WILLIAM HENRY:
Aunt Ida tucked me into my little bed on the sleeping porch. She told
me she was glad I came to stay and kissed me. When she left I could
hear her humming down the hall. In a little while she switched off
the last light and it was dark.
(IDA &
ALLY start humming "Silvery Moon" and move away from each
other. They hum quietly and sway to the music.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
I lay pretty quiet for awhile getting lazy in my mind and thinking
dazy thoughts.
(pause)
WILLIAM HENRY:
When all of a sudden there was a...
IDA & ALLY: Whoosh!
(IDA &
ALLY move around stage creating a violent atmosphere.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
Like you never heard and a...
IDA: Clattering!
ALLY:
And buzzing!
WILLIAM HENRY:
Like some ferocious space ship is falling...
ALLY:
Plum out of the sky!
WILLIAM HENRY:
It was...
ALLY: Zooming!
IDA:
And whooshing!
WILLIAM HENRY:
And then the darkness just rips apart with a terrible...
IDA & ALLY: SCREECH!
WILLIAM HENRY:
And it's bright like you're standing in a spotlight only it's all
around everywhere you look and things are glowing and looking hot and
red like there's a fire...
IDA:
Only there's no fire!
WILLIAM HENRY:
I jump out of my bed and run to the window...
ALLY:
But the light's so bright!
WILLIAM HENRY:
It hurts my eyes. So I take off running and tearing down the steps
and out of the house like a wild Indian and I'm calling Ally! Aunt Ida!
IDA:
Ally! Aunt Ida!
ALLY:
Ally! Aunt Ida!
(IDA &
ALLY & WILLIAM HENRY twirl frantically calling "Ally! Aunt
Ida!". This commotion builds then suddenly stops.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
Then all of a sudden it's gone, it's over. It stopped.
(IDA &
ALLY have stopped upstage with back to audience.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
And there I am. I'm standing in the middle of the yard and my feet
are all wet and cold from the dew. I can see the soy bean plants
rustling their leaves across the ground like little rippling waves on
a pond. It was all peaceful.
(pause)
WILLIAM HENRY:
That's when I saw him.
(IDA &
ALLY turn around and look out at a fixed point beyond the audience.
They gasp.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
I could see his outline like a scarecrow standing way out far in the
field and he's got his arms held high and he's swaying back and forth
in the breeze and pretty soon I know it's Grampa standing straight
and tall and swinging around like he's got a bat in his hand like
he's hitting a ball with all his might.
IDA:
But there's no bat.
WILLIAM HENRY:
He's only pretending to hold something.
ALLY:
And there's no ball flying nowhere.
WILLIAM HENRY:
Just then a sound from the house creeps up gentle on me and in awhile
I can tell it's music, it's such pretty music!
(IDA &
ALLY sing "la-la" to Brahms' Lullaby, circling in opposite
directions around WILLIAM HENRY .)
WILLIAM HENRY:
I don't know how I knew but I was sure in my mind that Ally was
playing my records only the record player worked now and the sound
was like a whole chorus of sweet ladies singing lullabies!
IDA & ALLY:
(whispering building) Billy Boy... Billy Boy... Billy Boy...
(continue)
WILLIAM HENRY:
And Grampa's swinging away and he's calling something now but I can't
tell what he's saying and he's pointing to the black sky and we both
look up...
(IDA &
ALLY stop calling and all look up, follow comet across the sky.)
WILLIAM HENRY:
...and there's a baseball that's made of yellow...
IDA &
ALLY & WILLIAM HENRY: Fire!
WILLIAM HENRY:
...with a tail that's streaking through the sky like some kind of
secret salute!
(They
pause looking at comet then WILLIAM HENRY drops to the ground and
gestures out. He is almost in tears.)
WILLIAM HENRY: Grampa!
