Ears

EARS by D.R. Wood

[email protected] (917)-297-8674

2 CHARACTERS ETHAN: Late 20’s. Wheelchair bound since birth. Former mathematics professor who has lived the life of a recluse in his dead father’s house for the last three years. STEVE: Late 20’s. Deaf. Has a skull mounted hearing aid. Ballet dancer. Recently moved back to Michigan to take care of his younger brother ETHAN. MAN: Late 30’s. An incarnation of the boys’ late father. WOMAN: Early 30’s. EUCLID: A rabbit. SETTING A dilapidated house on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in a town named Wabasso. It is a remote place, separated from civilization by expanses of shriveled grass and frozen lakes. TIME February 27th – March 20th, 2009.

*connotes a scene which takes place from EUCLID’s point of view, both visually and aurally

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“A great Manitou came on earth, and chose a wife from among the children of men. He had three sons; the first-born was called Nanaboojoo, the friend of the human race, the mediator between man and the Great Spirit; the second was named Chlplapoos, the man of the dead, who presides over the country of the souls; the third, Wabasso, as soon as he saw the light, fled toward the north where he was changed into a white rabbit, and under that name is considered there as a great Manitou.” Father De Smet, The Forest Tribes

4 A blizzard howls. A single beam of light falls on ETHAN sitting in a wheelchair, holding a white rabbit. He is a shell on the verge of a nervous breakdown. ETHAN I know what you’re thinking. (Beat.) You want to know how? (Beat.) Your eyes twinkle. (Beat.) I know what you’re thinking right now. (Beat.) You’re thinking about murder. (Beat.) You want to murder me? (Beat.) Don’t pretend you can’t understand. (Beat.) I see through you. Your eyes twinkle. They light up when I talk. I know you’re translating English into Rabbit. I see it. The pause you take before looking around like you don’t know what’s going on. I see past it. I see past your bunny veneer. You think you’re clever? So am I. Eyes are windows to the soul. Haven’t you heard? I see your soul you bastard. (Beat.) I know you can understand me. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m saying. Don’t pretend you can’t talk. You can talk. I know you can you son of a bitch. I see the way you stare at me. You’re cooking something in there... Cooking a plan? Found you out didn’t I? Don’t look away you little bastard. (Beat.) You can’t kill me. I’ll kill you first. You opened a can of shit. Because I choose to win. If there can only be one of us that person’s me. You’ll wish you’d never opened it up. Because I’m bigger than you, and I’m smarter than you. And I’ll snap your tiny stupid neck like a green bean. Look at me! You’re just rabbit. (The light goes out as suddenly as it appeared. The blizzard remains but loses intensity, and soon another sound emerges – a radio – the last notes of Beethoven’s

5 Violin Sonata No 5, followed by the radio host – the WOMAN.) (*Light slowly returns but it is filtered through enormous blades of grass and mounds of snow. Quick, animal breathing is heard, and a rapid heartbeat. STEVE is seen. He is wrapped in winter clothes, though not nearly enough, and digs through permafrost, uncovering rooted cabbage. The portable radio is next to him.) WOMAN That was Jeno Jandó and Takako Nishizaki performing Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No 5. You’re listening to 32.1 FM, your number one home for classical music. Support provided by Fine Stringed Instruments - dealers and makers of violins, violas, cellos, and fine wood music stands. On Grand Avenue and St. Paul, or online at fineviolins.com. (Beat.) A high-pressure system has moved into the Upper Midwest, meaning low temperatures and possible snow for folks in Michigan. (STEVE looks incredulous.) With spring just a few weeks away it’s time to hunker down folks. Stay off the roads, bundle up, and here’s the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Bela Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta. (STEVE looks up and the music begins. He seems pleased. He resumes digging but with new vigor, air conducting. A noise is heard, though not from the radio. It is halfway between murmur and scream. STEVE reacts immediately, bringing a hand to his head. The noise fluctuates like speech. STEVE looks straight ahead, seeing something. The noise stops. STEVE looks at the thing ahead of him. The animal heartbeat gets faster. STEVE comes forward on his hands and knees. He tears off a leaf of cabbage and tosses it ahead. There is a sound of masticating. STEVE stares apprehensively.) STEVE (yelling off) Ethan! ETHAN (from off)

6 Yes? STEVE There’s a… there’s a rabbit out here. ETHAN What? STEVE I said there’s a rabbit out here. ETHAN A rabbit? STEVE Yes. ETHAN So? STEVE It’s staring at me. ETHAN It’s staring at you? STEVE Yes. ETHAN So what? STEVE (to rabbit) Shoo. (It doesn’t move.) ETHAN It’s freezing. (Beat. STEVE stares at the rabbit.) Steve? (STEVE’s connection with the rabbit is trance-like.) STEVE I’m not done.

7 ETHAN There’s a storm coming. STEVE I’m not done. ETHAN I don’t like cabbage. (Beat.) It tastes like piss. STEVE I’m not finished. ETHAN I hate it. STEVE I don’t care. ETHAN Fine. Stay out with the rabbit, then. (STEVE stares. The murmuring is heard again but it is barely perceptible. He tears off a leaf of cabbage and eats it. He tosses another leaf, which the rabbit eats.) STEVE It’s not moving. ETHAN Is it dead? STEVE It’s just staring. ETHAN Well get away from it. STEVE Why? ETHAN It’s probably rabid. STEVE

8 I know it’s a rabbit. ETHAN I said rabid. STEVE It’s not rabid. ETHAN Get away from it. STEVE I think it’s friendly. ETHAN Animals that don’t run away aren’t friendly, they’re rabid. STEVE It’s not rabid. ETHAN It’s a wild animal. STEVE You like animals. ETHAN I like animals that aren’t foaming at the mouth. STEVE It isn’t. ETHAN I like domestic animals. STEVE A rabbit’s domestic. ETHAN A domestic rabbit’s domestic. That’s a wild animal. (Beat.) STEVE (to rabbit) Are you a wild animal? (STEVE’s words stretch and echo and the rabbit’s breath and heartbeat amplify.

9 Then another sound creeps in – a young boy whimpering. The lights fade and in the darkness a MAN’s voice is heard.) MAN Stop crying. Look at me. Look at me. Look at you crying. Look at me. I’ll knock the water right out of your eyes. Now open your mouth. Good young men don’t have filthy mouths. You know how good you have it? You know what my Daddy’d do to me? You think it hurts? How much do you think a hammer hurts? Look at me. I said look at me! Now open your mouth! (Lights re-emerge inside an old house. ETHAN is in his wheelchair examining a chessboard. A small cage is near him. The door bursts open and STEVE enters like a hurricane, covered in snow, shoving the door shut behind him. He’s holding a book. He peels off his winter clothes and opens the refrigerator, pouring a glass of milk.) STEVE Jesus shit. Spring’s in three weeks. Unbelievable. (No response from ETHAN.) You want any? ETHAN I never want milk. STEVE Got a book for you. ETHAN What book? STEVE Math thing. (ETHAN glances at it.) ETHAN Liber Abaci? STEVE You read it?

10 ETHAN (haughtily) Yes. STEVE It’s historic. ETHAN I know. STEVE What’s it about? ETHAN You wouldn’t get it. STEVE I kept the receipt. ETHAN It’s freezing. STEVE Dug the cabbage out. They take a lot but… well. (He sits at the chessboard in front of the white pieces with his milk and cabbage head, which he eats raw. He hits the timer and they begin. STEVE and ETHAN play chess the way most men watch football – with overabundant conviction. STEVE hums the Bartok symphony.) You name it? ETHAN Name what? STEVE The rabbit. ETHAN No. STEVE Why not? ETHAN Because rabbits eat their own feces. (Beat.)

