SAM is babysitting ALEX, an 8-year old. That's probably all you need to know for this scene.
3. Nothingness
SAM and ALEXANDER are each lying on a sofa, staring at the ceiling. SAM has a copy of Sartre’s Nausea on his lap.
ALEXANDER
Is this it?
SAM
It could have been.
ALEXANDER
But now it’s not?
SAM
No, now we’re talking.
ALEXANDER
We can’t talk?
SAM
Nope, we can’t talk. I told you that already.
ALEXANDER
We have to be completely silent?
SAM
Uh huh.
ALEXANDER
That’s boring.
SAM
I didn’t say it was exciting.
ALEXANDER
But I’m still going to win.
SAM
Not if you keep talking.
ALEXANDER
Okay. I’m zipping it. (mimes zipping his lips closed).
SAM
Awesome.
A bit of silence.
ALEXANDER
What about sounds you can’t help but make?
SAM
What about them?
ALEXANDER
Like when I breathe, there’s this hissing sound. That’s not nothing.
SAM
Then blow your nose.
ALEXANDER
Won’t help. I’ve always had it.
SAM
What? Since birth?
ALEXANDER
Yep.
SAM
Doesn’t it annoy you?
ALEXANDER
I don’t notice it most of the time.
SAM
Then it shouldn’t matter as long as you don’t concentrate on it. The whole point is to think about nothing but nothingness.
ALEXANDER
But I don’t even know what nothingness is. How am I supposed to think about it?
SAM
That’s the whole point.
ALEXANDER
Blah!
SAM
Think about nothingness until you can’t think about anything anymore and then you’ll experience it.
ALEXANDER
Experience what?
SAM
Nothingness!
ALEXANDER
Oh.
SAM
Otherwise known as pure existence. According to Sartre.
ALEXANDER
Who’s that?
SAM
A philosopher.
ALEXANDER
What’s a phil-offerer?
SAM
Someone who asks a lot of questions.
ALEXANDER
Am I a phil-offerer?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
I ask a lot of questions.
SAM
I know. Stop it.
(beat)
ALEXANDER
Why are we doing this again?
SAM
Because. We are trying to understand the core of our existence so that we can be at peace with ourselves when we can’t get on the computer.
ALEXANDER
That’s gay.
SAM
So are you. Now would you just do it? I have to write a paper about it when I get home tonight.
ALEXANDER
I thought there was something fishy…
SAM
Just help me out, will you? It’s not like there’s anything better to do.
ALEXANDER
Okay. But only because I want to beat you.
A longer silence.
SAM
You’re doing it on purpose.
ALEXANDER
What?
SAM
This hissing. It’s louder.
ALEXANDER
No it’s not.
SAM
I couldn’t even hear it before and now it’s taking over my whole brain.
ALEXANDER
I’m not doing it on purpose.
SAM
Yeah right.
ALEXANDER
I’m not. You probably just didn’t hear it before because you didn’t know it was there. Maybe you should think about something else… like nothingness.
SAM
You’re an ass.
ALEXANDER
Oh! I’m going to tell my mom you said that.
SAM
No you’re not cause then I’ll have to tell her that you tried to get on the computer when I was in the bathroom.
ALEXANDER
You saw me?
SAM
No, I heard you. You forgot to turn the sound off, genius.
ALEXANDER
Crapboogers.
SAM
Yum.
ALEXANDER
It’s such a stupid rule anyhow. I am not on the computer too much.
SAM
Dude, you’re on it as much as I am.
ALEXANDER
So?
SAM
So, you’re eight years old.
ALEXANDER
I’m mature for my age.
SAM
I think that’s the problem. Now let’s get back to this nothingness business. If you’re so mature, you should be able to outlast me no problem.
ALEXANDER
Because you’re so not?
SAM
Exactly.
A longer silence.
ALEXANDER
Do you think this is what it feels like to be dead?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
Why not?
SAM
Because we’re alive.
ALEXANDER
Oh. Right.
A longish silence.
SAM
I give up.
ALEXANDER
I swear, I can’t help it! It’s just hissy.
SAM
It’s not you.
ALEXANDER
Oh, good. Does this mean I win?
SAM
Sure.
ALEXANDER
Yay! (beat) Why’d you give up?
SAM
I couldn’t stop thinking.
ALEXANDER
You were thinking about being dead, weren’t you?
SAM (too sharply)
No.
ALEXANDER
Okay, gees. You want me to go play in my room or something?
SAM
No, sorry.
They sit there in silence for a moment. SAM seems lost.
ALEXANDER
Do you miss your family?
SAM
Yeah, I guess I do.
ALEXANDER
My parents get on my nerves a lot, but I’d probably miss them if I lived in another country.
SAM
It gets a little easier when you’re older. Everybody just expects that you’ll leave home. Unless you’re a real weirdo.
ALEXANDER
Did your family expect you to move to Canada?
SAM
No, but it didn’t surprise them. U of A gave me a great scholarship and I’ve always had a thing for Canooks.
ALEXANDER
No one here says that.
SAM
I know. That’s why I have to.
ALEXANDER
Want to play Battleship again?
SAM
Not really.
ALEXANDER
Do you have a better idea?
SAM
Not really.
A moment of silence and then they begin setting up Battleship.
ALEXANDER
Did you have Battleship in the States?
SAM
Yep. And Snickers. And Big Macs. And even…dun, dun, dun… (hockey skates.)
