Monday, January 23, 2017

Monologue Mania Day #1076 My Life in Cars (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Jan. 23, 2017

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Monologue Mania Day #1076 My Life in Cars (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Jan. 23, 2017

        (Am still not sure exactly where this will fit, but it will!)

                                                       My Life in Cars

                          ©Janet S. Tiger all rights reserved
                                                     tigerteam1@gmail.com

         (Franklin enters, he is in his late sixties, but could pass for 50s - he is very debonair, hat, cane.  The others greet him)

CLARK -  Well, Franklin, so good to have you back!

GEMMA-  Everything ok at home?

FRANKLIN -  Everything is fine......

          (He looks around, sees Savannah and smiles, goes over)

FRANKLIN -  Our new face!  Have they bored you to tears yet?  Hope not!

GEMMA -  That's what you like to do!

           (Franklin makes a face at Gemma, and turns back to Savannah)

FRANKLIN -  Firsts......it's all about firsts.....it may be difficult to believe now, but as a youth, I was very shy......

          (The others hoot and holler)

FRANKLIN -  All right, maybe not 'very' shy'...

           (Jeannie gives him a look)

FRANKLIN -  OK!  I loved to talk, but I also loved to read, and my grandmother was into self-help books, and my favorite was one by Barbara Walters, How to Talk to Absolutely Anyone About Absolutely Anything.....or something like that! Well, I read the book and nothing in it was new, but she did have a suggestion about talking to older people ....that you could ask them to talk about something that might be interesting to you too. 

My favorite question was,,,,,,, 'what was your first automobile?

It was incredible - when you asked......

         (He points to one of the others)

............ people's eyes would light up!  You could tell they would be seeing that car in their mind's eye. And they would be back 50 years.... 60 years and the story about the car would be interesting because it was a car usually long gone........ Everyone remembers learning to drive.... and which car they learn to drive in.......  I am 63....but my first car....

         (He closes his eyes and sniffs)

.........I can still smell it!   It was a VW bug.....and it smelled like the hippies I got it from for only $2!...... ....I had been hitchhiking to get places and one day I had this incredible sensation....I smelled the car before I saw it......It was sputtering, but it moved, I stuck out my thumb, and.... it stopped.  The couple inside were stoned.....and they were very happy.....I told them that I loved their car.....the girl said that I could have it and I told her I had no money, and she said, OK, it's yours....and I was stunned, and I gave them the change in my pockets, $2 and 32 cents!  And we drove into town and they walked off with their stuff.....like a dream!  

 It was before the days of seat belts and I could squeeze myself and six other people into that tiny car!  It was tight - four in the back seat three in the front but we did it one time. I think we were going to the beach but I don't remember..... I just remember the squashed feeling even though I had the most room being the driver!!

There was a sense of joy and wonder to have a new car for me even though it was 12 years old. As soon as I got a good job and saved some money, I got a brand new car and I have owned new cars every since.   I have had quite a few vehicles.  Each one, a different part of my life.....a new chapter.... A new VW - a Ford Mustang....- a mini-van for the kids.....now a solid Buick with doors and windows that lock, (sighs) so my wife can't escape........

New.....the new ones don't break down so fast.......but of all the cars I still love that first VW.......kind of like any first love it stays with me ......the feeling of driving.....well maybe 'putt-putting' my own vehicle down the road..... down a new road .....and the sense of freedom it brings. It is only now, 45 years later, that I realize that sense of freedom has to be inside your soul. Because when you take care of someone....or a few someones....... ......riding down the road is not always the first choice you can make.

         (Lights down, end of scene)

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Note: A few words about 'free' -  all these monologues are protected under copyright law and are free to read, free to perform and video as long as no money is charged. Once you charge admission or a donation, or include my work in an anthology, you need to contact me for royalty 
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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
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