never wants the story to end

ACT TWO

Some Days

Kate: (off-stage) Mommy! Will you play Polly Pockets with me?

Evelyn: Playing Polly Pockets with Kate is like signing your life away.  The stories would go on and on. Sitting on the floor surrounded by miniature dolls that fit in the palm of your hand, dolls dressed in rubbery clothes and high heels so tiny you could swallow one by accident if you weren’t careful.  

There’s no such thing as having just one Polly Pocket. You collect them. There’s Ginny, the brunette. And the other blonde, who’s goes by Allison or Janet. The twins, Annette and Annette.  Those two love to dance.

We needed a guy: 

Someone who could be the husband, boyfriend, or Dad. Bob the Builder showed up; he’s short but works in a pinch when Annette and Annette are going out on dates. They go out with Mike and Bob. No one is ever called Polly

This morning, Ginny became Marie, the mother of the new girl who moved into the neighborhood and ended up getting married to Rob and flying off to Paris for a honeymoon.  I wanted to end the story there but Kate had everyone go on the honeymoon with Marie and Mike.  Kate never wants the story to end. Finally, it was just too weird for Bob the Builder and the other girls to be on Marie and Mike’s honeymoon, somehow it just felt awkward, so we ended in Paris.

Some days we get stuck in the same old story but it’s never too late to change. 

Today Ginny became Isabella. She lives in a golden villa overlooking a lake. Sipping tea in the morning, wine at every meal, Isabella walks through olive groves while Celestina, her cook, whips up something divine. Isabella doesn’t attend cookouts, she goes to dinner parties. She doesn’t weed, she chats with her gardener about the roses climbing up the stone wall. Should we prune them back? What do you think, Giacomo?

Some days I put Kate off, “Honey, let me just finish one more…” 

One more what? Email, dish to wash? 

There are questions to be answered. Stories to be lived:  

Will Janet marry Mike and have babies? Will Annette and Annette move to New York and become Rockettes? Will Isabella fall in love with Giacomo, her handsome gardener, and live happily ever after?

~ from Pieces Of Evelyn, 

My very first play, written when Claire was "living in PollyWorld". 

Oh the places we'd go!!!

xo b