Dummy
April 7th, 2021
Starring: Sonali (female, 25-35), Brett (male, 25-35)
Between 2 and 3am. Sonali enters the apartment, dragging in her suitcase. She looks and is very tired, throwing down her things and walking straight to her bedroom. She opens the door a crack, as not to disturb Brett, who’s seen asleep on the left side of the bed. His arms are draped around someone on the right side of the bed, whose tan/blonde head is slightly poking out from the covers. Sonali stifles a gasp, jolting awake, blood pumping in her ears. She takes a step back from the door and breathes, going back and forth in her head. She makes her choice. She takes one more breath.
In one quick series (all of ~20 seconds), Sonali pushes through the door, turns on the room light, and pounces on the bed, yelling. Brett immediately wakes up, groggy, confused, and scared. In only his boxers, he squirms out of the way screaming as Sonali leaps onto the bed, starting her attack on the under-cover figure. She punches, elbows, and grapples it out from under the sheets. It’s not another human, but a buff-torsoed boxing dummy, the one she uses for her kickboxing classes.
Sonali and Brett both catch their breath, looking at the other, sitting in the strangeness:
BRETT
I...I didn’t think you’d be back until the morning.
SONALI
Red-eye. Wanted to get back.
…
…
Was that a prank?
BRETT
No.
SONALI
Then what…?
BRETT
I just...I needed something on that side. A presence. To make it feel like...
SONALI
Do you always?
BRETT
When you’re gone.
...
So a lot.
SONALI
I know.
BRETT
I know you can’t quit. I don’t want you to.
But I miss you.
(Gesturing to the dummy)
Um, obviously.
Like most nights I can’t even sleep
I’ll just imagine that’s you next to me
Think about what we’d be talking about
Foreign policy
Breakfast food
What our kids would look like
...
I know it sounds dumb
Unless you
Um
I don’t know what you’re thinking
What—what are you thinking?
SONALI
Maybe
Maybe we went too fast.
...
And don’t take that—please don’t take that the way that sounds.
...
It’s just now you’re—very attached.
We’re. We’re very attached. Us both.
And that makes it harder to have space.
Which we need. If we are sharing the same space. Physical...and mental.
BRETT
Yeah.
I’m
That’s...this is me trying to deal
Because I don’t want you worried
That’s literally the last thing I want
…
SONALI
I’m pretty wiped
I promise we can talk in the morning—
BRETT
No good idea good idea.
Brett jumps back into bed, but the dummy’s still on Sonali’s side.
BRETT
Come on in.
SONALI
You mind moving the—
BRETT
Oh
Sorry
Brett takes the dummy and throws it across the room. Sonali turns off the light, sheds some of her clothes, and crawls onto her side, pretty much instantly falling asleep. Brett, still wide awake, stares up at the ceiling.
BRETT
It’s pretty cool knowing you’d kick someone’s ass for me.
…
You know?
…
Are you asleep?
…
I love you.