Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell

Scene Setting

Dark room, almost completely black with the two characters.

-----------

Kim

Where am I?

Ben

Isn't it obvious? You are in the  land beyond life, death's answer to life's question.

Kim

I- I don't understand.

Ben

I guess it can be understood, Kim try *Pause for a hesitant moment you're kind of empathising * try to remember, where were you? Where were you last?

Kim

I can't remember

Ben

Think Kim. Look at where you are and try to remember how you got here.

Kim

I-I just,

*Sobbing Gasp*

Ben

It's okay Kimmy. Your body and your soul are parting ways. Some of your memories are still transferring. Give it a second.

Kim

*Heavy gasping breathing* I was driving, I was angry, I was angry, Steven. I was furious with him. Yelling. Yes! Yelling. I was yelling at him. He was in the car with me. He'd lied to me, he'd lied about something, something important. I was screaming. I was screaming at him! I reached across and the car swerved as though on its own. Oh god! I remember wheel turning against my hand, burning my skin. I was not strong enough! Oh God, Steven! The road was curving and I can't control the car. I hit the break and the whole car. No, NO! Where am I? Where is Steven?"

Ben

You know where are because you know what you are.

Kim

I'm dead.

Ben

And Steven is?

Kim

Dead

Oh god, I killed us both! He's dead because of me. I'm so sorry Steven

Ben

I'm not Steven, Steven is, elsewhere. You are here.

Kim

Hell?

Ben

No, but not Heaven ether, you're in the council chambers. The land of in between.

Kim

I didn't hear of a word of that just tell me where Steven is.

Ben

It's not that simple, it's-

Kim

Of course it is, tell me! Tell me where he is!

Ben

He is elsewhere. *Strong statement, restraint, jutted jaw.*

Kim

Take me to your 'elsewhere'.

Ben

It's not that simple.

Kim

It, is, exactly that simple *Furious.* Just tell me where he is or how to get there. I'll go alone.

Ben

And how Kim? How do you plan on achieving such a feat? Do you plan on simply walking? With what legs? Do you think it's your heels you're resting your weight upon? Do you honestly believe that it's soil beneath your feet? Focus Kimberly. This is you beyond you. You are no longer amongst the living.

Kim

I'm dead, yes I know that, gaah *frustrated, gritted teeth, almost screaming* And Steven is too. I need to go to him.

Ben

Why?

Kim

Because I love him!

Ben

Bah, a cheap line even amongst the deceased where the material world is malleable as a string, moveable as the lint on your shoulder. Affections becomes the only currency there is.

*Pause*

Kim

And is that what you want from me? 'Affection?'

Ben

Most certainly not in the sense I fear you have in mind. Sex is meaningless, the intimacy as control to easy to achieve, so weak so blasé and so completely separate to what I am trying to help you with.

 Kim

Finding Steven?

Ben

No, finding you. You are still attached to the Earth, clinging heavily against your perished body. You need to find you, by letting yourself go otherwise there will be nothing to gain from you and you will be stunted.

Kim

So many words, ideals but you haven't answered my question.

Ben

You need to let him go. You are apart! Please, do not stunt your own growth and understand.

Kim

I want to find him.

Ben

Then let him go! Your feelings are you enemy right now. Don’t you sense it? The  total weight of your pain festering upon your diaphragm. Weightless but capable and determined to crush your soul to dust.

Kim

Help me, I need him.

Ben

Stubborn!

Why?

Kim

Because he is the air I breath.

Ben

No Kimmy, there is no air, no breathing, you are dead, deceased

Kim

And he is with me. I still-

Ben

Why are you damn adamant? So determined why must you always be in such a mind space. This is how you get, you never stop to simply bare your thoughts.

Kim

Bare my thoughts? Always like this? Who are you? Who are you to me.

Ben

I was once everything to you. The very person you would have fought to be with. Your heart once belonged to me. You have been here for a while you might have gotten it back into your mind. Try to remember who you are. Think Kimberly who are you?

Kim

Kimberly, A, A-Something. Kimberly Anne.

Ben

Yes, you're doing it. It's coming to you.

