ANNIE (in a tremulous but somewhat loud...

ANNIE (in a tremulous but somewhat loud voice)

Are you sure it’s okay to be out here?

ELLIE (stopping abruptly)

Shhhhhhh! Yes. I told you. We have to find some supplies. We’re running out of food. This old theatre may have some stuff we can use.

ANNIE

But …

ELLIE

I should have left you behind!

ANNIE

No! Everyone is sick. And mama hasn’t come home. I’d rather be with you.

ELLIE

Okay, then be quiet and behave. Let’s get going.

(ELLIE grabs one of the black-clothed figures’ arms to open the door, a low scraping sound can be heard as the door slowly admits the two girls. As ELLIE steps through the door she shuts off the flashlight, and simultaneously the lights go out in the house and on the stage. During this time the sign is flipped to its blank side and trash is strewn about the floor of the stage. The lights come back up as ELLIE and ANNIE emerge from the door, entering the theatre.)

ELLIE

Ugh! This place stinks. Smells like something died in here ten times over.

ANNIE

I’m scared.

(The two slowly move across the stage from stage left to stage right, illuminated by the flashlight and low house and stage lights. There are several clusters of black-clothed figures with hoods up pretending to be chairs, 8-10 figures in all.)

ELLIE (looking sharply stage right)

Do you see what I see?

ANNIE (looking around out to the audience, at her feet)

Huh?

ELLIE

Shhhh! Over there in the corner. Kind of hidden under some trash.

ANNIE (louder than she intended)

FOOD???

ELLIE (clapping a hand over her mouth)

NO! You dope! It’s … (she inches closer, shining the flashlight on a clump of trash) … it’s hand sanitizer.

ANNIE

Lemme see (trying to grab the flashlight). I thought there wasn’t any more of that stuff left. That’s what mama said before she left. Can we take it? I can’t wait for her to see it when she gets home.

ELLIE

Okay, let’s get something straight, Annie. Your mom ain’t coming home. Same thing happened to her as all the rest of the adults. It’s just us kids and the last of the sick ones left.

ANNIE (starting to cry)

Don’t say that. Mama is coming back.

ELLIE

Shhhhh! I think I hear something.

(They both crouch even further hiding behind two of the black-clothed figures functioning as chairs. DEVON appears from upstage stage right, also with a flashlight, seeming to look for something. He almost trips over the pile of trash that hides the sanitizer.)

DEVON

Huh! What’s this? (He brushes aside the trash and shines the flashlight on a large bottle of hand sanitizer. As he reaches to pick it up, ELLIE lunges from hiding and tries to grab it, but DEVON grabs it first.)

ELLIE

We saw it first. It belongs to us. (She gestures toward ANNIE as her companion.)

DEVON

I don’t mean to be rude, BUT I’M THE ONE HOLDING IT!

ANNIE (emerging more slowly, kind of scared)

Maybe we can share. Can I see it? I’ve never seen a bottle of hand sanitizer before.

(DEVON shrugs and hands it over to ANNIE.)

Sure. Whatever.

ANNIE

I have a music box that kinda looks like this at home. (She turns the large bottle over in her small hands.) Wait, this has a turnkey on the back. What happens if I turn it? (Slowly and then more confidently she turns the key and sets it on the ground.)

ELLIE

What the hell?

(Music begins to play, emanating unbelievably from the bottle of sanitizer. ANNIE starts to dance around like a ballerina as if she were in a trance.)

DEVON (holding his hand out to ELLIE)

May I have this dance?

ELLIE (looking at him at first with confusion and then shrugging, takes his hand and does a low curtsy.)

Of course, sir.

(The music continues on for quite some time and then begins to slow down. The three collapse on the ground, laughing, apparently forgetting for a moment where they are.)

ANNIE

Ahhhh (as she starts to lean against ELLIE)

For licensing/performance inquiries, please contact [email protected]