copyright © 2001 Todd Ristau

Puberty Shriek, Episode 13

by Todd Wm. Ristau

Lights up on Carl and a rookie cop named Sid, they stand on the porch of the McFaddin Place waiting for Max.

Carl: Be dark soon. (pause) He ain't comin' back, you know. Would you? Wasting your time waiting for him here.

Sid: All the same, sir, just in case. You might be wrong.

Carl: Might be...been wrong before. (pause) You a religious type, son?

Sid: No, sir, not much of a one for going to church on Sundays.

Carl: That's a narrow way to think.

Sid: Sir?

Carl: Whole world's a church, boy, everywhere you look there's something that means something special to somebody. Something that can take or give you power, if'n you know how to approach the thing.

Sid: Sir?

Carl: People forget that there's more than one way to explain something you don't understand. Or if they do recognize it, it scares 'em and they try to get rid of it. Paganism. Witch trials. (pause) Do you believe in monsters, Sid?

Sid: Monsters, sir?

Carl: Sure, like on the Saturday Nightmare....vampires, ghouls, ghosts....

Sid: No, sir, I don't.

Carl: Well, you did say you didn't go to church. (pause) See them woods out there?

Sid: Yes, sir.

Carl: Them woods are angry.

Sid: Angry trees, sir?

Carl: Filled from bud to root with hate, every one of 'em.

Sid: Hate, sir?

Carl: Yes, hate. You can't guess but a fractionn of what them trees know. Every drop of blood spilled out there in that forest is recorded in tree bark. Took every drop of it up into their bodies. Blood is rich, but it tastes bad to trees. Too salty. Too rich...too powerful.

Sid: You mean the murder this morning.

Carl: Yeah, that. And others. Max got nothin' to do with that though. I kept him clean.

Sid: We'll see. (pause) What others?

Carl: Them trees hide a lot of things they'd rather not hide.

Sid: Sir?

Carl: For example, there used to be, oh, 17 years ago or so, a coven of Satan worshippers met out there for their Sabbots. Black Mass. RIght out there by the bluff. Ritual sacrifice.....Sexual acts that profaned nature....you could hear them from the porch at night....Sometimes see the flames....torches....pagan dances, fire walking....drank blood, too, I heard.

Sid: You're pulling my leg, right?

Carl: Son, I gave up pulling on things a long time ago.

Sid: Well, what happened? Did you report them to the authorities?

Carl: Hell, no! A town like this, them folks is likely to BE the authorities.....anyway, all they was doing was trespassin'. All I could prove, anyway.....and I don't need enemies more'n friends. They might'a got upset and burnt down my farm.

Sid: (smiling) Or put a hex on you.

Carl: Or put a hex on you.

Sid: (nervous) So, what happened? Where are they now?

Carl: Oh, some say they tangled with a bigger magik. Their candle blew out.

Sid: What?

Carl: Wolves, boy. Eaten by wolves.

Sid: Come on, there aren't any wolves in the whole county. Probably not the whole state.

Carl: Don't be so sure of things you ain't so sure of. (pause, he listens to the wind) Anyway, their coven leader vanished. Some say he was dragged to Hell by a demon he conjured. some say he became a Catholic priest. Some say he's a mad hermit living in them woods.....some say he's a farmer.

Sid: And what do you say?

Carl: I say its getting dark. We should go in the house to wait for Max.

(carl exits, sid stands looking at the forest)

Carl: (from off) You coming?

Sid: Yeah.....yeah.

(lights out, end of scene)

To Be Continue...

"Puberty Shriek" IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, TRANSMITTED, PRINTED OR PERFORMED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Scene 13, which will be our 12 or something like that...

Lee, you are Sid--This is a different cop than the other two guys. This one is a perfect innocent.

Trent, you start being Max next time, Jay you are fired. (have a good time on your trip).

We won't have a PS next week, because most people will be at the rave review thingy. The 2nd No Shame of the new year, if we have Annaliese, we will do two Puberty Shrieks to catch up. We will open with the werewolf family continuing their little talk, and close the show with the scene where lindsey dies--that's just max, lindsey, and the old man. Since it is the last piece, maybe we can use real stage blood or something. Its a very nice death scene. maybe we can actually get a rehearsal in over the next two weeks.

Alice, are you free yet or will your show still be running 2nd friday of January?

"Puberty Shriek, Episode 13" debuted December 28, 2001 with the following cast:
Todd Ristau as Carl
Lee Moyer as Sid

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