Post by Subtle on Mar 9, 2007 16:45:41 GMT -5
Author note: I normally dont contribute to this section, but seeing as how dead it is, and the fact that Im taking a creative writing course at the moment, I thought I'd throw a few of the scraps I produce into this pit. Feel free to be harsh if you want, and my apologises if the formating seems odd. This is a direct copy/paste from word, where it was formatted the correct way for a play. Parenthisis are stage directions. Comes out to a solid five pages. Enjoy or not, I'd like some cirtique.
Hostage
Cast of Characters:
Red: 29 years old. A young successful business professional.
Gill: 31 years old. A overly stressed criminal in the making.
Scene opens in a dark, barren room. A professionally dressed man is bound to a chair in the center, with one small light overhead. Red looks around, confused, before a man lighting a cigarette in the doorway catches his attention
Red: (fearful) H-hello? Is anyone there? (Seeing the cigarette) Hey, help me! I’m tied to this thing.
Gill: Ah, you’re awake. Good.
Red: Good? What the heck is going on? I can’t see a damn thing.
Gill: You’re stuck to a chair in a dark room.
Red: Well, are you going to help me?
Gill: I can’t. I’m bound as well.
Red: (Long pause, then loosing hope) Well… (Suddenly sharp) Wait a minute, how are you smoking that cigarette if your tied to a chair?
Gill: ( laughs darkly, and takes three steps closer. Gill is now revealed to be an older man, dressed in old clothing ) You’re surprisingly sharp.
Red: So I’m assuming that you’re my captor. What do you intend to do with me?
Gill: There’s no way to assume that I’m your captor.
Red: Who else could have done it? Who else would be sitting here, watching me?
Gill: You could have brought this upon yourself, asked for it in a drunken stupor
Red: That’s hardly a likely scenario. Someone must have brought me here, someone must have bound me. If it wasn’t you, then who was it?
Gill: Don’t be so quick to throw the blame on another man. (Red looks confused ) You must be horribly weak, so quick to pin the fault of your misfortune on another. The strong of heart know that the deepest pain comes from within.
Red: This is ridiculous! This is no time for your god damned moral code. I could die!
Gill: Oh, and one a pity that would be. I’m sure the heart of the world will skip a beat.
Red: So, you’ve obviously been awake longer. Who’s our captor then?
Gill: (Gill sighs) I cannot tell you. I am too moral.
Red: (Glowering with anger) Are you going to sit here playing games with me?
Gill: (Calm) This is hardy a game. This is a matter of life and death.
Red: Oh? And if your so uninformed, if your not the captor and know nothing of this situation, then how are you to say the that THIS is a matter of life and death.
(Gill steps foreword now, moving into the edge of the lights for the first time, only the first half of his body poking through. He looks old and tired, and is holding a large silver revolver. )
Gill: Because, I’m here to kill you.
Red: (Gasps, stupefied) You’re-You’re insane!
Gill: (Smiles and laughs, shaking his head and taking a small step foreward) No. I’m not insane in the lightest bit. I know exactly what I’m doing and exactly why.
Red: How can you say all this so casually!? You’re talking about killing a man! What kind of miserable person can end a life?
Gill: Oh, but this is where your view is flawed. I do not intend to take the life of a man.
Red: Stop spitting these half truths at me and say something that makes sense!
Gill: Why should the cat not make it’s prey squirm?
Red: (Exasperated) What happened to your god damn code of morals?!
Gill: I…
Red: (Cutting in) Don’t have the decency to tell a man why your going to kill him? Why his life is so insignificant?
Gill’s face suddenly becomes very cold, and he begins to pace the outside of the ring of light Moments pass before gill finally begins to speak.
Gill: I can take your life because I do not view you as a man. I view you as an animal, a beast.
Red: (Red stares, aghast) What kind of psychotic monster are you? I’m a human being!
