CAST OF CHARACTERS
LILY – A stable and caring woman in her 40’s.
TAYLOR – A teen girl with conflict with her mom, trying to escape to the city.
FATHER - Lily’s Father, a caring and gentle man who has been seasoned with wisdom through life’s trials.
BRANDON - A young professional, whose ambition clouds his ability to value the most important things in life, like his family.
SEQUENCE:
Scene 1 - Drama: Lily Meets Taylor (lilies in truck)
- Taylor is fighting with her mom and escaping to the city
- Lily sees herself in young Taylor and engages her in a story about when she was young
Scene 2 - Song: Love You Love (Father & Lily dance)
Scene 3 - Drama: Father Meets Brandon (Lily hot cocoa)
- Cocoa & cookies
- Bedtime: stories, lilies on bedstand, princess house, saving for it.
Scene 4 - Song: As I Sing Over You (Bedtime)
Scene 5 - Drama: Lily's Heart Turns (Teen Lily in room)
- Her heart began to change
- Seeking love and acceptance in others
- Sneaking in late, anger and separation
Scene 6 - Song: Incomplete (Lily in mirror)
Scene 7 - Drama: Lily Leaves (Lily packs suitcase)
- Father struggled to find a way for her to stay
- Boyfriend at the curb
- Father tries to help with her suitcase
- Lily: “I can do it myself. I don't need you anymore.”
- Father: never felt so helpless. And then, she was gone.
Scene 8 - Song: Again (Father waiting and watching)
Scene 9 - Drama: Lily and boyfriend (on couch)
- Started with friends and partying
- Boyfriend lost his job
- No money, no alcohol, no drugs, no friends
- Fighting with boyfriend, abuse, left alone
- Loneliness, regret, shame, if only the rain could wash it all away
Scene 10 - Song: Rainy Day (Lily smoking)
Scene 11 - Drama: The Father's Plan (Father writing)
- He wakes up in the night flooded with ideas. He scurries them down as fast as he can…the sun is coming up.
Scene 12 - Song: My Sweet Child (Father driving)
Scene 13 - Song: Zechariah’s Song (Lily at bus stop)
Scene 14 - Song: You Are Bigger (Lily collects flowers)
Scene 15 - Song: As You Sing Over Me (Lily in Father's arms)
Scene 16 - Drama: Lily's Stop
- Lily: I realized that my father’s love was greater than my mistakes…
- Taylor: Receives text, she’s sorry…
- Lily: This is my stop. I hope you find what you’re looking for in the city
- Taylor: Thanks…I think my plans may have changed…
Scene 17 - Drama: A Father’s Gift
- Father: It wasn’t like she never left…but we knew, she’d never leave again.
- Brandon: I think I know what to get my daughter for her birthday…I think I’ll buy her some flowers.
SCENE 1: LILY MEETS TAYLOR
The train whistle blows. Train seats. Morning. Lily and Taylor engage in a conversation…
TAYLOR:
Oh come on…didn't you do anything kinda crazy when you were my age? You sound like my mother.
LILY:
Sorry, I don’t mean to, I just… never mind.
(beat)
And yes
TAYLOR:
What?
LILY:
Your question: yes… when I was your age, I did plenty.
TAYLOR:
Thought so.
(beat)
Like what?
LILY:
(smiles, a bit surprised)
…Things your mom definitely wouldn’t have liked.
TAYLOR:
Come on, tell me. I bet your mom was all over you.
LILY:
No… She passed when I was really little –
TAYLOR:
Oh, sorry. That sucks.
LILY:
Yeah, but my father did the best he could… All things considered, I had a really good childhood… but for a time I guess that didn’t really matter.
(beat)
Sorry, you don’t want to hear about all this.
TAYLOR:
It’s better than talking about my mom.
LILY:
Okay. Mmmm… Even though dad was a tough and rugged kind of guy, he had a gentle side.
We’d have tea parties, and he’d put me in little plays and dance classes. I remember dancing all over the house in my little leotard all the time. And he'd even let me teach him some of my dance steps…
(Smiling, lost in the memory, then returns)
…it was good.
[Lights down on Lily and Stage and up on Musicians]
SCENE 2: SONG LOVE YOU LOVE
(CANDLES ARE LIT)
(SERVE SNACK TRAYS)
SCENE 3: FATHER MEETS BRANDON
[Lights down on Musicians and up on Father and Brandon]
Bench outside train station. Morning. The FATHER sits in peace, looking towards the sky. BRANDON paces back and forth looking for the train; checking his watch. He sits down next to the FATHER.
BRANDON:
Why is this taking so long?
FATHER:
Sounds like you’ve got somewhere to be.
BRANDON:
(looks at the Father briefly, almost surprised that he was there)
What? Oh…yeah. Big meeting today. Probably the biggest of the year…and I don’t want to be late.
