The Voice from The Wood - A Play Not For The Faint Hearted
DILLY, fifteen, is visiting MARTHA, a young mother. MARTHA’S son SAM, who is in the next room, is recovering from a recent accident. SAM is younger than DILLY. The scene takes place in the evening, in MARTHA’S living room. They live near an army base in Pennsylvania. It is remote.
Tonight, MARTHA is on edge. This isn’t helped by DILLY’S presence. DILLY unnerves MARTHA. MARTHA considers DILLY to be a bit slow. It certainly can appear this way. In the room there is a couch, and coffee table, with a two-way baby monitor on it. MARTHA is dressed casually, jeans and sweater. DILLY is dressed almost formally. The atmosphere is heavy. At the rise of the CURTAIN, both DILLY and MARTHA stand. MARTHA has two glasses of milk in her hands. She gives one to DILLY.
Overlapping dialogue will be effective, especially towards the end. Where is at the discretion of the director and actors.
Martha: Does your mother know you’re here?
Dilly: She’s asleep.
Martha: Oh.
Dilly: She’s sick again.
Martha: Oh.
I’m sorry.
Is she ok?
Dilly: She’s sick.
Martha: I mean, is she on medication?
Dilly: She bought one of those little containers.
You take pills out every day.
Monday pills for Monday.
Tuesday pills for Tuesday.
Martha: I prefer that your Mother knows when you’re here, Dilly.
She might get worried.
Will you tell her?
When you get home?
Dilly?
Dilly: I dressed myself today.
DILLY drinks some milk.
Martha: I like your dress. It’s very pretty.
Dilly: My mommy’s friend bought it.
Martha: David?
Dilly: No.
Mommy said David was too much.
Too much something.
Martha: Sit down.
Dilly: Where?
Martha: Anywhere.
DILLY goes to a seat unseen to us.
Oh.
Not there.
That’s Sam’s dad’s chair.
Here. Sit with me.
DILLY, not looking at the seat she was moving to, moves away from it in a peculiar way.
Martha: Is your Mother still working nights?
Dilly: Her new friend is Brian.
I liked David. He bought me this dress.
He bought me lots of things.
Martha: Did he?
Dilly: He bought me a lightsader.
Martha: Do you mean a lightsaber?
Dilly: (Unsure) Yeah.
Martha: Do you like Star Wars?
Dilly: (Silence. DILLY doesn’t know what a lightsaber is, or that it comes from Star Wars)
It doesn’t work, anyway.
Mom laughed, when David saw me. He gave me the lightsaber.
He said, ‘Dilly, you’re a girl!’ ‘She’s a girl, you didn’t tell me that.’
My mom said it’s ok, I’d play with anything.
(MARTHA finds this heartbreaking. Pause. Silence).
Do you think Sam will be better soon?
Martha: I hope so.
Dilly: I hope so too.
Martha: Would you like me to polish your shoes?
Dilly: Are they dirty?
Martha: No. But they’re so pretty it would be nice to see them shine.
I’ll just go get a damp cloth.
MARTHA exits for a few seconds into the kitchen. DILLY smells her shoes. MARTHA Returns with a damp cloth and some newspaper. MARTHA helps DILLY take off her shoes. MARTHA places the shoes and paper on the table. MARTHA starts polishing the shoes.
Martha: How is school?
Dilly: Ok.
Martha: Are you still in grade eight?
Dilly: Mom said next year I might go into ninth grade.
Martha: That’s exciting.
Dilly: I have to improve math first, to pass. I have to get my own teacher.
Martha: Now your shoes are all nice again.
Dilly: Sam’s class made him a get-well card, didn’t they?
Martha: I was looking for Sam’s navy cap.
Dilly: Green.
Martha: No. His boating cap. His navy cap. His winter cap, with the ear flaps at the side, just before you arrived.
I wasn’t expecting you.
It’s late.
Should I ring your mother?
Dilly: No.
Our phone.
It doesn’t work anymore.
A man came.
And now it doesn’t work.
Martha: It’s cold outside? You’re not cold?
Dilly: I think he lost it.
Martha: The phone?
Dilly: Sam. The cap.
Martha: No. I saw it. Where did I see it?
Dilly: Maybe he gave it away?
Martha: No. What?