Kim

This is impossible, it's like catching the wind!

Ben

Which you can do inside of this world, you just have to do it.

Kim

Kimberly Anne Turner. I'm infinite, no, I'm 28 in March

Ben

You were right the first time you are infinite you've been alive always but you are right you were of your body for 28 years. It's coming back to you.

Kim

But I don’t understand, where did that first answer come from?

Ben

From you

Kim

I know tha-

Ben

Listen!

You, your soul, is immortal, it was never born and it cannot die, it has always been. What you remembered is you as you actually are. But in time it will come to you.

Kim

Will it affect how I feel about Steven? I need him here, I need him.

Ben

There is no one you need here, no he's just another soul and not your soulmate.

Kim

Soulmate?

Ben

Your soul's match

Kim

That is Steven

Ben

No Kim. Ben is nothing of the sort. He is nowhere near being your soul mate.

Kim

Why? I love him.

Ben

Think Kimmy. Remember! He is in no way linked to you. Remember.

Kim

*Gasps for air, panicked*

*Scream!*

Ben

Don't run from it. You spent enough years running away.

Kim

You know nothing about(Angry whisper)

Ben

*Cuts off*

What do you remember about?

Kim

I remember Steven. Steven is everything

Ben

Think Kimmy, does that sound remotely healthy to you?

Kim

You won't convince me that Steven isn't everything to me. I-

Ben

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. Where did you meet Steven?

Kim

At a bar near my home, his motor bike had, I don’t remember, but I remember that it wasn't working. He asked me for a jumper cable to get his ride, moving again.

Ben

You weren't a drinker but you were in a bar. You'd been there a while, why?

Kim

*In a genuine pain*

Why are you doing this, it hurts!

Ben

Because you need to remember!

Kim

I can't!

Ben

No, Kimberly it's not that you can't, it's that you won't. You are the only thing that's holding you back. Don't be afraid. There is nothing to fear.

Kim

I'm at a funeral, someone important to me is dead, I'm spinning a wedding ring in my palm, then there's nothing but pain.

Ben

You lost your husband of three years.

Kim

It's not Steven, I remember, but this man, it burns to think of him. I can't, I mean I won't think of him, don’t make me.

(Horse whisper)

Ben

(whisper)

It's one of the most significant moments within you. One that effects the entirety of your being. Now think about it. Do you feel the same hurt you feel for Steven? Is it the same? More? Less?

Kim

But I shouldn't feel the same hurt, Steven was good, there wouldn't-

Ben

Kimmy listen to yourself, that vision was a year after your old husband's death. You hadn't just lost Steven but you remember it as though it was the same day because of how much it hurt you. You felt broken, shattered but you were intact, nothing of you was or is in fact lost-

*Reaches for her chest*

Kim

Don't touch me!

Ben

If you don’t trust me, that's fine. But trust yourself to trust my feeling.

Kim

What do you want to do?

Ben

Touch what you would call your heart.

Kim

What would you call it?

Ben

Nothing, there's nothing there.

Kim

But, I can feel your hand.

Ben

What you feel is me connecting with you, to a point. If you didn't want me to my hand would pass right through your body.

Kim

But-

Ben

But you don’t? Don't what? Have a connection with me?

*Holds her*

You feel that don't you? Lean forward, do you believe that to be gravity loosening your weight onto me. Of course not. Think back to your life. Was it easy?

Kim

No, of course not, no man's life is easy. Why would mine be any different?

Ben

Because it's yours, your hardships bare as much an impact to God as any other. Do not devalue your worth, you don’t deserve it.

*Hesitates as she pulls back from him and falls to her knees.*

What's wrong?

Kim

Those words. I've heard them before.

Ben

From where?

Kim

My husband, my...

*Trails off there*

Ben

Your husband?

Kim

I don’t understand why you're doing this

Ben

I'm not doing anything you don’t need me to do. Otherwise I'd disappear. You know what you want more than you're willing to admit. I'm not going to ask you to admit a thing. I cannot do such a thing to you.

Kim

Why to me? Who are you?

