Story Pirates
A White Christmas
Scene One
(Sarah is laying on
her bed wearing a plaid skirt with pail leggings and plain blue button up
t-shirt. She glances up at her calendar.)
Sarah: (Whisper) Today’s the last day of
school! I can’t wait to ask my Mom and Dad…
Sarah’s Mom: Sarah!
Come down for breakfast.
Sarah: Coming!
(There is chatter all
around the table when Sarah walks in the room. Her younger twin sisters,
Isabelle and Annabelle are laughing at each other’s bad Christmas jokes. Sarah’s
older brother, Jonathon, is visiting them from collage, and is talking to their
Dad about politics. Sarah’s Mom is still serving the delicious bacon and
scrabbled eggs when Sarah comes into the room. In the middle of the table,
there is a pretty, blue, purple, and white striped vase that her sisters had
made for Mom for Christmas last year, and is filled to the brim with
poinsettias! As Sarah passes she pats each of the twins on their head calling
them by her pet name.)
Sarah: Morning
Belles!
The Bells: Morning!
(Sarah sits down at
her place, and waits to ask the question that had been on her mind all night.)
Sarah: Um…
can I ask you and Dad something?
Sarah’s Mom: Of
course. (Mom smiles. Everyone goes
silent.)
Sarah: Jessica
and her family are going away on Christmas, she’s allowed to take a friend, and
she wants me to come! Can I?
(There isn’t a moment’s
hesitation after she finishes. )
Parents: No!
Sarah: Why?
I’m thirteen! You can’t just lock me up here!
Dad: Because,
Christmas is about spending time with your family, you can’t just go off
without us.
Mom: And
plus, you’ll miss the Candlelight service at church!”
Sarah: But
it’s snowing in Colorado!
Mom: Colorado!
Dad: No,
defiantly not! That’s too far! (Dad
replies in his I-won’t-change-my-mind voice.)
Sarah: I’ve
never seen snow! It never snows on
this… this rock! (Sarah hits the table.)
Dad: Sarah,
that’s enough. Family is more important than snow!
(There’s silence after
that and Sarah gets up, clears her plate, and runs out to the bus that is
waiting for Sarah and her little sisters. Sarah slumps in the bus, refusing to
cry. The twins don’t even notice.)
Scene Two
Jessica: Sarah!
Sarah! (Jessica yells from across the
parking lot, running towards Sarah.)
Sarah: Hey…
(Sarah is sad)
Jessica: What
did your parents say? Will they let you come?
Sarah: No. (grunt)
Jessica: What?
Why not? (Sounds hurt.)
Sarah: They
say family is more important, but I think they’re just jealous!
Jessica: Oh.
Well who am I going to ask then?
Sarah: Don’t
know, but it won’t be me!”
Scene Three
(Sarah sits down to have lunch; today the cafeteria is serving lasagna
and salad. Jessica plops herself right down next to her. They sit in silence
for he entire of lunch. When they went to get water together they walked past
the backpacks, Jessica’s looked larger than usual.)
Jessica: Stop
for a second
Sarah: Why?
Jessica: Just
close your eyes.
Sarah: OK…
(She responds doubtfully, closing her eyes.)
(Sarah heard the sound of a zipper unzipping, and the sound of tugging
on fabric.)
Sarah: Can
I open?
Jessica: Not
yet!
Sarah: (Sighs) When?
Jessica: Hold
on!
Sarah: Fine!
(There is a moment of silence before Jessica has finished what she was
doing.)
Sarah: OK!
You can open your eyes now!
(As Sarah opens her eyes, Jessica is holding up a beautiful, padded ski
jacket.)
Jessica: I
got it for you. Now that your not coming it won’t be of any use to you, but I
still wanted you to have it!
Sarah: Teal’s
my favorite color! You know me so much better than my parents!
(Jessica drops the jacket to embrace her
friend.)
Sarah: I’ll
hang it up on my wall!
Jessica: “That’s
a good place for it!
Scene Four
Jessica: See
you after Christmas break! (Jessica calls
as she gets into her mom’s car.)
Sarah: Bye!
Have a fun trip! (Jessica smiles weakly.)
Scene Five
(Sarah holds the door open for her sisters,
and hangs the coat over her arm. She waits for her parents to notice.)
Jonathon: What
do you have there?
Sarah: A
ski jacket.
Jonathon: Why
would you…
Sarah: It
was supposed to be for Colorado! Tell Mom and Dad I’m home!
Scene Six
(Sarah
sits down on her bed, in her beautiful scarlet dress with silver lining, and
stares at the wall with her calendar on it.)
Sarah: Christmas
Eve… Jessica’s probably in Colorado by now! (She
blinked once to try to keep herself awake, but decided it wasn’t worth it and
quickly lays down and tucks herself in. Sarah suddenly hears the awful sound of
her creaky window, being pulled open from the outside! She lets out a sigh of
relief when Jessica and her Mom’s faces came into view!)
Sarah: What are you doing here? Its like… 2:00 in the
morning!” (She whispers in a harsh tone,
pausing to look at her watch.)
Mrs. Miller: We’re
her to get you so you can come to Colorado! Come quick, hop in the car!
Sarah: Really!
Here let me pack my stuff!
Jessica: It’s
OK. We bought you some things! Just get in, oh, and bring you ski jacket!
