Time to Move On (2013)
TIME TO MOVE ON
BY
LATACESH C.
CHARACTERS:
FANTASTIC the PINK YAMAHA MOTORCYCLE, female, 21 years old
COURAGEOUS the BIG PURPLE TRUCK, age 65, her Mother
SETTING: On a Mississippi country highway road. Hot winds are blowing. There are chickens, horses, and the smell of cow manure. The road is smooth and soft. The dirt on the side of the road is red like red Kool-aid. The sky is clear and there are no clouds in sight. The family lives in a garage. It smells of mildew, there are cracks in the ceiling and the garage door creaks. The top attic windows are broken because of the crows.
TIME: A hot summer day mid-June. 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon.
AT RISE: COURAGEOUS is parked outside the garage waiting for FANTASTIC to pull in from her afternoon ride.
(FANTASTIC pulls into the driveway. She looks very confused at COURAGEOUS as if she thinks she has done something wrong.)
FANTASTIC
Hey Mom, what’s going on? Why are you parked outside?
COURAGEOUS
Just thinking. Waiting for you to pull up.
FANTASTIC
Oh?….Did I do something wrong Mom?
COURAGEOUS
Of course not. Why would you ask a skeptical question like that?
FANTASTIC
Wooh! You had me frantic for a moment.
(FANSTASTIC turns off her engine and settles in)
What’s up Mom? Is there something bothering you?
COURAGEOUS
Yes, there is. I need to talk to you about something very important.
FANTASTIC
What is it Mom? …Did something bad happen?…What’s going on?
COURAGEOUS
No! Of course not. I have just been thinking about a lot of things.
FRANTASTIC
Likeeeee…?
COURAGEOUS
Well, for instance, I want to open up my own Car Hair Salon and I think that this would be good for the BOTH of us.
FANTASTIC
Mom are you really serious?
COURAGEOUS
Yes, of course I am. I have always wanted to own my own Car Hair Salon. I’ve always thought a lady truck or car should always look nice and there should be more lady trucks like me to help them. Waking up early to get to the shop, to open it up and see what the day brings makes me excited. Having a salon would be so wonderful for US. I’ve been looking and I found a garage that’s for lease.
FANTASTIC
Ohhh really….That’s good Mom.
COURAGEOUS
What do you mean by “Oh, really” ? You don’t like my idea?
FANSTASTIC
Mom, it’s a good dream for you. But I have my own dreams that I want to reach someday. And they are not to run a Car Hair Salon.
COURAGEOUS (looking annoyed)
Okay. So tell me, what your dream is, Fantastic.
FANTASTIC
Well, I want to become a motorcycle racer…and become famous…and meet other motorcycles.
COURAGEOUS
What? Here you go, talking about that racing stuff again!
FANTASTIC
Mom, you know what? There ARE female motorcycle racers out there!
COURAGEOUS
So you’re telling me that you want to be just like them, huh?
FANTASTIC
Yes. That is exactly what I want to do. You just do not know how bad I want this.
COURAGEOUS
So you’re telling me that you really want to go out there and risk your life racing with the Motorcycles ?!
FANTASTIC
If that’s the way you want to put it, I guess that is what I want to do.
COURAGEOUS
Well you know what? I’ve talked to the owner of the garage and I have by tomorrow to give him an offer.
FANTASTIC
Well you know what? There’s a race in Florida and I have ONE day to get there.
COURAGEOUS
FLORIDA! Are you serious!! When did this happen?
FANTASTIC
Mom, this was a decision that I made on my own and I though it was a good one.
Mom, I am not a child anymore and I can take care of myself.
COURAGEOUS
What makes you think you can go out there and take care of yourself? HUH? Tell me that! You have never done anything on your own!
FANTASTIC
Well Mom, I went down to the registration center and registered myself for the race. Yes.
Two weeks ago. And I wanted to tell you about it but I knew the racing situation would make you mad.
COURAGEOUS
Are you even prepared for this type of thing? Do you know what to do and what not to do?
FANTASTIC
Mom, I have been practicing for almost a year now. And I think I am prepared for this race.
COURAGEOUS
Fantastic, this is no game. Do you know that you can crash and get seriously hurt and have life-threatening injuries?
FANTASTIC
I know that bad and good things can happen out there. I know that I am making a decision that will change my life forever, good and bad.
COURAGEOUS
You are my baby girl and losing you would be like a piece of me had died. We have been together for 21 years and now you want to leave me. You are my first born and before I met Adventurous, you were like my mate.
FANTASTIC
I will always be your baby girl no matter how old I get or how far I go Mom.
COURAGEOUS
You are the only one that I know I can tell anything and everything to and not have to worry about others knowing. I’m getting older and I still have to take care of your brothers. Fantastic…we could be the bet mother-daughter owned hair salon in all of Mississippi!
FANTASTIC
Mom. Being a dresser in a salon, that’s just not my thing.
COURAGEOUS
Fantastic, I really don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be the only female in the garage. If you leave me I will be so lonely.
FANTASTIC
Mom, seeing you happy about your dream makes me happy. And seeing you overwhelmed makes me never want to let you down. I have never been separated from you and I don’t want to make you sad. But Mom, I have to go out. I have to see what the world offers me. Down here in Mississippi I am the only pink motorcycle. And I have been seeing the same roads and highways all my life. I want to get out there and see how other winds feel hitting against my windshield! Mom…Don’t you want me to be happy?
COURAGEOUS
Of course I do. I would love seeing you happy. But there are a lot of things I wish I did not have to let go of.
FANTASTIC
You never have to let go of anything unless you want to. And I don’t want you to let go of anything that has us in it.
COURAGEOUS
It is just so hard for a mother to let go of their child…and let them go on by themselves.
FANTASTIC
Mom, I am ready to be out there by myself. I think that I am capable of making my own decisions and they will be good ones.
COURAGEOUS
Fantastic, you know that there are bad people out there that will try to hurt you because of what you are.
FANTASTIC
Mom , I know I can’t trust anyone but myself. You did not raise a fool, I hope you know that. You have raised a bright young motorcycle who knows what she wants in life and wants to achieve it.
COURAGEOUS
Yes, I believe you do. And as I sit here I begin to think that it is time for me to let you go and become the great adult motorcycle that I do want you to be. That I know you can be. You go to Florida then. And you know what? You better win that race.
FANTASTIC (smiling from mirror to mirror)
Oh! My God! Thank you Mom. I am so excited that I’m ready to do donuts in the road!
THE END