FATHER:
Wow…on a Saturday, too. It must be big.
BRANDON:
Yeah… it's the only time this client could meet, so what are you gonna do?...Believe me, there’s many other things I’d rather be doing today…
(clears throat in an attempt to cover the lie)
FATHER:
So if you didn’t have to work, what would you be doing?
BRANDON:
Oh…I don’t know…the beach…who knows? I might still be working
(awkward pause then a thought occurs to him)
Well…I guess, today I’d be doing something with my daughter, I suppose. It’s her birthday today.
FATHER:
Oh! Today? Wow…that’s special. How old is she?
BRANDON:
(tries to recall)
She’s gonna be…five. Yeah, she’s five.
FATHER:
Such a sweet age. I remember when my daughter was that little.
BRANDON:
(happy the topic has shifted)
Oh yeah?...
FATHER:
Yeah…she’s older now, of course.
(beat)
It goes by so quick. Do you have anything planned for her? A little party or something?
BRANDON:
Ahh…I think her mom has something going. Yeah…I’ll pick her up a gift on my way back…yeah…
FATHER:
What's your daughter's name?
BRANDON:
(smiling)
Rosie. Yours?
FATHER:
Lily. It was her late mother's favorite flower. She passed when Lily was just a baby. So, it was just the two of us.
BRANDON:
(a bit surprised)
I'm so sorry
FATHER:
Thanks…it was a long time ago.
(beat)
BRANDON:
(curious)
So, you raised her on your own, huh?
FATHER:
Yeah …just Lily and I. It was good though…so many great memories…
BRANDON:
(thinking)
You probably had to work a lot.
FATHER:
Well, I worked hard… construction. But I made sure to be there everyday when she got out of school. I could have worked more, for sure. But I chose to have less money and more time with her…no regrets on that one.
BRANDON:
Hmm…yeah, I guess that makes sense.
FATHER:
And it wasn’t even the big moments that were so special, it was the simple things…
(looks off in recollection)
We’d have cookies and hot cocoa as a treat… and talk about whatever happened at school that day. She was pretty picky about what kind of cookies she liked. Ha! She still is…
…and bedtime stories…oh, those were the best. I’d make up stories about kings and queens, princesses and magical lands. She’d get so into them that she started to plan out what her dream “princess house” would look like. And we’d dream together about one day living in a big, beautiful home in the country. I was even saving for it…
…And each night, before the bedtime story I would put lilies on her nightstand next to her bed. I told her that they were to be a reminder of how much I love her.
So many good memories…
[Lights down on Father and Brandon – lights up on Musicians]
SCENE 4: I SING OVER YOU
(HOT COCOA & COOKIES ARE SERVED)
SCENE 5: LILY’S HEART TURNS
[Lights down on Musicians – lights up on stage Lily & Taylor]
LILY:
He would sing that song to me all the time. But, over time things change.
TAYLOR:
He changed on you?
LILY:
No…I did. I started to trade time with my father for time with friends…and boyfriends. I wanted acceptance…to feel like I mattered. We all want that, don’t we?
(Taylor shrugs)
(LIGHTS DIM)
The problem was that I was looking for it in all the wrong places.
I started coming home late, or not at all. And when my father tried to talk to me about it, I’d get so angry with him. I remember one time coming home way past curfew. I crept through the door as quietly as I could, and then the light turned on
He had just been sitting there in the dark waiting for me. At first, I was startled, you know? Then, I felt fear …and probably some shame about whatever I had been doing that night. And he didn’t say anything, he wasn’t even upset. And then, I remember this anger rising up in me.
I just couldn’t believe that he thought I should have to answer to him. And I wanted out. No real reason. I just had an overwhelming desire to escape…to be on my own.
That was a turning point. From then on, I only distanced myself. I was so convinced that happiness was somewhere… “out there”...and I was determined to find it.
[Lights down on Lily and Taylor - lights up on Musicians]
SCENE 6: WHO'S TO SAY
(SECRET MISSION)
SCENE 7: LILY LEAVES
[Lights down on Musicians – lights up on Father & Brandon]
BRANDON:
So, what’d you do? I mean, couldn’t you stop her?
FATHER:
Well, there wasn’t much I could do…those years are tough. It’s not like when they’re little and they just do what you say. We had grown so distant at that point that she wouldn’t listen to anything I said.
I remember searching for some approach…some words that would make her change her mind. But the truth is that there just weren’t any. I always knew that one day she would go out into the world, there are seasons to life…but not like this.
