beneath sky and sea

by Luisa Ferreira

ACT I

SCENE 1

The lights come up on Gate B26 in JFK Airport. A huge winter storm has delayed all activities in the airport, causing chaos amongst passengers. On one of the gate chairs is JEREMY HUDSON, a cool and fashionable twenty-two year old. He has a pair of expensive headphones on and is reading a book. Next to him are two empty seats.

Enter BRI RYLIE, a twenty-six year old mother, holding the hand of her five-year-old daughter, ELLIE RYLIE. They are in a rush, coming from the check-in booth.

ELLIE: Mommy, mommy! Can we go get McDonald’s, please? I’m so hungry! Let’s go, mommy, please!

BRI: (Stressed.) I told you, Ellie, we can’t go outside! The wind is so strong it’s gonna blow us away, remember? (She sees a sign near the gate that reads: “Flight 3765 - Detroit - Delayed to 4:15 p.m.”) Oh perfect, our flight’s delayed, now we’re stuck here… (She sees the empty chairs.) Here, Ellie, let’s sit. (She props ELLIE up on the chair next to JEREMY and hands ELLIE an iPad. To herself:) Let’s see if you calm down… (BRI sits down on the chair next to ELLIE, two seats away from JEREMY. She checks the weather on her phone, anxiously.)

ELLIE: I don’t want the iPad! (She throws it to JEREMY’s side. As she does so, she sees the silver turtle ring on JEREMY’s pinky. She immediately grabs it.)

(JEREMY is startled, and slowly takes his earphones off with his other hand.)

BRI: Ellie, stop! (Reaches for ELLIE’s little hand and takes the ring. To JEREMY.) I’m so, so sorry about that, she’s out of control today… Here. (She gives him back the ring.)

JEREMY: (Smiling.) No, it’s alright— (To ELLIE.) You can have it. But be careful, if you rub its shell three times, a real life turtle will appear and eat you!

(ELLIE gasps in terror, BRI chuckles.)

BRI: Are you sure? Well, thank you so much, that’s so kind. Ellie, what do we say to Mr…?

JEREMY: Jeremy!

ELLIE: (Taking the ring.) Thanks, Mr. Jeremy! Turtles are my favorite animal!

JEREMY: Well, guess what, Ellie. They’re my favorite, too! Did you know that when turtles are born, they have to run across the sea shore to get to the ocean while seagulls are trying to eat them? Plus, when they get there, sharks are waiting to catch them, so only one out of a thousand turtles ever make it to adulthood!

(ELLIE stares out, traumatized.)

JEREMY: (To BRI.) …maybe she’s a bit too young for that.

BRI: (Laughing.) Maybe… She’ll grow out of it. (BRI moves to check her phone again but stops herself and decides to make conversation.) How do you know so much about turtles anyway?

JEREMY: (Smirking.) Oh, you know, I was one in my past life. (BRI stares at him, blankly.) Heh, just kidding. I’m a marine biologist! Well, a wannabe, I guess. My parents forced me to major in finance. Just graduated, actually. Spent a semester off working in my dad’s law firm, Hudson & Bert, have you heard of it?

BRI: Is it the one downtown with the huge black marble entrance? (JEREMY nods.) Yes, I know that one! I had to go there when one of my students sued the principal.

JEREMY: You teach? That’s dope! So your students must call you Mrs…

BRI: (Happily.) Ms. Bri.

JEREMY: Oh, I see. (He looks at ELLIE, trying to piece things together.)

BRI: (Unaware.) And I’m just a substitute teacher anyway, my real job is to be a food writer!

(At the word “food,” ELLIE suddenly remembers that she is hungry, and looks up from her iPad, which was distracting her until then.)

ELLIE: (Yelling.) Mommy, mommy! I’m hungry, I want McDonald’s! Can we get McDonald’s, pretty please? I WANT A HAPPY MEAL!!!

BRI: (Stressed.) OKAY, okay, Ellie, calm down! We can’t have McDonald’s but I’ll take you to that super cool Tim Hortons over there, okay? Come. (She takes ELLIE by the hand.)

JEREMY: (As the girls are getting up.) Well, I’m actually a little hungry myself, you mind if I join?

ELLIE: (Extends her other hand.) Come, Mr. Turtle Man!

(At Tim Hortons. The three have found a table. BRI and JEREMY each have a cup of coffee and ELLIE is happily eating an English muffin sandwich, swinging her little legs from the chair.)

ELLIE: Mr. Turtle Man, I’m gonna eat this whole sandwich before your turtle bites my head off! Look! (She ferociously bites down on the sandwich.)

JEREMY: Woah, Ellie, pretty soon you’ll be the one eating the turtle! Now slow down or you’re gonna choke.

(BRI looks at JEREMY, admiringly. He notices.)

