By Kenny Blade
Part 1 of the "Follow the Lights" series. The Lights begin life after the death of Larry's wife. Larry Light owns a "flea market" store, Light's House. This script deals with accountability and doing the right thing for the right reason.
1 Peter 4:12-19
Larry , father.
Lenny, Larry's brother
Loni and Laura, Larry's daughters
Act 1
(Scene opens with Larry (Dad) sweeping outside the store and whistling the theme song. Lenny and Loni come walking up obviously arguing with each other - Loni is carrying a broken kite…)
Lenny: It's not my fault we didn't have enough room for take-off!
Loni: We had plenty of room for my kite! It wasn't the kite that made it crash! It was Pedro, Mrs. Lemons' chihuaha!
Lenny: … OK, maybe he was a little heavier than I thought.
Loni: (Loudly) Gee! Ya think!
Larry: (motioning for the two of them to calm down) I'm a little afraid to ask, but what happened?
Lenny: We were experimenting with the aeronautical possibilities of canine flight!
(Larry looks at Loni puzzled)
Loni: (rolling her eyes) Lenny tied Mrs Lemon's chihuahua puppy to my kite and tried to get the two of them to fly.
Lenny: It almost worked too! (with nobility) We almost made history!
Loni: We almost killed Pedro! And we totaled my kite!
Larry: (taking the kite from Loni) We can fix it, Loni. (looking at the broken kite) If not, well… maybe we can get another one when we go to town this weekend. Lenny, maybe we need to leave the neighbor's pets out of our science experiments in the future.
Lenny: You know, I'll bet Thomas Edison suffered for his genius just like I do…
Loni: Maybe so, but at least the neighborhood animals could walk through his yard without being tied to a kite and dragged down Maple Street!
( Loni and Lenny walk past Larry into the Flea Market)
Larry: (calling to them into the market as he sweeps) What say the two of you do me a favor and re-price those new shelves. Mark everything $1.00 please!
Loni and Larry: Ok!
(At that moment Laura comes walking up looking very down - kicking the ground as she walks)
Larry: Back so soon, Laura? I thought you were going to Kelsey's to play. (Laura walks past him as if she hasn't heard him - Larry begins speaking into the broom handle) Hey! Earth to Laura! Come in Laura!
Laura: (stopping - only faintly realizing Larry is talking to her) Oh. Hi Dad. What are you doing?
Larry: (Staring at the broom) Well, I was just shoveling the snow from this sidewalk and then I was headed in to fix spaghetti for the president. He's coming over tonight!
Laura: Very funny, Dad! (Sits down on bench with her hands under her chin)
Larry: (sits down beside her) Sorry. I was just trying to cheer you up. You look pretty down. You want to talk about it?
Laura: No. I'd rather not. ( Larry gets up and begins sweeping again)
Larry: Well I'm here if you want to talk.
Laura: No. I can't talk about it. (Dad nods) Even if I did it wouldn't do any good.
Larry: I understand. (resumes sweeping)
Laura: Boy, I sure wish she did!
Larry: You sure wish who did?
Laura: Kelsey! That's who! But I don't want to talk about it!
Larry: Ok! I understand! (resumes sweeping)
Laura: Sure you understand! What I wish is that Kelsey understood!
Larry: (stops sweeping) What does Kelsey not understand?
Laura: I don't want to talk about it!
Loni and Lenny: (stopping what they are doing and yelling) For Pete's sake! Talk about it!!!
Laura: (spitting it out loudly and quickly) Ok! Kelsey says I'm weird because I won't go hang out with her new friends because she thinks they are so cool but I know that they aren't because they do a lot of crazy stuff like they smoke and they steal stuff from the neighbor's yard and they curse and I even heard that today they tried to kill Mrs Lemon's chihuahah Pedro…
Loni: That was Lenny.
Lenny: For the last time, I wasn't trying to kill him! It was a science experiment!
Laura: Anyway, I told Kelsey her friends were nothing but trouble and she says I think I'm better than them! She's says I am a goody two-shoes so she doesn't want to be my friend anymore! (sighs and puts her chin back in her hands)
Larry: (Sitting down beside her. Loni and Lenny come out to join in the scene) I think I understand. It's really tough sometimes taking a stand for what's right.
Lenny: Yeah, Laura. I know exactly how you feel.
Laura: (looks at him doubtfully) Oh really?
Lenny: Sure. One time in 5th grade I had this friend named Stinky… and heaven knows the name wasn't an accident because he had this thing with his feet that made them smell like rotten sardines, only he couldn't help it because he was born with this strange gene that made his toes smell like a scratch and sniff garbage can, anyways…
Loni: Lenny, is this going anywhere?
Lenny: (indignantly) Eventually…
Larry: I appreciate the plight of your friend Smelly…
Lenny: Stinky. Actually Stinkmont Jones the third…
Larry: Whatever his name is, I'm sure he is a nice guy, but I think we need to get back to Laura's problem.
Laura: (standing up) Never mind. I said I didn't want to talk about it and I shouldn't have. Nobody understands! (Runs into the shop and out the door)
Loni: Laura… wait! (begins to go after her)
Larry: (stopping her) Loni, let her go for now. She has to have some time alone. She needs to time to take it to Christ.
