SCENE 1 - EVIE’S OLD BEDROOM (FLASHBACK)

[Flashback music cue. Door opens. Morgan walks into Evie’s bedroom holding a Shiva candle. He sets it down on the nightstand. It is as if they're on a dark, empty stage. Nothing in every direction, with just the candle for light.]

MORGAN: Evie.

[Pause.]

MORGAN: Evie. I know you’re awake.

EVIE: Mhm.

MORGAN: You need to eat.

EVIE: Uh-uh.

MORGAN: Is there something you will eat?

EVIE: (sound of indifference)

MORGAN: (sigh) Okay.

[Morgan sits down on the floor.]

MORGAN: The Shiva candle is almost burned down. I brought it in here so you could see it go out, too. Maybe after… we could take a walk? Just around the block. Nothing crazy. Maybe get ice cream, if you want.

[Pause.]

EVIE: I’m not hungry.

MORGAN: I know, but you still need to eat something. This morning, Mrs. Garcia, from down the hall, brought us some cinnamon cookies. Both of us.

EVIE: Okay. Just a few.

[Morgan stands up. He sets the Shiva candle on the nightstand. Footsteps. A few moments later, he returns with a plate of cookies, sets it on the nightstand, and sits back down on the floor.]

MORGAN: You haven’t said Kaddish yet. It’ll help.

EVIE: We’re not that religious.

MORGAN: It’ll help. I don’t know. The Shiva stuff… it’s helping me. I spoke to Rabbi Greenberg, after the funeral. He walked me through all the different stages. It’s something to do.

EVIE: I guess.

MORGAN: Just try saying it with me.

EVIE: Don’t you need a minyan for Kaddish?

MORGAN: Probably, but doing it here too can’t hurt.

[Pause.]

EVIE: I don’t know how to do it.

MORGAN: Yeah you do. You’ll recognize it if I start.

[Morgan begins slowly reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish. He knows the words, or rather, the syllables. Hebrew does not come naturally to him, but every day, he’s said Kaddish in the living room, hoping Evie will emerge, and she never does. Note: Hebrew text available at link. Transliteration courtesy of My Jewish Learning and Sefaria.]

MORGAN: Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba b’alma di-v’ra chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei b’chayeichon uvyomeichon uvchayei d’chol beit yisrael, ba’agala uvizman kariv, v’im’ru: “amen.”

[Evie joins him.]

MORGAN & EVIE: Y’hei sh’mei raba m’varach l’alam ul’almei almaya. Yitbarach v’yishtabach, v’yitpa’ar v’yitromam v’yitnaseh, v’yithadar v’yit’aleh v’yit’halal sh’mei d’kud’sha, b’rich hu, l’eila min-kol-birchata v’shirata, tushb’chata v’nechemata da’amiran b’alma, v’im’ru: “amen.”Y’hei shlama raba min-sh’maya v’chayim aleinu v’al-kol-yisrael, v’im’ru: “amen.” Oseh bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinuv’al kol-yisrael, v’imru:

MORGAN: Amen

EVIE: (a moment later) Amen.

[INTRO MUSIC]

SCENE 2 - HOSPITAL ROOM (PRESENT DAY)

[Heart monitor beeps.]

EVIE: (groans) My head.

HIRSCH: (gently) Woah, lie back down. You got up too fast.

EVIE: Who are you? Where am I?

HIRSCH: My name is Russell. I’m the guy that pulled you out of the rubble. Your leg is broken and you have a minor concussion, but the doctor says you’ll be fine.

EVIE: Am I in a hospital?

HIRSCH: Yes.

EVIE: Is this covered by my insurance?

HIRSCH: Don’t worry about that.

EVIE: (small scoff) Are you paying?

HIRSCH: It's taken care of.

[Pause.]

EVIE: Where am I really?

HIRSCH: A hospital, like I said.

EVIE: A hospital where?

HIRSCH: Near Seneca Lake, where you fainted.

[Pause.]

EVIE: What’s in here?

HIRSCH: Saline.

EVIE: Take it out.

HIRSCH: I’m not a doctor. I don't know how.

EVIE: Then call one.

HIRSCH: They’re making rounds. I’m sure they’ll be here soon.

[Pause.]

EVIE: If you’re not a doctor, wh- why are you here?

HIRSCH: (sigh) You look tired, Evelyn. I think you should rest.