JEREMY: What?

BRI: Nothing! It’s just that I’ve never seen a guy your age be so good with kids. Ellie’s a little difficult with strangers, but she loves you already.

JEREMY: (Shrugging.) Thank my little brother. He’s 7. I would’ve probably made Ellie cry if it weren’t for him.

BRI: (Laughing.) Well, he taught you well. Do you have any other siblings?

JEREMY: No, it’s just the two of us. (Beat.) It was a little strange, you know, getting a brother at 15? But I wouldn’t trade him for the world. After my parents’ divorce, he’s been the only real constant in my life. (Realizing he might have overshared.) What about you, any siblings?

BRI: Yeah, two brothers. But we’re not that close. I’m the youngest by eight years so we never played together as kids. It’s okay, though, look how I turned out! I got a kid, two jobs…

JEREMY: (To himself.) Good looks…

BRI: (Continues.) …stability… Sometimes a little too much stability, you know? (Laughs to herself.) Before I had Ellie I was always out and about, traveling with friends, going to parties, getting drunk… But then she came and I had to learn how to be responsible. I took up a teaching job to support us while still trying to pursue my dreams–

JEREMY: (Interrupts.) What are your dreams?

BRI: You know, be published, open up a restaurant, travel the world... (She smiles.)

JEREMY: (Taking the smile in. Smoothly.) You’re glowing just by talking about it. I can’t imagine what you’ll look like when you actually accomplish those dreams.

BRI: (Blushes. Playfully.) Well, what about you, “Mr. Turtle Man”? Do you want to live with turtles the rest of your life?

JEREMY: God I wish! (BRI laughs.) Actually, that’s not far off from what I wanna do! I want to move to New Zealand. (Excitedly.) Do you know how many cool marine species they have over there?! There are the Maui dolphins, the orca, the pakeke sea lions…

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (Offstage.) Attention all passengers on gate B26 to Detroit, boarding starts now. I repeat, boarding starts now.

(Neither BRI nor JEREMY hear the announcement.)

JEREMY: (Continues.) The sperm whale…

BRI: (Laughs.) The sperm whale?! That can’t be real!

JEREMY: It is! They have this sperm-looking substance around their heads to help them hear better, but it’s not like sperm at all! Ugh, wouldn’t it be so sick to live around all those amazing animals? If only I could convince my parents to let me go…

BRI: Why do you need their permission?

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (Offstage.) Passengers on gate B26 to Detroit, please board now.

JEREMY: (Continues.) Well, when your dad is a CEO about to retire and you’re the oldest son, it’s not so easy to just leave.

BRI: Come on, it can’t be that hard. Look, you’re fresh out of college, and you have your whole life ahead of you. Endless possibilities. How can your parents stop you from chasing the life that you want to have? My parents didn’t want me to move to New York. They wanted me to stay in Detroit after Ellie was born so I’d be more secure. But you know what I said? (She covers ELLIE’s ears.) Fuck that!! (She uncovers them.) I want to come here and be a writer and no one can stop me. Yeah, it was hard starting from scratch. No money, no connections, a growing baby to feed… But each day went by and things got a little better. I got my job, I’ve made friends, and hell, Ellie’s turning six next month! If that isn’t an accomplishment, I don’t know what is.

JEREMY: (Admiringly.) You really moved here all by yourself? That’s all I wanna do! I wanna escape, be free!

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (Offstage.) Attention all passengers on gate B26, this is the last call to board your plane to Detroit. I repeat, this is the last call to board—

ELLIE: (Hears the announcement and gets up from her chair.) Mommy, mommy! It’s the last call! Let’s go!!! (She runs to the gate, past security.)

BRI: Ellie! (BRI shoots up and runs after her daughter.)

JEREMY: Oh shit, shit, shit. (He runs to the gate and realizes his suitcase is not there.) My suitcase! (He looks back at BRI, who is urging the flight attendant to let her pass and get ELLIE. JEREMY runs back to Tim Hortons to get the suitcase.)

(Meanwhile, BRI has made it past security and picks up ELLIE, who was about to enter the airplane. Hurriedly, they board it, and go offstage. When JEREMY comes back with his suitcase, boarding has ended.)

JEREMY: (Running towards the door.) No, no, no, please! (He is stopped by two flight attendants.) Let me in!!

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: I’m sorry, sir, but once the doors to the aircraft close, they can’t be reopened.

(JEREMY looks at the plane, trying to catch a glimpse of BRI. Defeated, he turns back around. He is the only one in the gate now. With no flight and no company, he goes back to his original seat. He throws himself onto the chair, but quickly shoots up, realizing he had sat on something pointy. He picks it up. It is the silver turtle ring–the only remnant of this unexpected encounter. JEREMY looks up. Lights out.)