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STEVE Been feeding him? ETHAN It’s gonna die anyway. STEVE (stopping) You haven’t fed him? ETHAN It has rabies. STEVE Christ. (He turns off the timer, gets a leaf of cabbage.) Drinking much? ETHAN No. (STEVE puts the leaf in the cage and returns. He smells ETHAN and looks suspicious. He hits the timer again.) STEVE Feed the rabbit, Ethan. ETHAN It hates the light. I have to keep it in the dark or else it… (ETHAN demonstrates physically.) STEVE You’re starving it. ETHAN It stares at me. STEVE He likes you. ETHAN It doesn’t like me. STEVE

12 If you’d feed himETHAN I don’t want it. STEVE You like animals. ETHAN I don’t want it. STEVE Get rid of him, then. ETHAN You brought it in. You get rid of it. Stop humming. (STEVE stops.) It’s aggravating. (Beat.) Are the pipes wrapped? STEVE Yesterday. I told you that already. Two times. ETHAN Should have done it in September. STEVE You said that three times. ETHAN It wouldn’t have burst if you’d done it in September. The whole basement’s ruined. STEVE What’s ruined? It’s a basement. ETHAN Pictures. STEVE Of the happy family? ETHAN They were mine. STEVE (looking at his legs) Spend a lot of time in the basement?

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ETHAN You should have wrapped them in the fall. STEVE I don’t live here. ETHAN I can’t do it, it’s down all them stairs. STEVE I don’t live in a derelict shack. ETHAN This was your house. STEVE It was dad’s house and now it’s a box of soggy photographs. (Beat.) You need a pet. ETHAN I won’t name a rabbit. (STEVE turns off the timer.) ETHAN What? STEVE You’re an ass. ETHAN Am I? STEVE You’re not? ETHAN No. STEVE (turning it back on) My mistake. ETHAN (turning it off) I hate sarcasm. STEVE

14 It isn’t difficult. Pick a name. Name him “bunny.” ETHAN Why would I dignify it? STEVE Prove you’re not a sociopath. ETHAN I guess I’m a sociopath. STEVE Fuck you, Ethan. ETHAN (staring) Fuck me? (Incensed; ETHAN wheels himself to a drawer, opens it, and tosses a belt at STEVE’s feet. It is leather and has a massive iron buckle with a spiral insignia.) What’s that? Early Easter present? (Beat.) STEVE Where’d you get that? ETHAN

His bed. STEVE What? ETHAN It’s not funny. STEVE Am I laughing? ETHAN Been saving it? STEVE

Saving it? ETHAN

15 I went past his door and caught a glint. It was lying on the bed he died in. Are you nostalgic? STEVE Nostalgic?? ETHAN Don’t lie to me! I see your eyes I know when people are lying to me! STEVE Is this a joke?? ETHAN Don’t look at me like I’m geriatric, I’m four years younger than you. STEVE I haven’t seen thatETHAN Neither have I. STEVE Fine. ETHAN “Fine?” STEVE I don’t know where you found it. ETHAN I didn’t find it. STEVE Fine. ETHAN Stop saying “fine!” STEVE I don’t care. ETHAN You don’t care? STEVE

16 No, I don’t. ETHAN I find that hard to swallow. STEVE Swallow harder. ETHAN

You don’t care? STEVE Name the rabbit. ETHAN We’re talking about the belt. STEVE I don’t care about the belt. ETHAN Why? STEVE Please. ETHAN No. STEVE Name it. ETHAN I won’t. STEVE I’m gonna count and if you haven’t named the rabbit I’ll knock this whole board over I swear to God. ETHAN What? STEVE Three. ETHAN No you won’t.

17 STEVE Two. ETHAN Don’t knock it over, Steve. STEVE One. (He goes for the chessboard.) ETHAN Euclid! (Beat.) STEVE What? ETHAN Don’t knock the board over. STEVE Was that a name? ETHAN I said Euclid. STEVE What’s Euclid? ETHAN A mathematician. STEVE Sounds like a car. ETHAN It’s a name. STEVE That’s the worst pet name I’ve ever heard. (STEVE checks the clock and puts his coat back on.) ETHAN Maybe for you.

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STEVE Well he is your rabbit. ETHAN It’s not my rabbit. STEVE Should I return the book? ETHAN No. STEVE What are you doing today? ETHAN Masturbating. (Beat.) STEVE You’re lucky I’mETHAN (snapping) Don’t call me lucky. (Beat.) STEVE Well don’t drink. (ETHAN just stares at him.) There’s soup in the fridge. Heat it up. I’ll be back in the morning. (He pets EUCLID with his finger through the cage and exits.) (Lights dim and a piece of the ceiling comes crashing down. On it is written – February 27th – 21 Days Till Spring.) (It is nighttime. The blizzard rages and the house groans. ETHAN watches the window, holding the belt, and nursing a lowball glass. He retrieves a bowl of soup, taking a bite and making a sour expression. He faces EUCLID’s cage,

19 looking at him through the grate. Eventually he goes to the cage, opens it, puts the bowl inside, and closes it again.) ETHAN You must have a strong stomach. (Beat.) I don’t like you. (Beat.) It’s cabbage. And water and… carrots. No spices. No chicken. No nothing. Just cabbage. Some shit maybe. You’d like that. Your uncle eats them raw. It’s his attempt to make food for humans. He’s a vegetarian. He’s an enthusiastic vegetarian. (Beat.) Oh have as much as you want. Please. Every week I pray he doesn’t make another pot and then he does and what am I supposed to do? Send it back? (He examines EUCLID.) You know what I’d really like? (Beat.) Beef Wellington. (Beat.) Want a drink? (Beat.) Wonder what a drunk rabbit’s like. (Beat.) Pet you? Not gonna pet you. Don’t even know you. Probably crawling with disease. (He looks at the belt.) Why are you so calm? Mon lapin. (Beat.) Thought rabbits were supposed to be… (Beat.) Mad as a March hare. MAN It’s February. (It is the same voice from before, though kinder, raspy, and ill.) I’ll give it to you, though, it’ll be March soon anyway. (ETHAN looks around.) ETHAN Who is that?

20 MAN Shh… it’s okay. ETHAN Steve? MAN Breathe. ETHAN Where are you? MAN Come on now. ETHAN Get out! MAN Breathe. Do you want your heart to explode? ETHAN Get out of my house! MAN It’s my house. (Beat.) ETHAN Who are you? MAN You know who I am. ETHAN I w- I want you out of my house, right now… MAN It’s not your house. ETHAN Wh-whMAN Come on. Sit up. ETHAN You’re not here.

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MAN Yes I am. ETHAN Leave me alone. MAN EthanETHAN Go away! MAN ChiefETHAN Get out! MAN I need you to be QUIET, son. (ETHAN does so. The MAN’s voice is caring; fatherly. He laughs.) You’re in a very bad way. Aren’t you? (ETHAN takes a while to respond while he processes.) ETHAN What are you doing here? MAN I’m worried about you. ETHAN Worried about me? MAN I am. ETHAN Why? MAN You’ve got a… sour puss. (Beat.) I want to help you.