EVIE: Seriously, who are you?

HIRSCH: The guy that saved your life. Sweet dreams.

[Footsteps. He leaves.]

SCENE 3 - OUTSIDE A GAS STATION MINI MART

[Highway noise as cars drive past.]

GRACE: Close your eyes!

MAYA: That doesn’t help when your flashlight is directly in my face.

GRACE: I need to check if there’s any glass in your cuts before we bandage them. I’m not a doctor though, so you should probably-

[Door bell jingles. Noel holds a plastic bag full of supplies.]

NOEL: Okay: alcohol wipes, band-aids, Neosporin, and some ace bandages. They didn’t have a full first aid kit. Oh, and a cup of ice.

GRACE: This is great, thank you.

[Grace rips open one of the alcohol wipes and dabs at a cut on Maya’s cheek.]

MAYA: (winces) No glass in that one?

GRACE: Not as far as I can see.

MORGAN: How do you know all this first aid?

GRACE: Girl Scouts.

[Maya winces again.]

GRACE: Once I wrap my ankle, we’ll be good to go.

NOEL: Has Alix seen the car pop up yet?

MORGAN: No, but red light cameras aren't connected to the internet. They texted me they’re still working on it, though.

NOEL: If we’re lucky, Hansen might not get to the cameras before tomorrow morning.

MORGAN: Let’s hope.

GRACE: Okay, moment of truth. Give me your hand.

[Grace grabs on and pushes herself up to standing to test her ankle. She winces.]

GRACE: Well, I won't be running any marathons, but at least I can put some weight on it. Noel, can you pass me the Tylenol and the ice?

[Ice hits ice and pills hit pills.]

GRACE: Thanks. Onwards?

NOEL: Onwards.

SCENE 4 - HOSPITAL ROOM

[Heart monitor beeps. Footsteps.]

HIRSCH: How are you? I see the doctor took your IV out. That’s good, it means you're getting better.

EVIE: Are you from Hansen? Are you part of the team that tried to kill me?

HIRSCH: No one tried to kill you.

EVIE: They were shooting right at me.

[Pause.]

HIRSCH: Seven people are dead.

[Pause.]

EVIE: What?

HIRSCH: Your construct killed all seven of the people who arrived at the cabin yesterday.

EVIE: No-

HIRSCH: They weren't shooting at you. They were ordered not to harm you, but you brought a monster into this world that only knows kill or be killed. My guys knew it was them or it, and they were right, and now, it is still out there.

EVIE: It didn't know. It- it thought-

HIRSCH: Does that make it okay? Or is it that you think you're worth killing for?

[Pause.]

HIRSCH: You can still fix this. You can stop that thing from killing anyone else. I need to know who helped you build it.

EVIE: Nobody. I built it on my own.

HIRSCH: Okay, I want to help you fix this, but I can't do that if you lie to me. The monster left you while you were unconscious. It walked away. Someone made it do that.

EVIE: Stop calling it a monster.

HIRSCH: What else do you call something that kills seven people in minutes?

[Pause.]

HIRSCH: As we speak, a construct the size of a building is tearing up New York State. How many quaint little towns has it walked through? How many homes has it crushed?

EVIE: It wouldn’t do that.

HIRSCH: It doesn’t think! It doesn’t make decisions! It doesn’t know what it’s doing beyond the instructions that someone, whoever your partner is, is telling it to do!

EVIE: You don’t know anything!

HIRSCH: (sigh) Okay, if it can make choices, that is even worse. What else has it done with that free will, besides kill and destroy? It chose to leave you for dead. You were buried under a piece of siding that took two grown men to lift. If I hadn’t come along, you would’ve woken up in the middle of the woods, pinned to the ground with a broken leg. You would've starved out there. Why would you protect something that thinks so little of you?

EVIE: Maybe I just don’t like you very much.

HIRSCH: (disbelieving laugh) I don't care if you like me. I care that that thing is off its leash, or someone with even worse intentions has control of it. You are responsible for everyone it hurts. You know that. I know you know that, because that's why you chased it all the way up here, isn't it? To protect the world from what you made? What you couldn’t control?

[Pause.]

HIRSCH: I know, it is a lot to take in, and I am sorry about whoever, whatever, betrayed you like this, but it’s not too late to fix this mess. I can help you fix it, if you let me.

EVIE: You don't want to help me. You have no reason to help me.

