Non fiction

Talkie Wakie

CHARACTERS

Bobby, Tommy's twin brother, 45 years old.
Tommy, Bobby's twin brother, 45 years old.

It's 4am. Bobby and Tommy are in the same bed. Tommy is sleeping. He snores. Bobby can't sleep, and looks edgy. His eyes are wide open in the dark. He remains still for a while. Finally he sighs anxiously, turns his head towards Tommy, and looks at him.

After a pause.

Bobby (whispering). Tom?

A pause.

Bobby (a bit louder, anxiously). Tom... you awake?
Tommy. Hmm?
Bobby. You awake, Tom?
Tommy. No.

A short pause.

Bobby. Tom. Talk to me.
Tommy. Hmm.
Bobby. Please.
Tommy (frowning, sleepy). What.
Bobby. Talk to me. Just say something. Anything.
Tommy (annoyed, turning his back to him). No.
Bobby. Why not?
Tommy (grumbling). I'm sleeping!

A pause.

Bobby. No, you're not.

A pause.

Bobby. Of course you're not sleeping, if you were you wouldn't talk.
Tommy (raising his head). I'm not talking. You are. I am sleeping.
Bobby. Allow me to doubt that.
Tommy (burying back his head in the pillow). I tell you I am!
Bobby (raising, looking straight ahead with wide-open eyes) . Very well, then. I see. I must be hearing voices again. That's it. I'm hearing voices!
Tommy (turning his head towards Bobby). For God's sake, Bob! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you off your head? Do you know what time it is?
Bobby. Who are you? I don't know you... but I can hear you...
Tommy. Won't you let me sleep for once?
Bobby. Are you the little voice in my head? Are you God or something? Maybe I forgot to turn off the TV.
Tommy (shouting). Bob, that's enough. Just shut the hell up now!
Bobby (whispering). Shhhhhh!! Don't shout! He's sleeping, you'll wake him up.
Tommy. Who's sleeping?
Bobby. Tommy! Tom is sleeping. He just told me so. Can't you hear him breathe peacefully, like a child asleep?  Listen...
Tommy. Bob. Please. Stop it. I'm not in the mood for that.
Bobby (starts crying, like having a panic attack). I can't... I can't stop it. I can't stop hearing that voice, it's right here inside my head, it’s here... I can't help it, it just keeps talking to me! The music!
Tommy. Bob, why don't you just stop talking? It's your own voice that you're hearing. And unfortunately, I'm hearing it too...
Bobby (sobbing). I'm sorry... but it just freaks me out, I need to talk to someone to drown out the sound of this voice inside my head...
Tommy . Why don't you try to get some sleep, huh?
Bobby. I can't...
Tommy. Let me go back to sleep, then!
Bobby. Too late, Tom. You too are awake now...
Tommy (whispering, turning his back to Bob again, up to go back to sleep). No, not at all. Tom is asleep, remember? He's breathing peacefully... We shouldn't speak no more or we'll wake him up... Shhh...
Bobby. Haha, that won't work. Don't even try to yank my chain, man! I know you, Tom. You're just wasting your time if you think you can pretend to be the voice that’s in my head... You're always kidding around... I won't believe you, I'm not that stupid!
Tommy. For God's sake, Bob... I don't get you... You're tiring me out with all your rambling.
Bobby (amused). I bet you'll never be able to sleep again now!
Tommy (rising on his elbows, fully awake). Well, thank you, dude! Here I am indeed, awake and pissed off because of your silly childish talk.
Bobby. Hey, no need to get mad at me! Sleep is a waste of time, you should be thankful.

Tommy looks at Bobby both sceptically and angrily. Bobby stops smiling.

Tommy (sitting up). So, what do you want, Bob.
Bobby. I want you to talk to me.
Tommy. Come on, Bob, give me some rest now. I've got nothing to tell you right now. We'll talk again tomorrow.
Bobby. I'm just... feeling lonely.
Tommy. You don't know how lucky you are.
Bobby. I don't like it.
Tommy. I wish I was alone right now.
Bobby. Being alone doesn't mean feeling lonely. And the other way round too.
Tommy. Bob, it's four in the morning, what's the matter with you? It's no time to play the talkative philospher.
Bobby. There's no better time than four in the morning to hear the truth of life. That’s when the music is playing.
Tommy (ironic). Oh, ‘the truth of life...’
Bobby. Exactly, the deep, dark, cold truth of life.
Tommy. And what is it, according to you?
Bobby (solemnly). The truth is, silence is killing me.
Tommy. How can you say that... you never stop talking! You don’t know what silence is. You're killing me.

Bobby starts weeping and blows his nose in the bed sheets.

Tommy. Alright. I guess you won't leave me any choice anyway.
Bobby. See, when you're feeling lonely, you can hear the voice of silence. The music. Even in the loudest crowd. It’s right here, inside your head. The same little music. And it won’t go away.
Tommy. Is this the reason why you woke me up? To share your depressive feelings of loneliness, and listen to the silence with you?
Bobby. I don't like the silence. I need you to talk to me.
Tommy. Well, and what if I do love the silence, then?
Bobby. How can you? Silence is so upsetting.
Tommy. Silence is soothing.
Bobby. It's depressing.
Tommy. It's comforting.
Bobby. It's alarming.
Tommy. It's relaxing.

A pause. They frown at each other.

Tommy. Anyway, I guess it's too late now.
Bobby. What's too late?
Tommy. There's no more silence. It's all gone.
Bobby. Silence doesn't exist. Silence isn't silent, silence speaks. A lot. It’s so loud. The music’s so loud. So much louder than anything I can ever say.
Tommy. Well, I'd rather listen to it.
Bobby. You don’t know what you’re saying.
Tommy. The less you’ll listen, the louder it’ll speak!
Bobby. There is one thing we can do to not hear it, and it’s talk.
Tommy. Look. The more you talk, the less you say.
Bobby. Now that’s good! Let’s talk a lot and say the least.
Tommy. Why, I thought this was the perfect time to hear about ‘the truth of life.’ You’re right, silence for sure has things to say – while you just babble. You've got nothing to say. The truth is, you never want to hear the very deep, dark and cold truth that silence is bringing up, you just want to cover it up because you're a coward!

A pause. Bobby looks helplessly at Tommy, trying to hold back his tears.

Bobby. I don't want to listen to you anymore.
Tommy. The truth hurts, right?
Bobby (turning his back to Tommy, and laying his head down on the pillow). I don't want to hear you anymore.
Tommy. Come on, Bob! you just ruined my sleep because you wanted me to talk to you. Here I am now!
Bobby. (snuggles against the pillow) Well... I'm tired now. I'll get some sleep.
Tommy. Why, you don't want to talk anymore?
Bobby (hurt). You said it. I've got nothing to say.
Tommy. But what about the little voice that won't stop talking in your head?
Bobby. I'd rather listen to it now. Still nicer than yours.
Tommy. Bob! I'm fully awake, I can't sleep anymore.
Bobby. Well, now you can enjoy the relaxing voice of silence, finally.
Tommy (angry). Great! Thank you, man!
Bobby (yawning, falling asleep). You're very welcome.

A pause.

Tommy. Well, I guess silence will at least have the last word.

Bobby falls asleep. He begins to snore lightly. Tommy remains still. He looks around him, doesn't know what to do, gets nervous. His eyes are wide open in the dark. He remains still for a while. Finally he sighs anxiously, turns his head towards Bobby, and looks at him.

Long silence.

Tommy (whispering). Bob?

A pause.

Tommy (a bit louder, anxiously). Bob... you awake?

THE END.

Solange Ayache