Goodnight

Part of 31 Plays in 31 Days.                        

            Goodnight
            By Jacob Juntunen

(MAN and WOMAN sit up in bed.)

            MAN
After twelve years of marriage, have you woken up a single time without me?

            WOMAN
Yes.

            MAN
Okay, trips for interviews or whatever. But not many.

            WOMAN
Not many.

            MAN
So it’s just like that. You take the pill, fall asleep, and we wake up together.

            WOMAN
What if we wake up whole different people?

            MAN
Medication is not going to make you another person.

            WOMAN
This disease has taken me over; my mind works differently—

            MAN
Otherwise you’d listen to me and take your medication.

            WOMAN
You think it’s just eating away at your breast, but it gets into your bloodstream, and bones, and brain—

            MAN
And we have these pills that will take care of it.

            WOMAN
And you’ll be with me when I wake up?

            MAN
I promise.

            WOMAN
How many am I supposed to take?

(MAN holds out a handful of pills.)

            WOMAN
That many?

            MAN
If it’s going to work.

(WOMAN takes the pills.)

            WOMAN
How long?

            MAN
Just until you fall asleep. Then we’ll wake up together and be fine. You’ll see.

(WOMAN settles into the bed.)

            WOMAN
See you soon.

            MAN
Goodnight.

(They kiss. WOMAN closes her eyes. MAN watches. WOMAN’s breath catches. MAN feels for a pulse, finds none. He holds his cheek against her mouth, finds no breath. He kisses her again.)

            MAN
See you soon.

(MAN takes a handful of pills. He settles next to the woman. Blackout.)

Jacob is head of playwriting at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. 
Read his full lengths here.

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