“A walk in the park becomes an earnest spiral of naive morality when a mother and her young daughter happen on a fisherman.”

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THE SCENE
A suburban park surrounding a lake, during a mild day in early-Spring. Present Day.

THE CAST
A Man, 60s, spending his day fishing.
A Girl, under 10, who happens upon him.
Her Mom, late-20s/early-30s, her guardian.

*

LIGHTS UP. A MAN stands alone off to stage-left, facing away from the audience, casting off with an imaginary fishing rod. There are sounds of a public park: birds; wind; and the resting of water. There is a bench beside the man and on top rests his backpack, a cooler, and some other miscellaneous items: he is set up to be standing there for the day.

ENTER a little GIRL, clad in a one-piece rainsuit, jumping on-stage from stage-right into imaginary puddles with her yellow boots. Her MOM follows her. The girl is singing a little song.

MOM
Honey, don’t go off too far!

GIRL
I won’t!

The girl circles back to Mom. Near her, the girl falls on her bum. Mom helps her up.

MOM
Good thing we bought you this rainsuit!

GIRL
Mom, I’m going to be all wet!

MOM
You won’t. It’ll be like magic.
Stand here a second. Watch that man.

They watch the fisherman.

MOM
(cont’d) Do you know what he’s doing?

GIRL
He’s catching fish!

MOM
That’s right! This time of year, they put fish in the lake for people to come catch.

GIRL
Who puts fish in the lake?

MOM
The people who own the park.

GIRL
…I thought the park was for everyone.

MOM
Very good, Dear! Yes, even though we’re allowed to come to the park whenever we want, it’s not actually ours’. We don’t own it, the same way Mommy and Daddy own our house. The people who look after the city also look after the park.

GIRL
Mom, if they put fish in the lake that aren’t usually there, then was the lake always there, too? Or did they put the lake here too, like the fish?

MOM
That’s a good question! You’re going to make Mommy jealous with how smart you’re getting! This is what’s called a “man-made” lake. A long, long time ago, the city workers dug a big hole, and then they connected a pipe to it, the same way the pipes at home work. You know how they carry water all over our house?

GIRL
Yeah?

MOM
Well that’s how they get water into the lake. But these aren’t little pipes like the ones at home: these are great big pipes. Big enough for fish to pass through them! When it’s the time of year for people to fish, the city workers open the pipes up somewhere else, then they let all the little fishies out and they swim swim swim to their new home!

She tickles her daughter’s exposed neck, and the girl giggles.

GIRL
I hope they don’t use the water from our toilet!

MOM
Oh, me neither!

GIRL
Yeah, especially after Daddy’s done using it!

MOM
Pee-yoo! You’re gross! Come on, let’s start walking again.

They start to cross in-front of the man, when his fishing line begins to tug. He’s got one!

MOM
(cont’d) Hey, wait a second!

GIRL
What’s going on?

MOM
See how he’s tugging on his fishing rod? That means he’s got a fish!

GIRL
He caught one?

MOM
He did! And now the fish is fighting back.

GIRL
Why is it fighting back? Doesn’t it want to be caught?

MOM
…Let’s see if he gets one.

And he does: the man reels-in an imaginary fish, and proceeds to unhook it & put it away in his cooler. He is still out of clear eyeline on the stage, so we can’t really see his process, or the struggling fish. He closes the cooler lid, and looks over his shoulder. He sees the two females standing near him.

MAN
Oh, hi! I didn’t realize I had an audience!

MOM
Hi there! I’m sorry, I just wanted to show my daughter what you were doing!

MAN
Don’t apologize, it’s quite alright. Hello, little girl!

GIRL
(to MAN)
Did you just catch a fish?

MOM
(to GIRL)
Don’t be rude. Say “hello” back.

MAN
It’s okay, it’s okay. Yes, I did just catch a fish! Do you want to see it?

GIRL
I don’t know…

MOM
(to GIRL)
Don’t you want to see what the nice man caught?

MAN
(to GIRL)
It’s a perfectly-natural thing: fishing. Humans have been fishing ever since there’s been humans on the planet!

GIRL
Mom, what is he talking about?

MAN
It’s okay, I’m rambling. I’ve been here all by my lonesome today. Here, let me show you…

The man opens the cooler door and pulls out the carcass of the now-dead fish. A pause.

GIRL
(to MOM)
His eyes look just like Buttons’ eyes.

MOM
…Buttons?

GIRL
Buttons, Mom!
The kittie!

MOM
Oh, that’s right.

GIRL
Don’t their eyes look the same?

MOM
Yes, because there isn’t any life left in them.

GIRL
Does the life of the fish go to the same place where Buttons’ life is?

MAN
(to GIRL)
I wouldn’t worry about it too much, little girl. He died for a good cause. I’m going to take him home and make dinner out of him!

GIRL
You’re going to EAT him?

MAN
Yep! Probably fry it up with some butter and some nuts, and he’ll be delicious.

He puts the fish back in the cooler.

GIRL
But what about his family?

