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Little Things A play by Elizabeth Breed SCENE. The Renney home.

There are boxes around the living room, and a few loose books around. CHRISTA RENNEY sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by the boxes. She doesnt move much, but touches the unpacked items around her, as if she is contemplating something. MOVER #1 and MOVER #2 enter, carrying a small table. MOVER #1. Maam? (Christa does not answer.) Mrs. Renney? CHRISTA. Oh. Yes. MOVER #2. Kitchen table? CHRISTA. What? MOVER #1. Kitchen table. Would you like us to donate or to put it in the truck? CHRISTA. Kitchen table? MOVER #2. And the chairs? CHRISTA. Donate it. Donate it all. Anything big. Thats what my husband wants. MOVER #1. Sure. (The movers exit carrying the table. Christa begins to pack up the final empty box with the rest of the loose items. EVAN RENNEY enters the room. He is dressed in a suit and tie, as he has just gotten off of work.) CHRISTA. Youre late. EVAN. Im so sorry. I got caught up at work. (He goes to her and kisses her.) Are you packing? CHRISTA. Yes EVAN. You know that you dont have to do that. We have people wholl do that for you. CHRISTA. Im fine. I like doing this sort of thing. You know that. EVAN. Sure. (He begins to exit the room.) CHRISTA. How was work? EVAN. Ill be right back. CHRISTA. Oh.

EVAN. Im gonna change and help you. CHRISTA. You dont have to. Were almost done. (EVAN exits the room. The movers come back in and start moving out boxes.) MOVER #1. What did we decide about these boxes? CHRISTA. Oh, anything on that wall can go out. Donate. MOVER #2. And the one labeled toys? (Mover #1 shoots Mover #2 a look.) CHRISTA. Let me take a look at it. (Mover #2 brings it to her. Then they each take boxes and begin to move them out through the course of the next few minutes. Christa takes a good hard look at the box labeled toys. She begins to unpack the box, dolls, coloring books, a baby blanket. She sets the items methodically on the coffee table, and sighs. She holds the blanket to her face and draws in a long, deep breath. She looks like she is about to cry. Evan reenters, changed, carrying a large box, which he walks to place by the door.) EVAN. Did you unpack that box? (He sits next to her on the couch.) CHRISTA. Yes. I wanted to make sure that that nothing inside of it was important to save. I think we should save the baby blanket, how about you? EVAN. Good idea. Can I pack the rest of it up? (he reaches for a dolls, Christa grabs his hand away.) Chris CHRISTA. Doesnt it seem a little soon? EVAN. Christa, weve sold the house. You wanted to sell the house. CHRISTA. I dont think we should get rid of all of her things so fast EVAN. Dr. Hellman said CHRISTA. I dont care what he said EVAN. He said that CHRISTA. I know what he said. EVAN. Then you know that this is all a part of the healing process. We should donate the items. Only save items with a lot of sentimental value. CHRISTA. My mother made the blanket.

EVAN. Then well keep it. (He packs up the rest of the items, and leaves the box. He carries another box closer to the door.) CHRISTA. How was work? EVAN. Work was fine. CHRISTA. Oh good. I was wondering if it was. EVAN. How was your day? CHRISTA. Even EVAN. Even? What does that mean? CHRISTA. Not odd. EVAN. Thats strange. CHRISTA. What is? EVAN. Ive never heard anyones day described like that. You might have invented a new turn of phrase there, babe. CHRISTA. Sure. EVAN. Chris, what about this box marked baby clothes? Did you go through it again?(She looks sullenly at one of the boxes.) CHRISTA. No. That box is done. EVAN. Done? CHRISTA. Its ready to go. EVAN. What did we decide to do with it? CHRISTA. Womens shelter. Those women have children that need clothes. EVAN. Thats very thoughtful of you. But are you sure you dont want to keep it? CHRISTA. No. I dont want to keep it. EVAN. Just in case? CHRISTA. Just in case of what?

EVAN. Well, what if we...(He trails off.) CHRISTA. In case we have another girl? EVAN. Yeah. CHRISTA. I dont think thats going to be a problem. (EVAN looks like he is about to say something, but refrains. CHRISTA notices this.) What? EVAN. What what? CHRISTA. What were you going to say? EVAN. I wasnt going to say anything. CHRISTA. Sure you were. Go ahead. EVAN. I wasnt going to say anything CHRISTA. Yes, you were. EVAN. Christa, drop it. CHRISTA. Please just tell me. EVAN. Why dont you just finish packing? Were almost done. The trucks almost loaded. CHRISTA. Im beginning to lose interest, frankly. EVAN. Then why dont you stop? We could go eat. Have some dinner. CHRISTA. Im not interested. EVAN. In eating? CHRISTA. Not now. In a little bit. (She begins picking up more things, as EVAN looks on.) EVAN. If you dont want to do that, then you should stop. CHRISTA. I dont want to stop, Evan. I want to keep going. I want to finish this tonight. Please I just want to finish. EVAN. Of course baby. Are you sure that you dont want my help? CHRISTA. No. Thank you. (She packs a few more things in the box.)

