FAITH: A woman, visibly expecting.
LESTER: A man.
PAIGE: A woman.
(Lights up slowly. A beach. The sea crashes. FAITH and LESTER are seated at a picnic table. FAITH rubs her stomach. FAITH and LESTER look out.)
FAITH
The sand.
LESTER
It’s rough.
FAITH
And the light.
LESTER
It’s dim.
FAITH
And the sea.
LESTER
It’s wide.
FAITH
I love it. Scarborough Beach.
LESTER
We should have waited for summer.
FAITH
But we’re here now. (A moment of stillness.) So you two look identical?
LESTER
Nearly.
FAITH
Nearly identical. (FAITH touches LESTER.) Are her hands-
LESTER
Rougher, I’m sure.
FAITH
Still?
LESTER
I’d guess.
FAITH
And her eyes?
LESTER
Dimmer, I’m sure.
FAITH
Dimmer than yours?
LESTER
I’d guess.
FAITH
And her lips?
LESTER
Wider.
FAITH
You’re sure?
LESTER
I’d guess.
FAITH
So you two don’t look identical?
LESTER
Nearly. Not anymore though, I’m sure.
FAITH
But before?
LESTER
When we were little, Mom used to mix us up.
FAITH
She’d lift you up and call you Paige?
LESTER
She’d lift Paige up and call her Lester. (A moment of stillness.) Did I ever tell you the story of the fireworks?
FAITH
Maybe. But I forget. Tell it again.
LESTER
(He looks out.) When we were little, Mom used to bring us here in the summer for fireworks, and one time, when no one was looking, Paige snuck off. So the show’s over, and we can’t seem to find her. And Mom takes my hand in hers. But then we hear a shout and see her little arms waving over the next dune. And we rescue her from a pile of sand, my mother cursing and crying. And she lifts Paige up and calls her Lester. And she is still. But I remember her face.
FAITH
She resented your mother?
LESTER
She resented me. She asked why Mom loved me more. So much stillness. She kept telling the story. It was her one story.
FAITH
Her one story?
LESTER
Paige says that everyone has one story, just one. And she’ll poke and prod until all the sand is just loose enough to find it.
FAITH
You think I should be more worried.
LESTER
I think you should be careful. We both should.
FAITH
We don’t have to you know. We could just leave.
LESTER
You wanted to meet her.
FAITH
I still do.
LESTER
And come up to the sea. (They look out.)
FAITH
And go down to the beach.
LESTER
Sandpiper.
FAITH
And bury ourselves in the sand.
LESTER
And look up.
FAITH
Until the stars shift and fall down and hit the sea with a sizzle.
LESTER
And just as the dimmest orange light hits the horizon we lift up and over the beach.
FAITH
And never return.
LESTER
And never return.
FAITH
(Turning back) I love you to pieces.
LESTER
I just worry is all.
FAITH
You said that the whole way over.
LESTER
It’s been so long-
FAITH
Which is why we need to meet now. (She rubs her stomach.)
LESTER
She’s a snake. A sidewinder. When we were little, she would bury herself in the sand-
FAITH
You said.
LESTER
Every time. She’d refuse to come out. Always said I buried her there.
FAITH
Did you?
LESTER
No. But a part of me always wished I had.
PAIGE
(Making her way onstage and over to the picnic table) Always wished you had what Lester? Yapped? Choked it? Broken?
LESTER
Lovely to see you too Paige.
PAIGE
Is it.
LESTER
It’s been so long.
PAIGE
So long. Oh I see you brought- (She sees FAITH’s stomach.)
FAITH
Faith. I’ve heard so much.
PAIGE
Wish I could say the same. (To LESTER) She’s lovely. (To FAITH) You’re lovely.
LESTER
We should have waited for summer.
FAITH
(She rubs her stomach.) That’s what Lester always says.
PAIGE
Does he.
LESTER
But we’re here now.
PAIGE
That’s the thing about the puppy dog. He yaps.
LESTER
I say we’re here now Paige.
FAITH
I’ve never had a puppy dog.
PAIGE
Of course not.
LESTER
Here now.
FAITH
They must love the sand to pieces!
LESTER
Leaving soon.
FAITH
And the light.
PAIGE
To pieces.
LESTER
I say we’re leaving soon Paige.
PAIGE
And the beach. To pieces. They do love the beach.
LESTER
Getting our things.
FAITH
Lester loves the beach.
PAIGE
To pieces. Say, did Lester ever tell you the story of the puppy dog?
LESTER
Faith.
FAITH
Maybe. But I forget. Tell it again.
LESTER
Say it.
PAIGE
When we were little, Mom had this yappy puppy dog. I forget his name. And Lester and I used to take him for walks down by the sea. He would always chase the sandpipers. And then he runs away. And he’s missing for days. And one night, just as the dimmest orange hits the horizon, Mom and Lester and I find him here, at Scarborough Beach. He’d been buried.
FAITH
Buried?
PAIGE
A hole in the sand. From a snake, a sidewinder. And he was still. Did you lift him up? I remember his face.
LESTER
There were no sandpipers that morning.
FAITH
So much stillness.
PAIGE
And the rough sand. And the dim light.
FAITH
And the wide sea… I liked that story.
PAIGE
Poetic, isn’t it.
FAITH
Lovely. How about another story?
LESTER
Another? Faith!
PAIGE
Another! It has been so long. You have some good stories, don’t you Lester?
FAITH
Oh, the story of the fireworks! Tell her that one Lester!
LESTER
She knows.
PAIGE
Maybe. But I forget.
FAITH
Tell it again!
LESTER
We’re leaving.
FAITH
No. First, the fireworks.
LESTER
Get your things.
FAITH
No, and the little arms waving.
