|
Curtain opens on Caleb bent over with Gershom sodomizing him, rhythmically thrusting in a routine and indifferent fashion. Both have their pants around their ankles. Caleb is holding up flash cards and showing them to a small dog, evidently trying to teach him to read. He holds each card for a few seconds so the dog can see it, then goes on to the next one without saying anything. This persists for awhile before Caleb breaks the silence.
C: Hey, Gershom… G: Yes, Caleb? C: You ever think that - um – ya know, nevermind, forget it. G: (few second pause) K C: (after a lengthy pause during which Caleb tries to figure out how to say what is on his mind) Y’ever think that – I dunno - that maybe there’s more to life than you having anal sex with me while I try and teach this dog to read? G: Say, now, Caleb! That’s some dangerous thinking. C: No, no – you’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything. (Pause) I mean…it’s been a really long time and he’s learned very little. (gestures to the dog.) G: That’s why you have to keep going over those flashcards with him and I have to keep – ya know – doing what I’m doing. (Shakes head at Caleb’s foolishness) C: Yeah, you’re right. (laughs a little out of embarrassment) That makes sense. (long pause) Why do we even have pants? G: What are you talking about? C: They’re always around our ankles. Just seems like a waste, ya know? G: Hmm. (thinks) I don’t know. That’s a tough one, isn’t it. But, thinkin’ ‘bout that won’t help this little fella learn to read, will it? C: No, it won’t I s’pose. (pause) But…it just seems like there has to be more than this. G: You mean more than dog literacy and sodomy? C: Yeah Gershom, that’s what I mean! (gleefully, happy that Gershom understands) G: (Pause while Gershom works up nerve to say something.) Ya know – sometimes…I start thinking…What’s behind us? C: Behind us? G: Yeah. Back (pauses, glances left and right) there. (gestures back with head) C: Well, gee whiz Gershom! Isn’t it just the same dog phonics and man sex? G: It can’t be. We can’t be here and behind us at the same time. C: (let’s this sink in) Huh. You’re right. G: I mean…when I look down, and…and I see your ass – well, I see shadows dancing on your ass as I slide my penis in and out, ya know?. I’ve always thought those shadows were real, like they were just marks on your ass that moved around - but maybe…maybe, they are just…shadows – shadows caused by some other object…behind us. A reflection of reality… C: We should name this dog. G: If your ass shadows are all I can see though, isn’t that as much Truth as the object that is actually casting the shadows? And what if that object isn’t even visible, or is blinding and unknowable? What, then, is Truth? (pause) C: Fuck me (said in wonderment). G: (looks down) Yup. C: Y’ever wonder why you never (gets embarrassed)…well…ya know. G: Why I never what? C: Aw geez Gershom – (pause) why you never – why you never ejaculate into my asshole. G: Oh, that! C: Yeah G: I don’t really know, to tell ya the truth. It has been a really long time. Like a month. C: Or a century. C + G (unison): I can’t remember. (Both look toward the audience) G: It just builds up. C: Maybe you have ejaculated! G: What are you talking about? C: Maybe you just haven’t experienced the sensory and mental representations that we associate with this world, but in an external reality, in the Thing in Itself, you’ve already – ya know. G: My thing in Itself has ejaculated? C: Who knows? G: (frustrated) It’s like I’m waiting for someone day in and day out who never – (pause, thinks) – comes. C: Everything flows; nothing stands still. G: (pauses, then yells) WE ARE MADE OF FIRE! C: We should name that dog. G: Y’ever think that maybe flashcards aren’t the best method? I mean, everyone has different learning styles, ya know? Different types of intelligence and all that? C: I can kill this dog and its cells would reorganize into something completely different and nothing would essentially change. G: Hell is other people. And possibly this dog. C: (pause) Hey, Gerhsom? You ever get the feeling that we’re full of shit? G: Considering our current situation I find that question a little off-putting. C: I don’t understand. G: Oh, Caleb. What I am saying is that, if you are indeed full of shit, why, that shit that you are full of would be all over my penis! C: That is off putting. G: Sure is! C: What do you think he’d do if he learned to read? (gestures towards dog) There’s not really much to read around here besides these flash cards. Maybe he became literate a long time ago and just hasn’t told us. (sneers at the dog) You’ve been able to read for a long time, haven’t ya? Huh!? You’ve known how to read for years! You…You lying, manipulative whore! Can you spell that? Can you spell “lying manipulative whore.” Cuz I can, it’s spelled “D-O-G!” (angry screaming turns gradually to tears and despair) You miserable beast, you bringer of pain and torment, you are a disease of suffering and torture, you are a cancer blackening and devouring us from the inside! God damn you, Cerberus, you hell beast, you don’t deserve a name! You don’t deserve a name! Why did no one name you? (in tears) Why did no one name you? (tears, long pause, continued thrusting) G: Sure is off-putting. We should talk about this more later. I think we are getting somewhere. C: We’re getting nowhere. G: That’s somewhere. C: We’ll talk more after. G: After what? C: After you teach that dog to red. G: And you fuck my ass more. C: That’s right. G: Off-putting as heck when you think about it. Fecal matter all over a penis.
Caleb looks inquisitive as he did at the beginning.. He furtively wiggles, trying to make his pants descend further. He thinks he has come up with a brilliant idea. He puts his head down to look between his legs, but his pants entirely block his view. Caleb smirks, and continues teaching the dog how to read.
|
|