Gill: You are no such thing
Red: And this is your excuse for taking a life? YOU ARE THE BEAST!
Gill: (Gill fires a shot at the feet of red) Respect, Red. Learn it.
Red: (Red trembles, silent. Gill moves to a chair, to sit down, relaxing) I am no beast. I do good for this world.
Gill: Oh? In what way?
Red: I contribute to society, work hard at my job, donate to charity, pay my bills and taxes…
Gill: And you think this is what determines the integrity of a man?
Red: Please, you expect me to take moral lessons from a murderer?
Gill: Look at your position. Do you have a choice?
Red: ( Red gazes at gill, fire in his eyes, as though waiting for Gill to back down. Gill gazes back, cold as ever. Red sighs.) No. How do you expect to convince a man he’s lost his humanity though?
Gill: I don’t. I don’t care what you think.
Red: Fair enough.
Gill: (Long pause) Is there anything you would like to say before I remove you from this earth?
Red: May I offer a prayer?
Gill: (Pulling the hammer of the gun back) No, you may not.
Red: I…. (Red looks to his feet, silent) … how do you know my name?
Gill: (stepping back towards the darkness) I checked your ID.
Red … your lying to me, aren’t you? Why did you choose me?
Gill: I didn’t choose you.
Red: Then why am I here? Why do you want to kill me? What makes me a beast?
Gill: Do you know my name, Red?
Red: I don’t know a damned thing about anything that’s going on except that I woke up tied to a freakin’ chair with some old man in front of me, waving some massive gun, telling me I’m not human and that I’m about to die!
Gill: (Gill steps into the full light now, and strikes red across the face with the side of his revolver) My name is Sanders. My first name is Gill.
Red: ( Red is silent) I don’t see the prevalence of your name.
Gill: ( Gill moves close, and kneels to face red eye level) Eight years ago a man broke into a home in eastern Indiana with the intent of stealing and selling our property. When the husband there put up a fight, he shot him in the gut with a revolver, and made his wife watch him bleed to death. When she pulled a knife on the man, he shot her too, in her left lung. For some ludicrous reason, this heartless beast showed mercy on her and shot her again through the heart, moments later, instead of letting her bleed to death. Then, after consuming large amounts of alcohol from my father’s whiskey cabinet, he decided to look around the house, for more of our possessions to sell. He stumbled upon my sister… sound asleep. I wont spare you the details of what he did to her, but she ended up with a bullet through her neck. Right- (Gill points the gun at the bottom of his jaw, like he’s going to kill himself)-here. Maybe I’ll let you go if you can guess who this man was.
Red: (Silent, gulping) I don’t know what your talking about-
Gill: (Interjecting)-You don’t have a damned clue?-
Red: -Or why you’re bringing this up… (Speaking at the same time ) I’ve never killed a man
Gill: I’ve never killed a man.
Red: Shut up! Don’t mock me!
Gill: Never killed a man? Have you killed a woman? Raped a child?
Red: Shut up! You have the wrong guy!
Gill: Damned if I do, I’ve found you after eight long years. You, Red, are the only reason I continue to exist. You took my entire life from me, and now I’m going to take yours from you.
Red: Oh? And what will happen when the cops find my body? See that I’ve gone missing, and come to take you away?
Gill: It won’t matter. I’ll be dead as soon as your heart stops beating.
Red: Then I’ll see you in hell, you damned fool.
Gill: (Laughing maliciously) I won’t go to hell… I’ll see them again, my family… in heaven
Red: You’re about to kill a man. You’ll be in the same pit as me.
Gill: I am doing no such thing. I am dispensing god’s own divine justice.
Red: You think what you’re doing is moral?
Gill: The most moral thing I’ve ever done.
Red: You’re a monster. A heretic.
Gill: I am an avenger.
Red: (Silent as Gill moves the gun to Red’s temple, standing back, keeping it at arm’s length but pressing the tip to Red’s head. Red trembles and speaks) Would they have really wanted this, Gill?
