act for no words (memory is a bitch)

Backdrop American desert. Man thrown from stage left. Man stands up, brushes himself off. Man reflects. A whistle comes from stage left. Man walks off stage left. Man thrown from stage left. Man reflects. A whistle comes from stage right. Man walks off stage right. Man thrown from stage right. Man reflects. A whistle comes from stage right. Man walks, hesitates, brushes himself off; reflects. a whistle comes from the rafters. A rope descends from the rafters. The man looks at the rope. Man reflects. The man starts to climb the rope. The rope starts to ascend. The man let’s go of the rope. The rope stops. The man reflects. A bucket with tools descends. A bottle of water and a knife are inside the bucket. The man walks over to the bucket. The man picks up the knife. The bucket ascends. The man walks back to the rope. The man starts to climb it. The rope ascends up to the rafters with the man. Empty stage. The man falls from the rafters holding the part of the rope he cut off. The man reflects. A tree descends from the rafters. The man looks at the tree. The man reflects. The man starts to walk towards the tree: hesitant. The man pauses; reflects. The man walks up to the tree; examines it. The man sits in the shade of the tree. A whistle comes from the rafters. The man stands up and walks to where the rope descended. Man looks up; waits. A man surrounded by shadows walks from behind the tree.  The 2 men look at each other. The man reflects. The man looks up; waits. Man surrounded by shadows stares at the man. Nothing happens. The man looks at the rope he cut. Man looks at the tree. The man walks over to the tree ignores the man surrounded by shadows. The man ties the rope to the tree. The tree and the man surrounded by shadows ascend to the rafters. The man reflects. The man looks at his hands. The man reflects.

Curtain