Quiet Disquiet    by Audrey 李佩華

        The set is simple: a path leading to two buildings in the farthest corner of the stage (upstage left or righ)) and in the background (probably painted as a backdrop) a gate, and a statue of an eagle upstage center. A scorching sun and bright blue cloudless sky. On the side of the path, thin, wooden poles leaning to either side placed about a meter away from each other.

        Lights come up downstage. Enter a young girl, college age, dressed in a spaghetti strap and jeans, accompanied by her guardian, a man in his late thirties, wearing a casual shirt and dress pants. The shirt is already wet from sweat.

Uncle: Did you notice we just kind of pranced in here? No guard at the gate, no ID necessary, nothing.

Girl stands there. Starts fanning herself with her hands. Searches in her pocket and finds a scrunchie. Ties her hair up and away from her face.

Uncle: Don’t they care about student safety?

Girl: Relax, this isn’t Sao Paulo.

Uncle: No, not at all dangerous compared to the city of Sao Paulo, but comparatively speaking, few cities would be.

Girl: True, true.

Uncle: They should have guards full-time and place hidden cameras all over campus! It’s shameful not to have a security system, don’t you think?

Girl: (sarcastically) Oh yeah, yeah. Couldn’t agree more. I mean, god forbid middle-aged women coming in for a bit of morning speed-walking.

Uncle: Exactly. And they could also…(realizes what she just said) Oh, you’re impossible!

Girl smiles sweetly and bats her eyelashes exaggeratedly. Uncle shakes his head.

Uncle: Wouldn’t think you were innocent even if you were clean and perfumed.

They start walking slowly upstage.

Girl: Impossible in this bloody weather! Anyway, I don’t know why you’re complaining so much about security. The dorm was strict as a precinct!

Uncle: Oh yeah, the dorm, maybe, but it just adds to the contrast with the rest of the place.

Girl: You need a keycard to get in the building, then there’s the student at the front desk, then you need to sign your name, and you write the time you got in, plus the room you’re in, and the visitor’s name…

Uncle: (jumps in) All standard procedure.

Girl: …and you need to leave some kind of identification, and they make the male visitors wear a vest, if you can call that a vest, that is. Did you see the vest?

Uncle: I was the one wearing it.

Girl: An old, filthy thing that shouldn’t even be entitled to the category of “piece of clothing”.

Uncle: It’s all to ensure you college gals’ protection.

Girl: And they have a one-hour time limit and they keep to it. I mean, they actually call your room to tell you to kick your visitor out ASAP, and…

Uncle: Okay, okay! So maybe the dorm has a couple of unnecessary regulations.

Girl: Unnecessary? Unnecessary? Dude, the vest! That dirty, yellow, i-have-never-been-washed-in-my-entire-useless-existence vest!

Uncle: Silly regulations.

Girl: Pathetic. Say it!

Uncle: Pathetic regulations.

Girl: (beams at him) You know what? I think we’re learning a lot from each other.

Uncle: You gotta admit though, it’s rather lucky you get such a nice place to live. Despite all the rules and the lack of air-conditioning.

Girl: Yeah, I really liked the rooms. A lot more space than I had imagined.

And the bathrooms; such nice showers!

Uncle: And the laundry room is practical, too.

Girl: Yup. Pretty good start to my new life, dontcha think?

A gust of wind.

Uncle: What is it with the hot wind, anyway?

Girl: Get used to it. Come on! I wanna see the rest of it! (Tugs his short sleeve.)

Uncle: Okay, which way should we go? The courts right over here or straight to the buildings?

Girl: Hm, skip the courts. It’s not like I’m actually gonna use them.

Uncle: Exercise is good for health, you know.

Girl: Who doesn’t?

Uncle: Well, just in case you need the info sometime for whatever reason, there’re tennis and basketball courts over there, this surrounded space is for golf, and this (pointing at it and pausing for dramatic effect) is a soccer field.

Girl: A soccer field! And here I was wondering whether my eyes were playing tricks on me. At least there’s one good thing about this campus. Besides the dorm, of course.

Uncle: (makes a movement of the arms) It’s all yours!

Girl: (Hesitates) Ummm… What’s with the yellow flags all over the place?