*Almost screaming*

Ben

No one! I am relative nothing more. You mentioned your husband Kimberly. Go into it. Was it your husband or not?

Kim

No, yes. My old husband. The one I lost. He would say such things, he would never allow me to beat myself up in any way

*Crying*

Don't make me remember. I love Steven. Steven is still alive-

Ben

Steven is dead, just as dead as you are, just as dead as your husband. Till death do we part and you are parted.

Kim

*Scream*

No! I won't!

Ben

Won't what? Accept it? It is what it is. You weren't happy with Steven.

Kim

I need him. You don't understand me.

Ben

There is nothing to understand, there is no excuse for who he was. You must remember now.

Kim

I don't know your name. It does not matter, what matters is Steven. Where am I? Where is this place?

*Pulls away from him*

Ben

I told you, the chambers-

Kim

Stop. How could this open space be chambers? I killed myself and I killed Steven. Where am I? Is this hell and why isn't it if it is? Is Steven in Heaven?

Ben

Steven is,

*Long drawn out pause*

He's elsewhere.

Kim

Elsewhere, there is a whole world of places that could be, so he could be a step away or infinite distances away getting closer or further every second that passes by. Where is elsewhere? You pay me so much credit by supposedly being brilliant but you play me as some kind of idiot. You know what I want and you're smart enough to know exactly what I mean. I know you'd-

Ben

He's in purgatory.

Kim

Hell?

Ben

Yes! And no. Not the way you have been taught. Or rather it's still hell but it would be better to say it's not a place for a soul at peace.

Kim

And my husband is there?

Ben

You don’t have a husband. You had one, two.

Kim

So I'm supposed to go to Heaven without him?

Ben

Essentially, yes.

Kim

But it wouldn't be heaven. It wouldn't be fair! It would be the wrong world. I threw him into hell and I'm supposed to be going into heaven? That makes no sense, that can't be right.

Ben

It is fair, he was a monstrous human being.

Kim

He was my husband, you know nothing of him!

Ben

He was a criminal

Kim

He was a realist, a survivor.

Ben

A villain

Kim

He did what he had to do!

Ben

He hurt every one he came in contact with, with malice of forethought.

Kim

He wasn't perfect but he wasn't a monster either!

Ben

He hurt you!

Kim

You don’t know what you are talking about.

Ben

I know everything Kim. Because I was there for all of it. You were my soul mate. These were my chambers. I couldn't live without you and I couldn't accept this without knowing that you would be alright. And you weren't. You latched onto one of the worst human beings imaginable! Had he been any worse you would have been fine because you would have left him and learned. Had he been any better I might not be here, you most certainly wouldn't have. I wouldn't have lost so much.

Kim

*Long drawn out pause*

You? How's any of this about you? I'm the one who died, how did you lose a damn thing?

Ben

Because

*Hesitates*

Because I did this.

Kim

Did what?

Ben

Put you here.

Kim

Put me in these chambers or put me in the realm of whatever?

Ben

How smart you are without opening a book was one of the most amazing things about you. You know the answer.

Kim

But how's that possible. You angels can cross into our world? The world of the living?

Ben

Yes, but at a cost. I crossed over. You couldn't see with your living eyes. But you're not of the living any longer. Remember the crash. See me.

Kim

*shuts her eyes, breathing heavily.*

I was screaming at my husband. Again. You lied to me again. He was blocking, no he was swinging back. We were both fighting so intently. I don't see you. I'm so mad but I can't remember why he's yelling and punching me. Punching me! The car swerves, your hands.

I see them on the steering wheel!

You b*****d!

You piece of s**t!

*Scream, almost inaudible*

You did this to me!

You killed me!

*Screams hitting him as though throwing a tantrum.*

Ben

I did. But I bare no regret. The only thing I'm sorry for is the way you feel right now. And I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner.

Kim

So what, you think you have me now that Steven is gone?

Ben

No, I don’t 

Kim

Good, I'm glad you know because I want you gone. Now! Go now.

Go!

Ben

But-

Kim

Go! Leave! PLEASE LEAVE!

