Along the Path

 

Charlotte, 12, is standing on the stage alone. The spotlight hits her as she begins.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

Alice fell down the rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland. Dorothy got swept away in a tornado and ended up in Oz. Wendy learned how to fly and headed second star to the right and straight on to morning. Belle ended up in a castle of live inanimate objects, and Lucy found Narnia. And me? Well, I’ve remained stupidly stuck in this world. I’ve always dreamed of finding a new world, exploring new places, and seeing the unreal and the unexplored much like the stories I’ve read. It would be silly, I know, to assume that these things do happen in real life. After all, they were stories made up, authors with big imaginations who came up with all these things. But for oh so long, there has been something stirring in me. I just want an adventure. I want to happen along a path and suddenly that brings me to a brand new world. I mean, why not really? Why not unleash what’s in my head upon the world. No, I don’t mean I’m going to go outside in my garden and pretend there are gnomes, elves, and fairies. I mean, really, properly finding a new place to explore and finding a new world that’s all mine. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to wear my cutest blue and white striped dress, pack my bag with all the essentials, and find a new world.   

 

Her brother, James, 15, steps out onto the stage. Spotlight on him as Charlotte begins to gather her things.

                                                                                JAMES

My sister is loads of crazy. Dreaming about other worlds, wishing she could fly, never really living in the moment. In fact, she’s packing her bag in search of a new world. No, literally a new world. She thinks if she steps outside the walls of our home, she will discover what no person on earth really has; a new place to adventure. I say she is all kinds of crazy. She says I’m Edmund from the Narnia books. And maybe I am. But as her older brother, I must keep her feet firmly planted. Otherwise, what is she going to do? She’s going to end up a crazy cat woman for the rest of her life doing nothing but thinking she really is in Narnia. I have to somehow figure out how to stop her, how to convince her that her trek outside the house to find a new world is preposterous. But in order to do that, I’m going to have to go with her. I hate my life.

James grabs his bag off the floor as the two meet in the center stage.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

What are you doing?

 

                                                                                JAMES

Coming with you.

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

Not a chance. There’s no way I’m finding anything cool if you’re with me.

 

                                                                                JAMES

Never know. Maybe I’ll be the key to you finding the portal to Middle Earth.

 

James and Charlotte stare at each other. Charlotte pondering.

                          Pause.
                          Charlotte lets out a long exasperated sigh.

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

Fine. Let’s get on with it then.

 

They both begin to walk. James freezes. Charlotte turns to the audience.

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

My brother is the most unbelieving unbeliever there ever was. He doesn’t read fantasy books, he reads biographies and historical accounts. The boring stuff. But I knew why he was going to try to help me. He was determined to prove me wrong. So determined that he was going to join me. I knew what I was going to find. It was going to be incredible. I mean, Narnia and Wonderland incredible. But hopefully without all the scary bits.

 

Charlotte freezes as James steps forward.

 

                                                                                JAMES

We stepped out of the front door and immediately, Charlotte took a deep breath and got the goofiest smile on her face and I knew I was in for it. She was ready to ruin my life. She was ready to pull me into a world that didn’t exist in reality but only existed within her imagination. We began to walk down the sidewalk. Charlotte kept looking in every direction, looking for something that might lead her to a new world. I wanted to roll my eyes into the back of my head.

 

Charlotte unfreezes.

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

I still don’t understand why you’re going. You don’t even know what we’re looking for.
 

                                                                                JAMES

And you do?
 

Charlotte looks straight ahead.

                          Pause.
                          Charlotte breaks into a smile and points.

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

There!

She runs to the edge of the stage. James saunters after her.

 

                                                                                JAMES

So? It’s a path with a gate in front.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

It’s a dirt path with trees and flowers lining it. The best new worlds are found when we follow the path.

                                                                               

            JAMES

It’s gated and locked.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

There’s even someone’s glasses hanging on the fence. They must have been transported from this very spot. The glasses are hanging from the inside. James, this is it! If only I could get to the other side.
 

                                                                                JAMES

                                                                                (frustrated)
IT’S GATED AND LOCKED!

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

The unbelief in you is almost unbelievable.

 

James rolls his eyes as he freezes.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

It was a beautiful path and I knew it lead to somewhere. Someone had walked this path before me and had left a sign for me to follow. My brother just didn’t understand. So I tried to find a way in. I tried to climb up the fence, I was too short. I tried to squeeze my hand through, my hand was too fat. I tried to bend the bars, but I wasn’t strong enough. I even put on the blue glasses that had been left hanging there to see if that would have some magical powers. They didn’t. I prayed, I begged, I sang a song, I danced, I stared, I jumped, I did everything I could think of. I put my biscuits through the holes in the fence, hoping that maybe the person with the key would appear and accept my offering. But nothing. As I did everything strange, James just stood there. Finally, I could think of nothing else to do, so I sat down in front of the path and starred.

