At Capacity--Scene 9: Julia and the Midnight Visitors

(Lights up on the dining room, in the middle of the night.  It’s dark except for one small light on a table in the corner. There are four boxes left in the room. One with each of the children’s names on the side, plus a fourth box that has stuff sticking out of the top. Julia is asleep with her head on the table. The snowflake is in the plastic container that Steve bought, and it’s glowing. Where the caroler dolls were usually standing now stand three life sized carolers dressed exactly the same as the dolls. The life-sized carolers are played by the actors who play Mark (dark suit and top hat), Cassie (green dress and white muffler), and Claire (red dress with blue hat and gloves). They are frozen as the lights come up, holding caroling books. As the lights establish, they begin to glow like the snowflake, and as that happens, they begin to hum “Deck the Halls.”)

MALE CAROLER (counting them in, then humming)
5, 6, 7, 8

(The humming is soft at first, but then grows in volume, and then actually becomes the song itself with full on lyrics and full voices. Julia wakes up to see the carolers, jumps out of her chair, and shrieks. The carolers continue, as if they don’t notice her.)

JULIA (yelling, panicked)
What’s going on? (no response) Who are you? What are you doing here?

(The carolers ignore her. Julia grabs a pair of scissors from the table and holds them out threateningly, jabbing at them as she speaks.)
 

JULIA
You need to get out of here. NOW! The door’s over there. CLAIRE!  STEVE! WHAT’S GOING ON? GET OUT! I SAID GET OUT!

(The carolers get to the end of the song, take a ritard on the final verse, and finish with some simple harmony. Then they close their caroling books and stare at Julia.)

JULIA
I must be dreaming. That’s it. I’m still asleep. (Frantically laughing to herself.) It’s ok. They’re not really there. They're just dolls in the corner.

RED CAROLER
We’re here, Julia.

JULIA
How do you know my name?

GREEN CAROLER
We’ve known you forever.

JULIA
No.

MALE CAROLER
Yes.

JULIA
Now I’m imagining things. Too much time in this house.

MALE CAROLER
It’s not your imagination.

JULIA
It is. You never talked before.

GREEN CAROLER
We never had anything to say.

JULIA
What?

MALE CAROLER
But we do now.

JULIA (sitting down and holding her hands over her ears)
You’re not really here. You’re not really here. You’re not really here.

RED CAROLER
You can’t run from us, Julia. We’ve seen it all.

JULIA
No.

GREEN CAROLER
Saw it all.

JULIA
Stop it.

GREEN CAROLER
Every Christmas since your parents brought you home from the hospital.

JULIA
Shut up.

MALE CAROLER
That time when you were five.

JULIA
SHUT UP!

RED CAROLER
The one when you were seven and you wore the green dress just like that one (pointing to her fellow caroler).

JULIA
No, I never wore a green dress like that.

GREEN CAROLER (to the others)
She’s not remembering.

MALE CAROLER
It happens.

RED CAROLER
Such a shame.

MALE CAROLER
Then there was that year you wore pants.

JULIA
I said, stop it. Please?

GREEN CAROLER
You thought it would help.

RED CAROLER
But it didn’t.

JULIA
Please stop?

(Julia is not handling this very well. She moves to the table and sits with her head in her hands.)

MALE CAROLER
He still got to you.

JULIA
NO!

RED CAROLER
You looked at your mom when he asked for your help with the gifts in the car, and she didn’t even notice.

JULIA
Please stop talking about this.

GREEN CAROLER
Why? We saw it happen.

MALE CAROLER
It’s the truth.

JULIA
No, it’s not.

RED CAROLER
You know it is.

JULIA
SHUT UP! I SAID SHUT UP! (she starts banging her fist on the table as she’s yelling) STOP SAYING THOSE THINGS. IT DID NOT HAPPEN. NOTHING HAPPENED. GO WAY GO AWAY GO AWAY. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!