*Ben fades - Kim is on the floor weeping*

It's not fair. I shouldn't be dead, Steven shouldn't be either. You b*****d! You took that from us! Do you hear me! No matter what you say about Steven, he was my husband. He was the reason I survived you! You wanted me to remember? I remember that! I remember how painful it was to see you wither away in front of me. Do you? You b*****d? I remember that pain when they put you in the ground, leaving nothing behind but the pain of remembering how much I longed for you. Steven never did that to me. You did that to me. You killed me!

*Screams*

*Folds herself up in a ball and hugs herself.*

Ben

There's a lot you don’t want to hear from me. Rightfully so. I can never expect you to forgive me. I knew that when I made the choice to take away yours. That's the thing about hard choices  and wrong choices.

With both there's the pain of having to live through them.

Kim

What do you want from me? My life wasn't enough?

Ben

I deserve that. I deserve and all anger you can and are willing to throw at me. I want you to see me.

Kim

Well, I appreciate the sentiment but...

Ben

There's little sentiment behind it. I wanted you to see me. I'm more selfish than helpful.

Kim

I'm not even looking at you.

Ben

But you know I'm here, that's more than you could imagine.

Kim

Well, that doesn't change what you did. Stop trying to warm up to me.

Ben

I'm sorry

Kim

Stop apologising

Ben

I'm- alright.

Kim

Just shut up. Don't leave! Where are you going?

Ben

I-

Kim

No, just stay. Don't come close just stay there! Don't move, don't even twitch, just do that for me.

Ben

*Stays still*

Kim

Thank you. I never thought something like this would happen. Talk about awkward scenarios. I mean here I am staring down my murderer. Confronting my killer so to speak. Heh. Because that's what you are. I should be angrier, I feel it at my core but not in my gut. This is most likely the part where you tell me I don’t have a core. There's no gut to feel it in. But then I wouldn't be angry at all. I wouldn't be happy at all, there'd be nothing.

Don't say a word.

Just.....

*Trails off and gives a soft laugh*

I can't bring myself up to tell you to leave. I want to, but this place, your so called 'chambers' leave little to be desired. I don't want to be alone, I don’t want to feel untouched but you don’t deserve the satisfaction...

*Silence*

How could I be allowed to feel so alone.

*Buries her face into knees*

I'm going to allow you to speak. I don’t want you to I really don’t but I'm stuck her in these 'chambers'. If they're chambers then that just a fancy way to say your room. You're the reason I'm in this room aren't you?

*Ben tried to move forwards*

Ben

I only want to help you where I can you're-

Kim

*Screams*

Don't do what we both know you're about to do I don’t want excuses, explanations or reasons.

*Is yelling with her eyes closed.*

I just want an answer, that's all I'm asking of you. You've taken enough from me.

Ben

Yes, you're in this world because of my direct actions and yes you're in this very room because of my direct actions, effectively changing your fate.

Kim

Fine, alright. Steven is exactly where?

Ben

*Silence*

Kim

Don't do this.

Ben

He is in purgatory, the land damaged souls throw themselves into. A Person who isn't at peace will always throw themselves into such a painful world.

Kim

But why am I in heaven? It doesn't make sense.

Ben

You wanted the full truth, well the truth is very simple you're not in heaven, you're in limbo. The reason you're here is because you're my soul mate. My beginning, my end. You are in no way saved from purgatory. Heaven is in your grasp but you choose purgatory over it in order to save a monster. Do you think your own soul is even close to being at peace? Right now our connection is the only reason you're not there but the more you fight, the more you march yourself into purgatory.

Kim

You're asking me to leave the man I love!

Ben

I'M ASKING YOU TO LOVE YOURSELF JUST FOR ONCE SINCE I DIED!

Kim

*hugs her knees, silence*

Ben

I know I'm being harsh, unreasonable even. But I need you to do this, not for me, not for anyone else but for you. Prove your soul worthy of every ounce of love being poured into it. It deserved it.

Kim

I asked you not to lecture me. It's like you're looking down your nose at me. I haven't finished. You are really my soul mate?