22 (Beat.) ETHAN I’m doing just fine. MAN You need to get better. ETHAN I don’t want to get better. MAN Don’t be afraid. It’s me, chief. (Beat.) I’ve missed you. (ETHAN grips the belt tight.) I see you found my belt. (Beat.) I miss the way it smells. It always had a smell, didn’t it? Like birch. Don’t you think? (Beat.) I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you hold onto it for me? What do you think? (No response.) Is that a yes or a no, chief? ETHAN Please… (Throughout the next passage, the ethereal scream/murmur is heard beneath the MAN’s voice.) MAN Please, what? Leave? (Beat.) I’ll leave. But only for a while. I’ll come back when the cosmic cuckoo clock sings. ETHAN (suddenly confused) What? MAN I’ll leave you alone now, dear. You’ll have a nice little vacation before I come back. But remember – everyone’s demons catch up with them. And you’re crippled son, and not much for running.

23 (The presence is gone, leaving only the howling wind. ETHAN looks at EUCLID.) (Night turns to day and ETHAN has not moved. The door bursts open and STEVE enters. He holds a large Tupperware and is eating a cabbage.) STEVE God DAMN! (Beat.) Hey. (Beat.) You alright? ETHAN What? STEVE What are you doing on the floor? (He lifts ETHAN back onto the chair, smelling him.) Were you drinking? (ETHAN looks away.) Hey! Were you drinking? ETHAN No. STEVE You haven’t showered have you? (ETHAN doesn’t respond.) Come on. It’s two in the afternoon. Did you feed him? (Opens the cage.) What’s this? Is this my soup? (He pulls out the bowl and eats from it.) You call this feeding him? Don’t feed this to the rabbit. I made it for you. ETHAN I hate that soup. STEVE Come on. (ETHAN stares off.) What’s the matter? ETHAN

24 I’m fine. STEVE (sarcastic) You look fine. ETHAN I’m gonna take a shower. (ETHAN wheels himself to the bathroom and closes the door. STEVE puts the Tupperware in the fridge and pours a glass of milk.) STEVE Brought lentils. Don’t feed ‘em to the rabbit. (The shower is heard. STEVE looks through the refrigerator for something else, not finding it.) STEVE Installed a grab bar. (No response.) You using the grab bar? (No response. STEVE looks elsewhere, drinking his milk. He looks under the couch, under the table… he looks in the laundry hamper and pulls out a liquor bottle. He pours it out.) How’s the rabbit? (No response. Tosses the bottle. To EUCLID.) He can’t hear me. (He sits on the couch and turns on the radio.) WOMAN …day three of the snowstorm that is currently besetting the upper Midwest. The UP is seeing the worst of it now, with snowfall of up to three feet near Lake Superior. STEVE Hey. We’re winning. WOMAN The storm is expected to break by midday tomorrow. STEVE Crock of shit.

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WOMAN We’ll be back with more on the storm and other news after this. (Bela Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta comes on. STEVE looks happy.) STEVE They’re playing it again. ETHAN (off) What? STEVE Mom’s symphony. (He turns it up. Beat. To EUCLID.) Mom was a cellist. (Beat.) She’s dead. (He puts a finger through the grate.) We danced to this. Me and the Opera Ballet in Chicago. Sort of an experimental, atonal thing. Lot’s of repetition, nudity… I got an award. Bunch of articles. (Beat.) I had a plan. I was gonna save up. Sell everything and buy a sailboat. I don’t know how to sail. I’d learn. I’d take it to the ocean and sail away and… and that would be it. I’d live off the sea. And fall asleep on the waves every night and never see another living person. Ever. I’d fish and distill my own water and feel the wind and smell the salt. Hear seagulls. (He looks out.) I’m deaf, you know. (He pulls off an ear, revealing nothing but a mound of skin underneath.) See? (He squeezes the latex ear.) I have a thing… a hearing aid. It’s an implant. Not good for processing music. They asked how I was able to dance if I couldn’t hear. I told them vibrations. (Beat.) Lesley Stahl called me a national treasure. (Beat.) There was a big benefit. Met the mayor. I look glorious in a tuxedo. (Beat. To ETHAN.)

26 You still have that picture from the benefit? ETHAN It was in the basement. (Beat.) STEVE How’s the water? (No response. To EUCLID.)

I’m the deaf one. (Beat.) I’ve only ever seen big lakes. Never the ocean. How about you? (The scream/murmur is heard, louder than before, and STEVE grabs to side of his head. It stops immediately.) Shit! (He taps a small spot just above his ear. The shower turns off.) Ah… ETHAN What? STEVE My hearing aid… ETHAN What’s wrong with it? STEVE Keeps making this noise. (ETHAN wheels out wearing a towel.) ETHAN Is it bad? STEVE It’s gone. (Beat.) You need help? ETHAN (instantly aggravated) No.

27 (ETHAN goes to the bedroom and closes the door.) STEVE You’re grumpy. ETHAN You’re insightful. (Beat.) STEVE I didn’t put it there. (Beat. He looks at EUCLID.) Ever see that interview? ETHAN I don’t have a TV. (Beat.) STEVE I can bring mine over. ETHAN I don’t want it. STEVE Would give you something to do. Since you’re not reading. ETHAN I’m not a vegetable. STEVE Not a cabbage. ETHAN TV’s mindless. STEVE Not all of it. ETHAN Name a show that isn’t. STEVE 60 Minutes.

28 (Beat.) ETHAN It’s pompous. (Beat.) STEVE Animal shows, then. You like animals. ETHAN Nature shows? STEVE Yes. ETHAN Gazelle get mutilated. Compelling. STEVE Sometimes there’s math. (Beat.) Saw a thing about cicadas. Are you listening? ETHAN No. STEVE You know how bugs have birth cycles? ETHAN (too big) Can I ask you something? What crawled in brain and convinced you I like animals? (Beat. Angrily, calmly, simply, STEVE starts to get his things to leave.) ETHAN Steve? (Beat.) I’m sorry. STEVE Oh? ETHAN I had a dream.

29 STEVE How awful. ETHAN Stop! Stop! (He comes out just wearing pants.) Please. STEVE I have to go to work. ETHAN You have two hours. STEVE There’s snow. ETHAN I’m sorry. Tell me the thing. STEVE No. ETHAN I want to know. STEVE Not in the mood. ETHAN Please? STEVE No. ETHAN Please? Cicadas. (STEVE quickly tells him while he finishes putting on his clothes.) STEVE (angrily) It was about a cicada. Its birth cycle is always a prime number of years. It’s harder for predators to match up. I thought you’d be interested in nature being math savvy. (ETHAN nods, trying to look interested.) Don’t patronize me. That’s what I got you a pet for.

30 ETHAN I’m sorry. STEVE Don’t worry about it. ETHAN (indicating chessboard) We could finish. STEVE (opening the door) I’ll see you. (STEVE slams the door causing another piece of the ceiling to fall. It reads – March 7th – 13 Days Till Spring.) (ETHAN is asleep in the wheelchair facing the chessboard. The door is blown open by the blizzard, waking ETHAN with a fearful start. He closes it. He gets a glass, goes to the hamper, rifles through and doesn’t find anything; annoyed. He sets the glass down and goes into the bathroom. Straining is heard and the lifting of heavy porcelain.) (The MAN appears. He is middle-aged, wears a hospital gown, and a crusty green fluid runs down his mouth, chin, and chest. He drags tubes behind him. He takes ETHAN’s glass and fills it with milk, then sits at the chessboard. He drinks and moves a piece.) (ETHAN comes out of the bathroom with a fresh bottle. He sees the MAN and freezes.) MAN (good natured) Your move. (ETHAN only stares. The MAN glances at the bottle.) Oh that’s sweet but I’m fine with milk. (He sips. ETHAN continues to gape.) You didn’t forget I was coming… That would be embarrassing for you.