I remember the day she left. She packed her stuff in a fury, barely saying a word to me. I looked out the window and there was this young man leaning against a car parked in front of the house. I guess it was her latest boyfriend. He never came in…
(lost in the memory)
(LIGHTS DIM #2)
When she finished packing, she pulled her suitcase off her bed, but it was too heavy for her, so it dropped to the ground. Instinctively, I reached down to help her…I’d been doing that all her life…when she would drop things…or when she scraped her knee, I’d scoop her up. But this time, she snapped at me. She said, “No…I can do it myself. I don’t need you anymore.” And that was the last thing she said to me.
I watched her as she dragged her suitcase up the front lawn… that guy put it in the car. Just like that, she was gone.
[Lights down on Father and Brandon and up on Musicians]
SCENE 8: AGAIN
SCENE 9: LILY AND BOYFRIEND
[Lights down on Musicians and up on Lily and Taylor]
LILY:
Like many things, it was great at first. I had a new place, a new job, and a new man. Finally, I made it out of that tired old town and was on to bigger and better things. And for me, the city was an adventure!
TAYLOR:
For sure…where did you live?
LILY:
We were on the north side…do you know uptown?
TAYLOR:
(unsure to admit it)
Well…yeah…I mean…I’ve been there a couple times…
LILY:
Yeah…its a crazy place. That’s where I did most of those things that I “probably shouldn’t have.”
(pondering)
And we did it all… clubs, drugs…I mean we’d close places down and then keep the party going at our apartment…which was fun, at the time…but it was short-lived. Eventually, my boyfriend lost his job - probably from going to work hungover all the time. And, since most of our income was from my tips, money got real tight, real quick.
Funny how quickly so-called friends stop coming around when there’s no more alcohol…
And that’s about when the fights started. First, it was just arguing - about money, mostly. Then the arguments turned into shouting matches…which turned into hitting…and then, well… eventually he got sick of me and left. But do you know what was worse than all that?
TAYLOR:
What?
LILY:
The loneliness. I’d curl up on the couch night after night, and just cry myself to sleep…hoping that I wouldn’t wake to see morning. Alcohol was a comfort, but only for a time. It just made things worse.
Sometimes I’d look at my phone and think about my father, but I just couldn’t bring myself to call him. I was too ashamed. And I was convinced he wouldn’t want what I had become.
That was a very dark time…
TAYLOR:
How’d you get yourself out of it?
LILY:
(looking back at TAYLOR)
…I didn’t.
[Lights down on Lily and Taylor and up on Musicians]
SCENE 10: RAINY DAY
(CANDLES PUT OUT)
SCENE 11: THE FATHER'S PLAN
[Lights down on Musicians and up on Father and Brandon]
FATHER:
Have you ever felt so moved to do something that it seemed as if someone or something was controlling you? Almost as if you didn’t have a choice?
(Brandon shrugs)
FATHER:
It was like that. I woke up in the middle of the night, flooded with ideas. I jumped out of bed and immediately started writing down my thoughts. It seemed crazy…but sometimes crazy is what’s needed.
So, after I scribbled my plan and mapped out my journey, I prayed until the sun came up. Then I hopped in my truck and got to work…
[Lights down on Father and up on Musicians]
SCENE 12: MY SWEET CHILD
SCENE 13: ZECHARIAH'S SONG
SCENE 14: YOU ARE BIGGER
(LIGHT CANDLES)
SCENE 15: AS YOU SING OVER ME
SCENE 16: LILY'S STOP
[Lights down on Musicians and up on Lily and Taylor]
TAYLOR:
He spent all the money he was saving, didn’t he?
LILY:
(nodding)
I realized… that my father’s love was greater than my mistakes…
(TAYLOR receives a text, she looks at her phone)
TAYLOR:
It’s my mom…
(confused)
LILY:
(looks out the window)
Well…this is my stop.
I hope you find what you’re looking for in the city.
TAYLOR:
(looking up)
Uhh…yeah…thanks.
(looks back at her phone, then back to LILY)
I guess my mom wants me at home…
LILY:
(smiles)
It was nice meeting you Taylor.
TAYLOR:
…you too…and thanks for the story.
[Lily exits stage left]
[Lights down on Lily and Taylor]
SCENE 17: A FATHER'S GIFT
[Lights up on Father and Brandon]
FATHER:
(looks up)
Isn’t this your train?
BRANDON:
(lost in thought, then looks up as well)
Oh…yeah…it is…well, it was nice talking to you.
(gets up to leave…stops and turns)
Hey…I think I know what I’ll get my daughter for her birthday.
FATHER:
Oh yeah, what’s that?
BRANDON:
Some flowers.
(FATHER smiles)
(BRANDON exits stage left)
(LILY approaches FATHER from stage right and he gives her a gift bag - she pulls out a bouquet of lilies. They embrace)
(BRANDON exits stage left)
(LILY approaches FATHER from stage right and he gives her a gift bag - she pulls out a bouquet of lilies)
(PASS OUT LILIES)