Ben

It's rare, it's not a question of fated souls we just are souls that will always gravitate towards each other. Everyone flies their own path, some paths separate, others join. Ours are so heavily intertwined they pretty much a merge. Ours grew distant with my death but still we flew together. I felt your absence as powerfully as I feel your presence now. I don’t feel I have to describe it to you. I remember every second you were with me on that hospital bed waiting for me to die, imagine Kim. I felt that pain just as long as you. I was fully aware, just as helpless as you were stuck in a body that was crumbling in front of the person I loved more than I have loved anyone. I couldn't talk to you, touch you. The desperation to be with you, forced me into a purgatory of my own. And there I stayed for what I thought was an eternity. Until I had no choice but to accept.

Kim

But you didn't accept a thing did you?

Ben

No, I did but it didn't last. I looked down upon you to find that you didn't find happiness or love.

Kim

I loved Steven

Ben

Loved?

Kim

Love. I still love Steven.

Ben

Do you even remember loving me?

Kim

I don’t know. It's hard to pull a single thought from it. It's as though there's a colossal wall in front of my soul I'm not allowed to open. The words 'don't open' burned into my heart. I don’t want to feel that pain.

Ben

You're going to need to, I don’t mean to replace whatever it was you felt with Steven.

It's only so you know that he does not define you more to you that someone  else.

Kim

What is there?

Ben

You, Kim, you.

Kim

I can't! Stop, just for a moment stop trying to force me.

Ben

Fine!

*Pause*

You may not remember this.

*Sitting next to her.*

Kim

Hey. I said-

Ben

I know what you said but right now what I need you to do is to listen.

Kim

*Glares but eventually, sighs letting him sit.*

Ben

I was 24, you were 21 years old. I hated your attitude, you liked mine, I still don’t know why. I was the biggest goofball on the planet.

Kim

Didn't you like me?

Ben

*Chuckles*

It was something you'd said earlier, I remember it. I'd made a joke about world peace and then you made a joke about Africa, no one laughed. I remember that was hella embarrassing.

Kim

It was really that bad?

Ben

Racist and condescending without a doubt. The most offended I'd been in a while.

Kim

Oh well, how'd I pull that back?

Ben

You apologised, you'd asked me out for a coffee. I said only if you bought me cake.

Kim

And I did?

Ben

I had been joking at the time but yes, you bought the whole thing.

Kim

Wow, I did that?

Ben

It didn't work the way it was supposed to as a gesture, I thought you were showing off how rich you were.

Kim

But I was never rich at all, I just had a third hard car for my job.

Ben

I realised a month later. I ended up buying you a pecan pie.

Kim

I'm allergic.

Ben

Biggest waste of cake ever. Good thing you didn't eat it. But you didn't tell me you were allergic. I still wonder what you would have done if I'd asked you to eat it in front of me.

*silence, she buries her face into her knees*

Kim

I would have eaten it, I'd already made up my mind to. The hospital was twenty minutes away and it would have taken me pretty much eating half the whole thing for my throat to close.

Ben

You remembered?

Kim

No, not exactly. I remember the cake. There were so many and the whole thing was so ridiculous.

Ben

My parents loved them.

Kim

I bet my mother would have loved them, I don’t know, my mother!

Ben

She's in the beyond, or heaven rather.

Kim

Can I see her?

Ben

You know how to get there

Kim

No, I don’t. I-

*Ben reaches over pulling himself against her in an over powering embrace.*

Ben

Just be here in the moment with me, please.

Kim

Don't touch me!

Ben

You can feel it can't you Kimmy, I'm there in your heart aren't you?

You can feel my presence trying to be free. In this world there are no 'bodies'. There's nothing there to feel but you feel my presence. You remember this touch as powerfully even though you have no nerve endings, no skin, no flesh, no bone.

*Ben moves to her reaching down over her, with no force, simply touching her cheek which she leans into, pressing herself closer into his fingers. *

Ben

Please Kimberly, before it's too late! See me.

Kim

*Kim retreats but never separates from his hands before kissing his palms and pulling into him.

*She's taking deep breathes trying to pull herself together. *

No! I can't do this. You can't make me.