31 (He chuckles. Still nothing from ETHAN. Filling the silence, the MAN picks up Liber Abaci.) Fibonacci. Guess that’s what you do when you can’t play football. (Beat.) Didn’t you use to teach? ETHAN You’re not here. MAN He talks. ETHAN You’re just… booze. Like a green fairy thing. MAN Why aren’t you wearing my belt? ETHAN Or bad cabbage. MAN (insulted)

Bad cabbage? ETHAN You’re a dream. MAN (snapping oddly) If this were a dream you’d be dancing. (ETHAN is thrown by this. The MAN recollects himself.) Now I told you I’d be coming back, chief. So here I am. As promised. (Beat.) ETHAN What do you want? MAN You to get better. ETHAN Better how? (The MAN smiles kindly and approaches.)

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MAN (soothing) Do you remember… Do you remember the hot air balloon? (ETHAN remembers.) Saw the whole Peninsula. We saw the highway and Deer Lake and the whole coast and the tiny ships. Saw Wabasso like a bundle of grapes. And it was cold but the heat from the torch kept us warm. You smiled so big I thought your face would just… break up and float away like a flock of birds. Your cheeks were red. You were so content. Nothing behind you. Everything in front of you. And below you. (He lifts ETHAN, and ETHAN lets him. He places him gently in the chair, then wheels it to the window so he can look out.) There’s a weight on you. (Beat.) It can be painless. And then everything that’s suffocating you will just… evaporate. You can make that choice. (ETHAN looks down.) What makes you think he wouldn’t be better off? (ETHAN doesn’t have an answer, and it distresses him. The MAN takes the belt and gently loops it around ETHAN’s neck.) He loves you. He loves you too much to do what’s best for him. You can free him. He’ll drift away on a sailboat. (ETHAN looks confused.) You’ll both have peace. (ETHAN looks at him point blank. The MAN looks back, at a loss; caught in a critical error.) ChiefETHAN (pulling off the belt) No. MAN WaitETHAN I don’t know what you are butMAN ChiefETHAN You’re not Dad. MAN

33 Yes I amETHAN Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up!! MAN Stop that. ETHAN Wake up Ethan! MAN Quiet! ETHAN You’re not real! MAN (The scream/murmur growls beneath his voice.) You want to see how real I am? Say one more stupid thing and I’ll break your arms too, do you understand me? ETHAN You can’t hurt me(He grabs ETHAN roughly by the arm and pulls him in close; growling in his face.) MAN Your tits are showing, chief. ETHAN I’m not sorry. MAN Sorry for what? ETHAN I made a choice. MAN There’s no such thing. ETHAN You’re… MAN (finishing his sentence)

…I’m… pretty?

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ETHAN What do you want? MAN Love. ETHAN (floundering) I don’t… (The MAN pulls him even closer, talking quietly.) MAN Let me paint you a picture then. Imagine a boulder. And imagine that it’s been picking up speed for a very long time, and that it’s almost reached the bottom of the mountain. Because it’s a countdown to impact and there’s no canceling it. Because when all the sand has run out, and springtime pokes its nose out of the ground I will get what I want. But in case there’s still some sanity left in you, here’s a prescription. From the doctor’s mouth to your ears. Kill yourself, or I’ll do it for you, mon lapin. (The MAN is gone, leaving ETHAN staring at EUCLID.) (*The shadows become bars through which the inside of the house is seen. Night turns to day. EUCLID’s breathing and heartbeat, once again, are heard.) (STEVE is seated and ETHAN moves about, frenzied.) STEVE No. ETHAN What do you mean, no? STEVE I won’t feed this. ETHAN Just stay with me. STEVE

35 You smell like rum. ETHAN He’s coming back! STEVE He was never here. ETHAN (indicating disarray) Look at this! You think I did this? STEVE Yes. ETHAN How can you say that? STEVE I know you put it on his bed. ETHAN Look! (He takes the used glass.) He drank from this. He filled it with milk and drank from it. I don’t drink milk. You know I don’t. STEVE (taking it) Ethan, this is my glass. ETHAN No! I washed that one! STEVE You are LOSING your MIND. I told you living in this house by yourself would do that. ETHAN Dad was here last night and he said he was going to kill me! STEVE I thought that’s what you wanted. (Beat.) ETHAN (stung) It was Dad but it wasn’t. He was different.

36 STEVE There’s no ghost, Carol Ann. ETHAN Don’t do that. STEVE Nightmares can’t hurt you. ETHAN No? Look at this. (He lifts up his sleeve.) Look at these bruises. STEVE I don’t see anything. ETHAN What? Right there. STEVE Looks fine to me. ETHAN There’s a discoloration right there. See? STEVE No. ETHAN Fine. Forget it. Let me die then. STEVE Oh good, melodrama. ETHAN He said it was counting down. He said it would end when springtime came. STEVE (looking out window) Looks like you’re in luck then. (ETHAN reacts at the word “luck” but moves on.) ETHAN I know how he’s counting. What you said about the cicadas, remember? The prime numbers? Look.

37 (He takes the chess pieces to demonstrate.) I figured it out. He mentioned spring. He comes on the primes. The ones counting down to the first day of spring. See. Twenty one days to spring, he comes. Last night, thirteen days to spring, he comes. Eleven is the next one. That means he’s coming again tomorrow night. He said he was going to kill me. He said it was fateSTEVE Twenty-one’s not prime. (Beat.) ETHAN What? STEVE And what about seventeen? That’s prime. What was that, the 3rd? Did he come then? (ETHAN looks confused.) You taught math. ETHAN It has to be that. It’s just like the cicadas. Just like you said. (STEVE looks away. ETHAN gets close to him; whispering.) But there’s something else… I think it’s Euclid. (Beat.) STEVE Say that again? ETHAN (hushed) There’s a twinkle in his eye. It’s like he knows what I’m saying. STEVE The rabbit? ETHAN Shhh! It started when you brought him here. I think he’s doing it. STEVE No.

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ETHAN I wouldn’t say it unless I thought it were true. STEVE Did you hurt it? ETHAN I want to. I think about it but when I do I feel like he knows… STEVE I’m worried. ETHAN So am I! (STEVE takes the used glass and goes to the fridge to refill it.) STEVE No, I mean I’mETHAN What are you doing? STEVE What? ETHAN Don’t do that. STEVE

This? ETHAN Yes! Don’t do that! STEVE Drink milk? ETHAN Just don’t. STEVE I don’t believe this. ETHAN

39 Steve. (STEVE brings the glass to his lips and ETHAN knocks it clear out of his hand, spilling the milk.) Don’t cry now. (Something cruel bubbles through STEVE and explodes. He hits ETHAN across the face. EUCLID’s breathing and heartbeat quicken. The sound of a whimpering child floats momentarily in the air. The cruelty dissipates and STEVE is suddenly regretful.) ETHAN Like father like son, then. STEVE That’s not funny. ETHAN Are you gonna cut my ears off? (STEVE looks at ETHAN like he wants to hit him again.) STEVE You’re out of control. ETHAN I’m out of control? What about your fists of fury? I don’t know who to be more afraid of, him or you. STEVE (grabbing ETHAN’s face) YOU ARE A CRAZY PERSON, ETHAN! (Beat.) Dad has been dead for five years! I don’t know if you’re trying to drive me crazy so that you can have company but you are destroying me with the belt, with this… Turn Of The Screw bullshit! ETHAN Then go! I give you leave! Go live your beautiful life! STEVE (big) You quit your job! ETHAN