EVAN. You look very pretty today. CHRISTA. Do I? EVAN. Yes. CHRISTA. Thank you. (She goes back to the box marked toys.) Wheres Corduroy Bear? EVAN. Who? CHRISTA. Corduroy Bear! Where is he? EVAN. What are you talking about? CHRISTA. Avas Corduroy Bear! It should be in this box, but oh dear god EVAN. Christa, calm down CHRISTA. It was her favorite! We cant just throw it out! We have to keep it forever! Wheres the movers? MOVERS! (Mover #2 enters.) MOVER #2. Something the matter? CHRISTA. Have you seen a little brown bear with a green ribbon around its neck? MOVER #2. A bear? CHRISTA. A stuffed bear its very important, please MOVER #2. I havent seen anything like that, Im sorry. Ive just seen boxes. CHRISTA. God, youre a useless piece of shit, arent you? EVAN. CHRISTA! (He turns to Mover #2) My god, Im so sorry. Please excuse her. Christa, maybe you should go lie down. CHRISTA. I dont want to lie down. I want to find Corduroy Bear. EVAN. Christa, remove yourself. Check her room. CHRISTA. Fine. I will. EVAN. Should you apologize? CHRISTA. What?

EVAN. I think you should apologize to this gentleman/lady. CHRISTA. Oh. Im very sorry. EVAN. About what? CHRISTA. That I called you a useless piece of shit. EVAN. Thank you. MOVER #2. (Still unsure.) Apology accepted. (Without another word, Christa leaves the room. Evan goes into his pocket and brings out a 20 dollar bill.) EVAN. Im very sorry about that. She hasnt been herself lately. Here for your troubles. (He hands Mover #2 the bill.) MOVER #2. Thanks do you mind if I ask what that was about? EVAN. My wife she shes not doing very well lately. Our six year old daughter Ava she was killed in an accident. MOVER #2. Oh my! How long ago? EVAN. Not too long. Its still pretty fresh. She kept having these episodes in the house, so we were advised to sell and move to a smaller place. MOVER #2. My condolences. (Mover #2 hands the bill back to Evan, without a word, grabs another box, and goes to exit.) EVAN. Keep an eye out for the bear would you? MOVER #2. Of course. (Mover #2 exits. Christa enters.) CHRISTA. I cant find Corduroy Bear. EVAN. Well find it. CHRISTA. Its not an it. Its a him. It was Avas favorite toy in the world, and Ive lost it. Ive absolutely lost it, Evan. EVAN. Chris, you have to calm down. CHRISTA. Dont tell me to calm down. Dont you dare tell me to calm down. She slept with it every night, she loves that toy, and Ive lost it! I cant she needs it Evan (She starts to cry.)

EVAN. Christa, Avas gone. She doesnt need it. CHRISTA. She does she must be so Im such a bad mother EVAN. Christa please, well find it. Youre not a bad mother. This is a very emotional time for all of us. You need to keep levelheaded. CHRISTA. I thought that was your job. (Evan smiles.) You put up with so much EVAN. Just smile for me. (They kiss. Christa smiles.) There you go. Now, you checked upstairs? CHRISTA. I didnt see the bear EVAN. Dont worry, well find it. Nothing has been sent to donations yet, and well be absolutely fine. Im going to look at the boxes in the kitchen, ok? CHRISTA. Ok. Please find it. EVAN. Ill do my best. Look over these few boxes again. (Evan exits. Christa goes back to the box labeled toys. After a few moments, Mover #1 comes in.) MOVER #1. Mrs. Renney? CHRISTA. Yes? MOVER #1. Im so sorry, we havent found the bear yet. CHRISTA. Im sure well make sure that painting is wrapped in bubble paper. MOVER #1. I was just getting on that. (Mover #1 wraps the painting, as he speaks.) You know they told me about what happened. CHRISTA. About what? MOVER #1. Your daughter. Ava, was that her name? CHRISTA. Yes. She was beautiful. She she um she died. Very unexpectantly. MOVER #1. Do you mind if I ask what happened? CHRISTA. I suppose Evan thinks it was my fault, but it wasnt. And I yes, I do mind. (She rummages to the bottom of the box labeled toys and pulls out a mutilated set of wings.) Oh! (She laughs.) MOVER #1. What is it?

