SCENE 12
Jamie’s backyard. She sits on the recliner, under the umbrella as the black rain falls. She watches it, as it floods the town. Things float up, float across; lawn chairs, hoses, kiddie pools, eskies, trash of all descriptions but mostly empty water bottles. Jamie watches as the pool fills, but not with the black water: it glows the aquamarine of a chlorinated pool, bright. She steps out from the umbrella and is drenched in the black rain. She stands at the edge of the pool, takes a step into it, then another, until she is at neck level. With each step the black rain is washed off her. She takes a deep breath, then takes another step so she is completely submerged, closes her eyes. The sound of the rain is gone, replaced with a low and deep surge of tide and current, a soft churn, the sounds of the ocean. Jamie opens her eyes, still holding her breath. Alex is there, watching her.
ALEX
Breathe.
Jamie holds her breath.
ALEX
It’s okay.
Jamie lets out her breath. Takes a breath in with a hint of anxiety, but finds she can breathe. She studies Alex for a moment.
ALEX
Checking for gills?
JAMIE
I’m sorry. For what I said.
ALEX
Alright.
JAMIE
Do you forgive me?
ALEX
Why does he shoot the albatross?
JAMIE
What?
ALEX
It’s all going so well for them, the journey seems blessed. So why does he kill the albatross?
JAMIE
I’m not sure.
ALEX
Because it’s just an albatross, to them.
JAMIE
You know that poem better than I do.
ALEX
“Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank.”
An alien sound, the rush and crackle of a wave breaking overhead.
JAMIE
Is this what it’s like?
ALEX
What?
JAMIE
The ocean?
ALEX
No. The ocean is much better than this.
JAMIE
I believe you. Show me.
The flash of lightning above the pool. Jamie looks up. Blackout.
END OF PLAY.