Edward Tulane

Traveler: "And what he was really thinking was…"

"I do look good, don't I? Now fix my tie. I'm sure it's crooked. You really should be more careful with the tie."

Father: "Abilene." (ABILENE and FATHER leave. EDWARD calls after them.)

"The tie! Fix the tie! Oh, dear."

Abilene: "Hello, Edward. I'm home. And how was your day?" (ABILENE picks up EDWARD.)

"What are you doing? Don't move me now. It'll be dark soon, and I'll be able to see my reflection in the window."

Abilene: "Oh, Edward. I wish everyone were as considerate and as nice as you."

"Uh-huh."

Abilene: "Of course! How could I possibly go on a journey without Edward?"

"Don't hold me so tightly. You'll wrinkle the silk."

Pellegrina: "Does he?"

"Why does that Pellegrina always stare at me like I'm some criminal?"

Pellegrina: "Oh yes. Edward should pay particularly close attention."

"I don't like the sound of that at all."

Pellegrina: "Once there was a princess who was very beautiful. She shone as bright as the stars on a moonless night."

"Bright as the stars on a moonless night. That's kind of nice, actually."

Abilene: "Good night, Grandmother."

"What was that? This is why I don't listen to stories!"

Abilene: "I love you, Edward. I don't care how old I get, I will always love you."

"Yes, yes, but turn me on my side so that I can see the stars. As bright as the stars on a moonless night."

Abilene: "Shall we sit up here on the deck, Edward?"

"Is my hat on straight? I'm sure to be complimented on the hat."

(The boys approach.)

"Look. I have more admirers approaching. Get out of the way."

Abilene: "It's a sailor suit. It's very fashionable."

"I don't like these two heathens. Take me away."

(…MARTIN starts pulling the shoes off of EDWARD.) Abilene: "No!"

"Stop it! Young man, I demand you release me at once."

Abilene: "Give him to me!"

"This is humiliating!"

(MARTIN throws EDWARD to AMOS.)

"Nooooo!"

Traveler: "He caught one last glimpse of Abilene, standing on the deck, holding his gold pocket watch in her outstretched hand."

"My pocket watch!"

Traveler (cont'd): "And he began to sink. He went down and down. Finally he landed on the ocean floor, facedown in the muck."

"I don't like this. I don't like this one bit."

Traveler: "Hours passed."

"Abilene will come and find me. It's just like waiting for her to come home from school. If only I had my watch."

Traveler: "Days passed. And Abilene didn't come.

"As bright as the stars on a moonless night. I'll never see the stars again."

Traveler: "Weeks passed."

"Why did the beautiful princess become a warthog?"

Traveler: "And then months. Then a powerful storm came."

"I'm out of the muck! At last! Wait! What's going on? What is this?"

Lawrence: "…That's your North Star. You don't never have to be lost when you know where that fella is."

"The North Star. I didn't think I would see the stars again."

Nellie (cont'd): "Have you ever seen anything so fine?"

"This is one very discerning woman."

Nellie: "She's beautiful!"

"She?"

Nellie: "What shall I call her?"

"Do I look like a girl?"

Nellie: "Susanna. Just right."

"It's not right! Not right at all!"

(NELLIE returns with the dressed and repaired EDWARD. She sets him down on the corner and begins kneading bread.)

"No. Don't set me by the window. Anyone walking by will see me in this ridiculous dress."

Nellie: "…But now the days can seem awful empty."

"At least you're not on the bottom of the ocean with your head in the muck."

Nellie: "I guess you know a thing or two about loneliness yourself."

"Loneliness. Yes."

Nellie: "…It is the worst thing

to watch somebody you love die right in front of you, and not be able to do nothing about it."

Nellie: "I suppose you think I'm daft, talking to a toy. But it seems to me that you're listening, Susanna."

"I am, Nellie. I am."

Lawrence: "…There's comfort in knowing my old friends are out there watching."

"Yes."

Traveler: "…And when his own troubling memories haunted him…"

"Warthogs. Witches. Oceans. Darkness."

Lolly: "I see your sewing skills haven't improved much."

"How dare you? This dress is perfect."

Traveler: "The next morning…" (LOLLY lifts EDWARD by the ears.)

"Put me down!"

Lolly: "I'm going to take the truck and run some errands."

"Wait! Help! Nellie! Lawrence!"

Traveler: "…and she drove away, leaving the rabbit alone."

"I'll show her. I'll pick her up by the ears and throw her on a garbage pile! That's what I'll do."

Traveler: "As the days passed, more and more garbage was thrown onto the pile."

"It's like I'm back on the bottom of the ocean. No. It's worse."

Traveler: "Weeks passed."

"If only I had my watch."

Traveler: "Then, on his one hundred and eightieth day at the dump, Edward felt the garbage around him shifting."

"What's happening?"

Traveler: "Suddenly he saw the light of day again."

"The sky! I'm free!"

Bull: "What have you found there, girl?"

"Let go of me!"

Traveler: "Edward felt a sharp pain in his chest."

"Abilene. Abilene loved me."

Bull: "…Yes, sir, you will look like a genuine rabbit on the run."

"A rabbit on the run."

Bull: "It looks like you have made yourself a new friend, Malone."

"I think I've made two."

Traveler: "And to the comforting sounds of Bull's snoring and Lucy's whimpering in her sleep, Edward looked at the stars."

"Andromeda, Pegasus. There's the North Star. We're not really lost, Bull. We can see the North Star."

Jack: "He's watching after my family back in North Carolina."

"North Carolina."

Jack: "…Helen, Jack Junior and Taffy. You remember their names, OK, Malone?"

"Helen, Jack Junior and Taffy. I'll remember, Jack."

