window, the breeze slightly more bitter than before. ROBIN looks up and sees
the box.)
ROBIN
How did that---?BETH
(Sees the box)Oh, wow . . .
ROBIN
Wendy, do you see that?WENDY
(Opening her eyes)We must have more than one.
(ROBIN reaches for the dusty box.)
BETH
Don’t touch it!ROBIN
Come on, Beth. It’s here; so it must be . . .(ROBIN pulls the box down.)
ROBIN (Continued)
(Reading)“Zappoletta Forasco. Find out where you’ll be next year.”
WENDY
We heard you the first time.(ROBIN starts to open it.)
BETH
Don’t!(Sheepishly)
You don’t want you to rip the old paper.
(ROBIN pulls the fortunetelleress out of her box. It’s a papier-mâché head in a
cloudy glass dome on a cheap plywood base. The eyes are buggy and wicked
looking.)
ROBIN
Look---BETH
I don’t like---ROBIN
(Pulling out a slip of paper)And here’s the instructions.
(Reading)
“Gather three friends. Sit in a circle. Push the button. And follow directions.”
(To BETH and WENDY)
We’re three friends.
BETH
I don’t---ROBIN
Wendy, come here. You’re boring.WENDY
I’m happy.ROBIN
Come on.(WENDY sighs and sits with her friends.)
ROBIN (Continued)
We press the button. Do I dare? Are you afraid?BETH
Don’t be dramatic. I’ll do it.(BETH presses the button on Zappoletta’s base. The eyes light up and the teeth
chatter.)
ROBIN
Creepy.WENDY
Yeah; let’s just break it when we’re done.(Zappoletta Forasco begins to speak. The voice comes from an old phonograph
cylinder. For those who know, the voice is unmistakably Lois Murphy’s.)
RECORDED VOICE
So you have disturbed my sleep? Then I shall tell you a secret. Close your eyes and see next year. Close your eyes and see next year.(The recording fizzles to an end. The teeth stop chattering. The eyes grow dim.)
WENDY
Stupid.(WENDY starts to move.)
BETH
But we haven’t done what she said---WENDY
So?ROBIN
She didn’t ask much. Close your eyes with us.WENDY
You two are weird.(WENDY settles back down. The girls coordinate their gaze. Then they all close
their eyes. Immediate blackout. Flash of grim light, noise not meant to be. The
lights come back up. ROBIN and BETH have seen something and are deathly
pale. WENDY, unchanged, heads back to her window.)
WENDY (Continued)
Waste of time.BETH
Robin, did you . . . ?(ROBIN nods. She and BETH go to the open window and kneel next to
WENDY.)
ROBIN
Wendy . . . did you see anything when your eyes were closed?WENDY
Of course not.ROBIN
Nothing?WENDY
Like being asleep. BETH
Robin . . . what did you see?ROBIN
I . . . nothing.BETH
(Slowly, to ROBIN) I thought I saw you, only you looked a little older. And Wendy . . .
ROBIN
Be quiet, Beth.BETH
Robin---ROBIN
Don’t bore us.WENDY
Yeah, don’t bore us, Beth. Just throw the thing out.ROBIN
Beth and I have to go . . . WENDY
Will I see you tomorrow?ROBIN
Or sooner . . . Good-bye, Wendy.WENDY
Bye.(ROBIN waits for BETH to leave the loft ahead of her. Then, slowly, somberly,
looking back, she goes down. Footsteps fade. WENDY shudders momentarily.
The breeze keeps blowing.)
THE END