LESTER
Faith.
FAITH
No, and a hole full of sand.
LESTER
I’m warning you.
FAITH
(To PAIGE) No, and I lift you up and call you Lester. No no no.
PAIGE
(A moment of stillness.) That was my story.
LESTER
We should have waited for summer.
FAITH
But we’re here now.
PAIGE
It wasn’t yours.
LESTER
To pieces.
PAIGE
That was my one story.
LESTER
Poking and prodding.
PAIGE
And you buried it in her.
LESTER
Until all the sand around is just loose enough.
PAIGE
Poetic, isn’t it. (To FAITH) Did Lester ever tell you the story of the joke?
FAITH
Maybe. But I forget. Tell it again.
LESTER
No Paige.
PAIGE
Mom used to tell this joke. This lovely joke. This incredibly funny joke. And our lovely mother loved this lovely joke. And Lester hated this lovely incredibly funny joke. Say, I’m sure he still knows it.
LESTER
Don’t remember.
PAIGE
‘Isn’t it incredibly funny…’
LESTER
We’re leaving. Get your things.
FAITH
‘Isn’t it incredibly funny…’ Come on Lester.
LESTER
Faith. I’m warning you.
FAITH
Tell us the joke Lester.
LESTER
‘Isn’t it incredibly funny how Lester thinks he’s actually mine.’
PAIGE
Lester hated that joke so much that he resented our mother for it. We were nearly identical. And he asked if Mom loved me more. So much stillness. And then he runs away. And he’s missing for days. And one night, just as the dimmest orange hits the horizon, Mom and I find him here, at the beach. We hear a shout and see his little arms waving over the next dune. And we rescue him from a pile of sand, my mother cursing and crying. And he is still. But I remember his face. He said she buried him there.
FAITH
(She rubs her stomach.) She buried him?
LESTER
I was hers.
PAIGE
That’s right Sandpiper, you buried him up to his neck in the sand. Our own mother.
FAITH
Own mother?
PAIGE
Choking him.
LESTER
No I was.
PAIGE
But she returns. She comes back for him.
FAITH
Back for him.
PAIGE
Comes back to rescue him. And she lifted him up and called him Lester.
FAITH
Calls him Lester.
PAIGE
She loved him. To pieces. But he wasn’t hers. He wasn’t hers and that was the joke. Broken?
LESTER
(Screaming over her) Did I ever tell you the story of the two holes?
PAIGE
(A moment of stillness.) Maybe. But I forget. Say it.
FAITH
Tell it again.
LESTER
(He looks to PAIGE. She looks back.) There were two holes. One hole was empty and one full. But these were very special holes. They were the holes where Mom buried us in the sand. Here. I buried Paige. And she buried me. But Mom buried us both. Nearly identical. And there were fireworks in her dim eyes.
FAITH
(She rubs her stomach.) I don’t like this story.
PAIGE
We weren’t hers, you see.
LESTER
Yes. Yes we were. And then she returned. One night. Just as the dimmest orange hits the horizon, we hear a shout and see her little arms waving over the next dune. She has come back for me. She has come to rescue me.
FAITH
Please stop.
PAIGE
She has come to finish the job. To choke me in the sand. To pieces.
LESTER
And she lifts me up cursing and crying.
PAIGE
And she leaves one hole empty in the sand.
LESTER
And she leaves one hole full in the sand.
FAITH
Don’t say it.
LESTER
And Mom takes my hand in hers.
PAIGE
And I am still.
LESTER AND PAIGE
And she lifts me up and calls me Lester.
PAIGE
Poetic, isn’t it.
LESTER
Poetic. And Mom is gone.
PAIGE
And Mom is gone.
FAITH
We’re leaving.
PAIGE
Rough hands poking and prodding.
LESTER
Fireworks in her dim eyes.
PAIGE
Wide lips choking in sand. Choking to pieces.
FAITH
Get your things.
LESTER
But the sand is never just loose enough, is it?
PAIGE
And I turn away.
LESTER
And leave the beach.
FAITH
Lester.
LESTER
And run until I can’t hear a shout or see your little arms waving.
PAIGE
And there are no sandpipers that morning.
LESTER
So much stillness.
FAITH
Lester!
PAIGE
And rough sand.
LESTER
And dim light.
LESTER AND PAIGE
And wide sea.
FAITH
(FAITH lifts up LESTER and PAIGE. Screaming over them) Lester!! (LESTER and PAIGE are still. FAITH looks out. She rubs her stomach. A moment of stillness. Sadly, to no one in particular.) Broken. Did I ever tell you the story of the children? Maybe. But you forget. I’ll tell it again. I loved them. Nearly identical. I loved them and they asked which I loved more. To pieces. I loved them to pieces. But they are broken. So easily. So I bury them. At Scarborough Beach one summer after the fireworks. And I take their hands in mine. And I scour the beach for hours. And I dig two holes, poking and prodding until all the sand around is just loose enough. And I grab them by their little waving arms and push them down cursing and crying. And there are fireworks in my eyes as I leave them, two holes full in the sand. And they are still. And I lift no one up and call no one Lester. And I run and I see no yappy puppy dog. And no sidewinder. And no sandpipers. And I never return, until the stars shift and fall down and hit the sea with a sizzle. But I remember their faces. Those eyes. And every night, just as the dimmest orange hits the horizon, I think about them. Rough hands. Dim eyes. Wide lips. So much stillness. And the sand. And the light. And the sea.
(FAITH looks at LESTER. She touches him. He is still. She rubs her stomach. She looks to PAIGE. She touches her. She is still. FAITH rises and makes her way offstage, not looking back. The sea crashes. Lights fade to black slowly, ending just as the dimmest orange hits the horizon.)
