​vi. quarters

SADIE
​after the karaoke incident
​i started to feel like my villagers were getting sick of me

​hey zippy!

ZIPPY
​ohh uh hi sadie
​i’m being alone with my thoughts today—

SADIE
​my time played was averaging around…14 hours a day by this point?
​but i had a lot of work to do!
​i had decided to make something special for my villagers:
​a carnival!

​in my grandparents’ town
​every summer there came a carnival
​for the festival of fish
​my sister and i would eat fried cod and french fries with vinegar
​throwing ping pong balls in goldfish bowls
​and flying through the sky on jankity rides—

WOLF
​step right up to the house of mirrors!
​ride the death-defying matterhorn!
SADIE
​and of course, hitting the arcade

​this one time
​when i was 11
​my grandma gave me

SADIE, SUSAN, BECKETT & WOLF
​a roll of quarters

SADIE
​she was a little bit crazy ‘bout coins;
​grandpa had his woodshed and grandma had her coins!

SADIE, SUSAN & BECKETT
​she’d sit at the dining room table with huge plastic cheese puff tubs

SADIE
​spilling out with coins

SADIE, SUSAN & BECKETT
​collecting state quarters
​and checking the years on her pennies

GRANDFATHER
​and don’t go wasting it all on video games sadie!
SADIE
​i won’t grandpa!

​and i meant it; i wanted to save it for something special
​so when we went to the arcade
​i said, one game of ms. pac-man, and that’s it

​but this time they had a row of those machines
​where you put in a quarter
​and it rolls down a little slide
​and lands in front of a little pushing machine
​that pushes everything to the edge

WOLF
​come try your hand at the coin pusher!
​fortune and delight await!

SADIE, SUSAN, BECKETT & WOLF
​quarters, prizes, treats, dollars

SADIE
​so many quarters!
​and they’re all right there
​on a razor’s edge
​just about to
​just about to fall
​and if something falls
​you win it

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls
​nothing falls

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls
​nothing falls

​i could see that if i kept pouring quarters in
​i could win

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
2 quarters fall!

​okay
3 in
2 out
1 down

​stick around
​one might fall
​one might fall

SADIE & SUSAN
​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls
​nothing falls

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
2 quarters fall!

SADIE
​okay
5 in
3 out
2 down

​stick around
​one might fall

SADIE, SUSAN & BECKETT
​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
1 quarter falls!

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
3 quarters fall!

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
3 quarters fall!

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
2 quarters fall!

​quarter in
​roll
​clink
​push push push push push push
​nothing falls

​​quarter in
​​roll
​​clink
​​push push push push push push
​​nothing falls

​​quarter in
​​roll
​​clink
​​push push push push push push
​​push push

SADIE
​until all 40 quarters
​were gone
​just…gone

​i held the empty orange wrapper in my hands
​torn in a spiral

​what happened?
​where did i go?

​i am 11
​i walk home
​past the docks
​past the putt-putt course
​over the river
​and through the woods
​to the white gravel driveway
​of my grandparent’s house

(grandmother and grandfather appear, sorting coins and whittling.)

​where my grandma sits
​waiting for me at the dining room table
​while grandpa whittles in his perfect brown leather recliner

​please don’t ask me about the carnival

GRANDMOTHER
​sadie?
​honey?
​how was the carnival?

SADIE
​please don’t ask me what i did

GRANDFATHER
​what did you do sadie?

SADIE
​please don’t ask me where my roll of quarters went

GRANDMOTHER
​you didn’t spend all your quarters did you?

SADIE
​see there’s this clicking in my head

GRANDMOTHER
​sadie

SADIE
​when certain things line up

GRANDFATHER
​what’s that grandma?
​did our little girl do something foolish?

SADIE
​when like is put with like
​and there is order

GRANDMOTHER
​oh sadie

SADIE
​i couldn’t stop!
​i couldn’t help it!
​there is a me in charge of me sometimes that is not me!

​i always thought these clicks in my head were just a funny quirk
​but maybe
​maybe it’s more serious than i thought
14 hours a day—

ZIPPY
​aw sadie. you’re always welcome in the village