49782012 莊如玉
49782031 魏逸昀
The Tree and the Beauty
Scene: The bus stop
Jerry walks to a girl standing by the bus stop.
Jerry: Er… (Stuttering)
Girl: Hi! You are…Jerry, right? (Energetically with a lovely smile)
Jerry: Oh…yeah… (Surprised)
Girl: Are you going to take the bus?
Jerry: No, thanks. My friends are waiting for me over there. (Randomly point to a
direction)
Girl: Okay, bye. (Waving hands)
Jerry walks away quickly.
Time: The next day
Scene: The bus stop
Jerry: Hi!
Girl: Hi! Are you going to take the bus today?
Jerry: No…I walk home.
Girl: So…where do you live?
Jerry: At the corner of the Torrey street.
Girl: Really? Me too! So we are neighbors.
Jerry: Yeah…I know (Whispering)
Girl: What?
Jerry: Nothing. Your bus is coming.
The bus is coming
Girl: That’s okay. It will be my pleasure to walk home with my new neighbor.
Jerry: Well…okay.
Jerry and the girl leave the bus stop
Scene: On the way to the corner of the Torrey street
After a long silence
Girl: I never walk home before. I always take the bus.
Jerry: That’s a pity. You’ve missed so much beauty on the road.
Girl: Tell me.
Jerry: Everything.
Girl: What do you mean by that?
Jerry: Everything is beautiful. The proportion of the soil, the dew on the leaves, and
the birth of a baby bird and the wilt of flower…everything!
Here comes another long silence.
Girl: You know what? I know you.
Jerry: You do? Why…?
Girl: We take the same history class. You are always late.
Jerry: Oh, yeah… I got something more important to do.
Girl: In fact, I am always late too. Without you, I probably will be the last one.
Another long silence envelops Jerry and the girl.
Jerry: To be honest, I know you too.
Girl: You do? Then why don’t you tell me?
Jerry: We have been neighbors for five years.
Girl: I moved here just five years ago!
Jerry: I know.
Girl: So what do you know about me?
Jerry: You are my classmate in the history class.
Girl: Yeah.
Jerry: You moved here five years ago.
Girl: Yeah.
Jerry: You go to school at 8:15 every morning. You will say goodbye to your dog
before you leave. You bring a yellow umbrella no matter it is sunny or rainy. You like
to have salad for your lunch. You have physical education class on Tuesday but you
don’t like it. You will put your palms together when you feel uneasy. You have lots of
friends around you. You never wear a watch but you have a sense of time.
Girl: (Surprised) You…
Jerry: Am I right?
Girl: You are such an observer! You know me better than I do!
Jerry: It is the beauty that fascinates me. (Pause)I want you to see something.
Girl: (Confused)
Jerry: Come with me. (Firmly)
Scene: Jerry takes the girl toward a path
Girl: I come because it is you; otherwise, I won’t.
Jerry doesn’t say a word and continue to walk further.
Girl: Where are we going exactly?
Jerry doesn’t answer her and put his fingers on his mouse.
They keep on walking silently.
Jerry stops at big grassland. There’s nothing but a giant tree. The tree looks dying. All
of its leaves are gone.
Jerry: Here it is.
Girl: So, what do you want to show me?
Jerry: The tree.
Girl: I don’t understand.
Jerry: The tree…the tree looks like a kid leaping with joy against the wind. But if you
look closer, you will see the cruelty of reality. The fallen leaves are the things we
failed to reverse. It is the whisper of struggling, the fact of dying and the truth of
beauty. There’s a voice behind everything. If you are willing, you can hear it.
The girl closes her eyes. The breeze whiffs. A teardrop falls.
Girl: I feel it.
Jerry: It’s painful, right?
Girl: But beautiful.
Jerry and the girl remain at the grassland until the sunset.
No words, only silence,
and beauty.
~The End~