June: How is he?
Doctor: Where to begin? He is happy during the day but plagued by nightmares every time he goes to sleep. He also insists on the curtains being open so that he can see the bay from his room. It is strange, even after almost drowning, he still likes the look of the water. Oh, one, other thing. He…he resents me. I can tell every moment that I am in there with him. He wants to be outside, to say hello to all his neighbors, to give condolences to the families of the crew members he lost. He wants to be a part of the world, even though he still has not fully healed.
June: Well, thank you for looking after him.
Doctor: You must joking! He does more for this town than the mayor. Personally, I believe that this attitude has stopped an awful lot of people from packing up shop and leaving when the going got rough. I just hope you can put a bit of common sense back into him.
June: Alan, you are looking…rather well for a hospital patient.
Alan: June! It is a delight to see you! Though, I must admit to being caught off guard by your appearance. Had I known, I would have dressed better. I’m still in this appalling robe. You did not send a letter saying you were visiting…
June: This is not a visit Alan, I am here to make sure that you are alright.
Alan: You have come an awful long way for nothing then, I fear. Look at me, I am fine, better than I have ever been! Last time you came, I forgot to take you to the shop on Main Str., you know, the one with that lemonade we loved as children?
June: I do not understand how that-
Alan: You spilled some on your dress the first time we went, did you not? Oh, but the lemonade out here in the country is better than that in your new hometown. I know that there are more opportunities for a poet in the city, but really, is there not more inspiration here on the coast?
June: Alan, you are avoiding the subject.
Alan: Poppycock! I am not avoiding anything, just reminiscing a bit. Oh, how long has it been? Months, correct since you lasted visited?
June: Years, actually…listen, the doctor told me-
Alan: Has it really been years? Well, then, I need to visit the city on a more regular basis. Ah, well, how has Howie been doing?
June: I left him. Last May.
Alan: Oh. Well, why did you not send me a letter?
June: That is not important at the moment. Listen, I need to talk to you regarding the nightmares which you have been having.
Alan: Oh, those. Well, I…I afraid there is not much to say. Once I am back out on the bay, I am assured that they will stop. It has being cooped up in here which makes me feel so low.
June: You must be jesting.
Alan: Sorry, about what?
June: You want to go back out there…after watching your boat, and your friends…Alan, you were almost killed.
Alan: So? I have almost crashed my wagon a couple times, that does not mean I should quit using it.
June: But the doctor said-
Alan: You have been speaking with him then? Talking about me behind my back?
June: Yes, because I trust someone with medical expertise.
Alan: Too much expertise, if you ask me. If we were all as careful as men like him want us to be, well, we would not get much of anywhere, now would we?
June: Why must you be so infuriating?
Alan: If anyone is infuriating, it is that man. He has the reason I am not allowed to leave this room. You may believe that I have not thought this through, but I have. I have had a lot of time to think things through since he decided that I was unfit to leave this building. It borders on malpractice of the mental kind, you know.
June: Alan! You have one broken arm and one bruised skull. Do you really think that you are fit to leave this building, let alone keep fishing?
Alan: I understand that you care about me June…but the loneliness…the boredom in this room…its killing me. That is why I have been having the nightmares, because I cannot gain any closure while confined to this room. Please, could you-could you attempt to convince the doctor that I would be fine if allowed a little walk?
June: Alan, you know that I cannot do that.
Alan: Please, for old time’s sake. We could talk…about your concerns and such. I promise I will take them seriously.
June: I will do my best…
Doctor: He asked to leave again, did not he?
June: He…he loathes being cooped up Doctor. He always has. Heh, when he was nine, he caught a fever and had to skip a week of school. Every day after school, he insisted that I tell him everything which had happened that day.
Doctor: I am afraid that the risk involved is too high-
June: But it would do him good! Relieve some of the stress on his mind, and does not stress cause a medical recovery to be harder?
Doctor: (Sigh) Very well, I will permit you to take him out for an hour. But you must promise me that you will bring him back as soon as the time is out, especially if he shows signs of fatigue or drowsiness.
June: I cannot thank you enough.
Doctor: I will be back in a moment with the papers required.
(Doctor leaves, and returns with some papers. June signs them all, before returning to Alan)
Alan: (Lighting up) May we go?
(June nods, and brings him by the arm to stage right)
June: Alright, we are outside, we are walking, now tell me…why are you acting like you have not been subject to a violent storm.
Alan: What do you want of me, to be a moping mess? To be angry at the world for taking the ship I worked years to buy, for taking the friends who were with me through good times and bad?
June: I would prefer it if you acted like this is important. Like everything is not fine, because it is not. You do not have a boat-
Alan: So what? I will take out a loan.
June: -and you lack even a semblance of a plan. Alan, we…we have been friends since we were eight, right?
Alan: Seven, actually.
June: Precisely. I want not to see you throw your life away because you are not thinking straight. What harm would it do to be a touch more cautious, to care about yourself…if only for the people who care about you?
Alan: (sigh) Perhaps you are correct…perhaps I have turned foolish in my disposition. But really, how can someone worry on a day like this? The farmers are declaring about their turnips and radishes on Main Street, the birds have all turned out to sing, and the beach…the beach is the same as it always is after a storm. Clean air and calm waves.
June: I-I…no, I just do not understand; how can you stare at the sea and not be afraid? Frustrated? Even a little bit sad? There’s no shame in any of these emotions, they would be healthy to express by anyone in your situation.
Alan: I am sad. Like I said, I had a lot of time to think, to think about the families of my friends, to think about what I could have done differently…but afraid? Frustrated? Never of the sea. She’s my second mother. She is that which you and I used to dart through, fighting the waves like the unstoppable force that we were. She’s the thing from which I caught my first fish, she is the place where I took a girl out on when I was seventeen, where I got my first kiss. Being afraid of the sea…would be like being afraid of the sky which brings me warm sunny days where I can cycle through the hills, and damp, dreary days where I can curl up with a cup of tea and a good book. Why be afraid of something you cannot be control? Why be frustrated with that which brings you joy?
June: How…how can you be so…unaffected by what has occurred? Most men I know would be a shell of themselves after an event like the one you experienced.
Alan: I am not good at changing, June. (Long pause) You-you are, you have become smarter, more logical, with time. You have moved up in the world. You are quite good at changing to fit the situation; I never have been. I was joyful, easily complacent as a child…and I am still that way. And that is why, when this arm of mine is better, the first thing I am going to do, is buy a boat and sail out to Peacock Island.
June: The place where we used to go hunting for crabs…
Alan: Remember, we would hold them down and watch as their legs licked the air.
June: You blubbered like a baby when one of them pinched your thumb.
Alan: That I did. And you kissed my thumb and made all better. (Clears throat) If…if you feel like visiting again, I would be happy to take you.
June: (Wiping her eyes) That would…that would be nice…
Alan: First, though, I would enjoy taking an old friend on a walk along the beach. If she has up for it, that is.
June: I would be glad to accompany you, just promise me that you are not going to say “TAG” and run off like you used to.
Alan: I make no promises.
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