CHRISTA. These goddamned wings. They look like shit. MOVER #1. Yeah, the kind of do. Why are they in that box? CHRISTA. I suppose they could have been tossed a long time ago, but they they remind me so much of Ava. I couldnt bear to this was part of a failed Halloween costume. MOVER #1. Oh yeah? (Mover #1 sits on the couch next to her during the course of this next speech.) CHRISTA. Halloween, two years ago. My dad was sick, and Evan werent around much because his company was downsizing, and I admit, I never really had much time for Ava, and I hated that! Well, it was that morning, on October 31st, and for some reason I had completely spaced on it. On Halloween. Ava had been begging me for months upon months to be a butterfly for Halloween. A pink and purple butterfly. But being the dumbass I was, I had completely forgotten to pick up my babys costume. So, I took off the rest of the day, got in the car, and drove around town looking for a very specific pink and purple butterfly costume for a four-year old. But the thing isthere are never any costumes at 2:00 the afternoon of Halloween. I went to Walgreens, I went to Target, I even went clear across town to that Little Mamas Drama Shop, and no luck. Of course I didnt have time to make one, so I started freaking out. I just felt the panic attack coming on, and I knew it was helpless. And then it started to rain, and I just thought of my baby crying, and that made me wanna cry. But then I remembered somethingI called my sister and little Carrie had been this beautiful pink butterfly the year before, so I called her up and asked if she still had the costume. She did, so I hightailed it to her place and picked up the costume. By this time it was raining so hard, I didnt even know if they were gonna allow trick or treating, but I didnt care. I drove through the torrential rain and picked Ava up at nursery school. I didnt notice that I had shut the wings in car door, and was driving around with pink butterfly wings dragging along the wet, muddy ground! It wasnt until I got the costume on her that I realizedhow fucking shitty she looked. It was more like a 4 year old decided she wanted to go as a butterfly that got scraped, dead, off the windshield of my car. But do you know what Ava said? She looked at me with those beautiful green eyes, as I was starting to get panicky again, and said to me, she said: Its ok, mommy. Ill be a capitillar before she turns to a flutterby! Every secondfor the rest of my lifeI will smile every time I think of her. Her in that pink tube and antennaegoing door saying: Im a capitillar! Im gonna be a flutterby! Im a capitillar! Im gonna be a flutterby very soon! Thats the thing I remember. How happy she was about those little things. Im not like that. Im too too much like my mother. I cant cope. She drank, I cry. Thats just how it is. When she died I I couldnt cope. Oh god Im sorry I dont know why Im telling you all this. MOVER #1. Does it make you feel better? CHRISTA. A bit, yes. MOVER #1. Thats very good. Im sorry, I havent found the bear yet. Well keep an eye out. (he

stands up.) CHRISTA. Thank you for looking. (Mover #1 exits, with a few more boxes. Through the course of the next few pages, both movers work hard on getting the rest of the boxes out, clearing away the rest of the room. Evan reenters, carrying two boxes.) EVAN. These were the last two boxes in the kitchen, and ones a box of pot lids and that other is nothing but our old blender and a George Foreman grill. Whats wrong? CHRISTA. Were never going to find him, are we? EVAN. The bear? CHRISTA. Corduroy Bear, yes. At least we have these old, ripped, shitty looking, muddy wings that our daughter never even wore fuck. EVAN. I think theyre kind of funny. CHRISTA. Im not ready for this, Evan. Im not. I want her back I cant handle this change Some things in you life are never supposed to change. Your birthday. Your namethings like that. Your family is not supposed to change. Its supposed to stay the same. Granted, with a few additions here and there, but subtractionstheyre supposed to happen in a very specific order. Its supposed to be grandparents, then parents, then children. There should be no deviations! If there are deviations, it means that Gods either not looking out for you or he has a special plan for someone. Life should be perfect otherwise, and things should never change. Never ever, ever. I never want it to change! EVAN. Chris it has changed. We cant help it. CHRISTA. Evan I want so badly to go back EVAN. I know babe. But we cant. We cant erase the mistakes that you made. CHRISTA. What? EVAN. Well we can agree that you made some mistakes. CHRISTA. It wasnt my fault, Evan! I did everything I could! EVAN. You left her alone. But I dont blame you CHRISTA. You just fucking did! EVAN. No, I didnt CHRISTA. She wanted to fly, Evan! She wanted to be a little flutterby, and she thought she

she just fell the banister she I should have been watching her more closely, but she was so Evan we have to find that bear EVAN. Christa, I know CHRISTA. I just I feel like Im losing my mind, Evan. Like I cant seem to grab a hold of anything anymore. That Im falling. I havent been able to get up, to fly I need her. EVAN. We both do. (The sit in silence for a few moments, as the movers remove the rest of the items, save for the couch.) CHRISTA. Did you mean what you said the other night? That you didnt want a divorce. EVAN. I wont let you divorce me. CHRISTA. Why not? EVAN. Because I know its not what you want. And I love you too much for that. You love me too, dont you? CHRISTA. Yes. EVAN. Just because this is hard doesnt mean we cant fight through it. I love you. Dont worry. (The movers come in again.) MOVER #2. Mr. and Mrs. Renney? Were almost done. EVAN. Excellent. MOVER #1. The couch is the last thing. EVAN. Oh. Of course. Sure. (Evan helps Christa to their feet, as the movers pick up the couch and move it offstage. Underneath the couch is a brown teddy bear with a green ribbon. Corduroy Bear.) CHRISTA. Oh my god, is that? EVAN. Yes. (He picks it up, and makes it kiss Christas nose. Christa kisses Evan.) CHRISTA. What are you thinking? EVAN. I think were going to be just fine. (The two of them stand in their empty house, and smile at one another. Lights dim.) END OF PLAY

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