HIRSCH: You're so swept up in playing revolutionary that you can't see reality! We will find your construct and stop its reign of terror, with or without your help. I hope, for the sake of your conscience, it doesn’t kill someone else before we do.

[Footsteps. He leaves.]

SCENE 5 - REST STOP

GRACE: Do you think they prefab New York rest stops? They’re all laid out the same.

NOEL: Wouldn’t surprise me. The only thing they swap out are the vending machines and the scratch-offs.

[Pause.]

GRACE: Noel, what you said, back at the party- When you first find magical people, how good are they?

NOEL: It varies. Magic comes more naturally to some people, but most are beginners. They’ve never done magic collaboratively before. Their abilities are really limited.

GRACE: Back at Evie’s apartment, that Hansen guy just kept shooting at me and Maya. I tried to help her ward the window to protect us, but it didn’t work. Even with her help, I couldn't do it.

NOEL: Why do you think you’re the reason it didn’t work?

GRACE: Because Maya is amazing. It wouldn’t be her fault.

NOEL: It's no one's fault. You and Maya were in a magical partnership and, that time, it didn’t work. There are tons of reasons why that could've happened, like, I don’t know, the fact you were getting shot at. Kind of hard to concentrate with that going on.

GRACE: (sigh) We’re heading into a scenario where we might get shot at again. If I can’t do magic under pressure, what’s the point?

NOEL: You’re getting ahead of yourself. You don’t even know the basics. You know what? I have an idea.

[Footsteps. Noel puts a dollar into the vending machine. Ca-chunk. A packet of M&Ms falls down. Noel grabs it and rips it open.]

NOEL: We’re going to start with ten M&Ms. Five for me…

[He shakes a few into his hand palm.]

NOEL: …and five for you.

[He shakes a few into Grace’s palm.]

NOEL: See how they're all different colors?

GRACE: Yeah.

NOEL: What’s your favorite color?

GRACE: Red.

NOEL: Great. We’re going to turn all ten of these M&Ms red, together. Close your hand so you can't see them. It’s a lot easier that way. From this moment on, these M&Ms are red.

GRACE: But we haven’t done anything.

NOEL: Forget about that. We’re creating, between us, a shared reality. If we don’t both believe it, then it won’t work.

GRACE: Okay. (to herself) They’re red. They’re red. These M&Ms in my hand are red.

[Just a hint of audio distortion, a hint doubling. Grace opens her eyes and groans.]

GRACE: Ugh, see! I told you. Nothing happened.

NOEL: Yeah, because you didn’t talk to me. We didn’t arrive there together. We are the catalyst. Our combined potential makes this work, our belief and our ability. Change reality. Talk to me.

[Pause.]

NOEL: What’s holding you back?

GRACE: I feel like an idiot. I feel like a kid. I’ve seen Maya do magic right in front of me. I’ve done it myself by accident, and yet-

NOEL: What if it never works again?

GRACE: Yeah.

NOEL: It might not. Let’s try anyway. When you went trick-or-treating as a kid, were M&Ms one of the candies you wanted?

[And that audio distortion is back, like an echo. Static, like a sizzle on the air.]

GRACE: No, I wanted the gummy candies.

NOEL: (small laugh) Oh, you’re one of those.

GRACE: Are you a chocolate candies guy?

NOEL: The fruit candies taste like medicine.

GRACE: That’s ridiculous.

NOEL: Well, I like M&Ms. I used to sort mine by color and eat the extras first.

GRACE: Which color was your favorite?

NOEL: Brown. They were the closest ones to purple.

GRACE: Not blue?

NOEL: I was thinking a dark purple. Like purple Skittles.

GRACE: Please tell me you like Skittles.

NOEL: Yeah, Skittles are great.

GRACE: The red Skittles are the best too. Red candies are just better.

NOEL: Like our M&Ms?

GRACE: Yeah, like our M&Ms.

!They both open their hands at the same time. In their palms are both…

[Static and distortion stops.]

GRACE: (with surprise) Five red M&Ms.

NOEL: Sometimes it does work.

[He pops one of the M&Ms in his mouth.]

NOEL: Hmm.

GRACE: What?

NOEL: Try one.

[Grace eats one as well.]

GRACE: They taste like red Skittles!

NOEL: Right. Lesson two: be very specific, and don’t get distracted. Look, they’re finally done getting gas.

[Footsteps.]