Dilly: The cap.
Sam was always giving things away.
Martha: What things?
Dilly: Things.
Martha: Like toys?
Dilly: Yeah. Toys.
Martha: Dilly, Sam never gave anything away, Sam didn’t ever do that.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about you shouldn’t say anything.
(Pause) I’m sorry.
How’s your milk?
Dilly: Cold. It hurts my teeth.
Martha: Will I warm it?
Dilly: What does Sam eat now?
Martha: Now? He has tablets.
Dilly: I bet he misses me.
Martha: I’m sure he does.
Dilly: Lots of people take tablets.
Martha: Do you?
Dilly: No. (Pause) Sam’s dad.
Martha: Yes?
Dilly: Is he here? Or at war?
Martha: He’s not here.
Dilly: So he’s at…
Martha: Would you like some candy?
Dilly: No, thank you.
Martha: Really?
Dilly: Do you have Nilla Wafers?
Martha: Nilla Wafers?
Dilly: When I was little my mom used to mash banana and Nilla Wafers together with warm milk for me. Maybe I could make some for Sam?
Martha: No.
Thank you.
Sam doesn’t like bananas.
Dilly: Can you hear him?
Martha: Who?
Dilly: Sam.
Martha: No. He’s asleep. He had a long day.
Dilly: When I grow up I want two children.
Martha: Raising children is hard.
Dilly: When my sister was born, I was in the hospital.
My mom was still in her room, and I used to walk around on my own.
I used to creep up to the room where they have all the babies.
I had to stand on my toes, so I could see in.
And there were all these babies.
I was told not to go in.
Because they’re so little that any cold, or virus might kill them.
And I always had some kind of cold.
There was one baby.
A little girl.
She was Chinese.
She was my favourite.
I was looking in through the window.
And I told myself ‘you don’t have a cold today, so it’s ok that you go in’.
I waited until nobody was around.
I went in.
They had turned off the lights because it was night time, and all the babies needed to sleep.
And I even washed my hands, to get rid of the germs.
The room smelled kind of funny.
I went up to her bed.
All the other babies were asleep.
But she was crying.
And I tried to open the side to the bed.
But I couldn’t.
Then she looked at me.
And she stopped crying.
And I put my lips up to the side of the bed – it’s was see-through plastic – and I made faces until she fell asleep.
And I thought.
Chinese babies are the best.
Martha: What do you want to be when you’re older?
Dilly: I want to be a teacher, and a mother.
I want to teach dancing.
Martha: Can you dance.
Dilly: Not yet.
Or a waitress.
I don’t know what I want to be.
What did you want to be?
Martha: I was going to be a doctor.
Dilly: Really?
Martha: I graduated with a major in Medicine in 1995.
I was accepted into grad school at the University of Chicago.
Then I met Sam’s father.
And the next summer I had Sam, and we needed to move here, to be closer to the army base.
And I never got to go to Chicago.
I went to nursing school instead.
And I am a very good nurse.
I’m a very tired nurse.
I’m a very happy nurse.
But you don’t get to see much excitement out here.
It’s all infections and dislocated hips.
But you listen.
You learn to listen, and that’s what it’s really about.
And all the army wives nod, and go about their business.
And the kids graze their knees.
And then people your Mom knows, who work on the Island in the factories, occasionally come in with a severed finger, and it gets exciting for a second.
You don’t want more pain.
That’s not what you’re asking for.
Only the occasional mauling to put yourself to the test,
So you can reach for the Medical Encyclopaedia, instead of the bible.
But why am I telling you?
You’re going to be a dancer.
You’re going to bring lights into the world.
Dilly: Right before I faint I see lights behind people. Just over their shoulder.
Martha: Like an angel?
Dilly: No.
Sometimes it’s dark.
Like a cloud.
When I wake up everybody is looking.
The teacher says, ‘It’s ok. Dilly had a fit again’.
The teacher holds my head, too tight.
I never bruise though.
They say I talk. I don’t make sense.
I know I’m shaking all over.
When I wake up, I see people standing behind other people.
So if you were there, I’d see a face behind you, right here.
MARTHA looks behind her, unnerved.
The face follows you everywhere.
To the shops. To school. In the car.
But people don’t know they’re being followed.