*She breaks away from him pushing him backwards*

(New part)

Ben

I can't, I never could. You have unlimited power, this is no longer my world. Only your sanity or madness can keep you here or take you beyond. You need to work it out.

Kim

For someone who has no power, how come I feel like I am being crushed by you.

Ben

It's not what I mean to do

*Backs off completely*

Kim

Would be strange if it were deliberate. Or maybe strange if it's the other way around. I don’t know.

*Stares down*

Cake, seems like such a silly thing, immature. And I mean it's pie. That you bought. It's in the name

Ben

You never complained before.

Kim

I'm not the same person have you considered that?

Ben

Of course, there is much different to you. But there's just as much it's exactly  the same. You still hug your knees when you're upset. Try not to bite your lip so you end up stuffing both your lips into your mouth as if that's better. Even in death it's still all there.

Kim

That's doesn't mean a thing. You said it yourself my body in the real world, or, or the world where I was before. I don’t know anymore.

Ben

You know much, you're pretty ingenious to have caught as much as you have. Yes, with every second that passes, In fact time is nearly complete.

Kim

See? There it is.  You say one thing then you say another. You say I have unlimited power now you're saying I can't stay here, my time is up.

Ben

*Smiles Warmly, (laughs, chuckles)*

I never said your time is up.

Kim

Yeah, yeah. Nearly up.

Ben

No you misunderstand. It's not your time that's nearly up.

Kim

*Silence*

I don’t understand. These are your chambers right?

Ben

Yes and they will be travelling with me for a while, that these chambers pass with me, your own chambers will form.

Kim

*Eyes him suspiciously*

And where would you be going? You're supposed to be my soul mate and not Steven. You wanted me to acknowledge you, look to you, but now you're talking about leaving me, what happened to the 'Intertwined paths'

Ben

*Sighes*

I happened to them, but like I said before I have no regrets, the choices I made and now the choices I have to live with.

Kim

What are you talking about?

Kim

What are you talking about? What are you saying this time, I thought you wanted it?

Ben

I'm not, I savouring moment, every passing second. I need to be sure I savour enough to last a life time. Multiple life times.

Kim

What about my remembering?

Ben

You will just have to do it on your own time, there will be an infinite amount of it for you to forgive yourself enough to remember.

Kim

Forgive myself?

Ben

Why else would you be having this nightmare of a hard time allowing yourself to enjoy the good you have in your living years. There was a great amount of happiness there. No hurt.

Kim

But I don’t want you to leave. Can't you try staying longer?

Ben

I was fortunate for the time I had irrespective of how it was spent. You're right. I claimed you have all this power but all I've done is make choices for you.

Kim

Will I see you again? In heaven?

Ben

That means you're not going to follow after Steven?

Kim

You've proven that I'm not a very convincing person. Heh. I have but at the same time every time I've fought with you all I could think about getting to him but there was a pang in my heart every time I say his feet. Each one turns my feet into lead. But don’t misunderstand I will go. I promise you I will, I just can't right now. I owe him that much.

Ben

You're bargaining with me. Why? You owe me nothing, you owe Steven nothing. What either of us offer you shouldn't make any difference to you unless you want it to. You have to want before you can need.

Kim

I can't forget him Benjamin.

Ben

*laughs*

Yes Benjamin, good! But you're the one making a mistake there. I am not suggesting you forget him. We all choose, yourself included to go to earth in order to forge new memories and build your soul. Your memories are the only real things you have. Good and Bad. The pain of all of the most painful memories will lose their sting but will and should stay with you because they are the muscle that holds your soul together. So never forget him but don't let that be the reason you are thrown into purgatory. That's not the way to live your own life.

Kim

You, telling me to be alone,

Ben

Kimberly, never alone. Ever stopped and looking at the sun's light with a smile with no particular reason behind it. Ever looked at a daunting task and simply thought I can do this because you have the strength to move on. Those are the positives thoughts and emotion of people who love you. That sensation will multiply as soon s these chambers pass and you will feel more love than you could ever imagine possible. Just wait, be patient and you'll feeling it all as soon as I pass over.

Kim

Pass over?