GRACE: Noel, I haven't really seen do magic.

NOEL: It doesn’t come naturally to me.

GRACE: But you can do it.

NOEL: Changing M&M colors and soda flavors doesn’t take a lot out of me, but I’ll never do magic the way Maya can, and that's okay. Magic is what brought us all together, but it's not the center of our work. Anyone can build community, magic or not.

GRACE: It really doesn't bother you?

NOEL: It used to. It was hard, at first, living with Maya. She's one of a kind. She has such a mind, and such a drive, for magic. I won't tell you I never had moments where I was jealous of her. It felt like something amazing was just out of my reach. I kept stretching for it, but I could never grab it. The thing is, I like my life too much to stay jealous of her. It felt better to focus on everything that I can do.

GRACE: We're going to need everything we have to rescue Evie.

NOEL: Yeah. Including you.

SCENE 6 - THE WOODS/THE CABIN

[Crickets chirp, the forest at night. Sound of the car turning off.]

MORGAN: We’ll have to walk the rest of the way. The woods are too dense here to drive. Grace, how's your ankle?

GRACE: Good enough.

[Soft sounds of sneakers on grass, dirt, and leaves. Time passes. Soon, they arrive at the clearing where the cabin once stood. It’s still a pile of rubble.]

MORGAN: No no no no no no no no.

[Morgan takes off running. His breaths start coming in heavier and harder. He reaches the rubble and starts pulling at loose bits of wood and stone with his hands. Pieces of roof and wall and foundation. They all look the same in a heap like this.]

GRACE: Morgan! Morgan, stop!

[Grace runs to reach him, then grabs his arm.]

GRACE: Stop! If you keep digging through concrete you're going to cut yourself. You already scratched up your hands.

MORGAN: She could be buried here!

GRACE: She isn’t. I just- she isn’t. I feel it.

MORGAN: You don’t know that!

GRACE: No, but I'm not going to start believing she's dead.

[Maya and Noel catch up with them.]

MAYA: Morgan, back up.

MORGAN: (distressed) I’m never going to see her again. I have to see her again! She can’t die thinking that I hate her!

GRACE: I don’t think she ever believed that.

MAYA: (more firmly) Morgan, deep breath. Do it with me.

[Maya takes a low, deep breath. Morgan, after a moment, follows her.]

MAYA: Good. I’m really sorry, but we need to make sure she's not here.

NOEL: Help Grace over there so she can sit down and rest her ankle.

MORGAN: She said she's fine. I want to help.

NOEL: I know. You’re not going to.

MORGAN: Yes I am-

NOEL: You’re not going to help.

MAYA: Please, let us do this for you.

MORGAN: Okay. (the fight leaves his voice) Fine. Thank you.

[Morgan and Grace walk over to the side of the clearing and sit down.]

GRACE: I know she’s alive.

MORGAN: You can’t know that.

GRACE: And even so, I just know it. It feels too impossible to be true.

MORGAN: Tell me a- a story about Evie.

GRACE: What kind?

MORGAN: Anything. I want to know her like you know her. Tell me about the last time you saw her.

GRACE: We hung out the night before she vanished. (sigh) We- uh- (chuckled) we went skinny dipping in Prospect Park lake.

MORGAN: (laughs) Really? You?

GRACE: I'm fun! I can have fun! It was her idea, though. The whole time we walked over there, I was so sure I was going to swim. Then, the wind picked up. It wasn’t even fast, but I saw how it stirred up little waves on the surface of the lake. It was so dark out on the water. New York City isn’t supposed to get that dark.

SCENE 7 - PROSPECT PARK LAKE (FLASHBACK)

[Sound of wind and light waves.]

GRACE: I can’t do this.

EVIE: You swim in the ocean.

GRACE: There are lifeguards, and it's during the day. What if I start drowning?

EVIE: If you take your clothes off, there won’t be anything to weigh you down.

GRACE: (sigh) No, like, I really can’t do this.

EVIE: We’ve been talking about this for ages!

GRACE: I never saw the lake at night. I didn’t know the water would be moving like this. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on you. It’s safer that way, anyway.

EVIE: Fine, and then, when you see how much fun I’m having, you can jump in and join me.

[Evie starts to take her clothes off. GRACE quickly looks away.]

EVIE: (teasingly) How're you gonna be my lifeguard if you can’t even look at me?

