The Bee & the Butterfly - Scene 6 of 7

Scene 6: Paradise, Evening, Near the Pedestal & Book of Life -

Enter Abel, Stage Right; Simon Enters, Stage Left; Both Are Dressed

In Glittery Circus Costumes; Simon Is Wearing an Over-Sized Golden Mitre.

 

ABEL: (Acknowledging Simon)

 

I'm thinking maybe the reader didn't get what just happened.

 

SIMON: (Acknowledging Abel)

 

Or maybe he got what happened,

But doesn’t know why it did.

 

ABEL:

 

Not everyone’s good with stuff like this.

 

(The players converge & embrace)

 

SIMON:

 

Truth is, even the guy who wrote this book

Is no Einstein about the things he reads.

In fact, when he was a kid, he tested out

Like he was retarded or something.

 

They even made him take a special class one summer,

And he still didn’t always get the gist of things in a story -

Even when he was the guy that wrote it!

 

Surprised? Well, sometimes the Gardener

Gets involved in the creative process -

 

ABEL: (Paging through the Book of Life)

 

And there’s never been anyone who understands Her.

 

SIMON: (Gazing Lovingly at the Audience)

 

So, don’t get too offended if we explain some things,

Even though you didn't ask or anything.

 

But if you figure you’ve already got a handle on this,

You can skip ahead. we won’t take it personally.

We’re just doing what we were asked to do.

 

But I’m thinking that you should hear us out

Because we recently learned that we’re immortal,

And that should carry weight in a narrative like this.

 

Anyway, you might wonder why the poet

Didn’t have Myrina arrive in time to save Andre.

I mean, the poet passed up a golden opportunity

To close his play with a grand wedding and maybe

Some lines about the couple living out their love

Against a backdrop of beautiful floral images.

 

The trouble is Paris wanted a happy ending,

And there really aren’t a lot of believable endings

Like that in an eat-or-be-eaten place like the Garden.

 

ABEL: (Admiring Simon’s Gold Hat)

 

Just too many flukes and fabricants de vers,

Not to mention a ton of other problems

Where love is concerned.

 

SIMON: (Nodding)

 

It's all connected to what Andre said

About love being "our great faith" or whatnot,

Especially when you consider how similar love and faith are.

I mean, in life you get a little proof of love and a little proof of faith,

But not enough proof to make either of them satisfying to anyone.

 

Sadly, you get just enough proof to confuse you,

Maybe even make you feel stupid in some ways.

I mean, it's difficult as hell to love and believe

When you’re in a place where those things

Are pretty much reserved for fairy tales

And randomly thoughtful cartoons.

In fact, I would have to say that

The conditions of the Garden

Work against those things.

 

Still, like the Gardener said, when those things do happen,

They "glorify" even her garden, which is astounding -

 

ABEL:

 

Given that her garden is paradise

And probably doesn’t need a lot

Of additional glorifications.

 

SIMON:

 

Love is meant to endure the ravages of Earth,

But it cannot prosper in it because love is spirit.

 

It might help you understand things better

If I tell you another story from my days as a performer.

When we put on an important show, there was nothing

Better or more beautiful to us in the world: The planning,

The crazy costumes we'd wear, all the scenery making,

Rehearsals, and great interaction among the players,

Had only one gorgeous purpose in mind:

 

To please the audience.

 

Sure, to them, it was only a show,

Performed by a bunch of misfit fireflies,

But to us, it was everything that mattered.

 

I mean, even if we didn't know it at the time,

The audience that we were trying to please

Was one that already lived inside our heads.

 

And it was through the honest approval of that audience

That our show had meaning �" And our show had meaning

 

Because we were loved.

 

In fact, Abel used to say that the best time to call it quits

Would be after a show that really wowed an audience.

At the time, I didn't get that. Now I do.

 

When the show is over, all the cheesy Garden stuff

Comes back into your mind, like you never did the show at all.

 

But in those sublime, preceding moments of reciprocal applause,

You know that wonderfully elevated sense of being in a place 

Where audience and player are the same beautiful thing.

 

ABEL:

 

Some call that being one with the universe!

 

SIMON:

 

All I know is, delivering a great performance

Gave me the best feeling I ever had.

 

That’s what a showman does -.

 

He puts on the show of his life; the audience loves him,

And the curtains close with the Gardener clapping her brains out!

 

(The Scene Fades as the Players Rise

And Glow Above the Ruins)

Author's Note

This piece is a part of my revised work, previously posted at WritersCafe.org. It is from a book in which some of the entries are written in prose or poetic prose.