40 It was mySTEVE (exploding; finally) Your what? Your choice?? It was the WRONG CHOICE! You need me! Like you needed him! Like you still do! You need me to make your meals and shovel your walk and put up with your fucked sense of entitlement. And WRAP your PIPES. You need me to work a job I despise. You need me to come over here every day to make sure you haven’t fallen or slipped or wiped your ass the wrong way. You can’t take care of yourself. You never could. ETHAN You wanna trade places? (STEVE moves to say something then doesn’t.) What? What were you gonna say? STEVE Nothing. ETHAN What is it? Bile? Cough it up. (Beat.) STEVE You know why you really need me here? ETHAN Regale me. STEVE Because you’ll never stop being a shit kicker from Wabasso. Because you’ll never leave that chair and you’ll never leave this house. (Beat.) ETHAN You think I’m jealous of your legs? (STEVE looks away.) You think I’m jealous of your life? No. You’re right. I don’t like being a cripple. It is not a pleasure funneling people’s pity. Or spending my life in this house. Or going to the bathroom and seeing the look in peoples’ eyes that says “I wonder how the poor man gets his DICK OUT.” No. That’s not fun.

41

STEVE I know. ETHAN But do you really think I enjoy being the lucky one? You think I enjoy not having scars? (Beat.) STEVE (incensed) I’m sorry you’re handicapped. ETHAN We’re both handicapped. STEVE I don’t pity you. ETHAN Then don’t. Go drift away on your sailboat. STEVE (startled) What did you say? ETHAN I release you. STEVE What did you say about a sailboat? ETHAN What does it matter? (STEVE stares then looks away. Beat.) STEVE Forget it. (Long beat.) ETHAN I don’t want your care. I’m tired of being that. If you’re not willing to do what I really need you to do then get out of my house. (Beat.)

42 STEVE You’re absolutely right. (He gathers his things.) If I felt like I owed you that’s done. You… (Beat.) I don’t care what you do. You wanna take care of yourself? You want me to stop feeling guilty? Consider it settled. I’m finished. (He opens the door and EUCLID’s heart suddenly pounds and the scream/murmur pierces the air like a javelin. STEVE grabs his head in pain.) AH!! GOD… (He falls.) ETHAN What’s wrong? STEVE It’s my hearing aid… ETHAN Wh-what can I do? STEVE I don’t know. ETHAN Let me look. STEVE NO! No, leave it. ETHAN I have to do something! STEVE Just let me lie here till it goes away. ETHAN Can I get you ice? STEVE Just let me lie here. (ETHAN’s eye catches EUCLID.) ETHAN

43 Oh god… STEVE What? ETHAN Euclid. STEVE What? ETHAN Look. STEVE Just tell me. ETHAN He’s staring. STEVE Ethan I think you’d better call the doctor. ETHAN The doctor? STEVE Yeah, the doctor. Call him. Call him right now. (Panicked, ETHAN grabs the phone and dials, still looking at EUCLID. He gets a dial tone. He tries again… and gets a dial tone again.) ETHAN Think the lines are down… STEVE Shit… (The sound spikes ten fold. STEVE arches like he’s having a seizure.) Aaaahhhh!!! GOD!! ETHAN Oh god… STEVE Get a doctor, Ethan!!

44

ETHAN I can’t! STEVE AaaaaAAAAHHHH!!! ETHAN Can you turn it off?? STEVE No! ETHAN Oh Christ… STEVE You have to get it out! ETHAN What?? STEVE Please!! ETHAN It’s mounted to your skull! STEVE Please!! ETHAN No! STEVE You have to!! ETHAN I can’t!! STEVE I need you to!! ETHAN Oh Jesus… STEVE Please, please! Get it out!!

45

(Shaking, ETHAN gets a knife and comes down off the chair. The MAN’s voice is heard, though it is slow and delirious. ETHAN does not hear it. While the MAN speaks, ETHAN uses the knife to remove STEVE’s hearing aid.) MAN Life’s a silly bitch… My mother smoked two packs every day from age thirteen to seventy eight. She died in her sleep. She drifted away like a sailboat. With a smile on her face. I knew she had something I didn’t. Some people win the lottery. I didn’t win. And my dad didn’t win. And your brother didn’t win. You won. You were all twisted up and tangled and hollering, screaming bloody horrible… Blood all over you and everywhere. Your legs were these… roots. Like a tumbleweed. The doctor looked at me with pity. But your mother looked at you and looked at me like an angel had come down and kissed her on the forehead before she… went away. And I looked down and knew why. It was your ears. They were perfect. Like little peaches. (Beat.) You think you control your life. You don’t. Everything’s a consequence. You don’t choose. Choice is an illusion. You’re given… That’s all. Good luck is the only god worth worshipping. You’re the lucky one. No one else. And no matter how much I envied you I wasn’t gonna spoil that. (The hearing aid is removed. STEVE bleeds on the ground from what is now a massive wound. ETHAN takes his shirt and wraps his brother’s head, then holds it in his lap while STEVE loses consciousness. ETHAN trembles.) (Darkness comes again and so does a chunk of the ceiling. It reads – March 17th – 3 Days Till Spring.) (The sound of the radio leaks in. Night. STEVE lies on the couch, incapacitated. His fake ears are on the table. ETHAN is heating soup and clutching a bottle. He looks even worse than his brother. He speaks occasionally in broken, nervous sentences over the radio. He pays no attention to it.)

46

WOMAN It is day twenty-one of what is now unequivocally the deadliest winter storm on record. Thirteen hundred so far have been reported dead, many of them trapped in their homes, or trapped in their cars trying to reach safety. Eight dozen ships have been sunk, resulting in the deaths of over five hundred sailors. While others sit in their homes, quaking in defiant fear of their inevitable deaths. At the center of this of course is Michigan and in some parts of the state, heavy snowfall and high winds have produced snowdrifts as high as an unprecedented three hundred feet. It began as a two-day snowstorm, but warm air from the Gulf of Mexico colliding with a massive Arctic cold front created a weather system that has simply refused to dissipate. The sudden escalation of the storm caught many public schools off guard and as many as one thousand students across the state are as of now still trapped, recalling the infamous Schoolhouse Blizzard in which similar circumstances led to the deaths of over one hundred students. Just another example of how the best omelets often require breaking the most eggs. The state government has declared a disaster area but sub-zero temperatures and poor visibility have made rescue efforts all but impossible. You’re going to die and nothing can stop it. The blizzard is expected to break by tomorrow, but similar predictions made throughout the storm’s duration have left many skeptical. You’re listening to MPR. ETHAN (over the radio) I think the roof is collapsing. (Long beat. He starts to take a drink but stops and stares at the bottle for a while. He pours it all out then tosses it away. He a wreck but seems focused and purposeful.) It’s Euclid, Steve. He just stares and stares all day and all night he stares at me and every time I think of doing something to him I get weak and my stomach turns like I’m gonna throw up. I think of stabbing him maybe. Or rabbit punching him. That’s how you’re supposed to kill rabbits. Just hit them in the back of the neck where the spine starts and make them die all at once. But every time I think about it I feel sick. He put the belt there, he made this happen to you, he’s making Dad come back, he’s making the storm and I don’t know what he is but he’s doing this Steve, and I DON’T CARE IF YOU HEAR ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!! You’re just a rabbit, do you hear me? And you can’t hurt