GRACE: I’ll look at you in the water.

EVIE: I don’t get you. One minute you’re scaling fences and starting trash can fires. The next, you’re scared of lakes and you can’t handle your friend with her clothes off.

GRACE: You’re just too pretty for me.

[Pause.]

EVIE: Don’t let me drown.

[Evie starts running towards the lake.]

EVIE: Whoooo!

[Splash!]

EVIE: Oh that’s cold!

[She starts swimming. They raise their voices to talk across the distance and Evie’s splashing.]

EVIE: See! There’s barely any current.

GRACE: Don’t swim out any farther.

EVIE: I’m just going to go to where I can’t stand anymore.

GRACE: Evie, please.

EVIE: It's fine! I'm a great swimmer.

[Evie keeps swimming and takes a big, deep breath.]

GRACE: That’s far enough! Evie!

EVIE: Almost there!

[Another big deep breath. Then, she starts laughing and treading water.]

EVIE: I’m good! I’m good! I’m just gonna stay here.

GRACE: You’re making me nervous.

EVIE: Then stop worrying! Look! I'm fine!

[Pause.]

GRACE: I wish we could see more stars. That would make this perfect. Isn’t it amazing? A private beach all to ourselves. (small laugh)

EVIE: (sing-songy) You can see more over here! Farther away from the streetlights!

GRACE: That’s okay!

EVIE: Come float with me!

[More splashing. Evie ducks below the surface of the water again. The splashing continues.]

GRACE: Evie, are you okay?

[No answer. More splashing. Grace takes off running.]

GRACE: No no no no.

[Splash! Grace runs into the water and starts swimming towards Evie.]

GRACE: (calling) Evie! Evie! I’m almost there!

[Grace reaches Evie. Evie comes back up to the surface and spits water out at her.]

GRACE: What is wrong with you!

EVIE: It got you out here.

GRACE: I could kill you!

EVIE: But you won’t. Not when you look up there.

[Grace joins Evie in a float.]

GRACE: (quieter) Hold my hand.

[Small splash. Evie holds her hand.]

GRACE: I’m still mad at you.

EVIE: But…

GRACE: But it’s beautiful. I lived in the City my whole life. The only time I got really dark skies was when I was at Cornell. The first night I was there, I lay down on the lawn outside my dorm and stared for ages. It was so loud. People were running all around me, going to parties and events, pledging frats, seeing friends they’d missed over the summer, and I wanted to do that too. But, that first night, I was glued to the sky. It was like magic.

[Pause.]

EVIE: When everything is too much and too big, I take the Poughkeepsie train up to the Hudson Valley and camp all by myself. I’d pick a site far away from everyone else, and some nights I’d just sleep outside as the fire burned down.

[Pause.]

GRACE: This sky isn’t like those.

EVIE: No, it isn’t.

[Pause.]

GRACE: But it’s still the prettiest sky I’ve ever seen in Brooklyn.

[They float there for the longest moment in the world. Then… a siren in the distance, getting louder.]

EVIE: Shit.

GRACE: Let's swim for it.

EVIE: Where? They’re pulling up on the only shoreline. If we try to climb up onto the bank, we might get away, but we won't get our clothes back.

GRACE: We'll hide in the park until they go away. I don't know. We'll figure it out.

EVIE: It won't work. Not with both of us. You swim up onto the bank, and I’ll distract them. Once you're clear, I'll make a run for it.

GRACE: What? No. I’m not going to leave you to the cops.

EVIE: Come on, this will work! It's foolproof. Besides, I have a record, you don't, so it has to be me.

GRACE: All the more reason for us both-

EVIE: If they catch you, CUNY might kick you out. I won't let that happen to you, again. You've worked way too hard for your Master's degree. This was my dumb idea. I tricked you into swimming out here.

GRACE: I don’t need you to do that for me.

EVIE: I know. I want to do it anyway.

[Evie starts to swim off. Grace grabs her arm.]

GRACE: If you leave me, I'll follow you. We both get away, or we both get arrested.

[Pause.]

EVIE: Fine.

[Evie and Grace swim for the far bank. Grace gets there first. She heaves herself up onto the bank and takes a few ragged breaths.]

GRACE: Grab my hand.

[Evie does. Grace helps pull her onto the bank as well. Evie and Grace take off running. Siren fades in the distance. Labored breathing from the both of them. Suddenly, Grace trips, and ends up dragging Evie down with her. They crash to the ground and start laughing.]

