TIME IN A BOTTLE
A living room: There is nothing spectacular about it. The
people who live here only care that it is spotlessly clean and that no one ever
questions that anyone but a nice and respectable family live there. MARIA sits in a chair reading a
magazine. JAMES enters through the
front door with a briefcase. They
are both 40 years old. With each
transition of five years the actors physically age in appearance. Their clothes change. The photos on the walls and the
tchotchkes on the shelves change. MARIA
and JAMES must be played by the same two actors throughout the entire scene.
MARIA
(Without looking
up—monotone)
You’re home.
JAMES
Yes.
MARIA
I’m making salmon.
JAMES
I don’t like salmon.
MARIA
(Five years pass.)
Hmmmmm… I could have sworn…
(Pause)
JAMES
Scotch?
MARIA
In the cabinet—next to the Absolut.
JAMES
(James looks
inside liquor cabinet. Five more years pass.)
Glenlivet?
MARIA
What’s wrong with Glenlivet?
JAMES
It’s a Lowland scotch. I like the Highland. Why didn’t you buy the Dalwhinnie?
MARIA
It’s seventy-five dollars a bottle.
JAMES
But I like it.
MARIA
(Five more years
pass.)
It’s too sweet—not manly at all.
(MARIA
puts down her magazine. Pause… they
stare at each other. A chill.)
JAMES
Martini?
MARIA
(She holds an
empty glass precariously with the tips of her fingers.)
Please …
JAMES
(JAMES takes her
glass and saunters to the liquor cabinet.)
Dirty?
MARIA
(She smirks.)
Extra dirty.
(JAMES mixes two martinis, one
for him and one for her. He brings
MARIA her martini. MARIA looks at
it. She is displeased.)
Only two olives?
(Pause)
JAMES
(Five more years
pass.)
How many did you want?
MARIA
Three.
(JAMES
goes back to liquor cabinet. Five more years pass.)
No, four … four olives.
JAMES
Four then.
(JAMES adds two more olives to
MARIA’s martini. He crosses to MARIA
who crochets.)
MARIA
Perfect.
.
(JAMES
relaxes on the couch. Five more
years pass. He now wears glasses.)
JAMES
Salmon?
MARIA
Yes, salmon.
JAMES
Hmmmmm …
(The
timer from the kitchen goes off.
Five more years pass. They
are 70. MARIA slowly
stands.)
MARIA
Are you coming?
JAMES
To dinner?
MARIA
Yes.
(MARIA
moves with purpose toward the kitchen door.)
JAMES
(Slowly standing)
Yes, I’m coming.
(JAMES meanders to MARIA. They look at each other blasé in the
moment. MARIA motions for JAMES to
enter the kitchen ahead of her. He
does. She follows.)
(Blackout)
-
Kali Meister is a playwright, performance poet, actress, artist, feminist, activist, loud mouth, karaoke queen, teacher, jam maker, and girl for hire. She holds a MFA in creative writing from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. In 2008/2009 she served as the Jack E. Reese Writer in Residence of the University of Tennessee Libraries. Her dramatic writing, poetry, photography, and nonfiction has appeared in Ashville Poetry Review,Outscape Anthology, Pitkin Review, New Millennium Review, Prism, Caduceus, and Pegasus Review. As long as she lives she will always be grateful for the generosity of good friends and peers.