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SCENE 10 Monkey-General jumps on howweird's back and howweird gallops off. Ishmael: "STOP that monkey!" howweird stops some feet away, watching. fate: "I want to know if that horse is the one responsible for deserter's death." bystander . o O (the death of desserts... now that would be sad) howweird stands on hind legs and waves his front legs in the air. fate: "But the horse can wait." Monkey-General falls off howweird's back. fate [to Monkey-General]: "And just where were YOU going? It had a very guilty look about it." Monkey-General: "Just consulting with my client, your honor." fate [to flunky]: "Handcuff the prisoner to the Prosecutor, we can't have either of them leaving." flunky: "Yes sir/ma'am." flunky slaps a pair of cuffs over the Prosecutor's wizened wrist and the other end over Ishmael's. howweird is unfazed by fate. Ishmael accepts his fate. Monkey General knows her fate. fate: "All right, back to the photo. Bystander, do you have the photo that was produced in evidence?" bystander shuffles through his jacket. fate: "WHERE IS THE DAMN PHOTO?" bystander: "Well, yes your Honor... I do." howweird wanders off while everyone is paying attention to the bystander. No one notices him leave except Monkey-General. bystander removes the sweat-stained photo from his wraps and lifts it high for all to see. Ishmael can't look. howweird watches the proceedings from afar. fate: "I can see that this photo belongs to the Tree series from the Battle of the Bands, but I can't tell from the details which one it is." howweird walks up closer to the group to see the photo for himself. Monkey-General: "Which band or which tree, your honor?" fate beckons the horse to come forward. howweird closely examines the photo... a black-and-white blurry picture of a man with a blurry horse peering out of some leaves. fate [to howweird]: "Horse, is this you in the photo? What's your name again, NeighWeeird? Is that it?" howweird thinks of the pain he felt when being hoisted up the tree. bystander . o O (drama queen) howweird: "Howwwwwwweirrrrd." fate: "You were in this tree, Howwwweeeriiiirdd? What were you doing there?" howweird thinks of the indignity he felt while stranded on those inadequate branches. fate [to bystander]: "Do YOU recognize this horse? You took the picture." howweird: "Don't ask direct questions... it's a horse... nothing more... nothing less." fate [to howweird]: "Sorry, it's what I'm trained to do... I'm trapped by my job." howweird: "It was me. Yes. It was me in that tree. Who else?" Ishmael considers how justice and this horse hang in the balance. bystander stares at howweird. Monkey-General steps on Ishmael's foot. fate droops her head, overcome with shame at cross-examining a horse. bystander: "Well, the horse in the photo alludes to howweird, anyway." fate [to howweird]: "So sorry, I forced you into the illusion of speech, it won't happen again." Ishmael growls at Monkey-General. The horse seems very calm and docile now. howweird: "I am now ready to speak in full sentences." Ishmael wonders if he could get a life sentence instead of being hanged.
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