Scene Four

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It is late one evening at the log cabin. A dim maroon hue bathes the inside of it. HEDY glances around, looking at the mantle above the fire, and then to the door with the trophies spilling out. She walks around the log cabin, running her hands over the furniture and focusing on other things. But, the more she tries to distract herself, the more she can't help but be drawn to the taxidermied animal heads. She proceeds to SR and puts her fingers on the door handle.

BRUNO (offstage)

I wasn't always a beast, you know.

Startled, HEDY jerks around. BRUNO enters, stopping momentarily, his eyes on HEDY and the door. A cape drapes around his broad shoulders. He takes a few steps forward, sitting down in his large chair at CS, facing the fire. The back of his head alone can be seen from the audience's perspective. The rest of him is covered by the back of the chair. His head is engulfed, shadowed, in flames from the fire. HEDY, feeling awfully intrusive, makes way to cross CS and exit SL.

BRUNO

No, stay. Don't you want to listen to what I have to say?

HEDY

(stops; a certain curiosity fills her; she goes and sits down in her smaller chair, next to his; it does not face the fire and instead faces SL; the audience can see her face) I'm happy to listen, as long as you are happy to tell.

BRUNO

(turns his head toward her momentarily, before facing the fire again) Long ago, I was a man.

The flames from the fire grow in size, the sound of the crackles crescendoing, as if someone had suddenly and passionately fanned it. HEDY flinches at this, before her eyes are drawn to a shadowy image on the wall at SL. It was the figure, the shadow, of a man. A broad-shouldered man, tall and strong with a barrel chest. A gun slung over his shoulder.

BRUNO

I had most everything a man could want. Friends.

Flashes of sound: men laughing and drinking at a tavern, the clinking of beer glasses .

A home.

The shadowy outline of the log cabin, with puffs of smoke coming out of the chimney, replaces the image of the man on the wall.

Possessions.

Again, the image on the wall is replaced with the shadowy figures of trophies and guns and deer heads and coins.

The only thing I wanted that I didn't have was a wife—a companion.

An image of a woman is produced on the wall—a shadow bearing a striking resemblance to HEDY's figure.

One winter's day, while I was chopping wood outside,

The sound of an axe piercing through logs.

an old lady came up out of the woods.

The shadow of an old woman, with a cloak draped about her and a rickety cane at her side.

She asked for shelter and food, and of course, I provided. But then, that night at dinner, she asked me if I were married. To which I replied no.

Suddenly, the cackles of an old hag are heard throughout the cabin. HEDY twists her head, searching for the origin of the sound, frightened.

The old woman said she had been alone her whole life—an old maid—and always longed for a husband. And then… She told me to ask for her hand in marriage. That I was her last chance in life for love. Once she saw that I was… repulsed at the thought, she began to beg. On her hands and knees, begging me to ask her for her hand in marriage.

Flashes of this image of the old woman and BRUNO standing beside her, backing away from her.

I told her I was happy to provide food and shelter and any of her other needs, but that I did not want to marry someone who could not bear any children—this being merely half the reason why I wouldn't marry an old woman, but of course I would never say such a thing to anybody. This made her even more upset. I remained civil as she erupted.

The old woman on the wall suddenly bursts into flames, her shadow dissipating and becoming one with the reflection of the flames on the wall.

She revealed herself to be a witch.

The shadow returns, but this time in the form of a witch, not the old woman.

She gave me one last chance to ask for her hand. And I declined again.

The old woman on the wall disappears, and only BRUNO's shadow remains. Suddenly, his shadow morphs, growing larger and even broader. The sounds of a man's cries for help transform into a beast's roar. The shadow soon dissipates until all that remains on the wall are the yellow and orange reflections of the flames.

She said that now I would know her crushing pain at being unwanted. For what woman would want to marry such a haggard creature as me?

HEDY turns her head away from the wall to face BRUNO; he looks back at her, before standing up and walking DS. HEDY's eyes follow him.

Once I became a beast, though, suddenly none of my worldly possessions mattered. I was freed from… everything . I was the most content I'd ever been in my life. Yet, the only thing I still desired was… (he turns around to face HEDY at UC) a wife.

HEDY's mouth hangs open in astonishment and her eyes widen; her expression could be mistaken for fear. BRUNO travels to her, quickly getting down on one knee and grasping her hand. The audience can see the side of both of their faces.

For so long, I thought no one would love me, for so long I thought no one would ever want me. (he smiles, almost giddy) But then, when I saw you, walking along the path— You know, you ask me so much: 'What was I thinking when I first saw you?' Well, now I know. I thought you were the most beautiful, saddest creature I'd ever seen.

Her astonishment suddenly turns into joy, a smile slowly breaking out across her features. Tears are in her eyes. She laughs quietly through muffled tears.

I never knew that a woman with such a sad face could be so beautiful. I wanted to make you smile, to see you happy. But I knew I couldn't do it—that I would only frighten you. And so I hid away.

HEDY

But I came back.

BRUNO

But you came back, and I'm so glad you did. (he kisses the top of both of her hands) You came back, and I got to see the most beautiful woman in the world again, and again, and again.

HEDY

And then the first time ever I saw you—

BRUNO

How I wish I could forget it.

HEDY

I was terrified. And for so long, I was afraid to tell you how I felt the first time ever I saw you. Because I found you to be nothing at all like how I had imagined at first.

BRUNO

An animal?

HEDY

But you are not an animal, Bruno. At least, not within. (pause) And are you ashamed?

BRUNO

No. (pause) And would you love me more if I were a man?

HEDY

(suddenly her smile falls and she hesitates, but she composes herself soon enough) You are a man already.

BRUNO

(unsure about her answer; he is pleased with the sentiment of it but unbelieving; he decides to move on anyway) I never thought you could be more beautiful than that first day I saw you, when you were crying. I never thought there could be a more beautiful sight than this young woman crying in my woods… But I was wrong. (HEDY's eyes light up) You are more beautiful now, with tears of joy—not sadness—in your eyes. I never thought I would be able to love you more than I did that day, but I do. (he hesitates, suddenly nervous; he bows his head for a moment, before bringing it back up and looking off into the distance) Will you marry me?

HEDY

(the happiest she's ever been in her life) Oh, yes! Yes! Yes!

BRUNO

(his fangs break through his lips as he smiles; he leaps up suddenly, standing on two legs; he picks her up out of her chair and swings her around)

HEDY (she smiles and giggles with a mad fervor; she calls to him through the swinging madness)

Bruno. Bruno.

BRUNO

Yes? (he slows his swinging)

HEDY

I want you to kiss me.

BRUNO

(he stops and puts her down) Hedy… I—I want to. I've always wanted to, but—

HEDY

Please, just kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me. (she closes her eyes and leans her head back, waiting for him)

Lights fade to black as BRUNO hesitates. End of Scene Four.