Enlightened Self-Interest: The Play

The scene: Poppy's house. Morning. There is no school today. Poppy is comatose, only to be awakened by her daughter thumping into her bedroom demanding

Daughter: "Where's Daddy?"

Poppy: Maybe he's in the kitchen

Thump thump thump down the stairs; brief pause; thump thump thump up the stairs.

Daughter: He's not there. Where is he?

[Then follow a few more suggestions on Poppy's part and a lot of thumping to and fro on the part of the daughter.]

Finally the daughter gives up and heads offstage into what appears, from the books and toys strewn all over the place, to be the door to her room. Poppy gets up and fetches a cup of tea from off stage left. She gets back into her bed and opens her laptop.

Poppy's son enters left, heaves himself up onto her bed, and begin to blather.

Son: Blather blather blather Harpo Marx blather blather blather Pokemon blather blather blather Look, your laptop screen is still broken blather blather.

Offstage, Poppy's daughter is heard to cry joyously:

Poppy's daughter: Daddy! Where have you been?

That Stud Muffin Poppy Married: In the basement.

TSMPM enters left and climbs into bed. Mumbles something about going to work.

Poppy: Isn't there anything you can do from home?

TSMPM: Well, I could download a couple of documents, and work on them.

Poppy: Well, why don't you stay home, then? You just finished a trial, you know. You usually take it a bit easy the day after a trial.

TSMPM: You're right. I can work from home today.

Above Poppy's head, the storm clouds change from dark gray to light gray to white with touches of pink as light bursts through. A chorus of angels begins to sing.