Gill: That’s irrelevant. They’re dead. (Gill pulls the trigger, then points the gun at his own temple in the same way, and pulls it again. A siren is heard in the distance as the two men’s blood pools and mixes together. )
Hostage
Cast of Characters:
Red: 29 years old. A young successful business professional.
Gill: 31 years old. A overly stressed criminal in the making.
Scene opens in a dark, barren room. A professionally dressed man is bound to a chair in the center, with one small light overhead. Red looks around, confused, before a man lighting a cigarette in the doorway catches his attention
Red: (fearful) H-hello? Is anyone there? (Seeing the cigarette) Hey, help me! I’m tied to this thing.
Gill: Ah, you’re awake. Good.
Red: Good? What the heck is going on? I can’t see a damn thing.
Gill: You’re stuck to a chair in a dark room.
Red: Well, are you going to help me?
Gill: I can’t. I’m bound as well.
Red: (Long pause, then loosing hope) Well… (Suddenly sharp) Wait a minute, how are you smoking that cigarette if your tied to a chair?
Gill: ( laughs darkly, and takes three steps closer. Gill is now revealed to be an older man, dressed in old clothing ) You’re surprisingly sharp.
Red: So I’m assuming that you’re my captor. What do you intend to do with me?
Gill: There’s no way to assume that I’m your captor.
Red: Who else could have done it? Who else would be sitting here, watching me?
Gill: You could have brought this upon yourself, asked for it in a drunken stupor
Red: That’s hardly a likely scenario. Someone must have brought me here, someone must have bound me. If it wasn’t you, then who was it?
Gill: Don’t be so quick to throw the blame on another man. (Red looks confused ) You must be horribly weak, so quick to pin the fault of your misfortune on another. The strong of heart know that the deepest pain comes from within.
Red: This is ridiculous! This is no time for your god damned moral code. I could die!
Gill: Oh, and one a pity that would be. I’m sure the heart of the world will skip a beat.
Red: So, you’ve obviously been awake longer. Who’s our captor then?
Gill: (Gill sighs) I cannot tell you. I am too moral.
Red: (Glowering with anger) Are you going to sit here playing games with me?
Gill: (Calm) This is hardy a game. This is a matter of life and death.
Red: Oh? And if your so uninformed, if your not the captor and know nothing of this situation, then how are you to say the that THIS is a matter of life and death.
(Gill steps foreword now, moving into the edge of the lights for the first time, only the first half of his body poking through. He looks old and tired, and is holding a large silver revolver. )
Gill: Because, I’m here to kill you.
Red: (Gasps, stupefied) You’re-You’re insane!
Gill: (Smiles and laughs, shaking his head and taking a small step foreward) No. I’m not insane in the lightest bit. I know exactly what I’m doing and exactly why.
Red: How can you say all this so casually!? You’re talking about killing a man! What kind of miserable person can end a life?
Gill: Oh, but this is where your view is flawed. I do not intend to take the life of a man.
Red: Stop spitting these half truths at me and say something that makes sense!
Gill: Why should the cat not make it’s prey squirm?
Red: (Exasperated) What happened to your god damn code of morals?!
Gill: I…
Red: (Cutting in) Don’t have the decency to tell a man why your going to kill him? Why his life is so insignificant?
Gill’s face suddenly becomes very cold, and he begins to pace the outside of the ring of light Moments pass before gill finally begins to speak.
Gill: I can take your life because I do not view you as a man. I view you as an animal, a beast.
Red: (Red stares, aghast) What kind of psychotic monster are you? I’m a human being!
Gill: You are no such thing
Red: And this is your excuse for taking a life? YOU ARE THE BEAST!
Gill: (Gill fires a shot at the feet of red) Respect, Red. Learn it.
Red: (Red trembles, silent. Gill moves to a chair, to sit down, relaxing) I am no beast. I do good for this world.