Traveler: "And his heart opened wide and then wider still."

"This is love. This must be love."

Bull (cont'd): "Malone, you keep first watch. Old Lucy and I are going to get a little shuteye."

"Bull! Someone's coming! Bull!"

(LUCY growls.)

"It's all right, Lucy."

Traveler: "As he flew through the air, Edward Tulane caught one last glimpse of the boxcar before it disappeared into the night."

"Bull! Lucy!"

Traveler (cont'd): "He lay there all alone, with only the stars

and his memories."

Traveler: "The stars faded as night became day."

"Coming home to me."

Old Lady: "Now, Clyde, you scare away them crows."

"Clyde."

Old Lady: "Get to work, Clyde. Scare them crows off." (The OLD LADY walks away. The birds dive and swoop.)

"Go away, birds! Go on! Oh, how pointless. I'm no good as a scarecrow either."

Traveler (cont'd): "Night finally came, and the birds flew away."

"If I had wings I would fly away, too. I would fly away high up to the stars."

Traveler: "But on this night, even the stars seemed to mock him."

"I'm all alone. Useless and alone."

Bryce: "Psst! Over here! Hey! I come to save you." (During the following, BRYCE unhooks EDWARD from the pole.)

"Save me? Why?"

Bryce (cont'd): "Now let's get out of here before the old lady catches us."

"You saved me, but for what?"

Bryce: "Sarah? Sarah Ruth. You got to wake up now, honey. I brung you something."

"A dancing doll. Go on and have a good laugh."

Sarah Ruth: "Jangles."

"Nobody has ever held me like this."

Sarah Ruth: "Jangles."

"Sarah Ruth."

(SARAH RUTH starts to cough. She grabs EDWARD and holds him tightly. As the coughing subsides…)

"I wish I could protect you. But I can only…you just hold on tight."

(BRYCE manipulates EDWARD with one hand while playing the harmonica with the other.)

"What's happening to me?"

Sarah Ruth: "Dancing!"

"Do you like it, Sarah Ruth?"

(SARAH RUTH applauds and laughs.)

(cont'd). "Keep playing, Bryce! Make my legs kick again! She loves that!”

Bryce (cont'd): "You want some fresh air? Let's go take a peek at the stars for a minute." "If I had wings, I would fly high up to the stars, where the air is clear and sweet. I would hold Sarah Ruth in my arms, and there, high above the world, she could breathe and laugh and talk, and she wouldn't ever have to cough again."

Sarah Ruth: "I wish…"

Sarah Ruth & Edward: "I wish…"

Traveler: "…and Edward would dance, as Sarah Ruth grew weaker."

"Why isn't she laughing? Sarah Ruth? I'm doing the kicks you like. Sarah Ruth?"

(BRYCE stops playing and goes to SARAH RUTH's side.)

(cont'd.) "Don't stop! Keep playing, Bryce!"

Bryce: "Breathe, honey."

"Breathe. Please, please, breathe."

Bryce: "She's gone, Jangles."

"Gone. Where did she go?"

Traveler: "…On and on, Bryce played. On and on, Edward danced."

"Are you crying, Bryce? Tears. Do they help?"

Traveler: "People came and went."

"Keep playing, Bryce! Keep playing!"

(She approaches EDWARD. She stops and stares at him.)

(cont'd). "Pellegrina?"

(PELLEGRINA nods.)

(cont'd) "Look at me. You got your wish. I have learned how to love, and it's a terrible thing."

Traveler: "And the world

Edward's world

Lawrence: "She's in the stars, Susanna."

"The stars? They are so far away. I have to get to her."

(Colorful, magnificent wings are slowly revealed on EDWARD's back during the following.)

(cont'd.) "What is happening to me? Wings! Sarah Ruth! I'm coming!"

Everyone Together: "It would break my heart."

"It has broken already!"

(Silence. The others are gone. The MUSICIAN/EDWARD is isolated in a pool of light.)

(cont'd.) "My heart is broken."

Lucius: "Exceedingly well made. How did you end up like this, I wonder."

"Where am I?"

Lucius: "Ah, there you are. Hello. Your head was broken in pieces. I fixed it."

"But my heart-my heart is still broken."

Lucius: "…He gave you to me if I promised to repair you."

"Bryce."

Lucius: "…I shall sell you and make a handsome profit."

"You should have left my head in broken pieces. I will never be truly whole again."

Traveler: "Time passed. The dolls came and went. Every time the door opened, all of them were filled with the hope that this time would be theirs. But not Edward Tulane."

"I am done with hope. I am done with love. I am done.

Old Doll: "Hello. Have you been here long?"

"Yes, months and months. But I don't care. One place is the same as the other."

Old Doll: "…And I am never the same either. In every place, I become a different doll."

"One hundred years?"

Old Doll: "…I would guess that you have seen a bit of life as well, yes?"

"Yes."

Old Doll: "…We both have had the chance to learn some of life's lessons."

"Hard lessons."

Old Doll: "…I wonder who will come for me this time."

"I don't care if anyone comes for me. I'm done with being loved. I'm done with loving. It's too painful."

Old Doll: "Pish! Where is your courage?"

"I guess I'm done with that, too."

Old Doll & Pellegrina: "You disappoint me."

"What did you say?"

Old Doll: "…You might as well leap from this shelf right now and get it over with."

"I would leap if I were able."

Old Doll: "Shall I push you?"

"No, thank you. Not that you could, anyway."

Traveler: "…Long after she had left, her words echoed in Edward's ears."

"Someone will come. No! I don't believe it. It can't be possible! And how could I go through it all again? It's too much…Someone will come."

Traveler: "And every time he thought those words, he allowed himself to hope a little more. Weeks passed."

"Someone will come."