(As Julia continues to yell and pound, a very loud humming starts to happen and the glow of the snowflake grows in intensity. The carolers continue to say “You know it is” in unison. Under the humming, Steve can be heard yelling for Julia, as if he’s coming from another part of the house. As all of this is happening, Julia continues to bang on the table, not looking at the carolers, and they disappear, replaced by their three doll-sized versions. The dolls glow in their usual spot. Once that transition is complete, Steve enters in his boxers and a t-shirt, obviously woken up by Julia’s yelling. He enters and goes to her.)

STEVE
Julia, wake up! Julia! (He touches her and she starts, lunging at him with the scissors.)

JULIA (jumping up)
DON’T TOUCH ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!

STEVE (totally startled and shocked)
WHOA! Whoa! Julia! It’s me. Steve. Your brother.  It’s ok.

JULIA (trying to figure out what’s happening)
What?

STEVE
It’s ok. You were having a dream.

JULIA
No. They're here.

STEVE
They? Who?

JULIA (not looking in their direction)
Them. The carolers. (pointing over her shoulder)

STEVE (confused)
Uh, . . . yes, they’re right there. Where they’ve been all week.

JULIA
No, they were just talking to me.

STEVE
What?

JULIA (turning to face them)
Where are they? They were right there.

STEVE
They’re still there.

JULIA
No, I mean they were real. Like real humans.

STEVE
I think you better sit down. Are you feeling ok? Do you want some water?

JULIA
They were right there, but they were big and they started singing and then saying scary things, like they knew stuff.

STEVE
Knew stuff?

JULIA
Yeah.

STEVE
I’m gonna get you some water.

JULIA
NO! Don’t leave me in here with them.

STEVE
They’re just dolls. Decorations.

JULIA
Don’t leave me here!

STEVE
Julia, I think…

JULIA
I’m serious. Don’t leave me. What if they come back?

(Steve looks at Julia and he realizes that she really thinks they were there.)

STEVE
Uh, OK. Uhm. Wow. OK. . . . So, what do you want to do?

JULIA
I don’t know.

STEVE
Well, I’m thinking that maybe you should come upstairs with me to bed.

JULIA
And leave them down here?

STEVE
Yes.

JULIA
All alone?

STEVE
I don’t think they’re going anywhere. Not until we decide what to do with them.

JULIA
I’m afraid they’re going to come find me.

STEVE
Julia, they're not going to come find you. This is like when you were a little girl.

JULIA
Stop it.

STEVE
It is!

JULIA
I don’t want to talk about it!

STEVE
Why not?

JULIA
Because I don’t. OK?  I just don’t.

STEVE
OK then. Can you come upstairs with me?

JULIA
I don’t trust them.

STEVE (moving towards her with caution)
OK, Julia. Why don’t you bring the scissors with you up to your bedroom? You can keep them on your nightstand just in case.

JULIA (still eyeing the carolers)
Uh…

STEVE
I need to go to sleep. It’s an early morning for me, and you need rest.

JULIA
Uhm, OK. But can you stay in my room with me?

STEVE
No, I’m not going to—

(Steve stops himself as he realizes this may be the only way to get her up to bed.)

STEVE
Yes, OK. I’ll bring a blanket it and sleep next to you on the floor.

JULIA
That’s what we used to do.

STEVE
That’s what we used to do. Yes, I remember.

(Steve looks at her, but Julia is not moving.)

STEVE
OK?

JULIA
OK.

STEVE
Let’s go upstairs.

JULIA
OK.

STEVE
You go first. Bring the scissors. I’ll shut out the lights.

JULIA
OK.

(Julia exits with the scissors, turning one more time to look at the carolers before she heads out of the room. Steve goes over to the table and checks to make sure the snowflake is OK in its case. Then he looks over at the carolers, shakes his head, and exits the room, shutting off the small light. It’s dark in the room, and as soon as he clears the threshold, the carolers and the snowflake start to glow brighter, the humming returns, and the carolers chanting from before comes back “You know it is.” The glowing and the sound builds, then the lights fade. End of scene.)