GRACE: Oh, gross!

[But she's still laughing.]

EVIE: We'll wash off in the lake when the cops get bored and leave.

GRACE: Look at me. You have me running naked through a park.

EVIE: Isn't it fun?

[Grace and Evie are inches from each other. Grace leans in and kisses her. Evie kisses back.]

GRACE: Yeah, it's an absolute blast.

SCENE 8 - THE CABIN/HOSPITAL ROOM

[Crickets, sound of the forest again. Footsteps approach Morgan and Grace.]

MAYA: She’s not here.

MORGAN: You sure?

MAYA: Positive. I don’t know if she got away before or after the cabin collapsed, but she’s not here now.

NOEL: Hansen could’ve grabbed her.

GRACE: Or maybe her golem grabbed her.

MORGAN: Then she’s either in Rochester or… literally anywhere else in the state.

[Maya takes out the ceramic shard they salvaged from Evie’s apartment.]

MAYA: I think it’s time we find her golem. It would be easier if Evie were here. (sigh) It may not even listen to me, but I want to try calling it. Morgan, I think you have the best mental picture of what Evie made.

MORGAN: I only know the stories we heard as kids.

MAYA: That’s more than I know. Grab onto the ceramic.

[Morgan does.]

MAYA: You said you grew up with golem stories. Tell me one.

[The following sequence is rapidly intercut.]

MORGAN: They all start the same way: some powerful force, usually a king or government, wants to kill all their Jews. They raise an army, and the Jewish village, terrified by their oncoming demise, they turn to tzadiks and rabbis, wise men, for help.

[Heart monitor fades in. Heart monitor sounds and forest sounds overlap throughout this sequence.]

EVIE: Seven people. All those people dead, because of me.

MORGAN: He prays over the golem, whispers secret prayers from Kabbalah, implores God to help him bring this figure to life. Finally, he inscribes emet, truth, on its forehead, and it opens its eyes. The golem lives.

EVIE: You can't trust him. He's lying to you. He wants you freaked out and scared so you tell him where the golem is.

[Pause.]

EVIE: But you saw those people hit the trees. You saw them crumple.

MORGAN: The golem slaughters the oncoming army. It's a weapon beyond anything either side has ever seen. It doesn’t tire, it doesn’t think, it just does. Its only commandment is to protect, by any means necessary. Finally, the king calls off his army and begs the tzadik to destroy the golem. He fears the golem, unchecked and without purpose, will destroy him and his people.

EVIE: They had guns. They were shooting at you. They grabbed you. They gagged you.

MORGAN: The Jewish community, once they're safe, also fear the golem. Some believe it will now turn on them. In some versions, the golem does, but most of the time, the tzadik completes his work. With the danger gone, he brings the golem to an attic or basement or shul, and erases one letter from the golem’s forehead, changing emet to met, death, and the golem is lifeless again.

EVIE: (weakly, through tears) They were going to hurt you. You killed them, but they were going to hurt you. They were, I know they were.

[Pause.]

EVIE: They're dead because of you.

[Heart monitor fades.]

MAYA: I think I have it. The golem is close by, maybe… a short walk through those woods.

MORGAN: Okay, so that’s where we go.

NOEL: Grace, can you…

GRACE: I'm fine. I’ll ice my ankle in the car.

MORGAN: Are you sure?

GRACE: I’m coming with you.

[The four stand and begin walking in the direction Maya indicated. Footsteps, time passes. Soft water sounds fade in. As the group reaches the edge of the forest...]

SCENE 9 - BY THE RIVER

[River sounds. Light scraping as the golem draws in the dirt by the riverbank. The group speaks in low voices.]

MAYA: Oh my god.

GRACE: Look at it. It must be four stories tall.

MORGAN: What’s it doing?

MAYA: It’s playing with the mud by the river.

NOEL: I don’t think it’s playing. I think it’s drawing.

[Scraping stops.]

MAYA: Why did it stop?

GRACE: It looks like it’s thinking.

MORGAN: They’re not supposed to think. They don’t know how.

GRACE: Well, what do you call that? Look at its face.

[Scraping resumes.]

MAYA: For all we know, this is what destroyed the cabin back there.

MORGAN: And if the whole point of its existence is to protect Evie, then why is it here, drawing in the mud, instead of going after her?