Gill: Oh? In what way?
Red: I contribute to society, work hard at my job, donate to charity, pay my bills and taxes…
Gill: And you think this is what determines the integrity of a man?
Red: Please, you expect me to take moral lessons from a murderer?
Gill: Look at your position. Do you have a choice?
Red: ( Red gazes at gill, fire in his eyes, as though waiting for Gill to back down. Gill gazes back, cold as ever. Red sighs.) No. How do you expect to convince a man he’s lost his humanity though?
Gill: I don’t. I don’t care what you think.
Red: Fair enough.
Gill: (Long pause) Is there anything you would like to say before I remove you from this earth?
Red: May I offer a prayer?
Gill: (Pulling the hammer of the gun back) No, you may not.
Red: I…. (Red looks to his feet, silent) … how do you know my name?
Gill: (stepping back towards the darkness) I checked your ID.
Red … your lying to me, aren’t you? Why did you choose me?
Gill: I didn’t choose you.
Red: Then why am I here? Why do you want to kill me? What makes me a beast?
Gill: Do you know my name, Red?
Red: I don’t know a damned thing about anything that’s going on except that I woke up tied to a freakin’ chair with some old man in front of me, waving some massive gun, telling me I’m not human and that I’m about to die!
Gill: (Gill steps into the full light now, and strikes red across the face with the side of his revolver) My name is Sanders. My first name is Gill.
Red: ( Red is silent) I don’t see the prevalence of your name.
Gill: ( Gill moves close, and kneels to face red eye level) Eight years ago a man broke into a home in eastern Indiana with the intent of stealing and selling our property. When the husband there put up a fight, he shot him in the gut with a revolver, and made his wife watch him bleed to death. When she pulled a knife on the man, he shot her too, in her left lung. For some ludicrous reason, this heartless beast showed mercy on her and shot her again through the heart, moments later, instead of letting her bleed to death. Then, after consuming large amounts of alcohol from my father’s whiskey cabinet, he decided to look around the house, for more of our possessions to sell. He stumbled upon my sister… sound asleep. I wont spare you the details of what he did to her, but she ended up with a bullet through her neck. Right- (Gill points the gun at the bottom of his jaw, like he’s going to kill himself)-here. Maybe I’ll let you go if you can guess who this man was.
Red: (Silent, gulping) I don’t know what your talking about-
Gill: (Interjecting)-You don’t have a damned clue?-
Red: -Or why you’re bringing this up… (Speaking at the same time ) I’ve never killed a man
Gill: I’ve never killed a man.
Red: Shut up! Don’t mock me!
Gill: Never killed a man? Have you killed a woman? Raped a child?
Red: Shut up! You have the wrong guy!
Gill: Damned if I do, I’ve found you after eight long years. You, Red, are the only reason I continue to exist. You took my entire life from me, and now I’m going to take yours from you.
Red: Oh? And what will happen when the cops find my body? See that I’ve gone missing, and come to take you away?
Gill: It won’t matter. I’ll be dead as soon as your heart stops beating.
Red: Then I’ll see you in hell, you damned fool.
Gill: (Laughing maliciously) I won’t go to hell… I’ll see them again, my family… in heaven
Red: You’re about to kill a man. You’ll be in the same pit as me.
Gill: I am doing no such thing. I am dispensing god’s own divine justice.
Red: You think what you’re doing is moral?
Gill: The most moral thing I’ve ever done.
Red: You’re a monster. A heretic.
Gill: I am an avenger.
Red: (Silent as Gill moves the gun to Red’s temple, standing back, keeping it at arm’s length but pressing the tip to Red’s head. Red trembles and speaks) Would they have really wanted this, Gill?
Gill: That’s irrelevant. They’re dead. (Gill pulls the trigger, then points the gun at his own temple in the same way, and pulls it again. A siren is heard in the distance as the two men’s blood pools and mixes together. )