Forbidden  Attraction

By Kennieth M.

 

 

Characters:     HE-MO the Lion, 18 years old, male

                        SHE-LA the Tiger, 19 years old, female

 

Setting:           In the cave, in the dead center of He-mo’s territory. The sound of the birds and monkeys are thick in the night atmosphere. If you inhale too deeply you’d smell rotten flesh,                           urine and dirt. And the only thing you can see is trees, bushes and rodents trying to make it from point A to point B before the sun comes up.  This is Hunters Pride, the                                  deadliest jungle in the world. This is the story of forbidden attraction.

 

Time:              11:00 on a Friday night in Winter.

 

At Rise:           He-mo is in his cave tossing and turning and from the outside looking in you can tell his was having a bad dream.   It’s cold, it’s uncomfortable and She-La has yet to show                             up.  She went out to hunt at 8.  It is now 11  and she’s still no where to be found.  Out of the blue there’s a noise in the cave.  He-mo wakes up…


HE-MO

What, what.  Is somebody there?

(Aside) Hold on, it’s my cave.

Who dares interrupt my slumber?!

 

SHE-LA

Cool it.  He-mo, it’s just me.  If I’da known better, I’d say you were going to attack me.

 

HE-MO

She-La, that you?  For a moment there I thought you were someone else. Anyway, where have you been? I have a good mind to stick a claw up your hide.

 

SHE-LA

Calm down.  You know where I been. Anyway who did you think I was comin’ up in here like that?

 

HE-MO

Don’t matter.  I think it was just a bad dream I was having.  Actually the bad dream I was having.  You know the one about your brother trying to kill me.

 

SHE-LA

Oh He-mo, why must you claw yourself up over Dext.  You know he don’t mean any harm.

 

HE-MO

What in the beavers-dam do you mean he don’t mean any harm?  That little pussy-cat threatened to stick my tail up my… (Interruption)

 

SHE-LA

HE-MO!

 

HE-MO

What – Whatever… and he said he was going to kill me.

 

SHE-LA

Moe, he my brother, he can’t help it.  He just care about me and he just lookin’  out for my best interest.

 

HE-MO

Your best interest? What in the in the rain-storm do you mean your best interest? What do that little snot-nose Liger know about anybody best interest? He’s so caught up in me and your relationship that he ain’t even started his own.  So what does he know about our relationship?

 

SHE-LA

He-mo, not this conversation again.  Seem like we talk more about my brother than we talk about us.

 

HE-MO

Alright.  Whatever.  But anyways, what took you so long to go hunting?  It’s been over 3 hours.

 

SHE-LA

You inconsiderate mangy dog.  You know I’m pregnant.

 

HE-MO

Oh yeah, my bad.

 

SHE-LA

Anyways, I came up with nothin’ again.  Seem like Hunters Pride is running out of buffalo.

 

HE-MO

Speaking of Hunters Pride and running out, have you thought about us leaving before the litter drops?  Like you said, there not enough food left over here.  I don’t want out kittens to be born into this type of environment.

 

SHE-LA

He-mo, if you would just come to Visitation Gully you wouldn’t have to worry about none of this.

 

HE-MO

What? Visitation Gully?! You know I’m beefin’ with all them dam tigers over there.  Besides your ma’s and brother don’t even like me. Not only that but everyone over there want to kill me.

 

SHE-LA

If you would just stop being so arrogant and hard headed and just apologize to my mom for what you said a while ago, maybe she wouldn’t feel like that and everyone else would have to respect us after that.

 

HE-MO

Easier said than done.  She-La, unless we leave these jungles it’s going to be hard for our family to survive with out any fatalities.

 

SHE-LA

But I told you, He-mo, that we could leave the… (Interruption)

 

HE-MO

She-La, shut-up.  Do you hear that?

 

SHE-LA

Who the hell are you telling to shut-up?

 

HE-MO

No. That noise. It sounds like, sounds like tigers.

 

SHE-LA

Tigers? In the pridelands?

 

HE-MO

Dam, it’s a raid.  Stay here, She-La, I’ll be back.

 

SHE-LA

Don’t go out there.  You could get killed.  We have kittens on the way.  Do you want them… (Interruption)

 

HE-MO

She-La! (Yelling) You know what, you say I can be killed and that you don’t want me to go out there, but you don’t want to leave.

 

SHE-LA

But He-mo, I just… (Interruption)

 

HE-MO

She-La, don’t bother.  Look baby. I love you more than any lion would every love you and I would do any thing for you.  I’m going to die fighting for our love.

 

SHE-LA

He-mo, I didn’t know… (Interruption)

 

HE-MO

Let me finish.  I wake up with you invading my mind.  Thinking of you until the point of obsession.  I wouldn’t want any other tigress in my life.  But I also have my down side about you.  You don’t think about my feelings and you act on impulse, meaning you don’t think before you do it.  Like when I caught you sniffing crack – and I’m not talking about rocks.  When I ask why you did it you said he look so good so you had to take a whiff.  And I took you back after you promised it would never happen again.  And I’m (song) feeling really unappreciated taking my love for granted baby.

 

SHE-LA

He-mo, I never knew you had such strong feelings about me, you never told me.

 

HE-MO

I didn’t think I had to, but I guess I was wrong.

 

SHE-LA

Moe, I love you too and the first day I laid eyes on you I know that I wanted to spen’ the rest of my life with you.  But you scare me so much. I know I did something wrong and I apologize for it a thousand time and I’m still not done.  And I know you right about us needing to leave the dangers of our jungle. But my life is in Visitation Gully and everybody I ever knew lives there and I’m scared of leaving what I was raised in.

 

HE-MO

But She-La, don’t you feel safe with me?

 

SHE-LA

Yeah, I feel safe with you and I feel loved by you but I need more.  I need to know that you’re going to be there when I’m sick and don’t give up when things go down hill, and that I have not just some of your help, but all of it.

 

HE-MO

She-La, you have all that and much more.  I’m thinking about our family to be, not just me.

 

(He-mo looks out the cave – the lions are fighting the tigers.  He-mo prepares to go outside.)

 

SHE-LA

OK, Moe.  How about this, if you don’t go out there and get yourself killed, I talk to my mom about me leaving.  But it’s going to have to be after they’re born.

(Outside sounds of howling and begging for mercy.)

 

SHE-LA

Alright. Can we come up with a solution?

(He looks out the cave – the lions and tigers are killing each other.)

 

HE-MO

How ’bout you do that, and I apologize to your mom for almost killing her.  Then leave and get settled and when the cubs are born I’ll come back and get y’all and we can go.  And you can stay in Visitation Gully ’cause you’ll be safe there for the last weeks before they’re born.

 

SHE-LA

Oh my god, why didn’t I think of that? Oh, yeah, cause I didn’t think. Duh.

 

HE-MO

She-La, your so crazy.  That’s why I love you.

 

SHE-LA

Aww, I love you too.  He-mo, give me a lick…



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