And the followers see me.
They go like this: ‘Shhh’
(DILLY puts her index finger to her mouth).
And I nod my head.
When I wake up the next day, they’re gone.
Until I faint again.
Martha: How often do you faint?
Dilly: Once a month.
Martha: Oh.
Dilly: Sam said he heard voices.
Martha: Did he? When?
Dilly: At night, sometimes. In the woods. He could hear voices.
Martha: That’s just the wind.
Dilly: He said one time, they were talking about gas.
Martha: There’s nobody in the woods.
Dilly: He said he saw flashlights.
Martha: From the cars.
Dilly: Heard footsteps.
Martha: A racoon.
Dilly: One voice he heard, again and again.
He hated it.
One day he came home, and his dad was playing cards with a man.
Sam said ‘hi’ and went to his room.
You were out.
Later, the man got angry at Sam’s dad and started shouting.
It was the voice from the wood.
Silence.
Martha: That would be Bill, then.
Bill and Sam’s dad play cards.
It’s nothing to get upset about.
You kids have lively imaginations, that’s all.
Dilly: I see Bill too.
Looking in.
Martha: Dilly, you can’t say things like that.
Looking in where?
Dilly: Across the street, in his truck.
Outside the school.
Down the street.
Tonight.
Coming here.
He whistled.
Martha: Bill is on holiday in Florida with his family.
It couldn’t have been Bill.
Dilly: Bill’s mom died, last night.
Martha: What?
Dilly: Bill couldn’t go to Florida.
Martha: Did she?
Dilly: She was sick.
Martha: I know that. She had cancer.
Dilly: She died at home.
By herself, they say.
Martha: Dilly.
Dilly: Bill was going to Florida.
Martha: Dilly.
Dilly: If he was going to Florida.
If she died – by herself then
Who turned off the lights in her house at four in the morning?
Martha: Dilly, you’re trying to suggest something here, and it’s not right.
You’ll get yourself excited.
I’ll have to call your mother, like last time.
Dilly: If Bill was going to Florida, he would have put his dog in the kennels.
But he didn’t.
Martha: Dilly, that’s enough of that now, tonight, ok?
Dilly: “I said ‘No, Bill!’” “No.” “No.”
Martha: DILLY.
Pause. Silence. A few moments pass.
Dilly: I can’t hear Sam.
Martha: No. He’s asleep.
Dilly: On this?
Martha: What?
Dilly: This. I can’t hear. I wonder if you can hear him.
DILLY refers to the baby monitor on the table.
Martha: Yes. I can hear him. I always keep it on. I always keep the batteries recharged.
Dilly: I wish I could see him.
Martha: When he gets better.
Dilly: They said my little sister would get better.
Martha: Your sister died.
I’m a nurse.
I’ll look after him.
Dilly: Maybe before I go?
Martha: NO.
Dilly: Sam’s dad is a hero.
I saw it in the paper.
They said he flies.
I never knew he could fly.
Martha: He flies planes.
Dilly: Oh. I thought he…that…that’s why…Sam?
Martha: What?
Dilly: Nothing.
I thought he had rockets or… on his shoulder… he flies…
Martha: He flies planes, Dilly.
Sam’s father flies planes.
Dilly: For the war?
Martha: Yes.
Yes.
For the war.
Dilly: The doctor will make Sam better.
There’s a black doctor at my school.
When I was little and used to get blood, the nurse said I would get a tan because the blood I was getting was from a black person.
Martha: Who said that?
Dilly: A nurse.
Martha: In school?
Dilly: You’re a nurse too.
Is it true?
Martha: No.
Dilly, that’s not true.
It’s made-up and you should try and forget what she said, because no one will…
Dilly: It’s not on.
Martha: What?
Dilly: The baby thing.
It’s turned off.
Maybe he needs you?
Martha: No.
He’s ok.
Dilly: He’s ok?
Martha: (Increasingly tired)
No.
I mean.
He’s sick.
He’s sleeping.
Dilly: He had a long day?
Martha: That’s right he had a long, a very long day.
Dilly: He had a headache in school.
“What are you doing this evening, Sam?”
“I’m going home, Dilly. My dad’s home.”
“What are you going to do with your dad?”
“Play games.”
“Why does your head hurt?”