Ben

By now you're already started to figure it out.

Kim

I am not going to see you again am I?

Ben

No

Kim

Then why? Why do all of this? Why do any off this?

Ben

To keep you from hurting your own heart by closing a piece of it off. As you've been doing for so long. Am I right?

Kim

*Steps back*

It's not my fault.

Ben

No one said, or even suggested that it was! And so you'd made a decision for once that was not for anyone. Just once. And finally so you'd be able to be free of all and any painful baggage you're holding.

Kim

Including any and all feelings for you? This wasn't just about Steven was it? This was about you and about us.

Ben

You were guaranteed to launch yourself into purgatory.

Kim

But you're allowed to?!

Ben

*Silence*

Yes, you've figured it out.

Kim

You would martyr yourself you smug a*s! You said coming to the world of the living was a choice with consequences. So your consequences are going to hell? You don’t have the right to be a martyr! None what so ever!

Ben

You can be a martyr with your life but not with your soul. It's too big.

Kim

And you still did it. Everything you've said to me!

*Runs up to him and beats at him*

Everything!

It's a lie!

A waste, you are a hypocrite!

A lair!

You never deserved me!

You're willing to let me pass from you twice.

Twice now you're going to let me watch you die!

Ben

*fights with her until he's holding her.*

You remember don’t you?

Ben

You promised!

You used to make a promise after promise but now you've broken the same one promise.

You said we'd never be apart!

*smoke starts to rise up, consuming them both.*

I loved you benjy.  I loved you more than I loved anything or any one. You wanted me to remember. I remember this! I remember you're leaving! You left me behind. You're leaving me behind again.

Ben

Kim, if only you know how much it hurt me to do what I did. I'm sorry. I've never been more regretful of anything in my life. You will always be my soul mate.

Kim

*Both of them sink into the steam*

*Only Kim remains*

*Steam fades*

This can't be happening to me. Not again.

*Tearful but furious she faces the crowd*

I remember!

I remember every single second of it.

The way my skin tingles in a way that would linger for hours after he left.

I remember how completely happy he made me, we were unrealistic! Impossible! But we were never a lie! Blatant and beautiful as any amazing truth could be. I can't believe I'd ever been so happy. So whole.

Why take that away from me?

Why twice?

Do you hear me, do you see me God?

Do you understand even a fraction of the pain I feel? If you did you couldn't accept it!

What do you want from me?

*Lover's tone folds into herself.*

What is it that you need that would make you take away every piece of happiness you have given to me.

Why did you give me a man like Steven? I can't imagine why I ever thought what I felt for Steven could ever match what I felt for Benjamin. And when I remember when it all finally returns to me and I remember what love is you TAKE IT AWAY!

What did I do to deserve this. Twice, I lost the people I cared for most. Twice you took away the reason for my happiness, they were the air I breathed!

*Huge exasperated scream.*

Heavy panting, stares wide eyed to regain her composure.

Is that it? Is it exactly what Ben said? I'm not breathing air. I can't rely myself on Steven?

He's not supposed to be so important?

Or is it me who's supposed to be important??

Is that it?

Is that why you keep pulling my life support?

Fine! Okay the air I breath will be the air I breathe!

I swear.

There is no need! Only longing.

We aren't one soul but two souls following the same path!

I will learn to love myself. I will believe I am deserving of all that you give, just, please. Please promise me you'll give him back!

*Silence.*

Please!

*Silence*

Even here you're silent?

Then give me something else. I will accept anything, any thing! Any sign or symbol.

*silence*

Even if I never see him again, he doesn't deserve purgatory!

Let him free and feel my love, anything but what he has now. Let us be whole and loving even if we're not together.

*Drops to her knees in a praying position her face in front of her hands.*

 Please father, I pray to you.

*Over her head rays of sunlight fell over her and the curtain closes without her lifting her head. If there is a leave type or panel that would be great too.*

 

*Finished.*

Author's Note

This is a piece I'm still working on. Most especially the beginning as I've heard my attempt at creating a distraction with word play didn't really work out. I would mostly enjoy your thoughts on how the whole play comes together.