[Morgan takes a step forward.]

MAYA: What are you doing?

MORGAN: I’m going to talk to it.

MAYA: Why?

MORGAN: I need to know what it knows. It- it’s the last piece of this whole insane nightmare.

NOEL: It might know where Evie is.

MAYA: Or it might crush you under one of those massive hands.

MORGAN: I won’t get too close. Stay hidden. Get ready to help me if it turns violent.

[Morgan takes a few steps out of the tree cover towards. The river and drawing sounds grow louder in volume.]

MORGAN: Hello. I’m Morgan. I’m Evie’s brother.

[Drawing stops.]

MORGAN: I’m trying to find her. Do you know where she went?

[Drawing resumes.]

MORGAN: What are you drawing?

[Morgan takes a step closer to the golem. The golem takes this as aggressive. It leans forward, ceramic shifting and scraping, and looms over Morgan.]

MORGAN: I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to see what you're drawing.

[Drawing sounds.]

MORGAN: Are those little Vs birds? Like this?

[Morgan draws the same simple two line shape of a bird, to match the golem’s.]

MORGAN: Birds and… plus signs… Dozens of them. And dashed lines. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…

SCENE 10 - HOSPITAL ROOM

[Morgan’s voice fades out and aligns with two of Evie’s monitors.]

EVIE: SHUT UP! Gah!

[In frustration, she rips the electrodes off her chest. The monitors silence.]

EVIE: Snap out of it. Fuck this. Fuck this hospital. Broken leg or not, anything is better than staying in this room.

[Evie takes her blankets off of her.]

EVIE: Agent Asshole left his chair. If I can just…

[Evie tries to lift herself out of bed. She strains to do it, but eventually succeeds. She drags across the floor towards her, then, using it for support, gets to her feet.]

EVIE: (wince) Okay, just like a walker.

[Evie uses the chair like a walker, pushing it out in front of her every so often to help keep her balance. It slides loudly and a bit painfully across the linoleum.]

EVIE: Okay, just a bit further to the door.

[More painful squeaks as the chair keeps moving. Push. Push. Push.]

EVIE: Finally! Door. Oh I’m happy to see you.

[Evie goes to turn the door knob. It’s locked. She tries to turn it again and again. She jiggles it and fiddles with it, but it won’t budge.]

EVIE: What? No no no no.

[She starts slamming into the door.]

EVIE: Hello! HELLO!!

[She bangs repeatedly on the door with her hands.]

EVIE: Is anyone out there? Please, I’m locked in here!

[She stops banging. Silence.]

EVIE: (to herself, very small) There’s no one out there.

[Then, just as the sadness is closing in, she screams. Years of anger, frustration, and regret are in that scream.]

SCENE 11 - BY THE RIVER

[The golem lets out a roar to match Evie’s scream. Grace screams.]

GRACE: Morgan!

MORGAN: (to Grace) It’s okay! (to the golem) It’s okay. I’m sorry if I upset you. See, I’m backing off.

[The golem takes a powerful step closer. The ground practically shakes.]

MAYA: Morgan, get out of there!

MORGAN: Shut up, no, stop, I can do this! Just- just let me talk to it. Just let me talk-

[The golem takes another huge step. It stands to its full height, massive, singular, stretching at the seams. That scraping sound of terra cotta on ceramic, two earthen materials grinding to a fine powder at the joints, is the loudest it’s ever been.]

MORGAN: I can help you! Please, let me help you. Evie made you, so some part of you is her, right? Well, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for invading your privacy and being controlling and making you feel like you had to keep secrets from me. You're never going to have to do that again. Please, whatever part of you is Evie, know that I’m so, so sorry.

[The golem roars for a final time. Maya, Noel, and Grace scream. Morgan catches a glint in the back of its throat. First with confusion, then with a start, he realizes…]

MORGAN: (to himself) Robin Pigeon?

[Outro music.]

REMY: The Artisan Who Made Me is written and produced by Remy Davison and directed by Sydney Roslin. This episode featured Yaya Koas as Morgan, Chaia Alyss as Evie, Nick Jordan as Hirsch, Ria Meer as Grace, Bryce Payne as Maya, and Alexander Michael Reeves as Noel. Music by Jordan Speranzo, and audio production by Raphael Davison. For more information, transcripts, and to support our show, visit bottledstarproductions.com. “The Artisan Who Made Me” is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council.