“I didn’t sleep. There were too many noises”.
“In the woods?”
“All around the house.
And Crying.
My mother was crying.
And my dad was shouting.
Shut up.
Shut up.
I’ll fucking get you.
I’ll fucking take you.”
“He shouldn’t say that to your mom, Sam.”
MARTHA is frozen. Holding back all emotion. Totally unable to think of what to do.
Martha: Sam didn’t say that.
Dilly: He did.
Martha: HE DIDN’T SAY THAT YOU LITTLE LIAR.
MARTHA’S outburst has scared DILLY who gets up and stands.
Who else did you say that to?
Who else did you tell?
Dilly: Like the day in the snow?
Martha: Stop it. I’m not listening any more.
You need to leave now.
Thank you for coming, but you need to go.
Dilly: The day he lost his cap?
Martha: What colour was his cap?
Well?
You’re just talking about the cap because you heard me talking about it earlier.
I was wrong about you.
You need to go, now, Dilly.
You really need to go.
Dilly: It was green.
It was the day he had the headache.
I thought that he was sad, so I followed him home.
You were here. You were in the kitchen, cooking.
Sam’s dad was here, in the garage, playing darts.
Sam came out to him.
“Let’s play, Dad”.
Sam’s dad tried to make Sam fly.
Martha: What do you mean? That never happened. Fly?
Dilly: I saw it.
Martha: Saw what?
Dilly: In the yard.
Martha: Where were you hiding?
Dilly: I was hiding.
Sam saw me.
He was nervous.
He said I shouldn’t be here.
I had to hide.
Sam told me to hide.
Martha: Sam never hid. He never played hiding games.
Dilly: I think I know where the cap is.
Martha: I think you should go now. It’s late.
Dilly: It was Sam’s favourite cap.
Martha: DILLY.
Goodnight.
Tell your mother.
Tell your mother.
Dilly: Mothers sick. I have a rash.
Can I stay?
Martha: I’m sorry Dilly, but Sam’s father will be home soon.
And he won’t be happy with these stories you’re telling.
Do you want him to take you outside, and talk to you?
Dilly: We have to tell them about the cap.
Martha: Who?
Dilly: Someone at school.
They say if we see something, to tell.
Martha: Sit down, Dilly.
Dilly: But Sam’s Dad.
Martha: What did you see?
Dilly: Nothing.
Martha: Sit, down.
Dilly: I have a rash. It hurts.
Martha: You shouldn’t hide, Dilly.
Dilly: He pushed Sam too fast.
Sam should’ve had his helmet.
He always wore his helmet.
Martha: We lost it.
Dilly: No.
Sam’s dad had it.
Martha: It was an accident.
Dilly: Sam wasn’t ready.
Martha: It was an accident.
Dilly: Sam said
“Don’t push.
Don’t push”.
Martha: We never found the helmet.
Dilly: Sam’s dad pushed him near the trees.
The wrong way.
Martha: Your mother.
Dilly: I saw it.
Sam’s dad had a look on his face.
Martha: How drunk is she?
How much has she had to drink?
Is her friend with her?
Did he see you?
Did you tell him you were coming here?
Dilly: You said he was a hero.
Martha: Was she taking drugs?
Dilly: Ask him.
Ask him.
Ask Sam.
(Calling out to SAM).
Sam.
Sam.
Tell her.
Martha: Get out.
Dilly: Sam.
Voice: The VOICE is distant. It is not a whisper, but it is also not strong. It never rises to a shout or scream. It is always broken.
Mom?
Mom.
Mom.
Martha: What are you doing?
Dilly: Ask him.
Martha: (Looking at the baby monitor)
There are no batteries.
Dilly: Sam.
DILLY runs past Martha into SAM’S room.
Martha: Sam?
I’m sorry, Sam.
I’m sorry.
Voice: Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Dilly: DILLY’S voice is on the monitor.
Sam?
Sam?
Sam?
He’s dead.
Voice: Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
MARTHA takes the baby monitor and removes any batteries from inside it. She clears away the MILK, the PAPER, all traces that DILLY was ever there. MARTHA puts them into a plastic bag and opens a side door. SAM’S FATHER stands there. He takes the bag. MARTHA sits down.
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Lights down.
