A Distorted View of Death
It is a brisk fall morning as two people sit next to each other on a bench. They seem to be total strangers as they stare blankly in opposite directions. Finally, after some time of this, the man looks to the woman and speaks
Christopher: Why hello there, stranger.
Lucille: Why... Hello...
Christopher: Mighty fine day we're having, isn't it?
Lucille: Yes... Yes it is...
There is a long period of silence.
Christopher: Do you love me?
Lucille: Wha-
Lucille is interrupted by the entrance of a sickly looking man. He appears to be in a cold sweat and wears a panicked look on his face.
Jack Casey: Please, call an ambulance! I think I'm having a heart attack!
Christopher and Lucille look to the man with unchanging expressions as he now drags himself to them with his right arm.
Christopher: Oh my, it would appear this man is in pain. Sir, would you like a seat?
Christopher gestures an open palm to the open space between him and Lucille.
Jack Casey: [Astonished] What? Sir I would like some help! I'm having a heart attack!
Lucille: You silly fool… Hearts do not attack people, people do.
Jack Casey: [Exasperated] Ma'am, please, I'm dying!
Christopher: Oh, well that's great news! You'll be going to a better place then.
Jack Casey: But I don't want to die!
Lucille: Humph! Just like a child! They all want to go to Disney World but when the time comes to board the plane, they grab onto the door frame, kicking and screaming!
Jack is caught off guard by what Lucille says and doesn't quite know how to react. He looks at the woman with a look of painful confusion.
Jack Casey: Disney… Ma'am, I'm not going to Disney World! I'm going to die!
Christopher: Disney World is such a disappointing place… The whole way there you envision all the familiar faces you'll get to see, but once you arrive, those familiar faces turn out to be just a bunch of underpaid youths, sweating in costumes.
Jack Casey: Please... If either of you just had a cell phone I could use to...
Lucille: You silly fool! Haven't you heard? Cell phones can cause brain cancer!
Jack Casey: Oh... Well, it's a good thing I'm about to die of a heart attack… God forbid I might live long enough to contract get brain cancer!
Christopher: Yes, such a joyous occasion!
Jack Casey: What is wrong with you people!
Lucille: What's wrong with us? Why, I never! You're the one on the ground throwing a fit like some kind of child! The nerve of some people!
Christopher: If I were your father, I would not take you to Disney World.
Jack Casey: Well... It's a good thing you aren't my father... Because if you were, I would have died long ago!
Jack grabs the chest of his shirt and, with a painful grunt, falls to the ground, dead.
Lucille: Hm... Such an unexpected turn of events this evening has turned out to be, wouldn't you say?
Christopher: Quite unexpected, indeed
The sky begins to turn dark as thunder is heard off in the distance. A frantic man runs up to the two and in his frenzy, does not notice the freshly dead corpse that lies by their feet.
Adam: Excuse me, but you two have to get out of here! There's a nasty storm coming and... [He then notices the man on the ground.] Um... Is he ok?
Lucille: Oh, I'd believe so. He is dead.
Adam: Dead? Wh- What do you mean, what happened?
Christopher: I believe the fellow came to us seeking aid for… A heart attack, I believe is what he said?
Adam: A heart attack! Well... Why didn't you help him?
Lucille: We help those who help themselves. How dare a child ask their parents to sacrifice and offer nothing and return.
Christopher: [Christopher looks up to the Sky] It would seem, from the look of events to come, he is better off dead anyway. It's just as Socrates said, "Death may be the greatest of all human blessings."
Adam: [Adam looks at the two with a horrified expression on his face.] You two are monsters! How could you let this man die! And for what? Some presumption he'd be better off dead then going through the fight for survival! Who are you to judge? You aren't God! You have no right to make that decision!
Adam bends down to pick up the corpse from the ground and throws its arm around his neck.
Lucille: How uncivilized! One should not raise their voice to a lady!
Christopher: [Immediately following what Lucille said.] Such hypocrisy! There you stand, asking who we are to judge and calling us monsters, but who are you to judge, hm? Who are you to say what we have done is such an abomination?
Adam: Nobody...
Thunder crashes, this time much louder than before. Adam looks at the sky and as hurriedly as he can begins to drag the body off stage.
Lucille: And nobody is who you shall stay.
The sound of a heavy rain is heard approaching as the two then return to their seating arrangement. They now sit, much like they did in the beginning. Only the sound of the coming downpour draws closer. Then Christopher turns to Lucille much as he had before.
Christopher: Why hello there, stranger.
Lucille: Why... Hello...
Christopher: Mighty fine day we're having, isn't it?
Lucille: Yes... Yes it is...
Lucille's line is followed by a bright flash and the immediate roar of thunder. The scene then slowly fades to black with a dim spotlight on the middle seat of the bench. This is followed soon after by a blackout.