MAN
Excuse me?

GIRL
Who is going to tell his family what happened to him?

MAN
Fish don’t think the same way as humans, kid. He won’t be missed.

GIRL
How do you know that?

MAN
Well,
how do YOU know that his family is looking for him?

GIRL
See! See? Even YOU think his family is looking for him!

MOM
Maybe we should go now…

GIRL
No, Mom! He’s dead! And now this man is going to eat him! Someone needs to tell “his” Mom, or his kids, or his friends!

MAN
I’m just going to duck out here…

The man collects his things and quietly EXITS stage-left, while the little girl runs to the back of the stage, facing the lake:

GIRL
(shouting)
Can any of you hear me? Are any of you going to come and say goodbye to your friend?

MOM
Honey, settle down.

GIRL
(shouting)
It’s OK, I understand!
I’m sorry! I’m so sorry your Daddy is gone!

Mom grabs her by the shoulders, and kneels down to her height.

MOM
What’s going on? Why are you suddenly being like this?

GIRL
I just didn’t think it was right.

MOM
I know you don’t. But it is right.

GIRL
He can just take that poor fish away from his family and cut him up?

MOM
Yes, he can. Even the people who put the fish in the water say that he can.

GIRL
They own the fish, too?

MOM
Wow, you are on fire today, aren’t you? Yes, the city owns the fish.
They own the lake, and the park, too. And they said that it’s okay for people to take the fish out and take them home with them. No one is forcing anybody to let the other fish know when another goes missing.

GIRL
But they still breath, don’t they? The trees breath and you say it’s terrible we cut them down, but fish breath and they have a whole school they belong to, and it’s okay to just kill one of them?

MOM
Yes.

GIRL
Why?

MOM
Because killing a fish isn’t the same thing as killing a human. Or even a tree.

GIRL
You’re wrong. Trees have schools too. They’re called forests.

A pause. Mom takes her daughter over to the bench and they sit down.

MOM
What’s gotten in to you, hm? Buttons died, what is it now… September, last year? Eight months ago! That’s almost a year. And all the other kittens survived. They all went to good homes, too. I showed you the pictures.

GIRL
But I still remember Buttons.
I remember Dad crying when he had to dig the hole to bury her in. And I remember Susanna crying when she kept licking her and she wouldn’t wake up again.

MOM
But you don’t see Susanna sad about it anymore. She was sad for a while, but she’s better now. She doesn’t sit in her box and sleep all day anymore.

GIRL
But at least she got to KNOW what happened. No one knows what happened to the poor fish.

MOM
How can I explain this to you…
when you see a big spider in the bathroom, what do you do?

GIRL
I call you.

MOM
And what does Mom do to the spider?

GIRL
You flush it down the toilet.

MOM
That’s right. Do you think the spider is still alive after Mommy grabs it and then flushes it?

GIRL
No…

MOM
And do you feel bad about the spider’s family? Or his friends?

GIRL
No…

MOM
(sarcastically)
Don’t lie to your Mom: have you ever shouted out while you were in the bathroom for all the spiders to come out and pay tribute to their deceased relative?
Tell me! Because if you did then I need to go in there when we get home and shout back, and tell them all that they are NOT invited!

GIRL
(confused)
No.

MOM
So.
Just think of catching a fish as the same thing.

GIRL
But we don’t eat the spiders!

MOM
…No, we don’t. But I don’t think spiders would taste very good, do you?
Humans like the taste of fish. All those fish that we see at the grocery store? They all started life in the water. It’s the same of the red meat, and the chicken. It isn’t like the meat we buy just comes from the sky like that. They started life at the farm, as a cow, and a little chick. And then they grew up, and when they were a certain age it was time for them to become meat for you and Daddy & I to buy at the store and cook & eat, and feed you, and turn you into a big, strong woman someday.

GIRL
I don’t understand.

MOM
It’s okay. You don’t have to. Even Mommy doesn’t understand it sometimes.

GIRL
I’m still sad for the fish.

MOM
It’s okay to be sad for the fish. I’m sad for the forests.
Death can be sad.

GIRL
Can it ever be happy?

MOM
Maybe.
Maybe not. It’s one of those thing where, it depends on the way you look at it. Take the trees: there’s always people out there like Mommy who plant new ones when the weather is nice. Even if it’s hard to save the old Grandfather trees, at least we can try to help their babies out, so maybe they can grow to be Grandfathers when your children are your age.

GIRL
Eww! I don’t want children.

MOM
No?

GIRL
No! Boys are weird and gross! I don’t want to make babies with them!

MOM
…I think that’s enough of the park, Dear. Mommy’s tired.
I’ll make you a grilled-cheese when we get home.

Mom stands up from the bench & holds her hand out for the girl, and she takes it. They morosely exit stage-right. LIGHTS DOWN.

//jf 5.21.2022

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Photos in order: Nancy Bourque; cottonbro on Pexels.com. Writer’s note: I would be OK with the Girl being played by a grown woman, playing under-10. Very Solondz. //jf