ALEXANDER
No way.
SAM
Yes way. In fact, all of those things were actually made in the USA, once upon a time before outsourcing and the fall of communism. Hard to imagine, eh?
ALEXANDER
So you played this growing up, just like me?
SAM
Sure did.
ALEXANDER
Who’d you play with? Your babysitter?
SAM
Justin. He’s my best friend. And my brother too… he was always begging me to play.
ALEXANDER
I didn’t know you had a brother. How old is he?
SAM (with difficulty)
Sixteen.
ALEXANDER
That’s so cool. What’s his name?
SAM (too sharp)
Let’s just start, okay?
ALEX (timidly)
Okay.
SAM
Sorry. I don’t really like to talk when I play. Battleship is serious business.
ALEX
Got it.
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13 comments:
I'm definitely a fan. I like the kid but I'm trying to remember what eight year olds act like, because he seems pretty mature. Although he did say that he was mature for his age. It kind of seems like he understands what Sam is saying on some level, which I think is cool. I can foresee a lot of cool stuff happening between these two...
really like it. i love sam...he's so fun. what's the remationship between him and the boy?
so far i like where the script is going. can't wait to see where everything ties into eachother!
I agree with Danny this eight year old does sound really mature. I like that same has left the country. In Stars we almost get he impression that Sam has actually begun to accept Elliot's death however in this scene we see that it is a much bigger deal to Sam than it seems. Also I like that Sam is attempting an experiment with someone he is babysitting.
hmm...is there perhaps a reason why this kid is mature? maybe an only child or had something happen to him to make him grow up fast?
yeah, alex does seem really mature. but i also think sam seems like a pretty bad babysitter... how did he get the job?
ah, you guys crack me up. sam's a great babysitter! from alex's p.o.v, of course. yes, alex is probably a bit too maturely written. i haven't hung out with any 8-year-olds recently. what parts seem too mature? i'll change them.
one more comment for scene 4...
No I like how Alex is written, just maybe he should be 11 or something. I think Sam's a good babysitter too. I mean I don't think he's going to get a job at the babysitter's club or anything but he's doing fine.
actually i disagree. i don't think he's too mature for an 8 yr old. i think that's just like how an 8yrold would act: the hissing and the i'm-gonna-beat-you-ing. you know? I think the things he says that are philisophical are not intended by Alex to be philisopical. They are because, you, the more mature reader, can make connections with what he's saying to what Sam is trying to do.
EX: when Alex asks if Sam thinks this is what it's like when you're dead, i think he means it like "this is so boring that i bet this is what its like when you dead." But because we know that Sam has lost a brother and because we know what happened to Elliot after he died (sort of) we can see the connection between the meditative peace Sam is trying to understand and the peace Elliot got when he died. right?
it really touched me when Alex asked Sam about his brother. My dad lost his sister when he was in highschool and she was in college. Whenever my dad tells stories about growing up and stuff he talks about her just like he talks about his other sisters. One time, when I was little, i asked my dad why Aunt Donna never comes to Camalot (this lake we go to for family reunions) and my dad just started crying. At the dinner table. I didn't know what to do so I never asked about her again. I do know how she died now because it came up one time. But it just came up that was it. I still don't know the whole story. I think it'll be really tough on Sam (I'm mean it would be tough on anyone to loose a sibling! but especially Sam) because he refuses to talk about Elliot. Some problems are better handeled by yourself--especially if you're intraverted--but Sam has a really big problem. It's not good to have all that sadness circling around in your brain. Neither my dad nor his sisters like to talk about bad stuff that happens. It's kindof a joke in our family actually. If somehting bad happens everybody just pretends like it didn't. And, yeah, they "got over it" eventually. I mean, they're normal (well, that's arguable... my family is pretty weird...) but I know my dad still has nightmares about Donna. And i think his sisters do too. And besides, ok, i dont know what its like to be dead, but if I were elliot, I wouldn't want my brother to forget about me.
thanks so much for all of the good discussion, debate and the personal takes. this is why i write plays. it's all about the dialogue.
i love you guys.
Sorry, I am just catching up to the discussion on this scene.
I actually babysit an 8-year-old every week. It's a girl, but still, she doesn't seem at all different from Alex.
If they sound mature, it's because they want to. They want to be told they're mature -- and to get you to think that, they always remind you of it. Caroline is always speaking in an overly official tone that I suspect she borrows from her parents and her favorite TV shows.
So I think it's perfectly fine that Alex talks the way he does.
Thanks, Marnie. Glad you've got experience. I actually reworked a few of the lines today that seemed a bit too knowing. I think that was probably leftover from when I originally wrote the scene (part of it) between Sam and Anthony (from Stars). But mostly, I wanted Alex to seem oddly mature because, you're right, that's what I wanted everyone to think of me at that age. I remember once when my parents had friends over for dinner, I was trying to impress everyone with how adult I was but putting insoles in my shoes. My mom had them and so I thought I should have some of my own. I found what I thought was a package of them, just the right size for my feet, under the bathroom sink. I showed everyone my handiwork and when my mom turned red and the men started laughing, I realized I wasn't as mature as I had thought. That was a horrible moment. They were panty-liners. Oops.
back to the babysitter comment...i think part of what makes sam a good baby sitte for alex is the fact that he's still a kid in alot of ways himself. this could also make him seem like a bad baby sitter to some people..
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