This is not a comedy
GALE–Eighty-eight year old woman. Wears modest clothing.
ELEANOR–Seventy-nine year old woman. Keeps her white hair in long braids. Wears floral dresses.
Time: January: 1973. Place: Small cabin with simple kitchen and living quarters. Wind howls outside. ELEANOR stands in the kitchen, chopping onions. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. GALE enters, carrying a load of butternut squash.
GALE
No need to cry darling, those onions are giving their lives for a good cause.
(ELEANOR laughs and shakes her head. GALE watches her chop for a minute, grinning. ELEANOR doesn’t look up.)
ELEANOR
Yes?
GALE
Oh nothing, just maybe you should leave the garlic to me. You never learned to properly mince.
ELEANOR
I have to learned! My eyes are going is all.
(GALE reaches over her to grab a pot. She sets it on the stove.)
GALE
As are my hips and my back and my knees! But you don’t hear me making excuses! Soon, it’ll be my whole body! One day just, boom! Gone! Fin!
ELEANOR
Gale! Please. Don’t be so morbid.
GALE
What is morbidity but the truth my love? I’m happy right now. Nothing matters more.
(She bumps her hip against ELEANOR’s. ELEANOR leans her head against GALE’s shoulder.)
GALE
Whose recipe is this again? Your Aunt Evelyn’s?
(ELEANOR chuckles.)
ELEANOR
No, this is from my Aunt Ethel, the Midwest nanny we stayed with. You know we don’t talk about Aunt Evelyn!
(GALE backs away with her hands up.)
GALE
Oh! I beg my pardon! Forgive me madam. And forgive me, Aunt Ethel!
(GALE smiles, bows, and then grips her back wincing. ELEANOR waves her off with a smile. GALE straightens and exits. We hear her climbing stairs offstage. ELEANOR sighs. Silence. We hear footsteps, then a crash. ELEANOR freezes. GALE rolls into view, slowly, painfully.)
ELEANOR
Gale!!
(She runs over and kneels on the floor at GALE’s head. GALE touches her own forehead.)
ELEANOR
Gale! Are you okay?!
GALE
I’m okay, love. I’m okay.
ELEANOR
You’re bleeding.
GALE
It’s alright… Just get me to the couch.
ELEANOR
Okay.
(ELEANOR gets GALE up and helps her to the couch slowly. ELEANOR smooths GALE’s hair.)
ELEANOR
I’m going to call an ambulance.
(ELEANOR starts to get up to the phone. GALE grabs her arm.)
GALE
Wait.
ELEANOR
What?
(GALE shifts painfully.)
GALE
An ambulance will take a day or more to get through this snow.
ELEANOR
So it takes a day or more! It doesn’t matter!
(ELEANOR shakes free and goes to the phone.)
GALE
Eleanor! Please! Look at me!
(ELEANOR is frozen.)
GALE
Please.
(ELEANOR shakes her head, beginning to tremble.)
GALE
Darling? Please don’t call. Come over here.
(ELEANOR leans against the wall, covering her face.)
ELEANOR
No, no, no. They will come, you’ll get better…
GALE
You know that’s not true. I’m 88. Everything is starting to go…
(ELEANOR’s shoulders shake.)
GALE
Come here. Eleanor.
(ELEANOR straightens up and dials the phone, turning towards GALE to stare at her.)
ELEANOR
Hello? Yes, my wi- friend just fell and hit her head. She’s a senior. (Beat.) Yes. (Beat.) We’re at 1392 Redbuck Rd. (Pause.) Oh. (She squelches a sob) Yes, I understand. Yes.
(She hangs up.)
GALE
I asked you not to call.
(ELEANOR walks over to GALE and sits down beside her.)
ELEANOR
You’ll survive so long as you don’t sleep. As long as you don’t sleep, you should be okay. And stop bleeding. We have to stop the bleeding.
(ELEANOR gets up and wets a rag under the sink. She starts dabbing at GALE’s forehead.)
GALE
Leave it be.
ELEANOR
There’s so much blood.
GALE
I said leave it be, Eleanor.
ELEANOR
What? Why?!
GALE
Just stop, please. Just sit with me.
ELEANOR
What do you mean?! I have to at least compress it. Otherwise you could lose consciousness!
GALE
What if I want that?! Did you think about that!?
(ELEANOR jumps back.)
GALE
What if I don’t want to have a schedule of pills you need to remind me to take?! What if I don’t want to live months on end in pain, in and out of hospitals?! What if, this is my time to leave with grace?!
(ELEANOR looks down.)
ELEANOR
And what if I’m not ready to lose you?
GALE
So I’m supposed to just hold on until you’re ready?!
ELEANOR
No! Of course not!
GALE
What do you want me to do then?!
ELEANOR
I don’t know.
(GALE takes a deep breath. She touches the blood on her forehead. She uses her mouth to clean the blood off her finger. She looks at ELEANOR.)
GALE
Eleanor, listen, I’ve lived a vivid life. I don’t wish to continue in pain or-
ELEANOR
Leaving me with a speech won’t cover up the fact that you’re gone.
GALE
I never said it would, I just need to say it. I’ve been lucky enough to have loved you for 40 years. To wake up next to-
ELEANOR
But I still love you! And I’ll have to wake up god knows how many more mornings, alone! I have to keep living!
GALE
You will be okay.
ELEANOR
You don’t know that! You won’t ever know that. And you won’t find out…
(GALE takes her hands.)
GALE
Eleanor, look at me. It was going to happen eventually. We both knew it would be me. I never dream I’d live this long. (Beat.) But from the moment you found me-
ELEANOR
Gale! Please, stop! It doesn’t make a difference.
GALE
Jesus Christ Eleanor. Okay! Maybe it won’t. Maybe, you’ll never accept the fact that we all die someday. But we’ll never know unless you let me finish.
(ELEANOR stares at the floor. GALE closes her eyes.)
GALE
I need you to know that the moment you found me, drunk, sprawled out in Marcetti’s, I knew I would live without fear. I knew I would never regret a moment for the rest of my life. I knew I would die without fear. I’m ready to leave this body, but I will never be ready to leave you. Eleanor, my love, you’ve devoted so much time to me, to your students. It’s time you devoted to yourself. And realize that you never needed anyone else to be happy.
ELEANOR
But what will I-
GALE
You’ll figure it out.
(ELEANOR stares at GALE. Then pulls GALE to her chest. They sit like this for a bit. The stage lights begin to dim.)
GALE
Eleanor?
ELEANOR
Yes?
GALE
Don’t forget to remove the bottoms of the garlic.
(ELEANOR takes a breath.)
ELEANOR
I won’t.
THE END
Rem-Iseul Kim 
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