 

                                Charlotte sits down and freezes. James unfreezes and begins to talk.

                                                                                JAMES

Yep, everything insane one could think of, she did. It was so embarrassing. All I wanted to do was hide. Instead, I leaned up against the fence amused. She chanted, she waved, she offered food. Ridiculousness. I was thankful when she finally stopped. The thing was, she didn’t get it. She didn’t understand that she wasn’t going to be able to get through unless she had a key. If she had a key, she could simply walk through the doors. But there was no one with the key around. She wasn’t supposed to head down that path. The path wasn’t for her. It was for someone else.

 

                                James sits down next to her.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

I can’t get through.
 

                                                                                JAMES

Duh.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

Why not? I should be able to. People should not keep paths locked like this.
 

                                                                                JAMES
Maybe at the end is someone’s house and they don’t want kids going into their yards. Maybe it’s a crazy old woman who wants to eat us. Whatever it is, there is a good reason why this is locked.

 

                                Charlotte sulks.

                                Pause.
                               An older gentleman, Mr. Nottingham, walks by.

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

Good morning, James and Charlotte. Trying to get onto the path?

                                Charlotte looks up but doesn’t say anything.

                                Mr. Nottingham sits next to the kids.

                                                                               

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

The thing is, Charlotte, despite your belief in the world you want and the world you think you’re searching for, the world you’re actually looking for is here in the real world. You want adventure, you want excitement but I can tell you it’s not through this gate.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

How do you know?
 

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

Because I know the man who has the key to this gate. That man lives at the end of the path. Yes, he has a beautiful house but it doesn’t lead to an unexplored world, it leads to a very real house in our very real world. The gate is locked to protect him and protect you from happening on it when you’re not supposed to.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

But what’s up with the glasses? Someone’s gone through already.
 

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

People do go in. But only when they’re invited. One day, you’ll be invited, I’m sure. You’ll get the key, the gate will open and you will go through it. But only when you’re ready. Only when everything else has lined up in your life, when your time to go is here, then you can enter. If you enter before your time, it won’t be as it needs to. There are still things you need to do and you still need to grow up some first.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

So when I’m a grown up, I can go? Does that mean you can go?
 

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

I step in to get instruction from the man in the house but then I am sent out again. I stand guard of the gate to make sure that people know what they are getting themselves in to when they enter in through the gate. One day, Charlotte both you and your brother will step through. But I suggest waiting until you’ve been invited.
 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

But how will I know I’ve been invited?
 

                                                                                MR. NOTTINGHAM

You’ll know. I promise.

 

Mr. Nottingham ruffles their hair before he walks off. Charlotte turns to James, confused.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

I don’t get it.
 

                                                                                JAMES
Mom says Mr. Nottingham has always been a bit strange.

 

                                Pause.

                                                                                JAMES

Go home?

 

Charlotte nods and stands up. She freezes as James exits. Another actress walks onto the stage, Charlotte at the age of 50.

 

                                                                                CHARLOTTE

I didn’t understand most of what Mr. Nottingham told us except for the part that I couldn’t go in. But when I got older, I started to understand. There are certain paths in life that we do have to wait for. There is such a thing called timing. With the right timing, we end up where we need to be and when and we’re much happier for it. But when we step outside of the destiny of timing, things aren’t what they need to be. So I’ve stayed in the timing. Both James and I moved on. I realized I could write my own fantasy worlds and I was perfectly content with living in the real world but writing in my imagination. My brother became a scientist, intensely practical. Every summer we’d come back to the gate. It was always locked, and always had a new article of clothing hanging on the fence. Mr. Nottingham showed up a few times looking just as he always had. One day, when James and I were very old, we returned. To our surprise, James’ favorite scarf was on the gate. For the first time, we really understood. James received his invitation. We embraced and said our final goodbyes as Mr. Nottingham offered James the key and the two walked down the path together. I never saw my brother after that. But I finally understood. I walked many paths in my life. Some of them opened right away and some were closed until the right timing. But there are certain gates that will stay shut and only when we really are ready, not in our timing but in God’s, will they open. Had I rushed it when I was 12, the results would have been devastating. Instead, we stay on the path we’ve been given. One day, we’ll be invited through a new gate into the glorious light of a paradise and new world beyond our wildest dreams. Until then, we must keep walking and keep enjoying the life we’ve been given.                             

 

                                Lights down.