chair lift is at center stage, sorta high off the ground. Maybe it’s only a bench. A female snowboarder and a male skier are about to sit down on it. They don’t know each other. It’s a two-seater, so it’s tight and uncomfortably close.

AT RISE: Jeff and Jamie get on the lift. They settle in and begin to ride up the mountain.

Jamie: Mind if I lower the bar?

Jeff: Fine by me, go ahead.

(JEFF pulls out his cell phone to avoid talking to her.)

Jamie: I need the bar to be down.

Jamie: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you know?

(JAMIE stares at Jeff, forcing him to respond.)

Jeff: Huh?

Jamie: My need for safety must be met before I can move on to my stage of love and belongingness. You know, the second need…. in my set of needs?

(JAMIE stares at JEFF)

(JEFF stares down at his phone.)

Jeff: Lower it then.

Jamie: I’m going to need you to lower it for me.

(JEFF is visibly confused and irritated.)

Jamie: I’ve moved on to my personal esteem set of needs now.

(JEFF lowers the bar and shifts a little further from her.)

Jamie: (sings) Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Naaaaaaaaatuuuuuuuuure. Moooooouuuuuuntains. Great big blue skyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

(JEFF looks around, unsure if she is for real.)

Jamie: I love nature more than anything else in the entire world. You too?

(JEFF ignores her question, head back down, eyes on his phone.)

Jamie: How do people even live in cities where they have to stay inside all day? Or those slow-death, empty-inside people who waste their lives going from one desk job to the next. Uhgggh!

(JEFF works his phone.)

Jamie: Oh, I see. You’re judging me.

(JEFF glances at JAMIE, annoyed.)

Jamie: That’s what people do when they have only a little information about someone. They are too uncomfortable or too lazy to get to know them. So they judge. They keep things simple and easy for themselves. Then they move on… in ignorance.

Jeff: Does ignorance involve silence?

Jamie: I hope that looking down on me has helped you  feel better about your yourself. It seems like you need it.

(JAMIE takes off her backpack. She pulls out a paper bag full of flower petals and scatters them under the lift.)

Jeff: I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. We’ll get in trouble.

Jeff: You can’t throw rose petals off the lift. You know… “Know the Code?”

Jamie: They are orchid petals, not rose petals.

Jeff: Either way.

Jamie: Orchids inspire love, beauty, refinement, having many children, and maturity.

(JAMIE turns over the bag to empty the rest of the flower petals. JEFF is fishing for something in his pocket. He pulls out tangled earbuds.)

Jamie: Oh! Oh no! There! See them? There are five crows. (She gestures stage left) There: five CROWS! Don’t you see them!

(JEFF desperately tries to untangle his earbuds.)

Jeff: Nope.

Jamie: Animals are our guides. They help us understand the world. Five crows means one of us will have a terrible injury today!

Jeff: A few crows? We’re in the forest. There’s gonna be some crows, lady.

Jamie: Oh no! One more joined them! Now it’s six crows. Six crows is an omen of death!

Jeff: Ughhh.

(JEFF gets the first earbud into his ear.)

(JAMIE straightens and smiles.)

Jamie: I will go ahead and hope it’s not you. I don’t need bad karma making me fall and get hurt too.

Jeff: Thank you?