47 me. You can’t scare me with your ghosts. I’m in control here. Do you know why? Because I am a man and you are a fucking rabbit. You’ve got a brain the size of a lima bean and if I wanted to I’d smash it all over these walls. I’d snap your tiny stupid neck like a green bean. (The news broadcast ends and Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta comes on. ETHAN calms momentarily. He looks at STEVE. ETHAN attempts to feed him the soup but he is completely unconscious.) I’m sorry I never saw it… I don’t think I ever told you congratulations. Congratulations. (ETHAN unwraps the bandage and checks STEVE’s wound.) (The power goes out. ETHAN breathes heavily in the dark.) ETHAN Shit. (Beat.) I’m gonna turn on the generator, okay? (Beat.) I’ll be right back. Don’t worry. (ETHAN gets a flashlight and goes to the basement. He takes the radio with him, which plays the symphony as he descends the stairs on his stomach.) (ETHAN crawls in the darkness, fumbling. Eventually he finds a switch and flips it.) (A delicate light appears on a young pregnant WOMAN. ETHAN sees her and gapes. The music from the radio swells and fills the space. ETHAN looks at his legs. He touches them. Confused, mesmerized, and overcome he rises to standing. Music tinkling like a toy, ETHAN approaches the WOMAN and begins to dance with her. He laughs.) (Then a bloody cabbage falls from beneath her dress. ETHAN gapes. The WOMAN suddenly, violently, spins ETHAN into a tango position. Underneath her voice, the

48 same voice from the radio, the scream/murmur is amplified to a fearsome level.) WOMAN You dance like a crippled angel. Give us a kiss. (She kisses ETHAN on the mouth and his legs go limp. The WOMAN dances with him, tossing him about like a ragdoll.) I see you’re not dead yet and that makes me melancholy. I’m only looking out for you. You poor loony dear. All this math has fricasseed your brain. But don’t worry. You’ll soon be preoccupied with the state of your body. (She dances harder, faster.) You know what I find silly about mathematicians? They find a pattern and squeal like happy pigs. But they’re only finding what was there to begin with. It’s not creative. It’s reductive. That’s why I prefer dancers. ETHAN I know who you are. WOMAN Ah yes. A tale as old as time. The man and the fucking rabbit! (She tosses ETHAN away. ETHAN points the flashlight in the WOMAN’s eyes, causing her to screech. She knocks it out of ETHAN’s hand and steps on his throat.) I’m sorry. Am I crushing your green bean? (ETHAN chokes.) I hear the pins firing in your brain. They hit the ball which pulls the chain which turns the crank which fires the gun… And I see the end result. And you can’t stop it. So with your last hours do something noble with your life and end it, or I swear I’ll do it for you. And it will be painful. Agony will be my paint and you will be my canvas. Do you understand? (ETHAN gags.) Pray I don’t see you tomorrow. (The WOMAN disappears. ETHAN immediately scrambles up the stairs and makes a beeline for EUCLID. He takes the cage, goes to the front door, opens it, and hurls the caged rabbit as hard as he can, then shuts the door and locks it. He spies

49 Liber Abaci on the table and takes it. He flips through manically.) (He laughs as time shifts, bringing large hunk of ceiling and the phrase - March 18th – 2 Days Till Spring. Lightning joins the storm. ETHAN grabs the knife. He traces spirals on every surface he can find, whilst buried in the book, laughing.) ETHAN Do you know how Fibonacci discovered his famous sequence, Steve? By studying rabbit populations. Ha! Fibonacci motherfucker! Zero one one two three five eight thirteen twenty one. How do you like that? Clever little bastard. You’re a clever little bastard!! Rabbit populations! You got me last night because I was wrong but now I know. I know! Zero one one two three five eight thirteen twentyone… Counting down to March 20th? Counting down to spring? Am I right? Twenty-one days to spring, thirteen days, eight days, five days, three days, two days, one day, one day, no days… It’s why he’s coming when he’s coming. Those are the rules. February 27th, March 7th, March 12th, March 17th. Oh and you can trace it back Steve, I worked it out. Eighty-nine days to spring, a number in the sequence was the winter solstice. You see? You see that motherfucker?? I’m onto you! Spring, winter… and if you go back far enough… November 2nd four years ago. The day Dad died. How you like them cabbages? And look at the belt, Steve. Look at the spiral. The sequence makes the spiral, see. Like a weather system. (He demonstrates by tracing on the window.) You add one and one and then two and three, with each side that number’s length, and then you connect them see, by the corners and look. (The spiral is made.) …the petals on sunflowers and leaves on an artichoke and the curves of waves… or cicadas… (He laughs.) Those are the rules. He’s coming tonight, Steve. And he’ll come tomorrow and the next day but now I know he’s coming. Fate? Fate?? I see through you! And I haven’t killed myself! See? Still alive! Still breathing!! I could run a marathon! You are rabbit and I am man! I am superman! I’ll destroy you fucker!

50 (A new voice, EUCLID’s voice, comes. It is calm and all-encompassing. The scream/murmur is fully integrated.) EUCLID I think you’ve gone feral. (ETHAN looks for the source.) ETHAN Where are you?? EUCLID Let’s have a conversation. ETHAN I figured you out! Admit it! EUCLID You sure did. ETHAN I got your number motherfucker. EUCLID Can we talk? ETHAN You’re trying to kill me! EUCLID I’m trying to get you to kill yourself. There’s a difference. ETHAN I’ll stab you to death!! EUCLID Easy. ETHAN Why would I talk to you? EUCLID An impasse has been reached. ETHAN An impasse? You’re a rabbit!!

51

EUCLID You’re a person. ETHAN Come out so I can see you. EUCLID You’re too imbalanced. ETHAN You’re homicidal! EUCLID And YOU are a hypocrite. I hear choking in your thoughts. Don’t talk to me like you know anything better than I do. I have watched mountains erode. ETHAN You must be very old. EUCLID I am. ETHAN How long do rabbits live? EUCLID Not as long as I do. ETHAN Let me see you. (A flash of lightning reveals the cage, back where it always was. ETHAN sees it.) I knew. I knew from the beginning it was you. Your eyes gave it away. EUCLID Congratulations. ETHAN Eyes are windows to the soul. You’re evil. EUCLID (irked) There is no evil. ETHAN I don’t care what you do to me but Steve is dying.

