The Rights of Spring: The Happy Ones

Inga

Narr: This is Inga.
[small bright mask]

She was the happiest child! And what a good child she was! Her grandmother brought her up, and her grandmother was at one with nature. And because nature is neat, and clean, and abhors waste and muss, her grandmother taught her to always be good neat, clean, punctual, and well-prepared. They never wasted, they never rushed, they never littered, and when they saw litter on the sidewalk, they picked it up, and deposited it in the appropriate container - but with a smile, for it was part of their goodness to be always cheerful and optimistic. It's a sort of public service, don't you think?

[pats head]

One day, on a beautiful day in May, Inga was drinking in the healthful fresh air, and dancing for happiness, she saw a vision! The beautiful spirit of Mother Earth was flying around the world, looking upon her world, and seeing how it did.

[multi-person puppet carried by Earth Heads]
{bird noises or poetic flute….}

Earth Narrator: Oooh, lookit that bird! Just listen to it! Oooooh look, a blade of grass! Oh my goodness, it's got an ant on it! Ah, wuzza wuzza wuzza antie! Oops!

[steps on ant]
{sound out, abruptly}

Inga carried this vision in her heart, wherever she went. She met other cheerful and optimistic people.

{Tra la la la la after every meeting}

Kwame was a blogger; his every thought inspiring and his every move recorded. Angelica was an herbal healer, entering into a mystic communion with parsley. Rudolfo was a foodie, and knew all the food vans in the area. Abigail was a poet, ever yearning after inspiration. Veronica was an activist, dedicated to improvement in everything.
In the spring they all danced in honor of Mother Earth.

{Contra dance}

The Storm:

One day, as they were dancing, they saw a spark in the sky – and then a fire.

[fire dragons]
{stomping dance}

Lightning flashed all around, fire everywhere, the wind blowing…… They were terrified!
Then the water rained down

{more stomping dance}
[water dragons]

And the river rose.

{more stomping dance}

Well!

{music ends}

They were knocked flat, trampled, half-drowned. Mother Earth wasn’t being cheerful, and Mother Earth wasn’t helping them to be optimistic, and on top of that, everything was all mean and messy and muddy. Mother Earth was littering!

The Trip:

Inga was indignant! Kwame was choleric, Angelica was annoyed, Rudolfo was resentful, Abigail was annoyed, Veronica was vexed – violently so.
They held an indignation meeting, stamped, conferred, solicited input from the community, developed a concept plan, refocused, recapped the scenario, took a preference survey, and decided to go find Mother Earth and ask her what on earth she thought she was doing.

{short sound effects}

They focused all their energies, concentrating with absolute transformative intensity upon a single square millimeter of earth until it sprang into life as a representative of the earth, and they set off to follow it to Mother Earth.

{short sinister tune?}

They followed their guide through the crust, to a layer of sedimentary rock, flat and sullen. [rock faces]

{rock face tune?}

Veronica addressed them, and roused them to action!
But in the dimness, the Internet [Internet puppet] seduced Kwame into taking just a minute to update his facebook page, and he was lost.
They followed it to some metamorphic rocks, ever changing, ever moving.....

[rock faces]
{rock face tune?}

Veronica demanded that they attend a meeting so long and boring that they entirely stopped moving – in fact I think that they never moved again.
But Rudolfo was reminded of a moving food van – several, in fact, and Hunger [Hunger puppet] claimed his attention.
They followed it to the liquid outer core

[rock faces]
{longer rock face tune?}

They were becalmed in a sea of rock, and then in a sea of fire, and then in a sea of water, and then things really got ugly.

[rocks turn around, fire dragons in, water dragons in]

Veronica maintained forcefully that the actions of the rocks had no legitimacy, and led the group away. But then she began to wonder why she always ended up doing all the work, and stormed off in a huff.

[stomps all the way off]

In the meantime, the Spirit of Inspiration descended on Angelica and Abigail, and they flew of with it, arm in wing in wing in arm.

Mad Mother Earth:

Inga alone was left.

[Loneliness puppet]

She came to know loneliness – intimately.

{Tango, short}

On and on she followed her guide, until she came to the solid inner core, and there she found Mother Earth.

[Mother Earth in]

Earth Narrator: Oh, lookit that, it's a human! Centuries of messing with me, and now they come calling! One single person! Billions of people using stuff up, eating, drinking, chowing down chemicals, cell phones, plastic bottles, flying everywhere they don't drive, everything in plastic bags, cutting down trees right and left, for centuries, and now the send one single person to ask what's my problem? That's right, I stormed a bit! So what if I tornadoed once or twice more than usual! I'm in a fever! I've had it! Enough!

Inga called in her grandmother to negotiate.

[cellphone]

Grandma: ,Now, now, you know there were faults on both sides, I agree humans have gotten out of hand, yes, yes, excessive use of materials, but those storms lately, come on, that's not reasonable, and we shouldn't have cut down all those trees, but then you know you made wood both useful and attractive, surely we can come to some agreement, everything is negotiable, I'm sure, between people, and or entities of goodwill – you are an planet of goodwill at base, I'm sure.............

[Suspense screen, yelling and fist-pounding]
{percussion?}
[screen opens on tea-table, grandma and Mother Earth peaceful]

The Deal:

Lawyer:

OKAY Folks; Here it is!
An interim agreement (which just happens to be my biz).

Humans agree to cease and desist...
From being too self centered and list-...

En to Mother Earth, For Pete's Sake!!!
And don't pollute this sky, sea or lake.

Mother Earth in return will lay off any major storm.
So, at least for a year, that will be the norm.

As for the rest, talks are ongoing
So don't be surprised if next April it's snowing.

But the foreseeable future will be calm and serene
So make way for Mother Earth's mother, Mother Nature, the Star of this Scene.

(Merriment ensues.)

[Big Green {Dance music}]