Better Places to Go by David-Matthew Barnes Read Free Book Online Page A

hundred miles. This place is better seen through a passing window.
    JUDY. Then why have you stayed so many years?
    LUCILLE. My house is paid for. Besides, this is alien country.
    LINDA. (Terrified:) Alien?
    LUCILLE. You ever see Close Encounters of the Third Kind ?
    LINDA. No, ma’am.
    LUCILLE. What about ET ?
    LINDA. I don’t think so.
    LUCILLE. I made Rosie watch ET about thirty times. She hated that movie. She said he looked like a pork roast. I didn’t really care for it much – it wasn’t very genuine. But the more she hated it, the more I wanted to watch it. You see, little Linda, I believe that life exists on other planets. I don’t mean places like Mars or Jupiter or Saturn. I’m talking about undiscovered territory. The wild west of the Milky Way. There’s another world out there – probably tens of thousands of them. A form of life with higher intelligence – intelligence we idiot humans couldn’t even begin to understand. A few years ago, I was planting marigolds around midnight – about two dozen seeds. I had insomnia and my rheumatism was in remission. I was wide awake and feeling spry. My hands were in the dirt and I heard a noise. It was like a soft whistle, a teakettle. So I looked up to the sky and I saw the most beautiful lights. They were shiny silver and purple and they glowed and the sky above my house lit up and I was blinded for a second, from the brightness and the beauty. And this sudden sense of calmness just crept over me like a warm bath. I can’t even describe it to you in words but I know what I saw. It took my breath away. I know it was not of this world. They were trying to communicate with me, making these gentle whistling sounds like a thousand lullabies. It was a symphony of sorts. Like the voices of angels. At first, I
    thought maybe I was dying and I was about to meet my maker. But I felt safe. I felt alive. So, I whistled back, just gently at first and then with more force. And the lights got brighter and the sounds got sweeter and it overwhelmed me. I blacked out and the next thing I remember is waking up with marigolds all around me, in full bloom. 
    JUDY. Do you think they’re really coming back for you, Lucille?
    LUCILLE. People do come back, Judy. And before I tell you something, I want you to realize that this is our good bye. You and I have been friends for many years. I’ve watched you break your back for that father of yours while he filled his liver with bourbon and whiskey down at Clyde’s.
    JUDY. (Defeated:) Southern Comfort.
    LUCILLE. When you leave this place, make sure you tell others my story. It won’t be long before I’m gone, too.
    JUDY. What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere.
    LUCILLE. (Beat.) There’s a man outside. He’s waiting for you in the parking lot and he’s got five hundred miles of bad road in his eyes but forever in his smile. He asked me to come in and tell you that Tulsa is waitin’ for you.
    JUDY. (She rushes to the main entrance and looks out to the parking lot.) He came back.
    LUCILLE. In your heart, you knew he would.
    JUDY. No. No, I doubted it.
    LUCILLE. Go, Judy. Before you give it a second thought. Don’t stop by the house and get your things. Don’t tuck your father into bed. You walk out this door, get in that big rig and don’t ever look back.
    JUDY. I want to go, Lucille. God forgive me, but I do.
    LUCILLE. So did Rosie.
    JUDY. (She goes to Linda.) I won’t leave you here.
    LINDA. You don’t even know me.
    JUDY. Yes, I do. And I would never forgive myself if I left you in Grand Island.
    LINDA. I don’t want to be the death of anyone. I don’t want to hold you back.
    JUDY. That will never happen to me again. (Beat.) Come on. Let’s get your things. It’ll be warmer in Oklahoma. I promise. I’ll buy you a new pair of shoes.
    LINDA. (Beat.) I don’t know how to thank you.
    JUDY. (Linda hugs Judy.) Remember what your Aunt Ruth said? We have to take care of each other, Linda. We really do. (They start