52

EUCLID Steve will be fine. ETHAN He has a hole in his head. EUCLID I won’t let him die. ETHAN Why? EUCLID Do you think your judgment is better than mine? ETHAN I want to know why a rabbit wants me dead. EUCLID It won’t make it easier for you. ETHAN I don’t care. EUCLID I am righting an injustice. ETHAN I’m not sorry! EUCLID What is your obsession with repentance? I am not here to guilt you. I am here to kill you. ETHAN Then do it! EUCLID It isn’t time. ETHAN When is time? Spring?? EUCLID You refuse to make my job easier. So now we have to wait. ETHAN

53 That must be horrible for you. EUCLID I’m trying to make it easier for you, friend. ETHAN This storm is yours. You say you’re here for justice but hundreds are dying! EUCLID I have seen civilizations SLAUGHTERED. Don’t talk to me about death. ETHAN What are you? EUCLID A rabbit. ETHAN Can you be killed? EUCLID Everything can be killed. (ETHAN attacks with the knife but as soon as the blade nears the cage, he becomes weak. He holds his stomach, reeling.) Some things are just harder to kill than others. (ETHAN struggles to keep his strength. A lightning flash comes, revealing the silhouette of a human figure with long rabbit ears. By the next flash the figure is gone. Mustering all of his strength, ETHAN grabs the cage, wheels to the door, opens it, and crawls away. The blizzard howls through the open doorway.) (The howling morphs into cellos. The rabbit figure is seen again in the dark. Then another one. And another one. And another. And another. They appear from nowhere, walking briskly in cues. They hold briefcases. The shadows of long grass are seen once again. The world spins. *STEVE comes out as he did in the very beginning, digging through the ground. Only he is wearing rabbit ears – the kind

54 you would get from a Halloween store. He notices the front and walks forward. He opens his mouth to speak but all that emerges are scream/murmurs.) (All at once it disappears and STEVE wakes with a sudden start on the couch.) (More ceiling falls. March 19th – 1 Day Till Spring. It is day.) (Somehow, all sound has become muted. STEVE shivers and looks at the open door. He mouths “ETHAN” but no sound emerges. He is surprised. He tries again. He becomes worried. STEVE stands and tries calling. Without a shirt, STEVE’s scars are seen. They run down his torso in long strips. He turns on the radio but no sound is heard. He panics. He bangs on the ground and the walls, throws things, beats his head… He runs up the stairs, down the stairs, to the basement, to the kitchen. Almost out of breath STEVE goes to the door and tries calling one last time. He collapses.) (A cello becomes visible, presented perfectly with a bow and stool. And in the stool is the WOMAN, though her fingernails are long and jagged. She smiles at STEVE. He approaches, then crawls up close to her. The WOMAN kisses his neck. He gives over to her. While she kisses him she points her pinky nail at the spot where his ear should be, and plunges in.) (Then, all at once, sound floods back, only it is more colorful, and more wondrous. Everything is amplified from the storm to the creak of the floorboards. Bartok plays from the radio. STEVE lets the sound wash over him, reveling in it like a lost friend while blood trails from his ears down his cheeks. While the WOMAN kisses him she takes instrument and begins to play along with the recording.)

55 (STEVE is filled with an immense bliss. The kissing moves into sex, though she continues to play throughout. The recording fades until it is just them.) (Lights come up elsewhere, revealing ETHAN’s body, face down in the snow. The cage is next to him. The WOMAN continues to play. EUCLID’s voice is heard.) EUCLID Eyes aren’t windows to anything. The soul is a hoax. A trick. But the mind… the mind is real. And the windows to the mind are the ears. They’re the tunnels to all the gelatin that makes your clockwork spin. There are only molecules and membranes and ligaments. Passion is electricity. And there’s blood. You think there’s something in you that’s made of magic. You’re a bag of blood. And sometimes you leak. And if you leak too much you’re an empty bag. And then you’re dead. And that’s all. (His words stretch and echo and another scene becomes illuminated. ETHAN is sitting next to a bed, and in the bed is the MAN, connected to numerous machines. The green substance is absent and so are his ears. Fake ones, like STEVE’s, lie on a table next to him. He breathes uneasily as ETHAN keeps his vigil. He coughs and stirs and begins to talk, deliriously. He is sick and heavily drugged though when he speaks it is without the gurgle. The music continues under the scene.) MAN Who is that? ETHAN It’s me. MAN Who? ETHAN Ethan. MAN Where’s your brother? Doesn’t he know I’m dying?

56

ETHAN He couldn’t make it. MAN You’re here though aren’t you chief? ETHAN Yes. MAN (kindly; sincerely) Thank you. (The MAN coughs violently. He collapses back into the bed. ETHAN stares at the fake ears. Very long beat.) ETHAN Why did you do it? (Long beat. The MAN looks off, a pitiful creature beneath a horrible weight. He knows exactly what ETHAN means, and it tears him apart.) MAN Life’s a silly bitch… My mother smoked two packs every day from age thirteen to seventy eight. She died in her sleep. She drifted away like a sailboat. With a smile on her face. I knew she had something I didn’t. Some people win the lottery. I didn’t win. And my dad didn’t win. And your brother didn’t win. You won. You were all twisted up and tangled and hollering, screaming bloody horrible… Blood all over you and everywhere. Your legs were these… roots. Like a tumbleweed. The doctor looked at me with pity. But your mother looked at you and looked at me like an angel had come down and kissed her on the forehead before she… before she went away. And I looked down and knew why. It was your ears. They were perfect. Like little peaches. (Beat.) You think you control your life. You don’t. Everything’s a consequence. You don’t choose. Choice is an illusion. You’re given… That’s all. Good luck is the only god worth worshipping. You’re the lucky one. No one else. And no matter how much I envied you I wasn’t gonna spoil that. (Beat.) I did it for the same reason my daddy did it to me. (He is crying.)

57 They were rabbit ears, Ethan. (Beat.) He never told me why… but Steve came out and I… I knew… all at once. They were long… coming out of his head. They were his ears. And they were my ears. I understood. I saw them and knew exactly… He came out of her down by the window downstairs and I… I couldn’t let her see him. I got an axe and took him to the stump outside… (The faint thud of an axe is heard.) ETHAN (teary; angry)

Rabbit ears? (Beat.) I have a memory, Dad. When Steve found a picture of her. Under your bed. And he came to saying she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He talked in whispers with his deaf voice, what he thought were whispers, afraid you would hear him. And you heard him. And you took one look and grabbed his arm and dragged him into the bathroom. You said, “Good young men don’t have filthy mouths.” And you took a bar of soap. And Steve clenched his teeth up so hard and you shoved so hard you broke through them… and the linoleum was covered in blood and bubbles and teeth and all I heard was screaming… he was eight years old… and he was a baby and you cut his ears off… MAN Chief… ETHAN He took all of it. And it’s because I’m lucky?? If I were lucky you’d have done it to me instead of leaving me with this… (He is crying now too.) Rabbit ears?? MAN Chief… (The machines begin beeping and the MAN starts to convulse. He reaches out his hands. He starts choking. A green liquid wells in his mouth and overflows onto his chin and down his shirt. ETHAN backs away toward the door. The MAN gurgles, attempting to beg for help. He thrashes. ETHAN looks at the door… and locks it. The

58 MAN struggles and quakes and still more fluid comes from his throat. He cries out though they emerge as nothing more than suffocated bubblings. ETHAN watches, doing nothing until the MAN loses energy and becomes still.) (The scene disappears and so does the body in the snow and EUCLID’s cage and STEVE is alone on stage, bow in hand. The WOMAN is gone. Eyes closed, he finishes a final note, and then looks out the window. The sun has set. The power goes out.) (STEVE wakes with a sudden start on the couch.) (The same piece of ceiling that fell before falls again, bringing the same phrase. It is day again.) (Sound is again muted. STEVE shivers and looks at the open door. Déjà vu. The scene of STEVE waking up replays itself verbatim. He calls for ETHAN and runs around the house as he did before, turns on the radio, and discovers he is deaf as he did before. But this time the WOMAN does not appear. Instead, STEVE looks at the open door and soon his trance is broken. He dashes into the tempest.) (Lights emerge again on ETHAN’s frozen body. STEVE rushes into this scene and finds his brother. He digs him out. He holds ETHAN to himself, checking for life. He tries to heft ETHAN over his shoulder but finds he is too weak. Eventually he sinks down next to him. He holds him close. The wind whips around them.) (The sun sets and there is darkness.) (The last piece of ceiling floats down like a feather. March 20th – Spring.) (Morning. STEVE is asleep on the floor of the house. ETHAN is nowhere to be seen.

