THE STORY OF THE WHITE PEARL AND THE BLACK ROSE
BY CARLOS Z.
CHARACTERS:
LUCIFER . The thorny, black rose; male; 17.
MAGIC . The white pearl; female; Lucifer’s mom; 42.
SETTING:
Inside an active, dark, and insidious volcano with the smell of sulfuric acid. The
sound of laughing hyenas echo throughout the darkness. The taste of sorrow surrounds
the malicious rocks outside the volcano, which lies at the center of a dark matter forrest.
The only light inside is from the sun which shines through the peak of the volcano.
TIME:
Twilight on a fullmoon night.
AT RISE:
Lucifer is hopelessly waiting in the darkness of the volcano.
Magic is excitedly waiting for the volcano to erupt.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Magic
I can’t wait! I can’t wait!
[Beat]Hey, Lucifer..What’s wrong? I’ve noticed you’ve been more on the edge lately.
Lucifer
About time you check in. How long has it been?
Magic
I know…I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind.
Lucifer
Oh, really mom? You think I haven’t?..I haven’t been myself for the longest.
Magic
Yea, I know that…But I always try to talk to you, but you always close your petals up on
me.
Lucifer
Really?…Well, you think it’s my fault? You know I can’t open up at all. You know I close
up my petals.
Magic
I know it’s not your fault..I’ve seen it before. The last time you closed petals, you
exploded really bad, and ended up hurting everything around you.
Lucifer
Yea, I know…But you know why! You know that I was once a bright-red rosebud and
was once happy.
Magic
…I know.
Lucifer
Until I hit 4 years old; after everything went downwards. My petals were painfully
damaged after I was yanked and separated from your pearly side for 2 YEARS,
UNFAIRLY!
Magic
I know that, son..Do you think it hasn’t chipped me?
Lucifer
It has, but not as much as me!..During those years when I was separated from you, I
was treated badly in my other garden..I still have unhealable petals from the scary
things that happened to me there. There, in that dark jungle.
Magic
I know..But for the last 28 years, I haven’t been completely happy, myself.
Lucifer
..Why?
Magic
Well, I’ve been stuck in this same volcano for 28 years and I miss my parents. I want to
go back to the ocean to visit them. I really miss them, which makes me sad.
Lucifer
Well, you’re not the only one! Ever since I came back after 2 years, I developed these
long, deadly, venomous thorns as a defensive mechanism.
Magic
How is that a problem??
Lucifer
REALLY!??… Well, you wanted me to open up my petals that are dark and ashy, SO
NOW I AM! The way these thorns are a problem to me is that they prevent me from
having a healthy relationship with others.
Magic
How so, son?…
Lucifer
“How So?” Really!?…These thorns aren’t just any ordinary thorns, mom. They’re long
and sharp with venom in their tips.
Magic
And so what?? Just get rid of them.
Lucifer
It’s easy for you to say!!!..You’re not a rose with thorns. These thorns weren’t always
here. They started growing when I was yanked from my garden, and they’ve only gotten
deadlier and worse as time passed by. I can’t get rid of them myself..I tried to before..I
tried yanking on myself, but I only ended up pricking and hurting myself.
[Beat]
Magic
(Gasping with guilt and sadness)
Oohh…
Lucifer
What I really need is for someone to help me get rid of these thorns so that my petals,
that are covered in ashes and dried-up lava, can be brushed off and return to bright-red
again.
Magic
I try to understand you. I myself wasn’t born a white, shiny pearl. But the thing is, I tried
to help..I tried to get the birds to talk with you, and help you get through this huge
problem of yours..And I’ve been desperate to help you, son. I even asked my sister, the
malicious concerned tiger. I told her that you’ve been lonely and sad . I also tell her that
you aren’t yourself anymore.
Lucifer
I’ve known ever since the beginning, but as I told you once..I can’t open up my petals,
because of all this weight. It’s too heavy.
Magic
You know it hurts me even though I don’t show it. It chips me away, knowing I haven’t
been successful at helping you. I see you everyday, son..sad..and more sad..and lost in
this dark volcano; that you don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve noticed that your petals
have gotten much darker..covered in ash, and dried-up lava. Also, when the birds and
my sister, the tiger, have tried to talk to you, they risked their precious lives having to
avoid your venomous thorns that you’d throw at them.
Lucifer
..It wasn’t my intention to hurt them. I just didn’t want to be helped like I do now.
[Beat]
Magic
Well, I know that the volcano is going to erupt as soon as the moon sets in. So we don’t
have much time and this is my only opportunity to go back to the ocean.
Lucifer
(Angry)
So, you just gonna leave me here after everything we’ve been through!?..
Magic
Son, you know I’m here for you. We don’t have to be separated again! You can come
with me..
[The volcano is about to erupt in under a minute. It’s roaring loud. There’s
shaking, smoke, and bright red-orange lava spewing everywhere.]
Lucifer
We don’t have enough time, mom!..We have 2 choices: You either leave and I go with
you, or we stay and embrace this moment together..and form a strong bond.
Magic
I’m sorry for not realizing how hurt you’ve been, and only paid attention to myself and
my problem.
[Lucifer’s black petals begin to burn off and turn back to bright-red]I should stay with you and help you embrace your future, son..
[He begins to open-up his bright-red petals and Magic pearl jumps inside.]I’m..really..sorr……
[The moon has set. The volcano erupts. Fire and lava spew everywhere. There are
boulders exploding all over the jungle. There is absolute destruction..
In a moment of calm..and in a moment of silence..Lucifer and Magic merge
together. All we see is a big, shiny, bright-white rose, without thorns.]
THE END
