A Ferocious Centipede

(A Play in One Act)


Three Family Members
(Takes place in 1955)

Elsie: daughter to Anton
Anton: father to Elsie, grandfather to Chick
Chick: son to Elsie, Grandson to Anton

An Apparition

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Scene: In the dining room, by a window, in back of a table, a rug on the floor.


Enter Elsie, seemingly happy, a smile on her face, a rag in her right hand as if she is going to polish the dinning room table, she stops abruptly looks down and about, as if she saw something run under the rug, folds her hands and leans down closer and takes in a deep breath, as she looks up towards the ceiling…


Elsie: Oh God, I hope it’s not!

Silence.

From the living room, the other side of the dinning room, about fifteen feet a ways, Anton, he too seemingly content, and his eyes abruptly looks straight over to the ground where Elsie was looking at, and then at Elsie (knowing she is afraid of spiders and centipedes) as he stands a bit puzzled…

Suddenly she sees a centipede, racing from under the rug out by her legs.

Elsie: Screaming something! (it is morning)

She jumps, or more like jerks backward, near frozen in fright, trying to scream again, but nothing is coming out, she pulls a chair out behind the table, in front of her, she’s in agony of despair.

In a rush Anton to see what is taking place.

Elsie: Oh my God…my god, a giant…gi ant centipede!!

Anton: Silly girl, it just a damn centipede, what’s the hell matter with you?

Elsie and Anton are looking around to see where it went, they bump against one another, as Elsie wants to run to the kitchen, but can’t…

Anton: I thought you said it was a big one, there it is, no bigger than my baby finger!

Anton pays it little attention, but continues to follow it with his eyes, shakes his shoulders, looks at Elise with disgust—he is barefoot—and stomps on the centipede, like nothing happened. He notices Chick, his nine year old grandson standing by the bedroom that leads into the dinning room, he is in the archway.

Anton: Oh look Elsie, look at what it is now, there under my foot!
(he lifts his foot for her to see)

Anton and Elsie look quietly, she puts the chair back in place, there behind the table.

Chick: What’s the matter mom?

Anton (murmurs): The damn little centipede…

Elsie (trying to get her composure back): I can’t help it pa, you know that (she turns to Chick); everything’s okay now. (She has a grin on her face, points to the dead centipede).Can you take this rag Chick, and pick the centipede up with it, throw it into the toilet, and put the rag into the laundry basket? (Chick looks at the centipede.) There, right here (she is pointing to the centipede, handing him the rag) you you, can do that, you can, can’t you?

Chick (near, sneeringly—not really wanting to): I guess so mom.

Apparition (the only one that hears him, is Elsie): Maybe I’ll make it come alive!

Elsie (pointing to the centipede): hurry up and pick it up before it comes alive again (the legs on the centipede appear to be wiggling, perhaps an automatic response, or a vision of sorts, but she is starting to get freighted again)

Apparition: Elsie, look at the centipede, he has something to say to you, matter-of-fact, I’ll tell you what he says: ‘oh, your poppa broke my spine…’

Elsie: Hurry up pick up the centipede (Elise nearly crying now)

Apparition (having fun at Elsie’s expense): I’ll turn the centipede into a spider, how about that, Elsie? Maybe he laid some eggs under the dinning room table.

Elsie (gloomily, Chick now has the centipede engulfed in the rag): I don’t care just get it out of here…Chick!

Anton (with a sigh): You still are mumbling about that dead insect!

Anton starts to laugh lightly, while Chick is in the bathroom, no one can see him of course and Elsie’s checking under the dinning room table and the curtain falls.

No: 489 (written October, 6, 2009)