SYBIL
Chapter 15: The Short Story

Characters

BEN, a middle-aged English professor

STUDENT, a young female college student

Setting

Ben’s office

Scene 1

(STUDENT enters the professor’s office)

STUDENT

Professor?

BEN

Yes. Come in. Please have a seat.

(BEN gestures to the chair and the STUDENT sits down)

BEN

I wanted to talk to you about your ideas for your short stories.

STUDENT

Was there something wrong with them? I could re-write them. That wouldn’t be a problem. I know I could have spent more time on the assignment. Were there formatting issues? I sometimes don’t proof read as well as I should. Were they bad ideas? Or, was the writing just awful?

BEN

No, no. They’re fine. Not to worry. They were well written. Your style is consistent and the pacing is good. I just wanted to discuss the stories.

STUDENT

Were they too far fetched or out there? I know that sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. Were they too unbelievable? I could do them over.

BEN

No. That’s not necessary. But, I want to hear about the stories. Can you tell me about them?

(BEN turns to the audience.)

This was the first one.

STUDENT

(STUDENT turns to the audience.)

The first one is about a guy who goes to Greece. He’s a scholar, but it’s more than that. He is drawn to Delphi because of the ancient myths about the oracle. When he gets there, he stumbles upon a sign for a fortuneteller. Out of curiosity, he goes in and talks to her. Strangely, she knows things about him and his life that she shouldn’t have known, and gives him advice about what he should do.

BEN

(BEN turns to the audience.)

This was the second one.

STUDENT

(STUDENT turns to the audience.)

As a little girl, I always enjoyed going to the ocean beach. My parents often took me there on vacation. So, that was the starting point. This little girl has befriended a man and they spend time together at the beach. Her mother does not approve, but she sees him anyway. One particular day, the girl senses that something is wrong and she fears for the man’s life.

BEN

(BEN turns to the audience.)

This was the third one.

STUDENT

(STUDENT turns to the audience.)

There is a man who has gotten himself into a predicament. He sees no easy way out, so he devises an elaborate plan to disappear. To facilitate his plan, he explains to his close friend that he has discovered a mysterious book that he believes foretells his future. At first, the friend is skeptical about the truth of the book, but when the man vanishes, he left with doubts, and, the book.

BEN

What I wanted to know is where did these stories come from?

STUDENT

Well. That’s sort of hard to explain. I generally struggle with ideas for the assignments that you give. But, these came to me easily. Like I had known them all my life.

BEN

How so?

STUDENT

As if I had experienced it myself.

(Lights fade out and back in.)

Scene 2

(STUDENT enters the professor’s office and Scene 1 is re-enacted.)

STUDENT

Professor?

BEN

Yes. Come in. Please have a seat.

(BEN gestures to the chair and the STUDENT sits down)

BEN

I wanted to talk to you about your short story.

STUDENT

Was there something wrong with it? I could re-write it. That wouldn’t be a problem. I know I could have spent more time on it. Were there formatting issues? I sometimes don’t proof read as well as I should. Was it a bad idea? Or, was the writing just awful?

BEN

No, no. It’s fine. Not to worry. It was well written. Your style is consistent and the pacing is good. I just wanted to discuss the story.

STUDENT

Was it too far fetched or out there? I know that sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. Were they just too unbelievable? I could do it over.

BEN

No. That’s not necessary. But, I want to hear about the story. What I want to know is where did it come from?

STUDENT

Well. That’s sort of hard to explain. I generally struggle with ideas for the assignments that you give. But, this one came to me easily. Like I had known them all my life.

BEN

How so?

STUDENT

As if I had experienced it myself.

BEN

(BEN turns to the audience.)

She retold the story as she had written it.

STUDENT

(STUDENT turns to the audience.)

As a little girl, I always enjoyed going to the ocean beach. My parents often took me there on vacation. So, that was the starting point. This particular summer, I met a boy and we spent every moment together. Everything was going well until that girl showed up. She clearly was interested in him and was set on coming between us. So, the story is about a fight between the boy and the girl over this new girl. After they argue, he left her sitting there on the beach. In a fury, she went out into the water myself. The undertow took her and she wasn’t able to get back to the beach.

BEN

What happened then?

STUDENT

I don’t know. That’s a mystery.

BLACKOUT

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