Loni: But…
Larry: (smiles and puts his hand on her shoulders) We all need a little "prayer room" sometimes. She'll want to talk more later I'm sure. (rubbing his stomach) I don't know about the two of you but I'm getting hungry.
Loni: I was hungry before the Stinky foot story…
Lenny: Hey, I'm so hungry I could eat Stinky's favorite gym socks!
Loni: Gross!!!
Larry: (laughing) I don't know about the gym socks, but I can have grilled cheese sandwiches ready in about 30 minutes. (headed out through the shop) We'll see if Laura wants to join us.
Act 2
(Scene opens with Lenny wearing goggles and trying to get the top off of a coffee can - Laura comes onto stage from inside the store, but Lenny doesn't see her)
Laura: What are you doing Lenny?
Lenny: (Doesn't look up) Trying to get this lid off this can!
Laura: You going to make some coffee?
Lenny: It's not coffee. It's gun powder. I'm building a rocket.
Laura: (looking terrified) Lenny, no! (starts calling Pedro the dog) Here Pedro. Here boy! I'll protect you! (Appears to be looking for him)
Lenny: Laura! Don't be crazy! I'd never put Mrs Lemon's dog on my rocket!
Laura: (Relieved) That's a relief. I was being crazy. I know you'd never do anything like that.
Lenny: Of course not. I mean, sure he could fly it up in the sky, but I could never teach him to land it.
Laura: (gently taking the can away from Lenny) I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for running off in the middle of your story earlier.
Lenny: It's ok. I know it can be tough when the right thing isn't the cool thing to do.
Laura: It's just that Kelsey and I have been friends since we were in kindergarten. It feels so lonesome not to have her in my life. What if she's right? What if I am a goody two-shoes?
Lenny: Laura, I'm no rocket scientist… (looks down at the "rocket" in his hands) OK., maybe I am… I do know one thing for certain. It's not you that changed your friendship. Kelsey chose to hang out with the wrong kind of people.
Laura: What if Kelsey's right? What if they are good people. Maybe they just need Jesus. Wouldn't I be a good influence on them?
(Larry walks in from the shop where he has been listening unnoticed for a moment )
Larry: I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Laura. I'm sure that deep down they are good kids, but they have made a choice, just like Kelsey, to dishonor God and do the wrong things. You can be a witness. That's what God has called us to do as a Christian. Christ tells us in his word that we must guard ourselves against evil. He says we have to continue being faithful to him… even when it means we have to suffer sometimes.
Laura: So it's possible that Kelsey will never want to be my friend again?
Larry: I'm afraid it is possible. I wish I could tell you things would always turn out like we want them to. You've made a stand for what is right. The next move is Kelsey's.
Laura: Why do things have to be so hard sometimes?
Larry: (putting his arm around her) I don't have an answer for that. I only know that we can trust God. He is faithful. He knows you need Christian friendship in your life. He also knows how much we all care about Kelsey. Just trust God's way… and keep praying for Kelsey and her friends.
Laura: (hugs Larry) I will. Thanks.
Lenny: (consolingly) … and look at it this way, even if you live to be 120 and never have another friend and wind up sitting in a rocker on the porch of some old one room cabin in the woods, you'll still have your old Uncle Lenny!
Laura: Uhh… yeah… thanks, Lenny. (pauses and Loni comes walking out) By the way, you never finished your story about your friend Stinky.
Loni: Laura, why did you have to bring that up?
Lenny: Hey thanks for reminding me! You see, this new kid had moved to our school and I thought he was really cool. One day we were in science class and he dared me to skip math and go smoking in the woods behind the school.
Loni: Don't tell me you skipped school with this guy, Uncle Lenny.
Lenny: Yeah. I did.
Laura: Did you get caught?
Lenny: Sort of. You see Stinky and I had been friends for a long time. Smelly feet and all, Stinky was a loyal friend. He went to the gym and told your dad and he came and got me.
Loni: So you got back to class without getting caught?
Lenny: Not exactly. After Larry pulled the two of us out of the woods by our ears, he made us go the principal's office and tell him what we did. We swept the gym floor every day for a month as punishment.
Loni: Were you mad at Stinky?
Laura: Forget that! Were you mad at dad?
Lenny (shrugging his shoulders) I was mad at both of them for a couple of days. I understood after I thought about it that Larry loved me and just wanted me to do the right thing. As for Stinky, well he was quite a friend. Every day that I had to sweep that gym, he stayed after school and helped me.
Loni: But Stinky didn't do anything.
Larry: Yes he did. He showed all of us what it means to be a real friend. What do you say we close up shop for the day and go down to the park.
Loni: Sounds good to me! Let's go get our softball gloves! (both of them leave the stage through the shop)
Larry: (putting his arm around Lenny's shoulder) Little brother, I'm really glad to have you here with us. By the way, what's in the can?
Lenny: Uhhh… let's talk about it later… we got a shop to close up! (heads into the building)
Larry: (sees the rocket and picks it up) Lenny! How 'bout we talk about what's in the can now! (follows Lenny through shop holding up the rocket and lights go down)
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Copyright Kenny Blade Productions, all rights reserved. This script may be used without royalty, provided no charge is made for entrance to the performance. In return, the author would like to be told of any performance. He may be contacted at al_egater@yahoo.com