59 The blizzard has ended and the power has returned. Birds chirp outside.) (STEVE wakes, discovering ETHAN’s absence. He panics but then sees where he is. He hears the shower. He notices the electricity. Finally he looks out the window and slowly approaches it. He chuckles. He turns on the radio – it is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. STEVE laughs again, but louder. All it once he is filled with immense joy.) STEVE Oh my God... (He laughs. Then he howls.) We made it. We made it!! Oh God! (Laughing, he goes to the fridge as if on air. The shower turns off.) I’m gonna make you waffles! And eggs! And toast, and coffee, and grapefruit, and anything you want! And no milk. Not a drop of goddamn milk! (STEVE opens it and rifles through the contents. Out of the corner of his eye he notices ETHAN’s wheelchair; empty.) (The bathroom door opens and EUCLID walks out in a towel. He is a man with long white ears sprouting from his head. His hair is perfectly combed. He is pristine. He turns off the radio. STEVE turns and drops everything he is holding.) EUCLID Hi. (STEVE tries to speak but can’t.) EUCLID The shower’s yours if you want it. (Long beat.) STEVE (barely a whisper) What is this? (Beat.)

60 EUCLID Steven. STEVE This is impossible. EUCLID It’s not. STEVE Where’s Ethan? EUCLID Shh… STEVE Who are you? Is this a dream? EUCLID NoSTEVE Is-isEUCLID I thought you’d be happy. STEVE What? Where’s Ethan?? EUCLID He’s gone. STEVE What do you mean “gone?” EUCLID I mean you don’t have to worry about him. Ever again. STEVE No. NO. Where is he?? Ethan!! EUCLID Shhh… STEVE ETHAN!!

61 EUCLID He’s gone, Steven. STEVE Don’t call me that! ETHAN!!! EUCLID I told youSTEVE What did you do?? EUCLID It doesn’t matter. STEVE You, k(STEVE becomes nauseous. EUCLID quickly grabs the wastebasket and puts it under him as he vomits. EUCLID waits patiently. He rubs STEVE’s back.) EUCLID I know. (Beat.) I’ve lost family too. (STEVE looks up and scrambles away, his face a mess of tears and sick.) STEVE Get away from me… EUCLID Steven. STEVE You’re just a rabbit… EUCLID Not anymore. I’m like this now. For you. STEVE Don’t touch me… EUCLID Please don’t be afraid of me.

62

STEVE You’re a monster. EUCLID Don’t call me a monster. STEVE What are you? EUCLID Don’t say that like I’m some… beast. I’m not. And I’ve changed. I became like this so we could… work! (Beat.) Please… (Beat.) This went so much better in my head. (Beat.) Can’t we just… (EUCLID looks at the chessboard. STEVE stays motionless.) Please? (STEVE still doesn’t move. EUCLID gestures with the knife.) Please. (STEVE sits. EUCLID goes to the fridge and pours himself a glass of milk.) Do you want anything? (Again, STEVE is silent. EUCLID sits in ETHAN’s wheelchair and resets the pieces.) I didn’t want it to happen like this. I don’t want to threaten you. I hate it. (Beat.) I know it’s sudden and I know it’s difficult to lose a friendSTEVE

A friend? (EUCLID says nothing. They play in nervous silence. Very long beat. STEVE’s demeanor changes.) EUCLID I know what you gave up for him. STEVE

How?

63 EUCLID I hear memories. (Beat.) STEVE Can you hear mine? (Beat.) EUCLID (smiling) No. (Beat.) STEVE Why not? EUCLID (affectionately) I don’t know. (Beat. STEVE touches his ear.) STEVE They were like yours weren’t they? (EUCLID nods.) EUCLID I fixed them. STEVE That was you? (EUCLID nods. He smiles.) EUCLID Last night meant… You can’t imagine. You probably thought it was a dream. (This thought hurts him, but he stomachs it.) Just looking into your eyes. And feeling your breath. I’ve lived for so long but last night was the… the peak. The best thing. To share that with someone and not hear them… Not hear the pain and the noise. You can’t imagine that kind of peace. (He caresses his stomach.) And… I don’t know. I have a feeling that… I don’t want to get my hopes up. But I do think…

64 (He laughs; teary eyed.) I love you. (Beat. STEVE looks away.) You didn’t owe him anything. STEVE I thought you can’t hear me. EUCLID I don’t have to. Not for that. (Beat.) STEVE He took care of me. When we were kids. Even in his chair he’d come in after Dad left and patch me up and make me laugh. (Beat.) He let him die. (Beat. EUCLID is confounded.) He loved Dad. He was the only person who ever stayed with him. (Beat.) He did it for me. (Beat.) EUCLID I didn’t know you knew that. (Long beat. EUCLID laughs.) That’s what I love about you. You surprise me. I can’t remember the last time I was surprised. Even as a baby I looked at you and didn’t hear noise or chatter I just heard peace. (He becomes emotional; wistful.) Remember… just out there, three weeks ago? That was the first time you saw me. But I’ve seen you… I’ve seen you your whole life. And you left. But you came back. Fate delivered you back to me. And when you looked at me… You don’t know what it’s like to watch someone for so long without them knowing, and then have them acknowledge you. It’s… It’s breathtaking Steven. I’ve dreamed about this for so long. And I know, I know a bird and a fish can’t live together. But now we’re both birds. (Beat.) STEVE (smiling)

65 Or both fish. (Beat.) EUCLID I hope you like sushi. (They both smile. Then STEVE looks down.) I love you Steven. I always have. The first time you fed me… You have no idea what that was like. Watching you all your life and you finally looking at me. And sharing your food. Waiting in agony, and praying you would come back and you coming back and seeing me! And when you told me you look good in a tuxedo. I’d love to see you in a tuxedo. I’d love to see in anything! In nothing! (Beat.) He was horrible to you. He made you miserable. And he kept you against your will, made you someone you didn’t want to be. But I would never do that. You’re free now. I want you to be everything. I want to be with you, Steven. You and me and… and our litter. And the way you’ve talked to me I know you feel the same way. Look what I’ve done for us. I don’t even mind the light so much anymore. I could never come out in the day and now look at me. I want to stay here forever in this house with you. And I’ll be your friend and your companion and anything and everything else you want me to be. I’ll clean. I’ll cook for you. And I’ll eat for two and you’ll get sympathy pains and we’ll shop for little clothes and talk about our budget… And I’ll watch you dance. I’ve never known anyone like you. You’re different. And when I saw you had ears it was the confirmation. That it was destiny. I’ve watched you your whole life and every second I’ve known you makes me love you more. You’re glorious. (Beat.) I’m used to being emotionally independent. (Beat.) Please say something. I’m just monologuing here… (Long beat. STEVE touches EUCLID’s face.) STEVE Can I have a glass of milk? (Beat. EUCLID smiles and goes to the fridge. STEVE immediately grabs the knife, darts to EUCLID and hits him hard in the back of the neck with it. EUCLID crumples all at once and dies. STEVE kneels down and takes one of EUCLID’s ears in his

66 hand. He looks at the knife. He drops the ear. He drops the knife. He goes to the door. He opens it. Spring sunshine fills the house.) (“Back In The High Life Again” by Steve Winwood comes on the radio. It fills the space.) CURTAIN