Melody

Skylight
by Corrie
(a fugue in three voices)

Late afternoon. The sun sliding through the trees. Faint chatter of crickets and birds.
Hansel and Gretel are holding hands and walking, their feet crunching on the leaves in a steady rhythm.
They are both adults. Water is rising to their ankles.

Hansel
Tell me a story.

Gretel
What kind of a story?

Hansel
I don’t know. Any kind.

Gretel
It was a dark and stormy night.

Hansel
Stormy and dark, stormy and dark.

Gretel
With the lights turned out and the moon alone in the sky.

Hansel
Alone in the sky? Tell me a different story.

Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day.

Hansel
Sunny and bright, sunny and bright.

Gretel
With all the lights turned up and the sun filling the sky –

They stop. They look at each other. They change places. They walk faster. Water is rising to their knees.

Hansel
Ask me a question.

Gretel
What kind of a question?

Hansel
Any kind, any kind.

Gretel
Are you hungry?

Hansel
Are you hungry?

Gretel
I see a house, alone in the forest.

She points. They stop. They look at each other. They climb a tree, slowly. Water laps beneath them.

Hansel
I see a house, alone in the forest.

Gretel
We are alone in the forest.

Hansel
I am your house.

Gretel
You’re being melodramatic.

Hansel
I am /dramatic.

Gretel
You’re always melodramatic.

Hansel
You make me melodramatic.

They sit on a sturdy branch. They swing their legs in unison, to a steady beat.
The witch approaches them. She walks in a different rhythm to their swinging. She floats on water.

Witch
Hello. How old are you?

Hansel
Younger than you are/

Gretel
Older than you think.

Hansel
You are a stranger.

Witch
I am simply strange.

Gretel
We don’t talk to strangers.

Witch
Strangers don’t talk to you.

Hansel
She is strange.

Gretel
You shouldn’t say that in front of her.

Witch
You can tell me anything.

Hansel
Tell us a story.

Witch
I can tell you the most wonderful, the most beautiful and marvelous story in the world.

Gretel
Can you really?

Hansel
Can you?

Witch
Once upon a time, there were two children living in atree.

Hansel
It was a dark and stormy night with the moon alone in the sky.

Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day with the sun filling the sky.

Witch
It was a stormy and sunny day, and the moon and sun shared a sky.
And the moon and sun were young and afraid.

Gretel
You’re lying.

Hansel
She’s not lying.

Gretel
You wouldn’t be able to tell. You’re never able to tell anything.

Hansel
That’s because you do all the telling.

Witch
And on that day the sun and moon had a terrible, terrible fight.

Hansel
Is that why they never see each other these days?

Gretel
Is that why they never share a sky these days?

Witch
And because of that fight they sent clouds to hide the distance between them.

Hansel
Clouds.

Gretel
Between them.

Hansel
Why were

Gretel
they fighting?

Witch
Nobody knows, nobody knows.

Gretel
Nobody knew.

Hansel
Somebody does.

Hansel and Gretel
You knew, of course.

Witch
I never said that I did.

Hansel
But you did.

Gretel
What did you do?

Witch
Follow me, and I will tell you.

Gretel
Into the house alone in the forest?

Hansel
We are alone in the forest.

Witch
Into the house alone in the forest, where I live.

They climb down the tree. They wade through the water to the house in the forest.

Witch
Here’s the door.

Gretel
A door alone in the forest.

Hansel
The sun and the moon in the sky.

Witch
Open the door.

They open the door. They are swimming, now.

Witch
I can tell you anything. I can be anything you want me to be.

Hansel
I am not your house.

Gretel
I am not your door.