Uncle: Uh… you don’t know about the fire ants?

Girl: The wha???

Uncle: Guess no one’s told you, huh.

Girl: Nope. (Eyes him coolly, demanding an explanation)

Uncle: Keep away from them. They bite, and you get terrible inflammation and your skin starts deteriorating. If you scratch, it gets worse. (Shakes head) Simply terrible.

Girl: So…you were only tormenting me with the idea of playing soccer, knowing full well that the field was infested with potentially deadly insects and is now off-limits?

Uncle: Hey! Look at the statue over there! Such a majestic-looking eagle.

Girl: Don’t change the subject!

Uncle: Did I tell you the eagle is your school mascot? Just look at it!

Girl: Ugh! Fine. (glances at the eagle, doubles back) Whoa. There’s something wrong with that eagle. (has completely forgotten she is supposed to be angry with him)

Uncle: You think so? How come? (squints and stares at the statue)

Girl: It’s supposed to be getting ready for take-off, right? But actually… I think it looks like it’s landing.

Uncle: The eagle has landed!

Girl shoots him a look.

Uncle: Sorry, the heat’s done away with the few brain cells I had to begin with.

Girl: Apology accepted.

They start walking towards the buildings.

Girl: Are those supposed to be trees? (points at crooked wooden pole)

Uncle: Well, you can’t blame ’em. If I had grown up in a city as windy as this one, my spine’d be leaning sideways, too.

Girl laughs. Her smile fades slowly. They share a brief look and both sigh.

Girl: Is it me or do the buildings look further and further away as we walk towards them?

Uncle: You should put some sunscreen on. The sun’s making you dizzy.

Girl: No, it was an honest question!

Uncle: I’m serious! Put some sunscreen on.

Girl: Sure, wouldn’t wanna get a tan line in the shape of a sleeve, would I?

Uncle: You’re wearing a spaghetti strap.

Girl: Precisely.

Uncle: I still think you should put some sunscreen on. (Starts rubbing some on his arms and squirts some on his palm.)

Girl: Come on, I’m working on my tan here!

Uncle: People here like being white, remember?

Girl: Must’ve forgotten. Quick! My parasol! (Pretends to look faint)

Uncle: Drama queen. (Offers her the sunscreen)

Girl: Seriously though, I think I’m sweating so much I’m actually losing weight.

Uncle: In your dreams. (Still holds sunscreen out towards her)

Girl: You really wanna interrupt my perfect diet?

Uncle: Hey, you wanna get skin cancer, that’s your problem.

Girl: Okay, okay! (Helps herself to a generous amount of sunscreen and smears the white stuff all over her face) Boo!

Uncle: I can’t believe you’re in college, either.

Girl: And I can’t believe you’re still single.

Uncle: Shuttup.

Girl: I think I should, cuz all this walk and talk is making me extremely thirsty.

Uncle: Ditto!

Both stop to rest awhile, breathing heavily. Walk some more.

Girl: (in a whiny kid voice) Are we there yet?!

Uncle: Almost there!

Girl: Ooh, they are getting bigger!

Uncle: You’re only twenty steps away from that building.

Girl: Gee, where’s your sense of humor?

Uncle: The last ounce evaporated along with the last drop of water in my body.

Girl: Funny. That’s how I feel about this place…

They slow down their steps, but don’t come to a complete stop.

Uncle: (Spreads arms out towards the buildings in a grand gesture) Ta-da!!!

Girl: Must’ve taken them a long time to build those.

Uncle: Why do you say that?

Girl: Well… dust seems to be gathering everywhere, and they look a bit worn, but the buildings are supposed to be new, right?

Uncle: Good point.

Girl: They have a nice… (looks around for something to compliment) roof…thingy.

Uncle: Definitely a nice roof thingy.

Girl: So.

Uncle: So.

Girl: Two buildings, huh?

Uncle: Two buildings.

Awkward pause.

Uncle: Err… so. Wanna go over to the other side to see what the other one’s like?

Girl: Sure.

Go around. Stop. A moment of silence.

Girl: (softly) Thanks for coming with me, Uncle…

Uncle: No problem kiddo.

More silence.

Girl: This is it, huh.

Uncle: Yup. This is it.

- curtain-