The Brooklyn Rail

Scene 1

(An 11-year-old of any gender, race, ethnicity. There is a bird feeder. Some bird sounds, it is dawn.)

SOLLY

No one was up, I felt alone, I was going to refill the bird feeder but…

(Solly picks up a pencil, a protractor and starts to make a list.)

One. Call Darren Woods, he’s the head of Exxon oil, just tell him to stop burning oil. Ask him has he ever seen a hummingbird stopping in the middle of the air?

(Solly circles this.)

The air, Mr. Woods.

I am going to ask my teacher for his phone number or his email.

Breathe.

Once I talked to my school’s principal.

I said, can we ask everyone at school to stop using plastic.

And he said yes.

We have no plastic at our school.

And that spread to all the schools in the entire world.

It was easy.

Easier than this.

Being alone.

At night it’s worse.

See, a lot of change comes down to common sense.

So, after I speak to Mr. Woods at Exxon, there’s no more burning now.

(Solly uses the protractor to make a right angle for the list.)

Two. We can’t travel but that’s okay.

We can walk.

If everyone walks for a few days, they will see how easy it is.

Three. We need to live in the dark.

That’s good when you see the sun rising like right now.

The whole day is light.

At night, no TV, no computers, no stoves.

The way I see it.

Four. We do this for a week.

After a week everyone understands.

We have to change.

(Solly sees a bird flying towards the bird feeder.)

See, the bird automatically thinks there’s sugar in the water.

Like us, we just assume.

You can put the tiniest grain of sugar in, and the bird will still come.

You know why I love hummingbirds?

Because they love them.

In their country they never had them.

So, they are surprised.

Five. After a week in the dark, we change because we know we have to.

I can be president of the world, that’s easy.

I do it by making lists of what’s most important.

Six. I start with killing.

We can’t kill people. That’s at the top of list.

Guns kill so they have to be gone.

Seven. Nuclear war, it’s just not a good idea if you saw the mushroom cloud.

What’s weird is that older people like kids.

A lot of times they love babies a lot.

They coo and make faces with babies.

(Solly imitates adults making faces.)

But they don’t take care of them.

Eight. Take care of babies.

Nine. And they write a lot of books about things we’re supposed to do.

Like “Stop the world from burning up by doing this and this and this.”

They read the book and think that helps.

Ten. Let me be president.

Eleven. Don’t say no.

Twelve. Take care of the babies and hummingbirds.

Thirteen. Stop doing everything you say you have to stop doing.

Fourteen. Get along.

Fifteen. Don’t let me cry.

I say I have an allergy.

It’s easier.

“What are you allergic to…?”

(Solly looks out.)

Sixteen. Look at the pink fingers of dawn disappear.

Seventeen. Wake up now! So, I have someone to talk to.

Eighteen. Remember to write to Beyoncé?

Nineteen. Let me be president.

Twenty. If people are sick, kiss them.

Twenty-one. Let the mother decide what she has inside her stomach.

Twenty-two. A human being has a heart.

Twenty-three. A human being is a human being.

Twenty-four. A screen is made of plastic.

Twenty-five. A hummingbird will die.

Twenty-six. Cows are animals.

Twenty-seven. I have some friends who like me.

Twenty-eight. They can help.

Twenty-nine. Don’t give up.

Thirty. Today is the day.

Thirty-one. Why?

Thirty-two. Because it is. It’s the day.

Thirty-three. The fires will come.

Thirty-four. The water getting so warm is not natural.

Thirty-five.

(Solly hears a rustle.)

They’re getting up now.

I’m going to talk to them about this list. You know why they love hummingbirds? Because they never saw them in their country. You should see their faces when they see them. It’s funny. Like they’re seeing them for the first time, when they’ve seen them before! And they always say, “Look, Solly, at the hummingbird,” when I’ve seen them tons of times before, and I really don’t want to make them feel bad, so I say, “Yeah, I see it.” And then they smile and say, “Did you see it?” Older people are weird. The way they repeat things over and over. That’s when I hand over the list. And they’ll look at it. Then I’m going to bring it to the principal. Then I’ve got three people on my side.

(Solly sings a song.)

“Three’s a crowd. Say it loud.” And I have at least one friend. Lots of kids have anxiety. There are drugs to help.

(The sounds of hummingbirds, and lights getting brighter, and sounds of people coming. Someone says, “Solly, you’re up?”)

Look! Look!

Scene 2

(Solly, 35, is now a judge, making a list with a pencil, paper, and protractor.)

SOLLY

Today, Trial Chamber 10 finds the United States guilty of a total of one thousand four hundred and twenty-two crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between 4 July 1776 and                            (fill in the blank for today). The Court has determined the sentences will be made by children* chosen by lottery.

(Solly chooses someone from the lottery of names.)

              will rule on the punishment for the Native American Genocide. Breathe.

(See slides of destruction. Solly chooses another name from the lottery.)

              will rule on the punishment for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Media outlets predict these rules for punishment by children may lead to chaos.

(See slides.)

If I keep counting, making lists and putting everything at right angles, I can get through to the pink fingers of dawn and I still put sugar water in the feeder even though there are none left. And they still say, “Look, look” when they see something they love.

(End of play.)

*Definition: “A young person especially between infancy and puberty.”