Scene Seven
(By
the time they were on the plane Jessica had explained that her dad and little
sister were already there, at a log cabin that they were renting. As well as
the whole agenda of what they were going to do for the next week. Sarah was so
excited, and so was Jessica!)
Catherine: You
got her! You got her! (Screams Jessica’s
little sister, running toward Sarah’s outstretched arms. Sarah picks her up and
twirls her around in circles until they get dizzy and fall into the snow).
Sarah: Hi
Catherine!
Catherine: How’d
you escape?
Sarah: Through
my window.
Catherine: Wow!
I wish I were there to help! (Catherine
crosses her arms and pouts.)
Mrs. Miller: Come
everyone, let’s get inside and warm up by the fire.
Scene Eight
(That night, when everyone was asleep, Sarah tossed and turned and
thought aloud.)
Sarah: Why
can’t I sleep? It just doesn’t make sense; I’m really tired because I didn’t
really sleep last night.
Mrs. Miller: Hey
girls did you sleep well last night?
Sarah: Yes.
(Sarah lies, and her face shows it, but
everyone is doing something else and can’t see her face.)
Mr. Miller: Good,
because today, we’re going skiing!
Catherine: Aren’t
we going to open presents first? It’s Christmas! (Catherine wines.)
Mrs. Miller: They’re
back home because we couldn’t bring them. We’ll open them when we get back.
Sarah: I’ll
be back, I need to use the bathroom.
Mrs. Miller: OK,
the bacon’s almost ready though.
(Sarah walks into the
bathroom, looks at herself in the mirror, and begins to cry.)
Sarah: No
presents either! Mom and Dad are going to be too upset to give me my gifts, and
they’ll give them to the Bells! (Sarah
whispered to herself, wiping her tears away.) But maybe they deserve it, because I certainly
don’t!
Scene Nine
(Sarah and Jessica are
standing on top of a enormous mountain, looking down on their speck of a log
cabin.)
Sarah: Standing
at the top of this mountain feels like we’re standing on the top of the world! (Sarah yells over the roaring wind)
Jessica: I
know right? Ready to ski?
Sarah: As
ready as I’ll ever be!
Jessica: Then
let’s go!
(Sarah pushes off with the ski poles and instantly it felt like she’s
flying! She rushes around the bends on the path and dodges the mini mounds of
snow that were scattered all the way down the path. Jessica overtook her in one
swift movement and the race had started, but as Sarah began to go faster, she
lost control of the situation and swerved of the side of the path and into the
bush! She landed badly on her right leg and heard a loud snap!)
Sarah: Ow!
Jessica! Jessica! (Sarah screamed and
screamed, sobbing into her beautiful, teal ski jacket.) Jessica help! I’m hurt!
I can’t move! Please help!
(Sarah waits until she
hears Jessica running up the mountain! Sarah’s voice is weak after yelling for so
long!)
Sarah: I’m
here…
Jessica: Sarah?
(Pants.)
Sarah: Yes,
Jessica! I’m here. I’m here!
(Jessica jumps off of the path and lands gracefully next to Sarah.)
Jessica: Oh
no, your leg! (Jessica’s eyes stretch
open as she gazes at Sarah’s leg. It’s bent at an unnatural angle and obviously
painful!) Here, let me help you onto the path. (Jessica struggles to ) Stay here, I’ll get Mom and Dad!
Sarah: OK.
(Jessica rushes down the hill to where
she left her skis, puts them on, and continues on her way down the mountain.) Mom!
(Sarah calls as loudly as she could.) Dad!
(Sarah begins to sob.) I need you!
(Sarah bolts upright and looks around, she is in her bed… in her room!
The teal ski jacket was on the wall, next to her calendar. Which told her that
today was the 24th of December, but it was wrong because today was
Christmas day! Sarah sighed and then laughed, “It was just a dream!” She hummed
the tune of ‘Jingle bells’ as she went and ‘X’ed out the 25th on her
calendar. )
(She rushes into the living room, where a giant Christmas tree sits,
surrounded by presents, covered in candy canes and red and white ornaments as
well as tinsel and a beautiful golden angel at the top of tree! Sarah’s Mom and
Dad are sitting on the couch waiting for the Isabelle, Annabelle, and Jonathon
to wake up. There’s a pot of water, boiling, for hot chocolate, and the smell
of cinnamon fills the air!)
Sarah: I’m
sorry, I’m so sorry!
Dad: For
what? (Dad asks, even though he knows why.)
Sarah: For
being so rude lately! Your right, Christmas is about spending time with your
family, and I was wrong to yell at you.
Mom: What
a relief! I was worried that we were going to have to leave you here with your
grandmother! (Mom laughs.)
Sarah: What
do you mean?
Dad: Well
we were going to wait till everyone was awake, but you can get a sneak peak! (Dad winks at Mom. Then, Dad hands Sarah a little,
brown envelope and waits for Sarah to respond.)
(Sarah doubtfully looks at the envelope in her hands, turning it over
she opens it. Sarah gasps in shock when she realized that the little slip of
paper in her hands with the letters Denver, Colorado on it, was a
plane ticket! She fanned out the tickets and counted them: six! Six tickets to
go to Denver, Colorado!)
Sarah: You
got tickets for us all to go
skiing!