Daddy?

This challenge had to be written as a play with two characters, one of whom could only ask questions while the other could only speak in declaratives.  There were a few other restrictions- the point being that we had to tell the story using only the dialogue.

My entry was fairly well received but was not the nearly the best of the week. (Note:  This is an updated version. I added two lines to fix the the biggest flaw. In the original, it was not clear whether the mom had left the family or the earth, as it were.)

My entry:

Setting:   Trees with a river backdrop.  We see a man and a young girl sitting on one of the fallen trees.  They are sitting a couple feet apart and the girl’s legs are swaying.  She is looking at the ground.

CHILD

Daddy?

FATHER

What honey.

CHILD

Do you miss Mommy?

FATHER

Yes I do.

CHILD

Why did she leave?

FATHER

I guess she wasn’t happy, and she wanted to see if she could be.

CHILD

Is she coming home?

FATHER

I don’t know, honey. Probably she needs to be alone for a while.  Maybe a long time. I don’t know.

CHILD

Did you need to be alone?  Is that why you left mommy and me when I was in her tummy?

FATHER

Sort of. I guess.  I wish I had seen you more. I hope you know that.  I missed you every day.  Me and your mommy just weren’t made for each other.  It would be really hard for us to be married.

CHILD

Did I do something that made mommy leave?

FATHER

Oh, no honey.  No you didn’t do anything wrong.  And I don’t think I did either. Sometimes there’s just nothing we can do. Things happen.  But after things happen there’s a lot we can do.  We can try really hard to keep doing fun things and be as happy as we can be.

CHILD

 I can be happy?

FATHER

Well (pause) you can be less sad.

CHILD

Are you happy?

FATHER

I am really happy to be able to see you all the time now.  Really happy about that.

CHILD

Are we going to move?

FATHER

No. I’ll move in to your house with you.  And I’ll cook you breakfast. And I’ll tuck you in at night. And pretty soon you are going to look at me when we talk!

CHILD

What can you cook for breakfast?

FATHER

Everything.

CHILD

Pancakes?

FATHER

Well, no, I can’t cook pancakes.

CHILD

Eggs?

FATHER

Never tried.

CHILD

Cereal?

FATHER

I don’t think so.

CHILD

You’re teasing me, aren’t you?

FATHER

I am.

CHILD

Do you like to play outside?

FATHER

It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love swinging, and going down slides and playing catch and everything else.

CHILD

Do you have a baseball glove?

FATHER

Only the best one ever!

CHILD

Are you teasing me again?

FATHER

Not really.  It is a great glove. I’ve had it almost my whole life. And I’ve caught a lot of baseballs with it.  I even caught one at a Twins’ game once, for you. I’ll give it to you when we get home if you want.

CHILD

Why didn’t you give it to me before?

FATHER

I didn’t know you liked baseball. But I do now.

CHILD

Would your glove fit me?

FATHER

Slide closer. Let me look at your hand. (She does. And he takes her left hand and looks at it closely).  I think it will.  We’ll have to pull on your fingers, of course, to make them longer. And I see you only have five fingers instead of six. But we’ll make it work.

CHILD

Can I see your hand?

FATHER

Yes. But I should warn you that today I only have five fingers. Here count them.

CHILD

You have five fingers all the time right?

FATHER

You got me.  I was teasing again.

CHILD

Umm, Daddy?

FATHER

Yes, Sweetie.

CHILD

Do you know how to give piggyback rides?

FATHER

Not only do I know how, I once won a piggyback ride giving championship!

CHILD

Will you give me a piggyback ride to the car?

FATHER

There’s nothing I’d rather do. Hop on.